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Into the Darkness
Reviews, Feb 3, 2023

The Chosen Succeeds Where ‘Woke’ Stories Fail
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Rose Petals and Snowflakes
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Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
A Sword for the Immerland King, F. W. Faller
Calor, J. J. Fisher
Once Upon A Ren Faire, A. C. Castillo
The Genesis 6 Project, Michael Ferguson
Exile, Loren G. Warnemuende
Aberration, Cathy McCrumb
The Truth Beyond the Lies, Kathleen Bird
Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian, E. E. Rawls
Dream of Kings, Sharon Hinck
The Change, Bradley Caffee
Quest of Fire: Desperation, Brett Armstrong
Wishtress, Nadine Brandes
Flight, Kristen Young
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147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
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146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
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145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
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144. Which Top Six Fantasy Franchises Gave Fans Grief in 2022?
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142. What Christmas Gift ‘Tools, Not Toys’ Helped You Grow As a Person?
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On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
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Into the Darkness
“Charles Hack’s Into the Darkness summons a close-range science fiction story, focusing on the personal challenges of space warfare among alien cultures with a steady pace and serious tone.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 3, 2023

A Crown of Chains
“A Crown of Chains creatively retells a biblical tale to explore themes of providence, racism, faith, and fidelity.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2023

Lander’s Legacy
“Lander’s Legacy stacks modern thrills and complex characters on a foundation of biblical what-ifs.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 20, 2023

Prince Caspian
“Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 2023

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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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Why Fantasy? – Part 4

A fantasy-style story with Christian themes or world view seems more readily accepted in mainstream circles than Christian-themed stories in other genres. This is one of the main reasons I decided to write fantasy – I wanted to take my […]
Clefspeare on Sep 13, 2006
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A fantasy-style story with Christian themes or world view seems more readily accepted in mainstream circles than Christian-themed stories in other genres. This is one of the main reasons I decided to write fantasy – I wanted to take my books into the public schools, to young people who might never hear the gospel or be exposed to any kind of Christian message.

As most of you know, Narnia and LOTR are standard reading material in public schools all across the United States, probably because the faith themes aren’t overt. I have heard from students who say their teachers had no clue that Aslan is a Christ-type figure, so, even the most obvious parallel in Lewis’s stories escapes the grasp of some in the public square.

In my own writing, I wanted cling to a fantasy premise that might open doors in the schools, while daring to be more overt. I thought a contemporary setting might be more relevant to young people and deliver a more powerful faith message, but this required me to have a real God and a real Christ. The challenge was to push the faith message as far as I could without crossing a line that the public schools had drawn. The problem is that the line is difficult to know and varies from school district to school district, so I just had to guess what would work best.

So far, it seems that there are very few closed doors in the public schools for my series. They were accepted to the national Accelerated Reader list, and I have been welcomed in these schools all across the country. So far for my fall tour, I have scheduled 17 public schools and 12 Christian schools, so there’s a wonderful balance between the two.

Here in Florida, I have yet to be turned down as a visiting author simply because of the faith content of my books. I have been told by more than one teacher that the fantasy premise makes the powers-that-be more comfortable with the Christian elements.

What kind of content would cross that acceptability line in public schools, even in a fantasy story? My guess is that the number one no-no would be an overt come-to-Jesus altar call conversion. Probably frequent Bible quotes would make some administrators sweat. But these are likely issues only in a contemporary setting. Since much fantasy takes place in other worlds, we usually don’t have that problem.

How about some feedback? What else would keep a fantasy story out of public schools, whether contemporary or “other-world”? How concerned should we be about this? Have you heard stories about authors or books not being accepted in a school system because of faith?

This is my last Wednesday entry for a while. I’m going on an insanely busy book tour soon. I would appreciate it if you would consider praying for me.

Bryan Davis
http://www.dragonsinourmidst.com

Clefspeare
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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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