About
articles • book quests • news • library
reviews • podcast • gifts • archives
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

Lost Bits
Reviews, May 27, 2022

113. What If You Learned Bible Lessons from Singing Veggies and Dead Sea Squirrels? | with Mike Nawrocki
Fantastical Truth Podcast, May 24, 2022

When The English Fall
Reviews, May 20, 2022

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Rats of Dweltford, Matt Barron
Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
My Soul to Take, Bryan Davis
Into Shadow's Fire, Mark Castleberry
Deceived, Madisyn Carlin
Arena (2022 edition), Karen Hancock
Kurt Nickle-Dickle of Whiskers, N. J. McLagan
"In a city where debts are paid in blood, one young man will learn that everyone needs help sometimes if they want to survive." New in the Lorehaven library: A Matter of Blood, Lauren H Salisbury
Son of the Shield, Mary Schlegel
Maxine Justice, Galactic Attorney, Daniel Schwabauer
Mordizan, Alyssa Roat
Prentice Ash, Matt Barron
Etania's Calling, M. H. Elrich
The Choice, Bradley Caffee
Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

Lost Bits
“Lost Bits boldly leads fans out of dead wastelands, exploring the nature of humankind through the lenses of a human creation.”
—Lorehaven on May 27, 2022

When The English Fall
“When The English Fall tells a bittersweet tale of community and commitment that plunges fearlessly into hard questions about the end of the world.”
—Lorehaven on May 20, 2022

Clawing Free
“Clawing Free is an absorbing tale that seamlessly joins modernity and myth.”
—Lorehaven on May 13, 2022

Vivid
“Ashley Bustamante’s Vivid paints a world built on secrets and carefully controlled color palettes.”
—Lorehaven on May 6, 2022

Book Quests

Join quests in our digital book club

All book quests
Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

The Green Ember
Book Quests, April 2022

The Seventh Sun
Book Quests, March 2022

Power On
Book Quests, February 2022

Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

113. What If You Learned Bible Lessons from Singing Veggies and Dead Sea Squirrels? | with Mike Nawrocki
Fantastical Truth, May 24, 2022

112. How Does Fiction Help Us Love Our Enemies Even If We Must Defeat Them?
Fantastical Truth, May 17, 2022

111. Why Do Your Kids Need Fantastical Stories for God’s Glory?
Fantastical Truth, May 10, 2022

110. Could We Enter a ‘Golden Age’ of Christian-Made Fantastical Fiction?
Fantastical Truth, May 3, 2022

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Browse back issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
Articles Questions? Writers

Yes, Speculative Faith Is Closed, At Least For Now
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30

Last Stands, Custer, General Gordon, and Being a Christian Warrior
Travis Perry, Jul 2

How Christian Must Christian Fiction Be?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 24

Gender In Fiction: The Implication Of Failure
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 10

Making a Story Visual UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of the Animal Eye Comic
Travis Perry, May 9

What Does “Woke” Culture Have To Do With Christian Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 26

About
Library
Reviews
Podcast
Gifts
Guild
Archives
SpecFaith
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.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ Articles

Great Books Were Not Meant to Be Read Alone

Solitary reading has some benefits, but Christian fans can grow better by exploring great stories in quest parties.
Josiah DeGraaf on Nov 4, 2021
1 comment

For adult Christian fantasy novel fans, reading can feel like a lonely pursuit.

Back in high school, several church friends loved joining me to explore the latest trending fantasy and sci-fi novels. We had a blast reading and discussing works like Cornelia Funke’s Ink Trilogy, Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom, Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle series, Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven, and many other works. These books gave me joy, and not just through the thrills of reading them. I found joy by discussing their stories with others and trying to predict what came next.

Flash forward to adult life.

Suddenly that sort of community is harder to find—especially in Christian circles.

Maybe you’ve grown used to reading as a lonely experience. After all, unless you’re reading books aloud with others, the act itself—sitting down with a book—takes little effort. But what if God never designed reading as a solitary task?

A brief history of humans reading literature together

Across God’s drama of humanity, people have read books in community.

Most works of literature started as oral tradition, including history and fiction. Their authors originally spoke these narratives to communities—Homer’s Odyssey, classical plays, The Epic of Gilgamesh, or even portions of the Old Testament.

For thousands of years, stories spread this way, not to solitary readers but to listening audiences. Even after people embraced writing, scholars debate the rarity of silent reading in the ancient world. Unlike modern practices, most people chose to read out loud and in groups, retaining that sense of community from the days of ancient bards and poets. Some historians (like Alberto Manguel and Paul Saenger) say this practice of reading aloud may have continued into the late Medieval Ages.

In the 1600s and 1700s, readers formed the literary culture of the European coffee houses during the time of famous authors like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. By then more readers may have practiced silent reading. But people kept up the communal discussions, this time in the coffee houses.

Whether people read silently or aloud, our reading habits have deep historical roots in community traditions. This impacts how we experience the act of reading.

How reading together shapes our view of stories

If we read books in community, read them aloud, or discuss them aloud, we get something new from the experience: our books become less like destinations and more like launch sites. In fiction or nonfiction, such discussions will raise questions of criticism and application. Should this character have made this decision? Was this plot turn realistic? And what was that odd unexplained event in the middle?

In high school, I experienced these long book discussions with friends in book clubs and after-church conversations. After college, I taught high school English for four years and saw similar great discussions in a very different environment. My classes helped teach me that books best serve as conversation starters than propaganda tools. In fact, when we read and discuss works of fiction in Christian community, we can all learn not to fear stories with anti-biblical worldviews. Reading together, we find these stories getting a lot richer, and their real-life applications much clearer.

What we lose when we read without community

When we read in isolation, without community, we confront hidden costs.

First, we can weaken our potential to think deeply about books. We all know the joys of discussing books with others and learning new truths about these stories. Other readers often help us better understand the story.

Second, we can lose our ability to think broadly about a book’s thematic questions. After all, most stories make some form of moral argument, either subtle or blatant. As thoughtful readers, we want to engage meaningfully and critically with such themes. Fellow readers can often share essential perspectives.

Finally, if we read books in isolation, we lose some of the book’s natural enjoyment. Recently I was visiting with friends who were also Brandon Sanderson readers, and I can’t describe the enjoyment of hashing out fan theories with them. The more fans you know to share the story, the greater enjoyment you experience. It’s almost like our universe was made by Someone who meant people to share joy.

Of course, this raises more questions. Because it’s easy to say that people ought to read books together. It’s harder to find ways of bringing this ideal to the real world.

How to find your reading community

What if you want to read books with other people, but struggle to find them?

After all, most of us who read in solitude don’t do this by choice. Instead, we lack friends who share our interests. You might try searching for such acquaintances or local book clubs to join, but those don’t always exist.

This means that if we value reading in communities, we must get creative.

That may require taking initiative. Perhaps you can start a book club yourself and gather interested readers. Or you can look for places where readers of your preferred genres gather locally and meet with them there.

You might also try looking in virtual communities. Over the last year, I’ve taken part in two different online book clubs. One of them had mixed results. The other has given me a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow Christian fantasy fans and talk every week about the book we’re reading together.

The best book quests begin with quest parties

We may read books alone by default. But this need not be our destination. By creatively seeking ways to read in community, we can grow our experiences and insights about the world and find greater enjoyment in the communal reading life.

Reading need not be a lonely task, even for lesser-known genres like Christian-made fantasy. We only need value these books enough to start this quest together.

In fact—don’t tell anyone just yet—but ultimately, this is why our Lorehaven team is planning to launch a very different sort of “book club” of our own. We shall gather Christian readers to quest through the best Christian-made fantastical novels. Subscribe and watch Lorehaven.com for more revelations over the next months. After all, if you’re ready for the most epic reading quests, you’ll need a quest party.

Josiah DeGraaf
Josiah DeGraaf is a high school English teacher and literature nerd who fell in love with stories when he was young and hasn’t fallen out of love ever since. He loves writing novels that explore what it means to make the right choices in difficult (and fantastic!) situations. In addition to writing at Lorehaven, he also serves as the editor-in-chief of Story Embers and publishes short stories on his website.
Website · Facebook · Instagram · Twitter
  1. David Bergsland says:
    November 4, 2021 at 10:37 am

    “we can all learn not to fear stories with anti-biblical worldviews” — why would I fear such things? I live in the midst of this garbage—increasingly as we approach the end of the Age. In truth, I usually feel like I was dunked into a fetid swamp of sin and filth. There’s nothing to fear there. But the absence, distortion, or perversion of truth is not good or pleasant. It used to be exciting and titillating, but it is no longer. It’s a problem we will all have to deal with—face to face with the King.

    There’s nothing to fear. But show them for what they are, please. They have no power, except to corrupt. The Blood has washed me clean. But they are eliminated by the simple application of “think on these things” Phil 4:8

    I am pleased that these anti-biblical worldviews will be eliminated in the near future when the True King shows up. Until then I’ll enjoy the power of His Kingdom in this sinful world. And yes, I write fiction.

    Reply

Share your fantastical feedback. Cancel reply

Lorehaven magazine, spring 2020

Wear the wonder:
Get exclusive shirts and beyond

Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

Authors and publishers:
Reach new fans with Lorehaven


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.