Lorehaven helps fans of all ages explore fantastical stories for God’s glory. Find the newest fiction for young readers plus teens+YA and adults. Get articles and podcasts that engage the best Christian-made fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond. Subscribe free to join the Lorehaven Guild for monthly book quests!
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Fantastical books for middle grade readers!

Best for older children ages 8–12
Beneath the Swirling Sky, Elizabeth Groening
Skate the Seeker by Jeff Ayers
The Red Door, Chris Solaas
boys’ fiction · girls’ fiction · all fiction
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Top resources

  • Try These Three Practical Questions to Discern Fictional Magic
  • How Do We Discern Good and Bad ‘Magic’?
  • Three Fantastical Christian Stories to Help Your Kids Head Back to School
  • The Death and Rebirth of Magic in Children's Fantasy

New books for teens + young adults

Best for readers ages 13–18—and beyond!
The Looking-Glass Illusion, Sara Ella
The Eternity Gate, Katherine Briggs
Calligraphy Guild, R. M. Archer
young men’s · young women’s · all fiction
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Top resources

  • Beware the Real Danger of Entertainment
  • Christian-Made Fantasy Can Shine Light in the Grimdark
  • How to Disciple Your Kids with Dangeous Books
  • How Reading Epic Fantasy Helps Me Be Brave
  • Engaging Fictional Violence in Our Real Worlds
  • Engaging That @&*% Our Stories Often Say

New fiction for adults

Challenging novels for wise readers 18 and up.
The Looking-Glass Illusion, Sara Ella
Light of Eidon, Karen Hancock
Wandering, Loren G. Warnemuende
men’s fiction · women’s fiction · all fiction
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Top resources

  • Even If We Like Fantasy and Sci-Fi, We Can Still Practice Accidental Legalism
  • How God Uses Story Villains for Our Good
  • Sensual Scenes in Fiction Pose Unique Temptations for Women
  • Stories With Bad Ideas Can Still Help Us Grow
  • Engaging Fictional Violence in Our Real Worlds
  • Engaging That @&*% Our Stories Often Say

Film, streaming, TV, video games

Help your kids engage their world for Christ!
Explore The Pop Culture Parent

Top resources

  • Let’s Not Excuse Movie and TV Porn For the Sake of ‘Redemptive’ Stories
  • Christians Can’t Consistently Blame Leftist Fiction While Pushing Our Own Propaganda

The Little Mermaid’s Live-Action Remake Fares Better Than Critics Forecast

Some new songs may flounder, but Ariel’s voice and Triton’s character redeem the 2023 Disney film. · Marian Jacobs
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Lorehaven helps fans of all ages explore fantastical stories for God’s glory. Find the newest fiction for young readers plus teens+YA and adults. Get articles and podcasts that engage the best Christian-made fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond. Subscribe free to join the Lorehaven Guild for monthly book quests!
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

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Watch this, she’s gonna say, “Susan Pevensie got lipstick and grew up and that’s why she’s going to hell.” · E. Stephen Burnett

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Lorehaven print issues (2018–2020)

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Teens + YA
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Lorehaven helps fans of all ages explore fantastical stories for God’s glory. Find the newest fiction for young readers plus teens+YA and adults. Get articles and podcasts that engage the best Christian-made fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond. Subscribe free to join the Lorehaven Guild for monthly book quests!
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/ Library
Author:
Catherine Jones Payne
Ages:
teens + young adults
Genres:
fantasy
BookTags:
Broken Tides series coming of age mermaids
Publisher:
Indie published
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“Readers looking for a quick, pleasant read will find that this book swims well.”
—Lorehaven review, spring 2018

Breakwater

Can the city’s divisions be mended before the upwelling of hate rips apart everything Jade loves?
Catherine Jones Payne · May 2017 · No comments · fantasy for teens + young adults

A red tide is rising.

As the daughter of one of the mer-king’s trusted advisors, seventeen-year-old Jade has great responsibilities. When her fiancé murders a naiad, plunging the underwater city of Thessalonike into uproar, tensions surge between the mer and the naiads. Jade learns too late that the choices she makes ripple further than she’d ever imagined. And as she fights against the tide of anger in a city that lives for scandal, she discovers danger lurking in every canal, imperiling her family and shattering the ocean’s fragile peace.

Can the city’s divisions be mended before the upwelling of hate rips apart everything Jade loves?

Book 1 of the Broken Tides series.

Review of Catherine Jones Payne’s Breakwater

Readers looking for a quick, pleasant read will find that this book swims well.
Lorehaven Review Team, spring 2018

In Breakwater, Catherine Jones Payne tells a watery tale of merfolk, naiads, and intrigue in the ocean city of Thessalonike. Jade, a young aristocrat, catches her fiancé in the murder of a lowly refugee girl. Her decision to expose him unleashes pent-up rivalries between the rulers and subjects of Thessalonike. But despite allusions to mythology and classical Greece, Breakwater is never epic. Jade, a teenage mermaid who variously giggles and sobs, anchors this tale to contemporary ambiance. Undercurrents of racial conflict, immigration, and political instability strike a counterpoint but don’t displace the dominant tone. A clear sense of morality, unsupported by religion, suffuses the story. Readers looking for a quick, pleasant read rather than alien worlds will find that this book swims well.

Best for: Younger teens and those who enjoy contemporary fiction and sweet romance as well as fantasy.

Discern: Non-graphic violence, one questionable word, and repeated defiance of parental authority in serious matters.

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Lorehaven helps fans of all ages explore fantastical stories for God’s glory. Find the newest fiction for young readers plus teens+YA and adults. Get articles and podcasts that engage the best Christian-made fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond. Subscribe free to join the Lorehaven Guild for monthly book quests!
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