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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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66. What If You Escaped Your Floating Island, But Returned to Face Rebellion? | Windward Shore with Sharon Hinck

Author Sharon Hinck joins us to explore grace versus legalism in her recently concluded fantasy trilogy, The Dancing Realms series.
Fantastical Truth on Jun 15, 2021 · No comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:01 — 66.4MB) | Embed

What if dancing could control your world, and your world was a floating island, and you had just escaped from a legalistic Order that had ruled the island? That may sound familiar, because we visited this world in one of our first episodes, about the novel Hidden Current. This time, author Sharon Hinck joins us to explore grace and true heroism versus legalism and false leadership in her recently concluded fantasy trilogy, The Dancing Realms series.

Introducing Sharon Hinck

Sharon HinckAward-winning author Sharon Hinck writes “stories for the hero in all of us”—stories about ordinary women on extraordinary faith journeys. Known for their authenticity, emotional range, and spiritual depth, her novels include the groundbreaking The Sword of Lyric fantasy series and the imaginative new The Dancing Realms series, which began with the Christy Award–winning Hidden Current and was followed by Forsaken Island. Sharon’s writing has also been honored with three Carol Awards. For this latest series, she drew on her experience as a ballet teacher, dancer, and choreographer. Explore her series at The Dancing Realms group on Facebook.

Windward Shore, book 3 of The Dancing Realms series

The island world of Meriel faces an old adversary and a new danger. Will the reformed Order die before it has a chance to blossom?

Storm clouds loom on the horizon as Carya and Brantley struggle to overcome wounds of the past and build a future together. The fragile new Order is on shaky ground, with too few dancers and sparse resources. Then trouble erupts—and now an insidious rebellion and a new foe threaten their entire world.

When she uncovers an old enemy behind all the destruction, Carya realizes the past is not done with her. With conflict tearing apart the dancers and villages, rimmers are soon overrun, and Carya must unite her people by leading the battle to protect the very heart of her world … or lose it all.

Hidden Current, Sharon HinckExploring the Dancing Realms with Sharon Hinck

  1. In book 1, Hidden Current, Calara leaves the legalistic Order that trained her in magical dancing forms, but abuses this gift for control. How do you interpret these fantastical elements that often find parallels in the real world?
  2. In book 2, Forsaken Island, Calara, now known as Carya, and her friend Brantley leave their island for the first time. They’re soon lost in a world whose peoples use creative gifts but forget their own purposes. What ideas helped you create this sequel?
  3. Finally in book 3, Windward Shore, Carya and Brantley return to the island world of Meriel. But as we’ve heard, the island isn’t stable. Did you have this finale in mind all along? How do earlier themes bear fruit?

Fantastic fans

David C. wrote about episode 56:

Greetings! Still loving the podcast and what you guys are doing. I have a question that relates to your episode about strength and female characters that you did with Elisabeth Wheatley.

Recently, I got into a debate with some other Christians online regarding the meaning of Deut. 22:5 that prohibits a woman from wearing a man’s clothing, and vice versa. The claim was, based on hermeneutics and the meanings of words in the original language, that women are not permitted to be in combat and that it is, to paraphrase one podcaster, an abomination to the Lord for a woman to carry a sword.

No doubt, this irks me, because many of our favorite stories include women who employ swords or other instruments of combat: Wonder Woman, Princess Leia, Eowyn, Mulan, etc. And despite the examples of Deborah and Jael in the Bible, there are arguments that stand that these women don’t support a view of women in combat.

So my main question: Can Christian fans enjoy films and books with warrior women, and can Christian writers create positive, strong, Christ-like female main characters who pick up a sword to do battle (not just self-defense), in a fantasy or a fictionalized version of our world (i.e. Hermione Granger, Black Widow)? Or are these other Christians correct, and creating such characters are abominations to the Lord?

Next on Fantastical Truth

“Fiction shouldn’t preach!” many critics say. They may even preach about it. But even if excellent Christian-made stories should not preach, does this mean the stories will have no teaching at all? Is preaching the only way we learn, or don’t we also learn through discipleship. This includes but isn’t limited to sermons! With help from Lorehaven writer and That Pale Host author L. G. McCary, we’ll explore how great Christian-made stories do have a purpose: not to preach beyond the fourth wall, but to help disciple our imaginations in Christ.

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    Fantastical Truth
    In the Fantastical Truth podcast from Lorehaven, hosts E. Stephen Burnett and Zackary Russell find the best Christian fantasy, and apply the wonders of these imaginary worlds to the real world our Creator has called us to serve. Join the best Christian fantastical authors and other creative friends on this joyful journey, to find the happiness and holiness of Jesus through his gift of truthful imagination.
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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.