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Tilly
Reviews, Jun 24, 2022

The Wonderland Trials
Reviews, Jun 24, 2022

Phantastes
Book Quests, Jun 23, 2022

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fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
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Shadow of Honor, Ronie Kendig
Lost Bits, Kerry Nietz
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
Reviews

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Tilly
“Written in 1986, Frank E. Peretti’s novelette Tilly may feel melodramatic to today’s readers, but remains a tearful tale of brokenness and redemption.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 24, 2022

The Wonderland Trials
“Although indebted to a classic, The Wonderland Trials is inventive and colorful in its own right, abundantly able to charm and to intrigue.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 24, 2022

Rise of the Earthborn
“Societal intrigue plus steampunk flair and a dash of romance help make Emma Buenen’s Rise of the Earthborn a solid extra-biblical adventure.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 17, 2022

Elite
“Elite explores parallels to the early Church, beautifully intertwining faith and action in this high-stakes post-apocalyptic adventure.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 10, 2022

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Phantastes
Book Quests, June 2022

Lost Bits
Book Quests, June 2022

Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

The Green Ember
Book Quests, April 2022

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117. Why Should You Build a Fantastical Lending Library? | with L.G. McCary
Fantastical Truth, Jun 21, 2022

116. Why Do Homeschooled Students Love Fantastical Fiction? | with Ethan Nunn
Fantastical Truth, Jun 14, 2022

115. How Do Lorehaven Creators Strive to Follow Biblical Statements of Faith?
Fantastical Truth, Jun 7, 2022

114. What If The Abolition of Man Became A Political Thriller? | The Testimony of Calvin Lewis with Daniel Friend
Fantastical Truth, May 31, 2022

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The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
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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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78. What If You Discovered Fairy Dust and Peter Pan Were Real? | The Heirs of Neverland series with Kara Swanson

Dust and Shadow author Kara Swanson shares the happy thoughts and nobledark struggles behind her Peter Pan retelling.
Fantastical Truth on Sep 7, 2021 · 5 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:52 — 52.5MB) | Embed

What if you hated the idea of Peter Pan, then learned that your own skin sheds the fairy dust you need for traveling to Neverland? That’s the magical start of Kara Swanson’s Heirs of Neverland series, which began last year with the fantasy novel Dust. That book won three Realm Awards last July, and today Kara Swanson flies into our window and helps guide us to fantastical truth.

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Dust, Kara SwansonFrom our Lorehaven review of Dust (fall 2020):

Kara Swanson’s Dust shares the magical story of Claire, a girl who hates Peter Pan but who may be the key to saving Neverland. Because of Peter Pan, Claire’s brother is missing. In London, she meets a boy who helps her discover truths about herself and the strange and powerful dust that sheds from her skin. Her dust may not be the curse she always thought—it may be exactly what she needs to find her brother. She must evade pirates and rogue lost boys and learn whom to trust. Nothing is as it seems, and wishing on stars will get her nowhere in this delightfully twisted sequel to a classic.

  • Read the full review

Kara SwansonIntroducing novelist Kara Swanson

As the daughter of missionaries, Kara Swanson spent her childhood running barefoot through the lush jungles of Papua New Guinea. Able to relate with characters dropped into a unique new world, she quickly fell in love with the fantasy genre.

Swanson is the award-winning author of The Girl Who Could See and Peter Pan retelling/sequels Dust and Shadow (from Enclave Publishing).

Kara is passionate about crafting stories of light shattering darkness, connecting with readers, and becoming best friends with a mermaid—though not necessarily in that order.

1. What happy thoughts lifted you to biblical faith and fantastic imagination?

Shadow, Kara Swanson2. Which pirate maps led to your stories, including your version of Neverland?

  • Peter Pan history, from the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)

3. Where will you fly next in your creative journeys?

Follow Kara Swanson to Neverland and beyond

  • KaraSwanson.com
  • @KSwansonAuthor on Twitter
  • Kara Swanson, author on Facebook
  • @KaraSwansonAuthor on Instagram

Com station

Commentator “notleia” returns, regarding episode 77:

Welp, isn’t this all as clear as mud. For as much as this might be intended to serve as a Article Zero or Article Point Five, it still feels a bit reductionist. To use the hats metaphor, we all know that we all wear many different hats, but I don’t feel the need to put a hierarchy on the hats, but ask what each hat might bring to the discussion. But I am admittedly a follower of the postmodernist school of reading where it’s all thrown in the pot and stirred until something falls out (and then you argue about what that thing is and what it means).

Also I might argue that stories are not necessarily a deep-seated want in of themselves, that we have a deep-seated want for meaning, and we largely achieve that by means of the stories we tell ourselves.

But also, mostly unrelated, there’s a lot to unpack in these little side bits about people trying to gain authority by the Teacher, or the Evangelist or the Author, and how that relates to an authoritarian culture, but that’s my psychological/sociological nerd hat talking.

Also also: is “deconstruction” becoming a new negative buzz word, like “canceling”? Why? Admittedly I’m biased because I love deconstruction.

Next on Fantastical Truth

This month marks the twentieth-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Maybe you dimly recall these terrible events, but Zack and Stephen remember them quite well. We also recall the stories and other images we used while trying to understand how people could do this. We will explore not just Sept. 11, and similar events today, but the greater question of how we use fantastic fiction to process real wars and rumors of wars.

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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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    1. notleia says:
      September 7, 2021 at 5:09 pm

      LOL, do I get an official “Frenemy of the Site” shirt?

      YES, DECONSTRUCT EVERYTHING (ESPECIALLY THE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS)
      But for me, it’s more about uncovering our hidden blind spots and playing around with concepts than about proving dweebs like Plato wrong (that’s just a side benefit).

      (PS “Authoritarianism” is more specific than the concept of authority and all the assorted structures that authority organizes itself in. I’ll spare you an essay on it and provide a linky for some free reading: https://web.archive.org/web/20200916190422/http://www.theauthoritarians.org/options-for-getting-the-book/)

      Reply
      • notleia says:
        September 7, 2021 at 5:41 pm

        Better linky: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxylK6fR81rckQxWi1hVFFRUDg/view?resourcekey=0-WGxUhtR8lhJdnFck4tTIyA

        Reply
      • Zackary Russell says:
        September 28, 2021 at 5:40 pm

        About authoritarianism, this recent article from The Atlantic should be noted. Basically, the prevailing wisdom for too long has wrongly been that authoritarianism only exists on the Right. As they show in the research referenced in this article, it’s just as much of a problem on the Left. It simply doesn’t get considered, and they discuss the reasons why here:

        https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/psychological-dimensions-left-wing-authoritarianism/620185/

        Reply
        • notleia says:
          September 29, 2021 at 7:00 pm

          Bob did have a pretty short note about there being such a thing as left-wing authoritarian followers, but that they are a much rarer beast. Even this linky doesn’t seem to argue that LWA are as prevalent as RWA. I find it interesting that there’s even differences between LWA and RWA despite their underlying psychology being the same — that LWA are more open to differences (and whether/how that might relate to the OCEAN personality test). Or maybe it’s a matter of threshold. But I think — don’t remember if it’s been documented — that LW spaces don’t reward LWA-ism in the same way that RW spaces reward RWA-ism. Or maybe, again, it’s a matter of threshold.

          But in any case, it is good to question whether you have blind spots.

          Reply
    2. Autumn Grayson says:
      September 7, 2021 at 11:14 pm

      When I was in first grade, I used to be obsessed with the Peter Pan story. Mainly the Broadway play I saw on tv. I never read the book, but a few aspects of the Peter Pan story spoke to me, especially since it interfaced with the way I was contemplating the notion of death at the time. I was a Christian even then, but the physical aspect of death still scared me.

      Since Peter Pan never grew old, he would be able to live forever so long as he didn’t get killed by Captain Hook or something. So he had risk and hardship and adventure, but still that chance to live on and on in a place that was important to him. There were elements of that that I wanted and wished for, even if I could never have them to that extent(at least on earth). So Peter Pan brought some of these things out of me where I could notice and work through them. I’m at a different stage now, when it comes to thinking about death, and Peter Pan is no longer my favorite story. But it was an important step along my path and an important part in my development.

      Kind of glad to hear the original Peter Pan book was darker and different than the movies, so I might have to read it (and Kara Swanson’s Dust) some time in the future 🙂

      Reply

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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.