Speculative Faith was the volunteer-led website that preceded Lorehaven. From 2006 to 2021, hundreds of Christian fantastical writers added their voices to this team blog. Many of those creatives now continue this work at Lorehaven. This archive preserves all the original SpecFaith articles and reviews. You may find, however, some outdated bios and missing images as well as occasional formatting glitches! Please note that some reviews have been updated and republished to Lorehaven.

Author Profile – Lisa T. Bergren

Lisa was born in Kalispell, Montana, on March 28 and raised in Southern California (there must be a story behind that transition!) Growing up she wanted to be “A nurse. An astronaut. Indiana Jones. A teacher. A journalist. One of the Three Musketeers.” Writing, apparently, has made it possible for her to become any of these through her characters. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

The Nightmare Of Christmas

The idealized Western Christmas is a time of jingling bells, snow (unless you live in the South with Christmas temperatures regularly in the 50s and 60s), Christmas trees, lavishly decorated homes, presents spilling out into the hallway, and a seemingly endless barrage of Christmas parties. And of course, the stories. Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, The Night Before Christmas, The Tin Soldier, A Christmas Carol, and many more. However, in many other countries, Christmas tales take quite a sinister turn. —Mark Carver in December 2016

Sci-fi and Fantasy Let Us Explore

Wrapping your mind around the size of the universe, and our comparatively tiny place in it, gives you a new perspective and appreciation. Science fiction and fantasy do the same thing, on a different scale. —Zac Totah in December 2016

Merry Christmas

For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Fiction Friday: “Pearla’s First Christmas”

“Pearla’s First Christmas” is a short story, written from the point of view of one of the characters in the Angel Eyes trilogy, and is available as a free download from author Shannon Dittemore. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

What The World Needs To Know About Christmas

Christmas is the ultimate Reveal! It’s the greatest ah-ha moment since time began. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Christmas Is Too …

Christmas is a pagan holiday. I’ve heard this a lot, and I’ve grown ever more skeptical. —Shannon McDermott in December 2016

The Christmas Story: The First Epic Tale

Many stories, whether written from secular or Christian worldviews, point us back to the story of Christ, implicitly or explicitly, by design or by accident. —Zac Totah in December 2016

Review: The Sword Of Six Worlds By Matt Mikalatos

Validus Smith and her best friend Alex Shields know something is seriously wrong when their substitute teacher takes the side of the class bully. When he changes into a creature with fangs and tries to attack Validus, they escape by following two new students through a hole into a different world—one in which animals talk. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Fiction Friday – The Word Changers By Ashlee Willis

Once there was a little small-town girl. She grew up two blocks away from the old, creaky public library. She spent much of her time in that library, either squirreled away in a dusky corner with a book, or loading chin-high stacks of books home to read. Usually barefoot and disheveled. Always brim-full of curiosity and awe at the secret worlds she knew she’d find between those pages. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Well, When You Say It Like That…

“A technician’s job is to find glitches, so he sees glitches. Your job is to find the enemy, so you see the enemy. Locals believe in spirits, so they see spirits. Everyone’s biased.” —Mark Carver in December 2016

Fandom Holiday Traditions

Some of the typical traditions I mentioned beg the question, why? —Zac Totah in December 2016

Author Profile – S. D. Smith

I love to make stories. I want them to be good. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Fiction Friday – The Green Ember By S. D. Smith

“S. D. Smith has a voice for children and families that the world needs to hear.” –Randall Goodgame, singer/songwriter for Slugs & Bugs, Veggie Tales —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Fantasy and Sci-fi Book Recommendations

For book lovers, this is a joyous month. What makes a better present or stocking-stuffer than a book? Or a trilogy? Or a seven-volume series? —Zac Totah in December 2016

Speculation And Christmas

I find it amazing that our world, broken by division and disbelief, still takes from the holiday that superficially celebrates Christ’s birth, the remarkable gifts God gave when He sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

Fiction Friday – Beast By Chawna Schroeder

When her pack scatters after a surprise raid, Beast must defend herself against slavers hunting down the loners. They are so strong, and she is only a beast . . . or is she? —Rebecca LuElla Miller in December 2016

30 Things Only Bookworms Understand

Being a bookworm is like having membership in an elite club. Not everyone can appreciate the joy, anguish, excitement, and emotional ache involved in loving books. —Zac Totah in November 2016

The Fantasy Itch: Gettin’ To Be THAT Time Of Year

Ah, yes, I’m definitely ready to settle down with a good fantasy. It’s that time of year! Last year I read Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, first in the Mistborn Trilogy (which, I learned, is actually a five book series). I’m thinking this year I should finish out the rest, starting with The Well of Ascension. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in November 2016

Even The Best

Everything’s been done before. All the original stories were discovered by Adam and Eve, and the rest of us just experiment with variations on a theme. —Shannon McDermott in November 2016

What Are Spec-fic Characters Thankful For?

Across genres and galaxies, to kingdoms and spaceships hither and yon, the call went forth, asking the question, “What are you thankful for?” Here are thirty of the more memorable answers. —Zac Totah in November 2016

Thanksgiving–An American Holiday

One way that Christians writers can introduce themes consistent with a Christian worldview might be to include holidays like Thanksgiving. Or in the case of speculative fiction, invented holidays with a religious underpinning. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in November 2016

Why My Novel Bellanok Stars A Christian Pastor

Author Ralene Burke found a Christian pastor a perfect hero for her debut fantasy novel, Bellanok. —Ralene Burke in November 2016

We Were In The Neighborhood…

What would I do if aliens showed up? How would I react? Would it shake me to the core of my faith, like it did for the hapless puritan in Paul? Would it revive my faith, like it did for Mel Gibson in Signs? Would it encourage me to pull out my old Simon game and use the flashing lights and cool synthesized notes to try and communicate ala Close Encounters of the Third Kind? —Mark Carver in November 2016

The Need For Diversity In Christian Fiction

The narrow approach to diversity makes itself painfully evident in Christian fiction. Why? The answer is simple. Diversity is too edgy. —Zac Totah in November 2016

The Military, Veterans, And Speculative Fiction

In thinking about the military, I had to wonder about the place of the military in speculative stories. Perhaps most famous are the Storm Troopers of Star Wars, but other stories, particularly dystopian fantasy such as Hunger Games, includes a strong military—as part of the side of evil. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in November 2016

Fiction Friday – Kingdom At Sea, By Jill Williamson

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms and the award-winning author of several young adult books including the Blood of Kings trilogy, Replication, the Mission League series, and the Safe Lands trilogy. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in November 2016

Honors Villainy 312

Good morning. Or bad morning – whichever is most applicable to your day, and as you all know, I don’t care. —Shannon McDermott in November 2016

Is Doctor Strange Dangerous For Christians?

Will watching Doctor Strange open the door to the occult, to dangerous Eastern mysticism and New Age beliefs, to things Christians should never associate with? —Zac Totah in November 2016

Liturgy and Lunacy

Since Christianity is such an integral part of the Western society we inhabit, it’s only natural that it will have a prominent place in our stories. It shows up in all genres but we often see Christianity or its derivatives in fantasy, horror, and surprisingly, science fiction. —Mark Carver in November 2016
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