No Rice At The Lord’s Wedding? — Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, Aug 4, 2010
You’d think she had written an enormous essay declaring her exit from Christianity’s stage. But author Anne Rice’s July 28 announcement, posted on her Facebook wall, was short enough to quote here almost entirely. Today I quit being a Christian. […]
Another Marcher Lord: Kathy Tyers
E. Stephen Burnett, Aug 3, 2010
The author of multiple Star Wars novels and the sci-fi trilogy Firebird, Kathy Tyers, is coming to Christian fantasy-and-sci-fi indie publisher Marcher Lord Press. This comes from (among other sources) TitleTrakk.com. From yesterday: As [Marcher Lord Press’s] publisher and acquisitions […]
2010 Clive Staples Award – Voting Begins Today
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Aug 2, 2010
Several noteworthy items. First is the return of Speculative Faith, with a new address and a bit of a makeover. We’re happy to be back in business providing news and discussion about speculative fiction (the Speculative part of our name) […]
Changes Are Brewing
Stuart Stockton, Jun 4, 2010
OK it’s been silent around here for a few months now, and spammers have taken over too many of the comments! But we’re going to be fighting back. Speculative Faith will be moving to a new home in the coming […]
My Double Review: Hunter Brown and Ryann Watters
Jason Waguespack, Dec 1, 2009
I was supposed to have finished this review months ago, but a lot of things jumped in the way, namely school, work, other books, etc. Anyway, I’m back in the saddle, and ready to proceed with my special double review. […]
Make Your Vote Count
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 24, 2009
For the longest time, the Oscar Awards were the only recognized and coveted prize in the movie industry. But times change and along came the Golden Globe Awards. While the Oscars reflect the preferences of members of “The Academy,” the […]
CSFF Blog Tour – Curse Of The Spider King
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 19, 2009
Book one of the Berinfell Prophecies, Curse of the Spider King, by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper, is the November feature of the CSFF Blog Tour. A couple of observations about the tour and the book. From what I’ve […]
CSFF Blog Tour – Haunt Of Jackals or How Much Darkness Is Too Dark?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Oct 21, 2009
This month the CSFF Blog Tour is featuring Eric Wilson’s vampire novel, Haunt of Jackals (Thomas Nelson), the second book in the Jerusalem Undead Trilogy. A number of tour participants have weighed in on the religious elements including Rachel Starr […]
What Place Antagonists? The Vanishing Sculptor, A CSFF Feature
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Sep 23, 2009
I posted a review of The Vanishing Sculptor, the newest release by Donita Paul, over at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. My one criticism was that the antagonist shows up late. For a good portion of the story, the main […]
Nominations Needed For The 2009 Clive Staples Award
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Sep 18, 2009
Let’s see if we can select a book to receive the 2009 Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction. We need nominations. These must be Christian worldview science fiction/ fantasy/allegory/furturistic/supernatural novels published in English by a royalty paying press between […]
C. S. Lewis and Sub-creation
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Sep 3, 2009
Much misinformation abounds in regard to C. S. Lewis and his intentional inclusion of Christian allusions and themes in his fiction, particularly in The Chronicles of Narnia. For example, in an otherwise excellent article, Richard Doster wrote in “A Lost […]
How Christian Should Christian Speculative Fiction Be: CSFF Blog Tour – Offworld
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Aug 19, 2009
During the current CSFF Blog Tour for Robin Parrish’s novel Offworld, the question has come up again: How Christian should Christian fiction be, and in particular how Christian should Christian speculative fiction be? Should there be room for “seed sowing” […]
What To Make Of Dragons, Part 7 – Escapism
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Aug 7, 2009
Fellow Spec Faith blogger E. Stephen Burnett left an excellent comment to last week’s post answering the criticism that fantasy leads to delusion. Coincidentally he addressed the subject of escapism. I’m tempted either to copy and paste his remarks here […]
Fantasy and Delusion: A Look At The Half-blood Prince
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jul 30, 2009
In reality, this is a continuation of the series I started some time ago called “What to Make of Dragons.” This is Part 6, I believe, since my post last week on The Enclave was also part of the same, […]
The Truth In Speculative Fiction – A Look At The Enclave By Karen Hancock
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jul 22, 2009
The July CSFF Blog Tour feature is Karen Hancock’s The Enclave, a science fiction/suspense novel dealing with such issues as cloning, genetic engineering, and cryogenics. One of the things that struck me about this novel was how necessary it is. […]
Strange Story Spectrum — From Barn-raisers To Bloodsuckers
E. Stephen Burnett, Jul 17, 2009
Christian fiction is weird. If we didn’t already know that, it’s now reinforced by a Chicago Tribune story revealing how evangelical publishers are hitting all the hot buttons in the book world. And the genres are wholly divergent: creepy vampires, […]
What To Make Of Dragons, Part 4: Fantasy and Truth
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jun 24, 2009
As part of the CSFF Blog Tour, I read Vanish by Tom Pawlik. While this novel falls into the supernatural suspense (or horror) category rather than fantasy, it nevertheless serves as a perfect jumping off point to discuss the way […]
More Levity
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jun 12, 2009
The Fantasy Nut post got such a good response, I decided a little more light-hearted rambling might be in order. First an announcement. Fellow Spec Faith contributor E. Stephen Burnett just recently got married! I was fortunate enough to see […]
Are You A Fantasy Nut?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jun 4, 2009
Apparently I’m more one-track minded that I wanted to admit. I’ve been slogging out a series over at A Christian Worldview of Fiction that dissects The Shack, which has left me with no time to carry on the rebuttal to […]
What Constitutes Deus Ex Machina?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 20, 2009
What constitutes deus ex machina? My computer dictionary defines the term as “an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, esp. as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.” This question is especially pertinent because I’ve […]
Vampires Anyone? Part III
Jill Williamson, May 13, 2009
Eric Wilson did present the gospel message in Field of Blood. His protagonist just wasn’t ready to hear it yet.
What To Make Of Dragons, Part 3: Fantasy and The Occult
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 11, 2009
Last time, I digressed from a look at fantasy through the writing of Richard Abanes to a discussion of “In Defence of Fantasy,” a pamphlet by Andrew Lansdown answering the main objections some professing Christians hurl at fantasy. I left […]
What To Pack For ‘The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader,’ Part 2
E. Stephen Burnett, May 7, 2009
Suddenly sci-fi nerd-ism is cool again. Today it’s on the front of my local newspaper (?) and last week a toy Enterprise graced covers of Newsweek (which turned the feature into a total sycophantic suckup piece glorifying Barack Obamaâ„¢). Yet […]
What To Pack For ‘The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader,’ Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, Apr 30, 2009
About a month ago I wrote a two-part column about what contributed to the failure of the second Chronicles of Narnia film, Prince Caspian, to live up to the success of its predecessor. In the first installment, I listed as […]
What To Make Of Dragons, Part 2
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 27, 2009
So what should we make of dragons … or magic or wizards or trolls or faeries? Do they belong in the stories our children read? Do they belong in the stories we Christian authors write? I ended Part 1 of […]
CSFF Blog Tour – Blaggard’s Moon
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 22, 2009
Blaggard’s Moon by George Bryan Polivka is outstanding fiction. I posted a complete review at A Christian Worldview of Fiction, but I want to elaborate on one point I brought up—that the characters are authentic. Please note, I think this […]
Following The Marcher Lord
E. Stephen Burnett, Apr 16, 2009
Finally this month I’ve ordered several speculative-fiction titles from Marcher Lord Press, the new-and-interesting online-but-genuine publisher for Christian-leaning sci-fi-and-fantasy novels. Yes, it’s taken me a while! Sometimes real life — and financial constraints, even for their very reasonably priced offerings […]
What To Make Of Dragons, Part 1
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 13, 2009
Off and on I run across comments that seem to indicate an element of conservative thought that is still suspicious of fantasy. I hesitate to say this kind of thinking comes from Christians because I have questions about those who […]
Vampires Part II
Jill Williamson, Apr 8, 2009
Things are slowly changing for Christian speculative fiction. Cool stuff is here. More cool stuff is coming.
C.S. Lewis and The Forbidden Fruits Of Fiction
E. Stephen Burnett, Apr 2, 2009
For a month I have not written here, being occupied once again by real-world concerns such as work, writing and wedding planning. Sometime soon, I will return to my thoughts on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film, which is […]
