“Queen†By Gene Wolfe: Is It CSF? What Can We Learn As Writers?
Mirtika Schultz, Aug 25, 2006
This is a brief short story, six pages in QPB size. It’s fantasy. It doesn’t name names; it expects the reader to figure out what is happening by the slowly accumulating clues. And it’s not hard to figure out, if […]
Mini-Reviews Of Christian SF/F, Part 2
Shannon McNear, Aug 24, 2006
Another short list of CBA SF/F I have enjoyed over the past couple of years. Notice that I leave out Bryan Davis and Donita K. Paul. These go without saying at the top of the list of new classics, on […]
Why Fantasy? – Part 1
Bryan Davis, Aug 23, 2006
Why in the world would a computer geek, educated in engineering and logic, become an author of fantasy for youth? And Christian fantasy?! Isn’t that an oxymoron? Why would a Christian want to write about the impossible? I had the […]
Book Discussion – The Light Of Eidon – Part 2
Stuart Stockton, Aug 22, 2006
Welcome back to another Tuesday, hopefully it will have some coherent thought associated with it. This week I’m looking at the world we were introduced to in The Light of Eidon, by Karen Hancock. To get a little bit of […]
Christian Sci Fi/Fan Blog Tour—Kathy Tyers
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Aug 21, 2006
Any new venture has its pioneers, and Kathy Tyers is one of the Christian science fiction writers I’d call a pioneer. Along with a small handful of others, she paved the way for the rest of us spec fic writers. […]
“Samaritan” By Connie Willis: Is It CSF? What Can We Learn As Writers and Readers?
Mirtika Schultz, Aug 17, 2006
I hope some of you have had a chance to read the story that I’m analyzing today. Connie Willis is a supremely skilled writer of SF fiction, and I have a personal preference for her short works. Like the Yolen […]
Mini-reviews Of Recent Christian SF/F Titles, Part 1
Shannon McNear, Aug 16, 2006
Two weeks ago, I told how I’d rediscovered a few gems in current Christian SF/F … today I’ll touch on a few other titles I’ve particularly enjoyed, and why. Having already mentioned the works of Karen Hancock and Kathy Tyers, […]
Heresy or Poetic License
Carol Collett, Aug 16, 2006
Today’s post is going to be very short. I had a root canal Monday afternoon and my mouth hurts too much to think. I want to stay with Mr. Shontz at Holy Terror for a couple more weeks. Today I […]
Book Discussion – The Light Of Eidon – Part 1
Stuart Stockton, Aug 15, 2006
Would you believe that I’ve gone and misplaced my copy of The Light of Eidon? Please shoot me now. But I’ll go ahead and begin this discussion from memory until I can pick up a replacement copy. Now if you […]
Learning From The Secular—Part 3
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Aug 14, 2006
One fantasy that influenced me was the Richard Adams novel Watership Down, a story of a group of rabbits. Not your cutesy, animated rabbits wearing human clothes and walking upright. Real rabbits, except they are intelligent, have the use of […]
Part 1: Five ABA SF Stories: Are They CSF? What Can They Teach Us?
Mirtika Schultz, Aug 11, 2006
This is too long an examination to cover in one—even one LONG—post. So, we’ll see how far we go. Anyone is free to take up the discussion here and run with it. It would help if you had the stories […]
Wicked Wednesday
Carol Collett, Aug 9, 2006
Today I want to direct your attention to a website called Holy Terror. As you could expect from the name, it’s a site dedicated to Christian Horror/Terror. Last week I mentioned briefly the essay The Bible and the Horror Genre […]
Romance In SF/F
Shannon McNear, Aug 9, 2006
Beth has asked me to fill in for her for a while, so I’ve decided to shift gears a bit and do the tour of “favorite CBA SF/F moments” for a later post. Some time back, I conducted an informal […]
What Makes Christian Speculative Fiction “Christian”, Anyway?
Mirtika Schultz, Aug 8, 2006
I like lists. I will attempt to answer the question posed in the title by offering several lists, two from a couple of smart folks and the rest by me. (Whether you think I’m smart, I’ll leave to the reader.) […]
Learning From The Secular—Part 2
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Aug 8, 2006
I began this discussion last week with a look at an article by Stephen Donaldson entitled Epic Fantasy in the Modern World. In this article, Donaldson defines fantasy as the external dramatization of the internal. That succinct definition resonated with […]
Peeling Back The Veil
Stuart Stockton, Aug 8, 2006
Run for the hills! It’s Tuesday again! Grab some snacks, this will be a long one. Thanks to everybody who commented on my stories last week (and for those of you lurkers who looked at them). There were quite a […]
Discovering The Current Wave Of Christian SF/F
Shannon McNear, Aug 3, 2006
My apologies for being late today. I had a rather severe outbreak of real life this morning. Wow, such cool discussion going on around here! But where was I? Oh, yes, the current wave of Christian SF/F … I’ve told […]
Going Bump In The Night
Carol Collett, Aug 2, 2006
What is horror fiction? Genreflecting defines it this way: “A horror text is one that contains a monster, whether it be supernatural, human, or a metaphor for psychological torment.†Anthony Fonseca and June Pulliam, Hooked on Horror Wikipedia says this: […]
Of Forms and Fangs
Stuart Stockton, Aug 1, 2006
It’s Tuesday again! Don’t worry my actual post won’t be as long as last week’s, but there is a bit of extracurricular reading. Now I ended last week saying that I will be going over some of the books I […]
Learning From The Secular—Part 1
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jul 31, 2006
Last week we had some lengthy discussion about Christian sci fi and fantasy (CSFF). Must it be overt? Should there be allegorical elements, specifically a Christ figure or type? I began to wonder, What makes CSFF distinct from secular SFF? […]
Subtle Fictional Christianity: What and Why?
Mirtika Schultz, Jul 28, 2006
Over the past few months of 2006, and in the recent cool discussion following (and including) Stuart’s Tuesday post, I’ve come across repeated calls for subtler Christian speculative fiction. As I’ve read the discussions online, I’m starting to think I’m not at all clear on what […]
First Love
Beth Goddard, Jul 27, 2006
Well, it’s my turn to introduce myself, though Shannon started to do just that last Thursday. As she explained, we’re sharing days, so you’ll read a post from me, Beth Goddard, every other Thursday. This week has been an exceptionally […]
Day 3 Of July Blog Tour
Carol Collett, Jul 26, 2006
Visit Christian Fandom. I realize we’re talking about fantasy this week, but I’ve been camped out in the horror section at CF. It’s okay, I’m used to the looks. Go check it out. Next week I’m going to get deeper […]
Lacking Worlds: How A Focus on Spirituality Can Hamper Christian Fantasy
Stuart Stockton, Jul 25, 2006
Most of the Christian fantasy I’ve read has had worlds built out of a religion rather than the beliefs rising out of the world.
July CSFF Blog Tour—Christian Fandom, Day 1
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jul 24, 2006
I am happy to launch my participation in Speculative Faith with a post about this month’s Christian Sci Fi and Fantasy Blog Tour feature. First, the list of others participating for July: Carol Collett Valerie Comer Kameron Franklin Beth Goddard […]
Mir, Friday’s Femme: An Introductory Ramble
Mirtika Schultz, Jul 21, 2006
I’m Mirtika. Or Mir. Or Mirta Ana. Take your pick. I advise you stick to the shorter one, the one that’s easy to type and recalls a defunct space station. How apropos. The one like the word for “peace.” Perhaps […]
Who Am I?
Shannon McNear, Jul 19, 2006
Hi, my name is Beth Goddard and … oh, wait. Beth was up for today, but due to a melding of our minds, errr, a sharing of our brains … well, anyway, Beth and I will be trading off on […]
A Quick Howdy
Carol Collett, Jul 19, 2006
Hi. My name is Carol. I love science fiction and fantasy. Some days it’s like that when you’re a Christian and a fan and writer of speculative fiction. Kind of feel like you’re at a 12 step meeting. So it’s […]
Greetings From A Crazy Guy
Stuart Stockton, Jul 18, 2006
So it’s time for my first post on this crazy thing. I’ll state right up front that I’m no big expert on anything, I’m not even a little one. I’ve got no publishing creds, only a nice little pile of […]
What Is Speculative Faith?
Mirtika Schultz, Jul 14, 2006
We are writers who share two passions—a genre and a Savior. The genre is speculative literature. That ‘s the umbrella term that covers fantasy, science fiction, and allegory in all forms: short story, novella, novel, screenplay, and poetry. The Savior is Christ. That is the […]
