High above land, founded upon a floating cloud of rock and nestled beneath a starry sky, rises a fantastical castle.¹

You’ve likely seen this image in our Lorehaven art, our social media banners, and in the background of the Lorehaven.com homepage.²

For some time, however, some of us at Lorehaven have been wondering: what amazing adventures might await inside that gravity-defying medieval complex?

Next month, we will discover the answer. So can you.

And behold! just in time for your resolution of, “This year I will read more books”!

Starting this New Year’s Day, we’re opening the castle doors to the Lorehaven Guild (in our own Discord space). We’ve built this fantastical new feature to help you find other fans and join monthly book quests into the best Christian-made novels across fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond.

We open the Lorehaven Guild on Saturday, Jan. 1, exclusively to Lorehaven subscribers.

Of course, it’s free to subscribe. You can subscribe here or use this site’s popup.

On New Year’s Day, you can find the Lorehaven Guild on the popular Discord community service. Use the Discord app or your browser to enter the Guild. Once inside the Guild, you can browse the Lorehaven Sacred Scrolls faith statement (now upgraded for all Lorehaven staff writers). Then you’ll sign off on the Code of Honor (applying to all Guild members).

Once you finish the paperwork, enter the Great Hall and pass into the Guild itself.

• Marvel at the tapestries and ornate woodwork. Warm yourself by the fire.
• Sample from the Concession Stand and the cappuccino bar.
• Create your imagined identity, RPG-style, or simply be yourself.
• Meet other fans of the best Christian-made fantastical fiction.
• Share your favorite novel titles and help others find their next favorite story.
• Join like-minded families in finding the best books for your kids and relatives.
• Track all Lorehaven news and special announcements from the inside.

Best of all, join Book Quests to explore new Christian-made fantastical novels.

Our first Main Quest begins Saturday, Jan. 8, exploring The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Each month, we will select a new novel, likely from the titles Lorehaven is blessed to review. Thenceforth an appointed Guild leader shall begin the Book Quest, guiding the Quest Party into a fantastical new world. Together you can explore this story for our Author’s glory, applying its meaning to the real world He calls us to serve.

Our first quest begins Saturday, Jan. 8. Lorehaven publisher E. Stephen Burnett³ will lead the Quest Party into well-loved lands: C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. By February we’ll finish this quest. Then … what stories lie beyond?

For now, for Lorehaven subscribers, you can await that exclusive invitation with the Guild link. Quest guides also await any Guild-related questions you share below.

About the Lorehaven Guild

The Lorehaven Guild serves a community of heroes who gather to celebrate Christian-made fantastical fiction with delight and discernment. These stories include (but are not limited to) fantasy, science fiction, and beyond.

Heroes of the Guild will explore their favorite creative works in these genres. We will focus on Christian-made stories, yet occasionally include general market books.

Guild heroes can join monthly Main Quest parties that travel into the fantastical worlds of new books. We will explore these stories’ beauty, goodness, and truth (and opposites!), applying their meanings to the real world of our ultimate Author.

Heroes can also join occasional Side Quest parties that travel into other books, such as older Christian-made stories or general market novels.

All Lorehaven staff creators, guest writers, and Quest Leaders must agree with our Sacred Scrolls faith statement, and must follow the Code of Honor. Guild members may not fully agree with our Sacred Scrolls, but must follow the Code of Honor.

Lorehaven Sacred Scrolls faith statement

All Lorehaven staff creators and guest writers, as well as Quest Guides in the Lorehaven Guild, must agree with our Sacred Scrolls faith statement.⁴

1. The Bible. Scripture is our only inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient word of God. Men wrote the Bible by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Each book reflects its human author’s personality, language, and genre choices, yet flows into a single narrative called the Gospel. The Bible consists of sixty-six books in Old and New Testaments. (Good translations give us confidence to know God’s intent.)
2. God. God is our Creator and our sovereign ruler of all things in Heaven and Earth. He eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He alone has the right to define natural law and moral law; all beauty, goodness, and truth; and any virtues such as love, holiness, and wrath.
3. Creation. God created and rules his universe as its ultimate authority. God’s creation can and does reflect certain divine attributes. All real beauty, goodness, and truth comes from God, even in a world that rejects him.
4. Humanity. God created human beings in his own image, giving us creative abilities, a call to steward the Earth, and moral responsibility for our choices. The “chief end” of all people is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Adam and Eve, however, rejected this purpose and chose to rebel against God’s command.
5. Creation’s curse. Adam’s and Eve’s choice brought God’s curse of death upon the world. This will lead to a person’s eternal separation from God in a place called Hell. God’s curse also affects his own creation and all of our creative works—including our storytelling and culture-making—with sin, idolatry, suffering, trauma, and death. Because we bear God’s image, our stories may reflect glimpses of God’s beauty, goodness, and truth, yet they often show these virtues broken and distorted. For now, we need discernment to best enjoy God’s world and human creations.
6. Jesus Christ. God started his epic gospel redemption narrative in Genesis 3, then gave mankind a tutor in the Old Testament Law—a temporary guardian until Jesus arrived to fulfill this Law. We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin. He lived a perfect life, worked real miracles, and recruited disciples. He fought false teaching and used sermons and stories alike to teach his followers about his Kingdom. Jesus surrendered his life to crucifixion, suffering real death as final atonement for sinners. Three days later he resurrected himself from death in a physical body. Later he ascended to Heaven to sit at his Father’s right hand, reigning and planning his return.
7. Salvation. Jesus calls all people to repent of their sin and be “born again,” that is, spiritually regenerated and reconciled to our loving God. A person may see this conversion in a moment, early in life, or even over time. (Christians of good faith can debate the order or doctrinal priority of the salvation process.) Anyone is saved according to the Scripture alone, by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in the perfect work of Jesus Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.
8. The Church. By the Holy Spirit, God organizes a Kingdom of redeemed saints. This is called the Church (capital C), consisting of many local churches (small C). A local church is defined by many requirements, among them biblical teaching, fellowship, worship, regular meetings, and membership limited to Christians. All biblical Christians must join a local church in some way, or else actively seek out qualifying local churches in their area. Good Christians may disagree with minor doctrine points, or suffer serious harm from church abuse or false teaching. But these experiences, even if hurtful, do not disqualify local church participation.
9. Marriage and family. God gave humans many individual freedoms, yet defines marriage as one man and one woman uniting in a lifetime covenant. God intends marriage and family to help us reflect Christ’s love for his Church, to share the good of wedlock, to bear children, and to fill the Earth as stewards of God’s creation. In a fallen world, people may struggle with the effects of sin, such as divorce, male/female identities, unnatural attractions, or reproductive issues. God is faithful to help Christians endure trauma, temptations, and other weakness without sinning, and will redeem repentant saints at the resurrection. (Biblical Christians must confront many questions. But as of this statement, our culture is specifically subverting marriage and family. That fact requires this item.)
10. Resurrection. Jesus Christ will personally return to Earth! He will complete his redemption of all things under his kingship. He will resurrect the saved and the lost. Jesus will perfectly judge all people, rewarding his adopted children with eternal happiness, and punishing all who reject him with eternal and conscious suffering in place the Bible calls the lake of fire. He will restore all things by renewing this universe, called the New Heavens and the New Earth. In this world, every restored person will finally be able to worship God forever in all our adventures—exploring, working, playing, creating, and enjoying all for his glory.

Lorehaven Guild Code of Honor

Guild leaders and members must follow the Lorehaven Code of Honor.

1. Keep to the Code. Lorehaven Guild members may not necessarily agree with the Sacred Scrolls faith statement (see above). However, please recognize that Lorehaven and the Lorehaven Guild are led by Christian guides. We encourage questions of the biblical gospel, but we cannot tolerate attempts to disparage this Christian faith or dissuade other members from following Jesus Christ.
2. Respect everyone. Every person in your Quest party is created in God’s image. Every novel author is also created (and is creating) in God’s image! Because all people, whether celebrity, stranger, friend, or family, reflect this very image of God, they are worthy of respect. We will uphold this biblical, gracious respect.
3. Avoid swearing, sex-talk, and harassment. Scripture says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place” (Ephesians 5:4). We apply this standard to the Guild. Avoid vulgarities, profanities, and misuses of God’s title (including in acronyms). Yes, some books for Main Quests or Side Quests may include language we wouldn’t ourselves use in the Guild. If you’re uncertain about a word, avoid using it, or ask a Guild guide. Members must avoid sexualized comments about characters or actual harassment of real people. This does not refer to disagreements but does include (yet is not limited to) slander or vulgar language. Moderators will help with resolutions as needed.
4. Beware of political issues. Some books and their Quests may naturally explore moral issues that relate to political conflicts. We encourage gracious discussion of these ideas and themes, as specifically related to the books. But members must avoid active discussion of specific political leaders, parties, or public policy.
5. Celebrate fandom! Our quest is to explore Christian-made fantastical stories as readers. Aspiring writers can find many other communities about creative work. In the Guild, we will keep all our Quests focused on delighted, discerning fans. (Fantastic authors, heed the wisdom of Proverbs 27:2: “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips”!)
6. Enjoy your creative gifts. We don’t require but we do encourage Guild members in Quests to engage in virtual “cosplay.” Try taking personas of gallant knights, brave adventurers, ship captains, monster hunters, or whatever suits your God-given imaginative fancy. Quest guides will lead in this imaginative worldbuilding. If that’s not how you create, no pressure. Stay as normal as you like. Either way, whether or not we engage in virtual cosplay, we’re all fans of fantastic stories.
7. Keep to the Quest road. If our Quest conversations diverge too far from the Quest’s main journey, pursue those smaller trails elsewhere. For example, if we end up discussing books different from the selection, move that conversation to another place, or request a future Side Quest to focus on that other book.