Recommendations on Christian fantasy...

[Esoteric]

I would like to learn more about this genre, which in my pitiful library amounts only to the Cronicles of Narnia and LOTR. There must be more Christian-based fantasy out there. What are some other good titles?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Anything by Stephen Lawhead

The Cyber Quest series are very good (more a science-fiction/fantasy series). They are light reading and present a good message. It involves virtual reality time travel and the search for the Galilee Man (Jesus) through the ages. (Its now available with all 6 books in one volume = 360 or more pages).

http://www.word.com.au/details.aspx?ProductID=420072

[gundam743]

Try "Gideon's Dawn" by Michael Warden; its one of the best books I've ever read! I think you can find it at Amazon. (If you like that, get "Waymaker," the sequel)

[Hephzibah]

I second W4J's Stephen Lawhead recommendation. Also, Ted Dekker (while not strictly fantasy) is an awesome christian author. I esp like his 'Circle' trilogy

[Kaori]

For something a bit older than what has already been suggested, George MacDonald was a nineteenth-century Christian fantasy author. While I haven't read any of his books myself, I have heard nothing but good things about him.

Or, if you are willing to read something much older, there is always Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, which is a massive Christian allegory.

Additionally, although not all of his books are fantasy, Walter Wangerin is an excellent writer. Two of his books, The Book of the Dun Cow and The Book of Sorrows, are animal fables, and I would recommend them without hesitation.

[soul alive]

if you can find them, "Beyond the River" and "The Remnant" by Gilbert Morris. they are probably out of print, but you can always interlibrary loan them. they are fairly well written, but one problem i had with the books was that they were not edited very well, and the missed capitalizations and punctuation problems were distracting to me (but then i'm like that). doing a quick search on Gilbert Morris on amazon.com brought up what looked to be quite a few other fantasy titles by him. he's a pretty good author, i've enjoyed what i've read by him.

i don't know if it qualifies as fantasy, probably more historical, but the 'Mark of the Lion' trilogy by Francine Rivers is FANTASTIC, and some of my favorite books.

i third the Lawhead recommendation.

[bigsleepj]

If you want to try "The Man who was Thursday" which is one my favourite book of all time. Imagine a book that has the theological and philosophical discussion of the Matrix movies mixed into a plot that sounds like a James Bond spoof written by the Monty Python gang and you may begin to get a picture of what this book is about. You might never figure out what the book means but it's one insane ride. Oh yes, it was written by GK Chesterton in 1908.

[Maledicte]

[quote="gundam743"]Try "Gideon's Dawn" by Michael Warden]
Yes! Yes! I was just about to say that! I haven't found the sequel yet, but I want it real bad.

I also, um...third the STL recommendation.

[Mithrandir]

Lawhead is one of the better Christian fantasy writers out there.

[Esoteric]

Or, if you are willing to read something much older, there is always Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, which is a massive Christian allegory.

I actually have read a good portion of the Faeire Queen... I never thought of that as Christian fantasy, but I guess it is!


Hmm, lots of suggestions, but it seems by your recomendations that I should start with Lawhead. Thanks for the input guys. If you think of anymore good ones, I'll check back later.

[Maledicte]

I remember a good one...The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr. Looks like it's kiddie stuff, but it's not...more like Redwall than anything else. Kinda weird but great.

[mitsuki lover]

One Christian author that sadly has been neglected for a longish time has been
Charles Williams who was a fellow member of the Inklings along with Tolkien and
Lewis.His fantasies include The Place of the Lion and contain a lot of supernatural
elements to them.

[bigsleepj]

I have read Charles Williams but his books are very difficult, especially Descent into Hell. My favourite though is War in Heaven. Charles Williams is like a very darker Frank Perretti

[mitsuki lover]

Right now I am rereading The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter and he talks a bit about Williams in it.

[Technomancer]

While it's not explicitly Christian, I'd also recommend some of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, especially 'Sailing to Sarantium', 'Lord of Emperors' and 'The Lions of Al-Rassan'. Most of his novels are set in a kind of pseudo-Europe that echoes some of the struggles of the real one, and as such offer a similar worldview (depending from whose perspective a particular novel is written from).

[mitsuki lover]

I know it's not even overtly Christian but J.R.R.Tolkien for one was said to admire the stories of E.Robert Howard,especially his Conan The Barbarian series.

[EireWolf]

It's beginning to sound like a broken record now, but... STEPHEN LAWHEAD!!!

He's excellent. You might start with the Song of Albion trilogy or the Pendragon Cycle.

[Yeshua-Knight]

here's one that's new that is really good the series is called the binding of the blade and it's by L.B. graham, the first book in the series is called Beyond the Summerland the second that just came out earlier this month (and isn't available in all stores yet) is called Bringer of storms, this in my opinion is a great series, also while it's not entirely of the mideval/fantasy genre, i also suggest the shekinah chronicles by matthew dickens the first one of that is called the wayfarer (really good stuff in that one too)

'nuff said

[FadedOne]

Question to those suggestion Stephen Lawhead's books. How is he for content? Not too evil? im assuming it's pretty free of junk bc of this thread's title, but I thought i'd ask.

[Yeshua-Knight]

as far as violence and that kinda thing, i didn't find him very graphic, there's one part in the song of albion series that was a bit much for my taste, but other than that i thought it was very good, i highly recommend him

[EireWolf]

Uh, some of Lawhead's stuff can be quite graphic. I'm thinking of a scene in Merlin, particularly. Let's just say that he doesn't sugar-coat things, which is one of the things I love about his writing. So if you can't handle or don't want to read realistic descriptions of battle and stuff like that, Lawhead's probably not for you. But he doesn't go over the top with it.

When you say "not too evil," I'm not sure what you mean. Some of the characters in his books are extremely evil, but they are not the heroes. Evil doesn't win. (I hope that wasn't a spoiler.)

There is some sexual content, but it never goes into graphic detail. His heroes do not tend to be promiscuous or anything like that. I wouldn't recommend some of Lawhead's books to anyone under 18 unless they're very mature though. Not just because of a little sensuality (usually between married couples), but also because of mature themes.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.

[Yeshua-Knight]

wow, i musta missed those books, although i've only read the song of albion series, and it's been a couple of years since then

[FadedOne]

Uh, some of Lawhead's stuff can be quite graphic. I'm thinking of a scene in Merlin, particularly. Let's just say that he doesn't sugar-coat things, which is one of the things I love about his writing. So if you can't handle or don't want to read realistic descriptions of battle and stuff like that, Lawhead's probably not for you. But he doesn't go over the top with it.

When you say "not too evil," I'm not sure what you mean. Some of the characters in his books are extremely evil, but they are not the heroes. Evil doesn't win. (I hope that wasn't a spoiler.)

There is some sexual content, but it never goes into graphic detail. His heroes do not tend to be promiscuous or anything like that. I wouldn't recommend some of Lawhead's books to anyone under 18 unless they're very mature though. Not just because of a little sensuality (usually between married couples), but also because of mature themes.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.

hmm....yeah, I was mostly speaking in terms of sexual content and language, since i'm asking more for a friend than for myself. personally I can handle most things in books, but I like to be extra cautious when recommending. now i'm not so sure...hm. shall give it thought.