Sunday, July 23, 2006

A long lost love ...

I'm rekindling a long lost (well ... maybe not lost ... just put aside) love for Christian fiction.

It started with the Frank Peretti novels in the late 1980's that grabbed my imagination, and started my interest in the concept of using fiction to portray truths (in this case, it was the concept of spiritual warfare as being real and everyday). Once a Peretti fan , always a Peretti fan ... I read everything of his I could get my hands on, including his bio.

Then I got hooked on the "Left Behind " series. I would wait eagerly for each new book in the series to be released, and then devour it as soon as I got it home - sometimes reading until 2 or 3 in the morning. Being a Pre-trib believer helped there a little I suppose - as many of my friends did not share my enthusiasm for fictional accounts of the last days.

I have always been a SF fan (Star Trek, Stargate, Sliders, Terminator, Total Recall, Time Cop, etc) and love the excitement of the constant battle between good and evil.

I stumbled across several bloggers sites (Rulan and Curm for starters), and then meandered to Michel Archer, Chris Well, Bonnie Calhoun, Brandilyn Collins, and so on. There is an awesome amount of Christian Fiction novel and short story writing going on out there, with many people using their God given gifts to write stories that are captivating and uplifting.

It is a pity that Michel Archer has put her series on "orientalisms" on hold for now. I would eagerly visit her blog every few days to see the latest installment in the drama of Yeshua and Max. Hopefully she will be able to deal with the people who were ripping off her story, and return to writing great stories for all to enjoy.

The only downside is that hardcover books are so darned expensive in this country. Most publishers take forever to release soft cover versions, and so it becomes an expensive hobby or interest to read good books when they are first released. Many of the Left Behind series that have been out for 3 or 4 years here in Australia are still only available in hard cover.

If you're interested in Christian Fiction, then take the time to visit some of these blog sites. It will be worth the effort.

Shalom - peace, prosperity and healing.

Steve

3 comments:

David Meigs said...

You’re right, there’s a lot of good fiction out there today. Frank was the first person to break the Christian fiction barrier, opening the door for the rest of us.

But this next generation is going to take things up a notch. It’s going to be so cool to watch.

Spot ya later bro!

Liza on Maui said...

Frank Peretti is my favorite when it comes to Christian Fiction. His "This Present Darkness" is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

I agree, Frank Peretti has received overwhelmingly positive praise from many Christian book reviews, his books being heralded as telling entertaining stories with complex interwoven plots.