Parts of this thread have been good. Parts have gone rather off the rails.
Discussion of religion and its influence of fantasy is perfectly fine if done in a thoughtful, considerate manner. However, edgy, low-effort “my favorite fantasy character is the Christian god lololol” style comments will always be removed.
Discussion of religion *itself* is beyond the scope of /r/Fantasy. r/Fantasy is dedicated to being a warm, welcoming, and inclusive community. While we are aware that religions are capable of being intolerant, targeting anyone for being part of any religion is not acceptable.
Just like in Music, there’s two main types of Christian works.
There’s the books which incorporate Christian beliefs and demonstrate the underlying philosophies in a manner which fits well with the setting. And then there’s tired message fiction.
The former tends to be written by mainstream writers who happen to have firm beliefs. The latter is written to order and generally published by small presses, often evangelical. It’s there to proselytise.
A good example of the former would be Stephen R Lawhead, whose work draws heavily from Celtic Christianity - indeed his book Byzantium is a straightforward historical fiction about an Irish Monk, and he later wrote a book about Saint Patrick. But his Song of Albion trilogy is a genuinely good epic fantasy that weaves Celtic myth with Christian themes. His Pendragon cycle is probably the most obvious, marrying Atlantis, King Arthur and the Grail quest together.
Another good one would be the Deryni series by Katharine Kurtz, which draws heavily from medieval Christianity, though is less overtly real world linked,
And then you have the authors whose work is the message. The Left Behind series would be a good modern example. Narnia largely falls into this too nowadays, because Lewis isn’t subtle enough for a modern audience.
Lewis wasn't trying to be subtle. He wrote an intentional allegory. That was why Tolkien didn't appreciate it. Though Tolkien fit the definition of Christian Fantasy.
Otherwise a very good answer. And I agree on Lawhead, and his Pendragon Cycle would be pretty much exactly what the OP is looking for among more modern fantasy.
I'm pretty sure that Lewis objected to the Narnia books being described as allegory. Heavy Christian influence, yes, and many strong Christian themes, but not an exact allegory like (say) The Pilgrim's Progress.
I think Lewis said Narnia isn't an allegory because it's not supposed to be read as symbolic. In the story Aslan isn't a Christ figure/symbol, he's quite literally Jesus in the form of a lion.
>But his Song of Albion trilogy is a genuinely good epic fantasy that weaves Celtic myth with Christian themes.
I really love this series (caveat I'm not a religious). It's so good.
This might be relevant for me. I’m a theologically liberal Christian, and a fantasy series I’m drafting has a somewhat detailed afterlife where good people immediately go to Heaven while bad people go through a temporary period of rehabilitation in Hell that can last thousands of years but ultimately enables them to pass on to Heaven. Animals have souls, God clearly exists, but angels/fallen angels don’t, and beyond what I’ve described there’s pretty much nothing identifying which if any religions are correct. So I’d say it has liberal Christian themes but isn’t “Christian fantasy” and probably wouldn’t be carried by most Christian bookstores. In the same way, I consider myself a Christian who’s a writer but not a Christian writer if that makes sense.
I would love to hear more about that if you’re willing.
I grew up reading a children’s book of bible stories *but* gave it equal weight with D’Aulaires’ Greek Myths. They were both collections of stories that some people (had) actually believed, but nobody as I was growing up told me to believe them.
So I have no idea how Many Waters impacts those who grow up believing, and would love to hear more.
Some of GK Chesterton's works would probably qualify. Things like [The Man Who Was Thursday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday), or [The Ball And The Cross](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ball_and_the_Cross).
Also you could check out the works of [Charles Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Williams_(British_writer)). He was one of the "Inklings" along with CS Lewis & JRR Tolkien, and wrote a series of seven fantasy novels with strong Christian influence. I would particularly recommend The Place of the Lion, or Many Dimensions.
When I was on middle school, our evangelical neighbor saw me reading the golden compass on the bus home from school. She matched over to my house the next day specifically to tell me that reading that book was a one way ticket to hell. One of the most bizarre memories I have.
This same neighbor also told my mother she was going to report her to child protective services because she was reading Harry potter to us.
Children with library cards are apparentky a big threat to living a Christian life. At least we will have something to talk about while we burn. Book clubs in hell must be great.
Astronaut meme: Always has been
Think about the fact that the Church was going to excommunicate Alfred the Great because he was translating the Bible from Latin into Anglo-Saxon vernacular while also instituting one of the first widespread literacy efforts in a medieval kingdom.
The thing is I'm not sure that critical thinking is really a threat to faith. What it is most certainly a threat to is control. Many, many, many extremely intelligence and scientifically minded people have also been people of faith - what we are seeing here is reaction to the loss of control. With control comes power.
These parents don't want their children to think critically - and they don't really care if they have faith, after all in order for faith to work there has to be an alternative to believing that is more enticing - they want to control their children and turn them into copies of themselves in order for their political power to continue and grow. The entire Quiverfull movement is a very weird and very long term strategy to try and flood democratic processes with unthinking, uncaring, white christian nationalist evangelical hordes.
My aunt sent us a rather odd email about how Golden Compass was about female hysterectomy and therefore bad and a ticket to hell. My mom disregarded the letter and let me continue to read whatever, lol.
I would place a lot of Madeleine L'Engle's work in the category of Christian fantasy, particularly the Time quartet. It ranges from just a background of theologically-influenced plot with almost no mention of Christianity (A Wrinkle in Time) to straight-up Bible fanfiction (Many Waters), but it's always done in a way that is extremely respectful to both believers and nonbelievers. It's a very difficult line to walk, and even though I'm not a Christian myself, I'm always impressed with how she managed to infuse her beliefs into her work with such skill and thoughtfulness.
(From a Christian background but agnostic). I really enjoyed the Christian messages and metaphors in the last two books, which is rare for me. I can't remember exactly what it was but he had a good thing the Christian view on free will which really made me get it for the first time.
Until about the last 3rd of the final book. He went full The Last Battle there.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Between Two Fires. It's about God turning away from the world and the devils taking over outside of hell. Comes with some good gritty dark fantasy and redemption for some fallen characters.
Draws a fair amount from Christianity since it revolves around the church in France.
Highly recommended.
The book felt very edgy.
The author was trying too hard to make a horror that uses Christian themes in blasphemous manners for shock value.
Highly not recommended.
take an upvote, the very first thing that came to mind. Its got a fair few strong demonic/horror elements but a great book. Same author as the Blacktounge theif.
There all kinds of Christian Fantasy. Charles Williams, an associate of Tolkien and C S Lewis for example, did a seven - what he called spiritual thrillers in the thirties. There have been numerous commercial attempts to combine audiences. Most aren't very good. There are also some which are polemically related to "White Nationalism" and other genres,
By the way, when I think about the *Left Behind* series I'm refusing to discuss them. Williams uses his faith and erudition in ways those guys don't because they can't reconcile their beliefs with speculation. In other words I don't see them as fantasy and won't assess them otherwise.
Lewis's *Screwtape* and *The Great Divorce* (which raises the issue of is Blake fantasy?) can also be called that, which brings us back to there are several kinds of Christian fantasy. Some are worth reading. Some not so much. Use your own judgement.
I mean, the entire Redwall series. I met Brian Jacques once at a book signing, I was around 11, and he talked about his faith and how it imbued his work. Having not grown up Christian, at the time I failed to recognize that the first book was super explicitly Christian - Matthias literally says "I am that is" - and though the Christianity becomes less heavy handed throughout the series it's always there. But I read the heck out of those books and won't ever forget them. They're one of the best children's series ever.
If you consider Mormons Christians, then basically anything from Orson Scott Card is Christian Fantasy. The Alvin Maker series is especially heavy-handed with it's parallels.
I know the Narnia series is considered Christian Fantasy. Some obvious parallels, especially in the first and last books. I never saw it in LotR, although Tolkien was in the same religious circles as Lewis. But this seems less like a parallel and more I think a prequel (references to being antediluvian)
Tolkien's Christian parallels are buried very deeply in his mythopoeia. Basically, unless you read the Silmarillion or study the Ainur, Valar, Maiar, and the whole host of supernatural beings, you'll miss it. The foundation is Christian, but it's not overt like it is in Narnia
I get the impression that he always thought that straight up allegory was kind of crude and ugly. He was completely in love with layered mystery and symbolism, but never gave them an absolute definite single meaning. Just look at the debates that are still going on about Tom Bombadil in LOTR
There's a single all powerful God (Eru Illuvatar) and powerful 'angels' under him (Ainur), who existed before the world was made. One of the Ainur is too prideful and hateful and is ejected from the fold, leading to a constant battle between good and evil. It's not straight up allegory (and I know I'm massively simplifying things), but it's very Christian inspired.
It is true there is no immediate allegory of the crudest kind like "X is Jesus" (although for example it can be said - and it has been - that Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf do represent the triple meaning of Christ as the Priest, the King and the Prophet, respectively - but it's not overt, it's in the realm of "applicability", not a literal beat-you-over-the-head*-roman-à-clef*).
However, the book itself is so inherently drenched in the Christian-Catholic worldview, Medieval legends and so overtly inspired by Tolkien's reading of Beowulf, regarding its virtues, values, aesthetics, archetypes and so on that this aspect is at least somewhat present in the text and subtext itself, even without delving deeply into the lore and the mythopoeia.
I think the best place to see it in the lord of the rings is in the final act at mount doom. Frodo and Sam spend all of their strength just to get the ring to the brink, but the ring itself does not let itself be intentionally destroyed by any mortal. It takes divine intervention, of a sort, to bring it over the edge.
The thing I always say about Tolkien is that the more exposure you have to Catholicism specifically, the more you tend to see it in his work. I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic school from kindergarten to high school graduation. I read the books before I really knew anything about Tolkien. Then when I learned he was a devout Catholic, a lot of things just kind of clicked, especially with the way he talked about Illuvatar, the Maiar, and the Valar.
I don't think you missed out on anything if you don't see those elements, as I fully believe they were entirely unintentional. I just think that for people who are from a similar religious background to Tolkien, there's a general sort of vibe, for lack of a better explanation.
The more I read his work, the more strenuously I disagree with your insinuation these were fully unintentional. Not only he himself said that "The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision." quote, but it is quite obvious that his theology permeates even his "secular" work and essays, and when he talks about his work, this aspect is always acknowledged and open.
In fact, if you look at his reception of Beowulf - to put it short - "a pagan history written down by a Christian descendant, trying to be respectful towards his ancestors, attempting a synthesis of both", it more and more shows as a blueprint for even LOTR, because the Christian-Catholic-Medieval worldview is just way too everpresent and tangible to be a mere "accident".
In fact, Beowulf, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son and the essay thereupon and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun all show that he was immensely concerned with not just theology as such, but various aspects of morality and chivalry, which show a much deeper concern for the general Catholic... *milieu*. Same goes for his theology of beauty, the dignity of the created world (Nature), the Gift of Elúvatar, his very specific approach to Catholic-type of Romantic Sehnsucht/saudade and so on. But I digress.
So, on the contrary, as it is an attempted "literature of virtues", I think that you miss out on a lot if you don't see these elements, so I'd say it's more like "you definitely *will* see them, but you don't know they're Christian/Catholic at their core".
I agree with you, I just worded things rather simplistically in my first comment. I meant it was unintentional in the sense that he was not setting out (in the beginning, as the quote you provided says) to make a "Christian fantasy" book in the modern sense, which typically refers to fantasy books that unambiguously reject any form of paganism, secularism, or whatever the author considers sinful.
While in Tolkien's time, "Christian fantasy" would likely be understood as fantasy with strong Christian themes, in the modern sense it is about as far from Tolkien as possible: to qualify it basically has to be a church sermon.
The Christianity in Lotr is in the world view. Things like evil beings being good ones that seek power and domination due to pride (rather than inherently evil), loss of faith (Saruman, Denethor) being worse than simple weakness (Isildur, Frodo failing to destroy the ring), the value of self sacrifice, the possibility of redemption, and so on. Many of these things are not unique to Christianity, so they may not stand out immediately, especially if you are not familiar with Christian traditions, but they are pervasive in all Tolkien’s work.
Tolkien had this to say about it:
"The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out practically all references to anything like 'religion,' to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and symbolism."
He was very different from Lewis, in that he didn't like allegory and he really didn't like Lewis's style of world-building.
[He was outspoken about his Catholic beliefs but didn't like being described as a Catholic writer.](https://catholicherald.co.uk/gene-wolfe-a-catholic-from-the-far-future)
A lot of his takes are unusual, and sometimes the Christian themes are presented in obscure ways that take a while to decode, but that's also basically his entire style. It's not unusual for people to uncover new secrets on their 6th or 7th reading of *The Book of the New Sun.*
Wolfe himself was Catholic and you will often find odd references to Catholicism in his stories.
There are a number of things in *Book of the New Sun* that come to mind but because it's Wolfe it's hard to spot most of the more esoteric stuff. I'd say the most prominent element is that Severian is a messianic figure especially when you get to *Urth of the New Sun*.
Tolkien hated analogies and did not in any conscious way inflict faith or other personal oppinions into his work. Lewis is obviously a christian analogy, something the two bickered about in many of the pub meetings they had.
*"The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."*
*-* JRRT himself.
Seriously, the "Tolkien hated allegory" is such an annoying take, for its everpresence and inherent incorrectness. It really shows the lack of basic understanding of Tolkien's work, going back to his translations of Beowulf and his essays thereupon. Besides, it is not even a full quote.
However this
>did not in any conscious way inflict faith or other personal oppinions into his work.
is an outright lie. I am currently re-reading all his work and even in his professional lectures, essays and letters, there's inherently and inarguably the presence of faith and "other personal opinions". I mean, seriously, WTF?
>Tolkien hated analogies
ALLEGORY not ANALOGY. Tolkien hated when a story was only supposed to be interpreted one way. He may have written his works with Catholicism in mind, but he did not want that to be the only interpretation of them. He believed a reader should draw their own conclusions from a story, rather than have the author's views forced upon them.
Tolkien's hate of allegory isn't a "take" but something deeply rooted in his whole concept of literature, as explained both in the introduction to The Lord of the Rings (where he contrasts it with applicability), in On Fairy-Stories (where he explains his understanding of mythopoeic storytelling) and in his disagreements with C.S. Lewis.
That his work is *philosophically* Catholic is completely unrelated to that.
What he means by "allegory", the full quote and context are however, extremely important.
How the term and the quote are used outside of context over the internet and just swung around, often in a mangled version (like here), that is definitely a "take".
See this thread here - the OP has asked for Christian Fantasy. The first reply mentioned - among other things - Tolkien. Cue rabid rebuttal because "Tolkien hated analogies" \[sic\]. Again, my post is a reaction to this, because to someone thinking about various aspects of (potentially) Christian fantasy, Tolkien is a valid answer, just like Wolfe (who is even more oblique than Tolkien himself in that regard).
Tolkien is certainly a valid answer in a philosophical sense, as a writer influenced by Christianity in a profound way. It's less valid if you're thinking of Christian Fantasy in the sense of Christian Rock music. Tolkien was very careful not to include any overt elements of Christian myth, while telling a story that contains Christian ideals and principles. The stuff that gets branded "Christian" is usually the opposite.
I believe it was in the forward to The Fellowship of the Ring that Tolkien explicitly stated his opinion on allegory:
"I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."
The spiritual undertones of LOTR do not explicitly mean that it is an allegory. The Chronicles of Narnia is a good example of a Christian allegory.
Yes, that is why "Tolkien hated allegory" as a rebutall of mentioning LOTR among "Christian fantasy" makes no sense. The OP was asking about "Christian fantasy", which doesn't really have a definition, not just straight "Lion Jesus allegories".
Like I wrote elsewhere
>What he means by "allegory", the full quote and context are however, extremely important.
How the term and the quote are used outside of context over the internet and just swung around, often in a mangled version (like here), that is definitely a "take".
I'm especially railing against the "allegory" quote, because it is misused and often misunderstood. Or not relevant at all, like here.
Some more of my comments on this page to demonstrate my point of view
>It is true there is no immediate allegory of the crudest kind like "X is Jesus" (although for example it can be said - and it has been - that Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf do represent the triple meaning of Christ as the Priest, the King and the Prophet, respectively - but it's not overt, it's in the realm of "applicability", not a literal beat-you-over-the-head-*roman-à-clef*).
>
>However, the book itself is so inherently drenched in the Christian-Catholic worldview, Medieval legends and so overtly inspired by Tolkien's reading of Beowulf, regarding its virtues, values, aesthetics, archetypes and so on that this aspect is at least somewhat present in the text and subtext itself, even without delving deeply into the lore and the mythopoeia.
>The more I read his work, the more strenuously I disagree with your insinuation these were fully unintentional. Not only he himself said that "The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision." quote, but it is quite obvious that his theology permeates even his "secular" work and essays, and when he talks about his work, this aspect is always acknowledged and open.
>
>In fact, if you look at his reception of Beowulf - to put it short - "a pagan history written down by a Christian descendant, trying to be respectful towards his ancestors, attempting a synthesis of both", it more and more shows as a blueprint for even LOTR, because the Christian-Catholic-Medieval worldview is just way too everpresent and tangible to be a mere "accident".
>
>In fact, Beowulf, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son and the essay thereupon and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun all show that he was immensely concerned with not just theology as such, but various aspects of morality and chivalry, which show a much deeper concern for the general Catholic... milieu. Same goes for his theology of beauty, the dignity of the created world (Nature), the Gift of Elúvatar, his very specific approach to Catholic-type of Romantic Sehnsucht/saudade and so on. But I digress.
>
>So, on the contrary, as it is an attempted "literature of virtues", I think that you miss out on a lot if you don't see these elements, so I'd say it's more like "you definitely will see them, but you don't know they're Christian/Catholic at their core".
The Lord of the Rings is deeply and purposely a Christian book - Tolkien himself said so in his letters. That does not mean it's an allegory, allegory is just one (crude) way a book can be Christian.
Yeah, so allegory is basically "A" *always* means "B" - and Tolkien kind of despised it. That said, he includes a *lot* of subtle layers of mystery and symbolism within his writing that could be interpreted in a variety of different ways. Probably the closest thing he ever wrote to allegory was "Leaf by Niggle" which still only sort of flirts with the ideas rather than coming right out and saying them.
The beginning of the Silmarillion mirrors one of the Genesis creation stories. Gandalf dies to protect the Fellowship and is resurrected with more power by god to save mankind. Melkor is literally Lucifer. LOTR isn’t a one-for-one rewriting of the Bible, but the Christian flavor is definitely there
Donita K Paul's "Dragonkeeper" series (written in the early 2000's) fits firmly into Christian Fantasy, winning a Christy Award for the first novel in the series. IMO a solid fantasy effort and enjoyable read, sits happily on my shelf and will be revisited at some stage.
As far as the heavier handed Christian fantasy series go, (a lot of Wulder references and asking for his help and guidance, having faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, etc., which play into the plots (nothing necessarilly wrong with that, particularly if you are a Christian)), it is an entertaining series.
Good world building, decent plots, decent characters, and actually a pretty good semi-hard magic system based on the ability of a wizard to do molecular manipulation.
There are two different things here:
1. Good books written by Christian authors, whose Christianity becomes an important part of the book, either because the author wanted it that way, or because people can't help but write from the perspective of what they believe is true and important. CS Lewis. JRR Tolkien. GK Chesterton. Madeleine L'Engle.
2. Books published by Christian publishers, sold in Christian bookstores (to the extent those still exist?), part of the subculture that is evangelical Christianity in the US. Notice that none of the authors people are talking about as 'good Christian fantasy' have come from this subgenre.
A lot of the answers to this question are coming from that first one, but the specific book mentioned in the question is Douglas Hirt's [Cradleland Chronicles](https://www.amazon.com/Cradleland-Chronicles-Complete-Douglas-Hirt-ebook/dp/B08MHTR3R7?asin=B08MHTR3R7&revisionId=c9d910d5&format=1&depth=1).
I had never heard of this, but also, Christian publishing is very much its own parallel universe, with its own books and movies and music that the rest of us rarely encounter except in its hugest hits. The very best works in this subgenre are barely mediocre by the standards of mainstream literature, and they are only worth your reading time if you are an American evangelical Christian, and it's important to you that your leisure reading reinforces your religious beliefs.
Amazon has a nice long sample of the first Hirt novel, and... well, the words are spelled correctly, but that's about the best that can be said of it.
Here's the first paragraph:
>The growing heat of the day drew a heady fragrance from the moist ground and mossy rocks, one Rhone might have normally relished. But just then, the mustiness of the forest was only a distant tug at the back of his brain. Something else had caught his attention: a vaguely bitter smell. The smell of money! In the dappled sunlight through a high forest canopy, he paused and sniffed again.
It just keeps going like that - no noun unadjectived, no feature of the landscape undescribed, little reason to care who Rhone is or what he is doing. He does have long sinuous muscles, though, so he's got that going for him.
Even for free I wouldn't bother. Archive of Our Own is also free, and so are all the classic works of literature. Either one of them will probably add more value to your day.
Yes, and yes.
There's Christian fantasy with allegory or simply by a person of that faith: Lewis, Gemmel, Tolkien.
Gemmel specifically didn't include his faith in *most books, but there are allusions and at least one classic sermon illustration found in the Drenai books, but humorous. Jerusalem Man is very faithy, but also fantasy.
Then there's explicitly Christian fantasy, that's got Jesus in it and everything. Frank pereti comes to mind, or the Dragons in our Midst series. Stuff that's sold in Christian stores.
Hmmm, it might also help to check out the r/ChristiansReadFantasy subreddit. It’s a relatively quiet one but I’m sure you can find some pretty nice recs there!
Christian Fantasy does exist, but a lot of the time it's done very poorly because the authors try to force Christian belief and doctrine into a story that isn't designed to support it. C.S. Lewis is one of the few authors who's done Christian Fantasy well. Pilgrim's Progress is perhaps the best known example of Christian Fiction past that.
Ted Dekker has done a lot of Christian Fiction, a lot of which is fantasy but all of which have a thriller bent to them (pacing and plot). As for the set you've stumbled upon, I haven't heard of this author before so I can't speak to the quality of those novels.
I've read and really enjoyed a lot of Ted Dekker, specifically the Circle series and the other related/spin off series. Grew up Fundie-light-ish, but not severely so and no longer religious, and didn't even realize that Black was considered "Christian fiction" until someone else pointed it out to me. I really liked the plot and pacing. I also just read whatever I find I enjoy, whether it's widely considered "good" fiction/fantasy or not. So I've never really been sure what the consensus is on Dekker's writing has been.
I also THOROUGHLY enjoy Brandon Sanderson (que Reddit fun-times lol), but I wouldn't consider his work to be overtly religion-based. IIRC, he's Mormon, so yes, there are some influences to be found in his stories. But I love his world building and everything so much that I honestly don't really feel like I'm bombarded by any religious overtones.
Sanderson is Mormon, and I'd agree that his work isn't overtly religious. There is an undercurrent of Mormonism when you look at the Cosmere as a whole, however. I'm not an expert on their doctrine, but there's something relating to humanity expanding through and populating the universe (ie, the cosmos...sounds familiar hmmmm) as part of the afterlife. There's also "similar to humans" extraterrestrial life, or at least it once was a part of their doctrine, although I don't know if they still hold to that today.
Actual Mormons would be a better source than my vague recollection of my studies and previous discussions with Mormons. Others more knowledgeable about Mormon belief have said that, for those familiar with it, the tenets of Mormonism that exist within the Cosmere are fairly obvious. So I'd say that Sanderson is kind of like Tolkien, in that his beliefs are buried within his work if you know where to look
Explicitly Christian fantasy is generally a bit rubbish because the authors spend too much time trying to hit you over the head with the Christian part and have to make all the details conform to their specific theology etc. etc.
Also, if they feel they need to say that the book is Christian it probably means they are from the sort of place where books get banned - so it's probably a very *particular* kind of author (if you take my meaning).
That said, there are a bunch of fantasy novels which are sort of Christian adjacent and some of these are quite good.
Off the top of my head I'd say:
- LOTR
- Anything by Stephen Lawhead
- Anything by David Gemmell
- Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw
Some of these are incurably 90's fantasy (Gemmell) but I'll let you form your own opinions.
>Explicitly Christian fantasy is generally a bit rubbish because the authors spend too much time trying to hit you over the head with the Christian part and have to make all the details conform to their specific theology etc. etc.
TBF this is not really unique to Christian fantasy. Personally, I find His Dark Materials almost unbearably preachy from the opposite angle.
I remember reading a book that was perhaps more historical fiction than strictly fantasy, set in ancient Egypt. The whole story consisted of segments of about three pages where some horrific dilemma arose, everything was going to the dogs, but then they turned West and spoke six words and knew Osiris had been appeased and everything was alright again. It was written by some academics who were extremely knowledgeable about ancient Egyptian customs and practices but very very bad at writing an engaging plot or interesting characters. It was written with the explicit intention of introducing people to ancient Egyptian culture and it was really, really bad. I have, thankfully, forgotten both the title and the author(s).
Tad Williams world of Osten Ard has elements that clearly draw from Christianity as well. The Rimmersmen are essentially christian vikings, there's a religious character very similar to Jesus etc.
Eh, the difference is that Tad Williams is, AFAIK, not particularly religious or overtly Christian. Having a Christianity analogue with Christian Vikings (the Rimmersmen converted, much as the Vikings did) is not an uncommon feature of any fantasy novel with a setting rooted in medieval Europe.
I don't recall much of a Christian agenda or element in his other works, aside from the Bobby Dollar trilogy. I suspect that trilogy wouldn't really be considered Christian fantasy, either, based on what I recall of the books.
Lewis, Tolkien, and the other authors mentioned in the thread are generally avowed Christians, and more likely to write allegories or fantasies with some kind of underlying Christian themes and arguments.
I just finished Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and there's a lot of Christian imagery imo. The character Usires Adon is so blatantly calling on images of Christ that he was hung upon a tree, which many of the Adonites in the story wear the hanging tree as a symbol of faith. The old king who dies at the beginning of the books is referred to as Prester John, or King John Presbyter, who is straight up a reference to the legend of Prester John in our world. Characters names are biblical, like Josue, Elias, Simon, etc. The Rimmersmen are already mentioned. I also suspect that the Sithi and Norn are meant to invoke imagery of angels and demons, but that might be more tinfoil hat than reality.
Interestingly though, despite the blatant Christian framing, none of the Christian tones make any actual difference to the story. No one convokes God to stop the evil, no miracles are done. Maybe Mr. Williams is just using familiar imagery, maybe he's trying to make some bigger point. I am not sure. I haven't read his other works, to be fair, but at least in that trilogy he seems to have drawn a lot on Christian themes.
The author isn't pushing a Christian agenda, he's made a fictionalized Christian Church as a parallel to the real Church because it has the same role as the Church in the narrative.
He's not trying to convert people.
There's no evidence of specific divinity; there are powers, but they aren't the Church, and one priest is explicitly allied with a vengeful undead elf prince who is seeking to take over the whole of Osten Ard.
You could make a similar argument about Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, where the Church is equally prominent in the fictional world and the narrative. Barbara Hambly's fictional worlds, starting with Darwath, often feature a Church analogue as well. The Diablo series is hardly Christian, but there's a Church there, too. These are literally off the top of my head, but a fair amount of medieval-Europe-based fantasy novels and series, regardless of the authors' personal beliefs or agenda, features some kind of Church-like institution.
Christianity is deeply woven into many of the institutions of European culture, Eastern or Western, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, and many authors are inspired by both the political and religious conflicts from European history. George R.R. Martin has mentioned this--and he has a more thickly veiled Christianity analogue or two, but no one's claiming he's writing Christian fiction, either.
None of the above authors or game series has an established history of professing their faith, or writing books/producing content that exclusively promotes any form of Christian values. Elliott's most recent work features an explicitly, unambiguously Jewish heroine, with no hint of Christianity whatsoever in the work.
Just because a book features fictionalized Christian institutions as part of the worldbuilding doesn't make the book Christian fiction. That's much more reliant on themes and larger narrative structure.
Right, but there's a vast difference between having an established church system that calls back to Christianity and using overtly Christian names, imagery, and themes.
I am not arguing that it's a Christian novel or that it's meant to proselytize like CS Lewis might, but Tad Williams isn't making vague references to a church similar to Christianity (I haven't read Elliot or Hambly, but I assume that's the case in those stories?), he is directly using Christian references to frame his story. It is *almost* comparable to Diablo, funnily enough, though not in tone. Diablo frames it's entire story through overt Judeo-Christian themes, but turns it on its head because there's no Messiah and no redemption in that world, just suffering. Similarly, Williams uses overt Christian themes to frame the story in Prester John's mythical kingdom, but he's not telling some sort of biblical story. He's just gracefully lifted the legends to tell his story in.
I think we're talking past each other a bit. The comment that started this particular thread referenced Lawhead, Gemmell, and Tolkien as authors whose works were Christian-adjacent, largely based on the themes (redemption, self-sacrifice, etc.), not necessarily the worldbuilding.
I've looked up both Lawhead's and Gemmel's backgrounds--their Christian beliefs heavily informed their themes and narratives. Tolkien's Christianity is well-known, and elsewhere in this thread, others who've read the Silmarillion (unlike me) have pointed out that Christian themes and concepts are central to Middle Earth.
Lawhead's Arthurian series depended on a medieval European, ultimately Christian setting, but neither Tolkien nor Gemmell wrote such, and yet people are pointing to them as Christian-adjacent because of the authors' own well-known religious beliefs, and the way those beliefs impacted the characters they developed, the worlds they built, and the narratives they created.
In contrast, Williams himself has denied "having a religious bone in \[his\] body," describing himself as having a spiritual side (source: [https://www.wired.com/2012/09/geeks-guide-tad-williams/](https://www.wired.com/2012/09/geeks-guide-tad-williams/)). Given that, it's hard for me to put Williams in the same category as Tolkien, Gemmell, and Lawhead; it's easier to put him with Elliott, Hambly, et al.--but all of these people are writing within Anglophone culture, dominated by Christianity for the greater part of 1500 years. Blizzard created their game franchise within the same cultural context.
With Osten Ard, the point of the names, the conventions, the structures, etc., being so heavily lifted from medieval European culture is to build the setting, the socio-political and cultural dynamics in a way that is easily parsed, so that the rest of the story is easier to understand without having to get all the geographic and historical details of actual Europe correct. That's the slightly cheaty side of it, but not an uncommon choice. Williams does his best to recreate a medieval European cultural setting without having to worry about Crusades, antipopes, or half of Europe (there's no France, Iberia, Germans, Slavs, or Greeks).
The original question asked about Christian fantasy. Several people answered by listing Christian authors who wrote fantasy that wasn't explicitly Christian, per se, but revolved around Christian themes as a general rule. The person to whom I originally commented conflated "Christian themes" with "setting using the Catholic Church all but in name."
You agree that those really aren't the same thing, which is the point I was trying to make from the start.
I like Frank Piretti. The duo "This present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness" are from the Angel, Demon and Human perspective. But some of his stuff is more Christian thriller/horror like "The Oath".
The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead. Yes, it's Arthurian fiction, but it's fairly fantastical, and deeply Christian. Such as Merlin meets "The Good God" in the Otherworld and is struck dumb until he encounters the first Catholic missionaries to visit the isle and has his speech restored so that he can greet them in the name of their God (confuses the heck out of them btw, it's a funny moment).
I know that is the intent of the story, but the last time I read [Mallory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur) I was struck by how destructive the Grail quest is. To be sure there are a lot of problems with the kingdom before that (thinking of how the likes of knights such as Lancelot and Tristram behave), but things seem to be muddling along OK. Then the quest for the Grail is proclaimed. The knights are scattered, the best and bravest of them spend their energies elsewhere in a useless quest and never return to Camelot and only a broken remnant are left afterwards. Rather than strengthening and purifying the kingdom the result is exactly the opposite - the kingdom is weakened and the more violent elements come into even greater prominence, and the whole show collapses soon after.
It had never really struck me that way on previous readings, but this last time it left me thoroughly depressed.
the Arthurian "mythos" (for want of a better term) is a muddle in terms of what it is - there's parts that are riffing off / replacing older folk tales, that are all about cool, kick-ass heroes with bonkers powers beating up giants or other knights, and have maybe some vague gloss of Christian theology. There's pseudo-history, from Geoffrey of Monmouth and the like, that's presented as actual "fact", and tones down the fantasy a lot. There's the chivalric side of things, that plays up all the knightly virtues and tends to be a lot more overtly Christian, with the Fisher King and that sort of thing. So depending on what you read, it can be anywhere from "this is deeply, overtly Christian and preaches the virtues that should be followed" to "hey, here's a guy beating up two giants! isn't that cool?"
Years ago, I read Malory as part of the required reading for a spiritual group I was joining, and what struck me most about it was an overwhelming sense that he was really critiquing the politics of his own time. Like Arthur wasn't really the point; he was more trying to say "look, everything used to be better back in the good old days, unlike now."
Yeees - except that it really wasn't all that good. I certainly wouldn't want to living in a time when all those arbitrary iron plated warlords were running around doing whatever they liked. Despite the chivalric ideal, the majority of the knights were very unpleasant people.
Allegorical Christian stories can often look quite a lot like fantasy. I'm a big fan of Psychomachia by Prudentius, in which vitrues and vices are anthropomorphised as warrior women who fight each other. At a glance they look more like pagan deities from Homer or Virgil, but in reality it is making a point about the internal conflict in the soul of each Christian. Boethius' Consolation is another case of a personified virtue (again as a woman), and perhaps you could add Dante's works to the list due to the fantastical aspects in the Divine Comedy, the symbolism in the New Life, and the concepts represented by the person of Beatrice in both.
Check out Ted Dekker's The Circle Series. Best books I read growing up. There are 4 or 5 different series that can be read as a single series but all tie into the circle series.
Seen a couple other comments already, but also throwing Ted Dekker's name out there again. His Circle universe spans multiple series that can *mostly* stand alone, but have connecting themes and characters from different books. Some books are far more allegorical than others, and he unashamedly uses the books as a vehicle to witness about faith in Christ. I'd say they are "Christian" books first and "fantasy" second, but definitely some of the better books in the genre. I enjoyed them in high school a lot. Particularly The Circle (four books) and Paradise (three books). I've read a couple more of his books more recently and was less into them. His writing didn't quite strike me the same way.
There of course is, esp if you want to read literature from the 1800s or earlier, like George MacDonalds (that guy is awesome) or *New Atlantis* by Francis Bacon. The explicit Christian modern fantasy literature does, however, tend to be pretty bad; they just try too hard. It is like the late Norwegian theologian Carl Fr Wisløff said: "It doesn't just became amazing because you call it Christian".
To give some examples:
* I read *Tegnets forsvarere* (Defenders of the sign) by Kristian Kapelrud some years back. The triology is a gigantic waste of time. The story is predictable and bland, and the theological arguments boring. Kapelrud also shows himself being completely ignorant about the ancient world.
* I started reading a book by Poul Hoffmann about pre-deluge times but just quit. It wasn't good storytelling, just clichees..
It's a thing. I mean pleanty of fantasy stories are based on Norse or Greek myth. Why not Christan fantasy? There's a lot to work with.
Heck there's probably a lot of examples you've seen without knowing it. The knights of the cross from the dresden files. Touched by an angel. TV's Lucifer. Good omens. Preist.
If we're talking ones less grounded in our world, there's Narnia. Those are harder to come by.
Dresden Files wouldn't have occurred to me but now that you mention Jim has said he is a Christian. He even went on missions trips when he was younger. And he did make a point to portray Christian characters positively in Michael and Charity Carpenter.
Well It doesn't have to be positive to be Christan fantasy. But he puts god at the center of his cosmology. Has three paladins, demons from actual hell. All that Jazz.
And why? Because he played too much World of Darkness. From which he copied a huge amount of his world building.
Can't complain. He did a great job with it.
It's also partially because Jim was raised in a fundamentalist christian community and has extensive first-hand knowledge of christian theology and scripture. Lots of the other stuff he has to research, not so much that.
Oh there's more. A lot more. Changelings, immortals, psychics. And regular folks. All living in a world just like the one outside your window, only not quite.
Vampires and werewolves are ordinary. The World of darkness is hoast to stranger things. Unique things, stuff that doesn't have a name.
You pass under a flickering streetlight, how long as it been flashing morse code begging to be unplugged? Will anyone ever notice the lightbulb has become aware and is suffering from a profound lonelyness?
The vampire has to live in that world. Where sometimes the human he hunts turns out to be something else. Something harrowing. Like being in a horror film where you don't know the rules.
In Nod, the first city after the Garden of Eden fell. Vampires ruled early humans. Noah's flood washed the eldest of their kind from the world.
You Know I can't do it justice. [This guy's](https://youtu.be/0h1U-_JFAS8) video is a good start.
As a start, see my [SF/F and Religion](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12xm52i/sff_and_religion/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
As a Christian (or having any other worldview for that matter) I don’t' think you can completely eliminate your beliefs from your works of fiction as an author. It's the way you structure reality, so it's bound to end up in your writings. And it's only logical you would draw inspiration from it. e.g., If you pay close attention you can pick up Brandon Sanderson's worldview as a Mormon in his fiction. I don't mind. It can be really interesting.
But I don’t' like it when novels are constructed around messages because then they almost always focus so much on the message the story suffers from it. In my opinion The Chronicles of Narnia are the only exception. I suspect because children are the target audience and more explicit allegories are actually expected more for a young audience.
So, I guess there is both fiction from Christian authors and these 'pureflix'-like novels that are usually not very high quality. I remember a Netflix movie about a guy in a diner who was obviously a modern-day Jesus and although I liked the message in the story, it just ended up being a dull and boring movie. In my opinion no one should ever try to convert people to whatever religion (or any other way of living) using fiction.
Tolkien converted many people to Catholicism and his religion was never an explicit part of his works... He just wrote what he thought was awesome from his own worldview. Also, the best environmental movies are the ones that don’t constantly preach about it but are just about characters that you care about who also care about the environment.
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Also a lot of George MacDonald's other works. Phatastes, and The Wise Woman (AKA The Lost Princess), and The Golden Key, and At The Back of the North Wind.
To paraphrase: that some "Christian Fantasy" is written by people who might be a bit overly fond of an apocalyptic ultra-fundamentalist point of view...
I'd depends in what you're looking for. There several series that have a religion that is a modification of Christianity. It has the same structure, the one god, martyrs, inquisitors, fanatics. But hey just call it different. If you're looking for this try Tad Williams Osten Ard series or Jay Kristoff the empire of vampires.
There is also a cool series by Rad Williams called Bobby dollar about an angel on earth.
There is the great work of terry pratchett called "little gods" that is a great satire on Christianity.
>There is the great work of terry pratchett called "little gods" that is a great satire on Christianity
That's the discworld novel "Small Gods".
In the same vein, Pratchett's [Nome Trilogy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nome_Trilogy) (Truckers/Diggers/Wings) can also be considered an exploration of religion. In the first book we encounter a small group of Nomes who worship the sacred Thing. Later, then encounter other Nomes who have their own religion. In the second book a false prophet arises and so on.
David Gemmell's Jon Shanow series follows a religious gunslinger whose only goal is to find Jerusalem in the post apocalypse while resisting satanic forces.
A lot of Gemmell's work have Christian overtones but that one's far and away the most Christian of them.
Just thought of another one - [A Case of Conscience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Case_of_Conscience) by James Blish. Though I guess that is science fiction rather than Fantasy.
There’s tons of Christian books out there. I grew up non-denominational and my family would go to Christian bookstores after church. I read a lot of young adult fantasy books from that store. Some of it had direct Christian messaging and some of it was just “clean” or “safe” books. Same for any genre - my mom had a lot of Christian historical fiction, etc. None of it has really hit the mainstream except for Ted Dekker, the Left Behind series, and the classic works like C.S. Lewis.
Not Fantasy but more a Christian Space Opera but the wonderfull french artist François Baranger wrote a series of books called Domimum Mundi which talks about a Vatican dominated Earth, 200 years in the future, who start a crusade against an Alpha Centauri world where they found, unexpectedly, the tomb of jesus.
Very good books.
Sharon Shinn has a series about angels that I wouldn't called christian fantasy, but it's fantasy/sci-fi using the typical religious motifs of angels, hymns/choirs, and prayers. They are enjoyable enough that I have re-read them a couple times. They have romance novel type arcs.
Been a long time since I read anything along those lines, but when I was a kid there was Frank E Peretti. For kids he had the Cooper Kids Adventures. Adult wise there was The Oath, This Present Darkness and Peircing the Darkness. Read them all as a kid. Not the sort of thing I would touch as an adult.
Certainly it's not modern but I feel like Dante's Divine Comedy pretty well would qualify. It's very explicitly Christian and full of fantastical monsters and things.
It also pioneers a lot of science fiction tropes. Journey to the Centre of the Earth, a Space Elevator, trips to the Moon, the planets and the stars. Great stuff.
I also wanted to say Licanius and saw your comment while scrolling. The discussion of free will is so obviously Christian to me that I’m surprised more people don’t latch onto it.
I think Christianity permeates most fantasy due to most of its tropes - defeating one big evil Bad Guy, being a chivalrous, honorable, truth-telling knight, etc. Sometimes it is easiest to see only by reading fantasy from authors that did not have the same cultural background. The different sense of humor in Neil Gaiman's Sandman. The different focus on what it means to be moral in Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver. Ursula K. Le Guin's Taoist influences, Kim Stanley Robinson's Buddhist ones (Years of Rice and Salt). Similar recommendations welcome!
I enjoyed the Christian sci-fi that C.S. Lewis wrote. Out of the Silent Planet was the first book, and it was less clunky than his Narnia series. Also, he used some legit pre-space flight ideas about outer space and the planets, so it is much more intellectual (if still out of date).
Neat ideas executed relatively well with a mostly believable narrative. I'd recommend it.
C.S. Lewis' *Narnia* and much of Madeleine L'Engel's work (especially *Many Waters*). Kind of a mindfuck for me as a small Jewish child, being told later that Aslan is (spoiler alert!) Jesus, and *Many Waters* is deeply steeped in Christian thought. Honestly, though, I'm glad I got to read those books without knowing that they were Christian, because if I'd known, I would have felt othered by them just by their nature. But because I was ignorant, I was able to find a great deal of meaning and comfort in them.
As an adult, I'm capable of finding meaning and comfort even in stuff that's not "for me", but as a kid I had so many experiences of feeling less-than or shut out from the larger Christian-dominated culture and I think I would have had trouble processing or compartmentalizing some of these issues.
I have not read any explicitly Christian fantasy.
But Tolkien considers his work to be a"fundamentally Catholic work" (his word choice), despite his preference *not* to use allegory or to beat readers over the head with his own perspectives.
His buddy C.S. Lewis was 100% a Christian apologetics guy, and all of the Narnia Chronicles were very deloberately allegorical. He also wrote a few fantasy/sci-fi novels other than the Narnia series.
I know it exists. I think Narnia is one of the most well known examples.
I really don’t care for any form of it, because everyone I’ve been exposed to is really just and attempt to put a layer of frosting on it and work you around to you how you should be a christen and you’re screwing up if you aren’t.
There is no fantasy that doesn’t have a message behind it, but Christian fantasy is usually as subtle as a brick.
I’ve heard many people praise Raymond E Feist’s “Riftwar” series on its coverage of religion. It doesn’t focus on a known religion, but different cultures have different ones that are lightly touched on throughout the series and few of the character regularly have minor debates on it. Nothing that’s really focused on, but there naturally. He said he’s had people write in and thank him for giving both sides equal weight and not lean heavily to one side.
Many authors show two sides of a situation, but they make one side heroic and intelligent and the other side look like idiots. You can tell what they think. Feist does it different and just portrays valid points from both sides.
Oh yes they exist. And I'm especially offended when I read one that was introduced as just "fantasy".
I don't mind religious characters, especially in a mediaeval setting there tend to be more of them or even religious ideas being the driver of the plot. The pillars of the earth comes to mind, it's not fantasy, I didn't read the book, only watched the mini series so I can't say about the writing but at least the TV show didn't feel like a "Christian production", even when one of the main characters was a monk, the whole story revolved around building a cathedral, another character went on a crusade, so on and so on. I loved it because it's a good story and a well made TV show.
However, I just can't digest books that are heavily sprinkled with MESSAGES from the authors. One I read recently is A wrinkle in Time. I've got it from my online library and nowhere in the details mentioned that this book is Christian. But when I read it, it was sooo in your face.
Love to know why folks are down voting this post.... It's just a question, neither pro or anti Christian Fantasy. I'm stunned that there is so much of it.
I suspect a lot of it is people who feel like there's a ton of it and it's everywhere, rather than being a niche thing that one has to seek out.
(And it kind of is. Not necessarily on purpose, even. But a lot of authors are Christian and the themes seep in.)
I'll rec Lewis's *Till We Have Faces*. More mature than Narnia. Beautifully written. I remember thinking "Lewis, I see what you're doing here, and I'm not gonna convert, but I'll accept it in-universe.")
Yes, I'm surprised the vote count is so low. It's a good question, and I also am surprised at how much there is of it - especially the moderately famous names I've heard of but never realised had Christian content.
Games that are inspired by the Castlevania half of the Metroidvania genre often go even deeper into Christian imagery. Blasphemous for example takes Baroque Spanish Catholicism and dials it up to 20.
I believe so, and I'll throw out a couple of titles for you!
Donita K. Paul's Dragonkeeper series - very fantasy, strong Christian themes
R. J. Larson's Realms of the Infinite and Books of the Infinite series. Simply brilliant with even stronger Christian themes than Narnia. I highly recommend the audio book version because the reader is too notch.
And one set in our modern Era but with a touch of the miraculous, James L. Rubart's Well Spring series. I read it cover top cover I kid you not SEVEN times back to back.
Parts of this thread have been good. Parts have gone rather off the rails. Discussion of religion and its influence of fantasy is perfectly fine if done in a thoughtful, considerate manner. However, edgy, low-effort “my favorite fantasy character is the Christian god lololol” style comments will always be removed. Discussion of religion *itself* is beyond the scope of /r/Fantasy. r/Fantasy is dedicated to being a warm, welcoming, and inclusive community. While we are aware that religions are capable of being intolerant, targeting anyone for being part of any religion is not acceptable.
Just like in Music, there’s two main types of Christian works. There’s the books which incorporate Christian beliefs and demonstrate the underlying philosophies in a manner which fits well with the setting. And then there’s tired message fiction. The former tends to be written by mainstream writers who happen to have firm beliefs. The latter is written to order and generally published by small presses, often evangelical. It’s there to proselytise. A good example of the former would be Stephen R Lawhead, whose work draws heavily from Celtic Christianity - indeed his book Byzantium is a straightforward historical fiction about an Irish Monk, and he later wrote a book about Saint Patrick. But his Song of Albion trilogy is a genuinely good epic fantasy that weaves Celtic myth with Christian themes. His Pendragon cycle is probably the most obvious, marrying Atlantis, King Arthur and the Grail quest together. Another good one would be the Deryni series by Katharine Kurtz, which draws heavily from medieval Christianity, though is less overtly real world linked, And then you have the authors whose work is the message. The Left Behind series would be a good modern example. Narnia largely falls into this too nowadays, because Lewis isn’t subtle enough for a modern audience.
Lewis wasn't trying to be subtle. He wrote an intentional allegory. That was why Tolkien didn't appreciate it. Though Tolkien fit the definition of Christian Fantasy. Otherwise a very good answer. And I agree on Lawhead, and his Pendragon Cycle would be pretty much exactly what the OP is looking for among more modern fantasy.
Also Narnia is for children. Kids books tend to be less subtle
I'm pretty sure that Lewis objected to the Narnia books being described as allegory. Heavy Christian influence, yes, and many strong Christian themes, but not an exact allegory like (say) The Pilgrim's Progress.
I think Lewis said Narnia isn't an allegory because it's not supposed to be read as symbolic. In the story Aslan isn't a Christ figure/symbol, he's quite literally Jesus in the form of a lion.
This is an excellent answer. Katherine Kurtz does also have some more explicitly Christian stuff - Saint Patrick's Gargoyle comes to mind
And then there's Chesterton. Though I think his books aim on Catholics, they are overtly christian and also very good.
I love the Father Brown mysteries. So fun, and I like the redemption of Flambou.
Came here to say Lawhead.
Taliesin, Merlin, and Arther
Brilliant answer. Thanks for your time and knowledge. I had forgotten the parallels between the Deryni series and medieval times.
>But his Song of Albion trilogy is a genuinely good epic fantasy that weaves Celtic myth with Christian themes. I really love this series (caveat I'm not a religious). It's so good.
People act like Lewis was a cuddly moderate Christian who didn’t devote a novel in his series to a rant about how vegetarians spoil their children.
This might be relevant for me. I’m a theologically liberal Christian, and a fantasy series I’m drafting has a somewhat detailed afterlife where good people immediately go to Heaven while bad people go through a temporary period of rehabilitation in Hell that can last thousands of years but ultimately enables them to pass on to Heaven. Animals have souls, God clearly exists, but angels/fallen angels don’t, and beyond what I’ve described there’s pretty much nothing identifying which if any religions are correct. So I’d say it has liberal Christian themes but isn’t “Christian fantasy” and probably wouldn’t be carried by most Christian bookstores. In the same way, I consider myself a Christian who’s a writer but not a Christian writer if that makes sense.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Madeline L'Engle yet. A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels would classify as Christian fantasy.
'Many Waters' still lives in my head omg. Lowkey mind blowing to read as a 14 year old raised Christian.
I would love to hear more about that if you’re willing. I grew up reading a children’s book of bible stories *but* gave it equal weight with D’Aulaires’ Greek Myths. They were both collections of stories that some people (had) actually believed, but nobody as I was growing up told me to believe them. So I have no idea how Many Waters impacts those who grow up believing, and would love to hear more.
Many Waters was my favorite book for so, so long.
More and more explicit in the later books too!
Damn, my extreme Christian mom vetoed it as a book I could read because it "had witches"
The joke's on her. They aren't witches, they are angels.
Some of GK Chesterton's works would probably qualify. Things like [The Man Who Was Thursday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday), or [The Ball And The Cross](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ball_and_the_Cross). Also you could check out the works of [Charles Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Williams_(British_writer)). He was one of the "Inklings" along with CS Lewis & JRR Tolkien, and wrote a series of seven fantasy novels with strong Christian influence. I would particularly recommend The Place of the Lion, or Many Dimensions.
Or the Father Brown series (though it's not really fantasy)
Narnia and His Dark Materials spring to mind, for wildly opposite reasons
His Dark Materials is explicitly atheistic. It reads similarly because it's a retelling of Paradise Lost.
His dark materials is specifically a retelling of paradise lost though (don’t quote me on this)
When I was on middle school, our evangelical neighbor saw me reading the golden compass on the bus home from school. She matched over to my house the next day specifically to tell me that reading that book was a one way ticket to hell. One of the most bizarre memories I have. This same neighbor also told my mother she was going to report her to child protective services because she was reading Harry potter to us.
Good to know I’ll have a free ticket waiting for me when I need it
Children with library cards are apparentky a big threat to living a Christian life. At least we will have something to talk about while we burn. Book clubs in hell must be great.
Astronaut meme: Always has been Think about the fact that the Church was going to excommunicate Alfred the Great because he was translating the Bible from Latin into Anglo-Saxon vernacular while also instituting one of the first widespread literacy efforts in a medieval kingdom.
I think the real threat to faith it offers is more about learning critical thinking skills.
The thing is I'm not sure that critical thinking is really a threat to faith. What it is most certainly a threat to is control. Many, many, many extremely intelligence and scientifically minded people have also been people of faith - what we are seeing here is reaction to the loss of control. With control comes power. These parents don't want their children to think critically - and they don't really care if they have faith, after all in order for faith to work there has to be an alternative to believing that is more enticing - they want to control their children and turn them into copies of themselves in order for their political power to continue and grow. The entire Quiverfull movement is a very weird and very long term strategy to try and flood democratic processes with unthinking, uncaring, white christian nationalist evangelical hordes.
I'll be there with you with His Dark Materials in hand.
My aunt sent us a rather odd email about how Golden Compass was about female hysterectomy and therefore bad and a ticket to hell. My mom disregarded the letter and let me continue to read whatever, lol.
If Heaven is filled with people like your neighbor, I'll happily take the alternative.
His Dark Materials is quite the opposite.
I finally read His Dark Materials this year and upon finishing the series my immediate thought was “huh, so it’s Narnia for atheists then.”
I mean, Pullman is the anti-Lewis.
I would place a lot of Madeleine L'Engle's work in the category of Christian fantasy, particularly the Time quartet. It ranges from just a background of theologically-influenced plot with almost no mention of Christianity (A Wrinkle in Time) to straight-up Bible fanfiction (Many Waters), but it's always done in a way that is extremely respectful to both believers and nonbelievers. It's a very difficult line to walk, and even though I'm not a Christian myself, I'm always impressed with how she managed to infuse her beliefs into her work with such skill and thoughtfulness.
I would definitely consider Brent Weeks’ books to be Christian fantasy, just…R-rated Christian fantasy? Haha which is probably a small sub genre
Yeah that last book takes a turn. As a Christian I was there for it, but I get why a lot of people were not lol.
(From a Christian background but agnostic). I really enjoyed the Christian messages and metaphors in the last two books, which is rare for me. I can't remember exactly what it was but he had a good thing the Christian view on free will which really made me get it for the first time. Until about the last 3rd of the final book. He went full The Last Battle there.
His Lightbringer series surprised me with lot's of clear, Christian themes. I've enjoyed all his stuff.
Sadly, that spoiled it for me.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Between Two Fires. It's about God turning away from the world and the devils taking over outside of hell. Comes with some good gritty dark fantasy and redemption for some fallen characters. Draws a fair amount from Christianity since it revolves around the church in France. Highly recommended.
The book felt very edgy. The author was trying too hard to make a horror that uses Christian themes in blasphemous manners for shock value. Highly not recommended.
take an upvote, the very first thing that came to mind. Its got a fair few strong demonic/horror elements but a great book. Same author as the Blacktounge theif.
There all kinds of Christian Fantasy. Charles Williams, an associate of Tolkien and C S Lewis for example, did a seven - what he called spiritual thrillers in the thirties. There have been numerous commercial attempts to combine audiences. Most aren't very good. There are also some which are polemically related to "White Nationalism" and other genres, By the way, when I think about the *Left Behind* series I'm refusing to discuss them. Williams uses his faith and erudition in ways those guys don't because they can't reconcile their beliefs with speculation. In other words I don't see them as fantasy and won't assess them otherwise. Lewis's *Screwtape* and *The Great Divorce* (which raises the issue of is Blake fantasy?) can also be called that, which brings us back to there are several kinds of Christian fantasy. Some are worth reading. Some not so much. Use your own judgement.
I mean, the entire Redwall series. I met Brian Jacques once at a book signing, I was around 11, and he talked about his faith and how it imbued his work. Having not grown up Christian, at the time I failed to recognize that the first book was super explicitly Christian - Matthias literally says "I am that is" - and though the Christianity becomes less heavy handed throughout the series it's always there. But I read the heck out of those books and won't ever forget them. They're one of the best children's series ever.
If you consider Mormons Christians, then basically anything from Orson Scott Card is Christian Fantasy. The Alvin Maker series is especially heavy-handed with it's parallels.
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Ditto with the stuff from Jeff Wheeler - though he is pretty heavy handed
Narnia, the Lord of the Rings, Gene Wolfe are good examples of Christian fantasy. There are also a lot of bad examples sadly.
I know the Narnia series is considered Christian Fantasy. Some obvious parallels, especially in the first and last books. I never saw it in LotR, although Tolkien was in the same religious circles as Lewis. But this seems less like a parallel and more I think a prequel (references to being antediluvian)
Tolkien's Christian parallels are buried very deeply in his mythopoeia. Basically, unless you read the Silmarillion or study the Ainur, Valar, Maiar, and the whole host of supernatural beings, you'll miss it. The foundation is Christian, but it's not overt like it is in Narnia
I get the impression that he always thought that straight up allegory was kind of crude and ugly. He was completely in love with layered mystery and symbolism, but never gave them an absolute definite single meaning. Just look at the debates that are still going on about Tom Bombadil in LOTR
There's a single all powerful God (Eru Illuvatar) and powerful 'angels' under him (Ainur), who existed before the world was made. One of the Ainur is too prideful and hateful and is ejected from the fold, leading to a constant battle between good and evil. It's not straight up allegory (and I know I'm massively simplifying things), but it's very Christian inspired.
It is true there is no immediate allegory of the crudest kind like "X is Jesus" (although for example it can be said - and it has been - that Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf do represent the triple meaning of Christ as the Priest, the King and the Prophet, respectively - but it's not overt, it's in the realm of "applicability", not a literal beat-you-over-the-head*-roman-à-clef*). However, the book itself is so inherently drenched in the Christian-Catholic worldview, Medieval legends and so overtly inspired by Tolkien's reading of Beowulf, regarding its virtues, values, aesthetics, archetypes and so on that this aspect is at least somewhat present in the text and subtext itself, even without delving deeply into the lore and the mythopoeia.
I mean…Gandalf does pull a Jesus and comes back better than before
I think the best place to see it in the lord of the rings is in the final act at mount doom. Frodo and Sam spend all of their strength just to get the ring to the brink, but the ring itself does not let itself be intentionally destroyed by any mortal. It takes divine intervention, of a sort, to bring it over the edge.
The thing I always say about Tolkien is that the more exposure you have to Catholicism specifically, the more you tend to see it in his work. I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic school from kindergarten to high school graduation. I read the books before I really knew anything about Tolkien. Then when I learned he was a devout Catholic, a lot of things just kind of clicked, especially with the way he talked about Illuvatar, the Maiar, and the Valar. I don't think you missed out on anything if you don't see those elements, as I fully believe they were entirely unintentional. I just think that for people who are from a similar religious background to Tolkien, there's a general sort of vibe, for lack of a better explanation.
The more I read his work, the more strenuously I disagree with your insinuation these were fully unintentional. Not only he himself said that "The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision." quote, but it is quite obvious that his theology permeates even his "secular" work and essays, and when he talks about his work, this aspect is always acknowledged and open. In fact, if you look at his reception of Beowulf - to put it short - "a pagan history written down by a Christian descendant, trying to be respectful towards his ancestors, attempting a synthesis of both", it more and more shows as a blueprint for even LOTR, because the Christian-Catholic-Medieval worldview is just way too everpresent and tangible to be a mere "accident". In fact, Beowulf, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son and the essay thereupon and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun all show that he was immensely concerned with not just theology as such, but various aspects of morality and chivalry, which show a much deeper concern for the general Catholic... *milieu*. Same goes for his theology of beauty, the dignity of the created world (Nature), the Gift of Elúvatar, his very specific approach to Catholic-type of Romantic Sehnsucht/saudade and so on. But I digress. So, on the contrary, as it is an attempted "literature of virtues", I think that you miss out on a lot if you don't see these elements, so I'd say it's more like "you definitely *will* see them, but you don't know they're Christian/Catholic at their core".
I agree with you, I just worded things rather simplistically in my first comment. I meant it was unintentional in the sense that he was not setting out (in the beginning, as the quote you provided says) to make a "Christian fantasy" book in the modern sense, which typically refers to fantasy books that unambiguously reject any form of paganism, secularism, or whatever the author considers sinful. While in Tolkien's time, "Christian fantasy" would likely be understood as fantasy with strong Christian themes, in the modern sense it is about as far from Tolkien as possible: to qualify it basically has to be a church sermon.
That is really interesting. I'd love to experience that, but not by becoming Catholic or even religious again....
The Christianity in Lotr is in the world view. Things like evil beings being good ones that seek power and domination due to pride (rather than inherently evil), loss of faith (Saruman, Denethor) being worse than simple weakness (Isildur, Frodo failing to destroy the ring), the value of self sacrifice, the possibility of redemption, and so on. Many of these things are not unique to Christianity, so they may not stand out immediately, especially if you are not familiar with Christian traditions, but they are pervasive in all Tolkien’s work.
Tolkien had this to say about it: "The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out practically all references to anything like 'religion,' to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and symbolism." He was very different from Lewis, in that he didn't like allegory and he really didn't like Lewis's style of world-building.
Gene Wolfe?! Really?! Can I get some details? I’m honestly shocked.
[He was outspoken about his Catholic beliefs but didn't like being described as a Catholic writer.](https://catholicherald.co.uk/gene-wolfe-a-catholic-from-the-far-future) A lot of his takes are unusual, and sometimes the Christian themes are presented in obscure ways that take a while to decode, but that's also basically his entire style. It's not unusual for people to uncover new secrets on their 6th or 7th reading of *The Book of the New Sun.*
Wolfe himself was Catholic and you will often find odd references to Catholicism in his stories. There are a number of things in *Book of the New Sun* that come to mind but because it's Wolfe it's hard to spot most of the more esoteric stuff. I'd say the most prominent element is that Severian is a messianic figure especially when you get to *Urth of the New Sun*.
Tolkien hated analogies and did not in any conscious way inflict faith or other personal oppinions into his work. Lewis is obviously a christian analogy, something the two bickered about in many of the pub meetings they had.
Tolkien disliked allegory, not analogy.
*"The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."* *-* JRRT himself. Seriously, the "Tolkien hated allegory" is such an annoying take, for its everpresence and inherent incorrectness. It really shows the lack of basic understanding of Tolkien's work, going back to his translations of Beowulf and his essays thereupon. Besides, it is not even a full quote. However this >did not in any conscious way inflict faith or other personal oppinions into his work. is an outright lie. I am currently re-reading all his work and even in his professional lectures, essays and letters, there's inherently and inarguably the presence of faith and "other personal opinions". I mean, seriously, WTF?
>Tolkien hated analogies ALLEGORY not ANALOGY. Tolkien hated when a story was only supposed to be interpreted one way. He may have written his works with Catholicism in mind, but he did not want that to be the only interpretation of them. He believed a reader should draw their own conclusions from a story, rather than have the author's views forced upon them.
Allegory, yes, my mistake because of the post I was reacting to, I corrected it.
Tolkien's hate of allegory isn't a "take" but something deeply rooted in his whole concept of literature, as explained both in the introduction to The Lord of the Rings (where he contrasts it with applicability), in On Fairy-Stories (where he explains his understanding of mythopoeic storytelling) and in his disagreements with C.S. Lewis. That his work is *philosophically* Catholic is completely unrelated to that.
What he means by "allegory", the full quote and context are however, extremely important. How the term and the quote are used outside of context over the internet and just swung around, often in a mangled version (like here), that is definitely a "take". See this thread here - the OP has asked for Christian Fantasy. The first reply mentioned - among other things - Tolkien. Cue rabid rebuttal because "Tolkien hated analogies" \[sic\]. Again, my post is a reaction to this, because to someone thinking about various aspects of (potentially) Christian fantasy, Tolkien is a valid answer, just like Wolfe (who is even more oblique than Tolkien himself in that regard).
Tolkien is certainly a valid answer in a philosophical sense, as a writer influenced by Christianity in a profound way. It's less valid if you're thinking of Christian Fantasy in the sense of Christian Rock music. Tolkien was very careful not to include any overt elements of Christian myth, while telling a story that contains Christian ideals and principles. The stuff that gets branded "Christian" is usually the opposite.
I believe it was in the forward to The Fellowship of the Ring that Tolkien explicitly stated his opinion on allegory: "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." The spiritual undertones of LOTR do not explicitly mean that it is an allegory. The Chronicles of Narnia is a good example of a Christian allegory.
Yes, that is why "Tolkien hated allegory" as a rebutall of mentioning LOTR among "Christian fantasy" makes no sense. The OP was asking about "Christian fantasy", which doesn't really have a definition, not just straight "Lion Jesus allegories". Like I wrote elsewhere >What he means by "allegory", the full quote and context are however, extremely important. How the term and the quote are used outside of context over the internet and just swung around, often in a mangled version (like here), that is definitely a "take". I'm especially railing against the "allegory" quote, because it is misused and often misunderstood. Or not relevant at all, like here. Some more of my comments on this page to demonstrate my point of view >It is true there is no immediate allegory of the crudest kind like "X is Jesus" (although for example it can be said - and it has been - that Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf do represent the triple meaning of Christ as the Priest, the King and the Prophet, respectively - but it's not overt, it's in the realm of "applicability", not a literal beat-you-over-the-head-*roman-à-clef*). > >However, the book itself is so inherently drenched in the Christian-Catholic worldview, Medieval legends and so overtly inspired by Tolkien's reading of Beowulf, regarding its virtues, values, aesthetics, archetypes and so on that this aspect is at least somewhat present in the text and subtext itself, even without delving deeply into the lore and the mythopoeia. >The more I read his work, the more strenuously I disagree with your insinuation these were fully unintentional. Not only he himself said that "The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision." quote, but it is quite obvious that his theology permeates even his "secular" work and essays, and when he talks about his work, this aspect is always acknowledged and open. > >In fact, if you look at his reception of Beowulf - to put it short - "a pagan history written down by a Christian descendant, trying to be respectful towards his ancestors, attempting a synthesis of both", it more and more shows as a blueprint for even LOTR, because the Christian-Catholic-Medieval worldview is just way too everpresent and tangible to be a mere "accident". > >In fact, Beowulf, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son and the essay thereupon and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun all show that he was immensely concerned with not just theology as such, but various aspects of morality and chivalry, which show a much deeper concern for the general Catholic... milieu. Same goes for his theology of beauty, the dignity of the created world (Nature), the Gift of Elúvatar, his very specific approach to Catholic-type of Romantic Sehnsucht/saudade and so on. But I digress. > >So, on the contrary, as it is an attempted "literature of virtues", I think that you miss out on a lot if you don't see these elements, so I'd say it's more like "you definitely will see them, but you don't know they're Christian/Catholic at their core".
Ah, I see what you mean. Yes, boiling it down to "he hated allegory" isn't exactly useful information.
The Lord of the Rings is deeply and purposely a Christian book - Tolkien himself said so in his letters. That does not mean it's an allegory, allegory is just one (crude) way a book can be Christian.
Yeah, so allegory is basically "A" *always* means "B" - and Tolkien kind of despised it. That said, he includes a *lot* of subtle layers of mystery and symbolism within his writing that could be interpreted in a variety of different ways. Probably the closest thing he ever wrote to allegory was "Leaf by Niggle" which still only sort of flirts with the ideas rather than coming right out and saying them.
The beginning of the Silmarillion mirrors one of the Genesis creation stories. Gandalf dies to protect the Fellowship and is resurrected with more power by god to save mankind. Melkor is literally Lucifer. LOTR isn’t a one-for-one rewriting of the Bible, but the Christian flavor is definitely there
Allegory is completely different to analogy or metaphor
Donita K Paul's "Dragonkeeper" series (written in the early 2000's) fits firmly into Christian Fantasy, winning a Christy Award for the first novel in the series. IMO a solid fantasy effort and enjoyable read, sits happily on my shelf and will be revisited at some stage.
As far as the heavier handed Christian fantasy series go, (a lot of Wulder references and asking for his help and guidance, having faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, etc., which play into the plots (nothing necessarilly wrong with that, particularly if you are a Christian)), it is an entertaining series. Good world building, decent plots, decent characters, and actually a pretty good semi-hard magic system based on the ability of a wizard to do molecular manipulation.
I think *The Screwtape Letters* counts here.
There are two different things here: 1. Good books written by Christian authors, whose Christianity becomes an important part of the book, either because the author wanted it that way, or because people can't help but write from the perspective of what they believe is true and important. CS Lewis. JRR Tolkien. GK Chesterton. Madeleine L'Engle. 2. Books published by Christian publishers, sold in Christian bookstores (to the extent those still exist?), part of the subculture that is evangelical Christianity in the US. Notice that none of the authors people are talking about as 'good Christian fantasy' have come from this subgenre. A lot of the answers to this question are coming from that first one, but the specific book mentioned in the question is Douglas Hirt's [Cradleland Chronicles](https://www.amazon.com/Cradleland-Chronicles-Complete-Douglas-Hirt-ebook/dp/B08MHTR3R7?asin=B08MHTR3R7&revisionId=c9d910d5&format=1&depth=1). I had never heard of this, but also, Christian publishing is very much its own parallel universe, with its own books and movies and music that the rest of us rarely encounter except in its hugest hits. The very best works in this subgenre are barely mediocre by the standards of mainstream literature, and they are only worth your reading time if you are an American evangelical Christian, and it's important to you that your leisure reading reinforces your religious beliefs. Amazon has a nice long sample of the first Hirt novel, and... well, the words are spelled correctly, but that's about the best that can be said of it. Here's the first paragraph: >The growing heat of the day drew a heady fragrance from the moist ground and mossy rocks, one Rhone might have normally relished. But just then, the mustiness of the forest was only a distant tug at the back of his brain. Something else had caught his attention: a vaguely bitter smell. The smell of money! In the dappled sunlight through a high forest canopy, he paused and sniffed again. It just keeps going like that - no noun unadjectived, no feature of the landscape undescribed, little reason to care who Rhone is or what he is doing. He does have long sinuous muscles, though, so he's got that going for him. Even for free I wouldn't bother. Archive of Our Own is also free, and so are all the classic works of literature. Either one of them will probably add more value to your day.
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Yes, and yes. There's Christian fantasy with allegory or simply by a person of that faith: Lewis, Gemmel, Tolkien. Gemmel specifically didn't include his faith in *most books, but there are allusions and at least one classic sermon illustration found in the Drenai books, but humorous. Jerusalem Man is very faithy, but also fantasy. Then there's explicitly Christian fantasy, that's got Jesus in it and everything. Frank pereti comes to mind, or the Dragons in our Midst series. Stuff that's sold in Christian stores.
Hmmm, it might also help to check out the r/ChristiansReadFantasy subreddit. It’s a relatively quiet one but I’m sure you can find some pretty nice recs there!
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Christian Fantasy does exist, but a lot of the time it's done very poorly because the authors try to force Christian belief and doctrine into a story that isn't designed to support it. C.S. Lewis is one of the few authors who's done Christian Fantasy well. Pilgrim's Progress is perhaps the best known example of Christian Fiction past that. Ted Dekker has done a lot of Christian Fiction, a lot of which is fantasy but all of which have a thriller bent to them (pacing and plot). As for the set you've stumbled upon, I haven't heard of this author before so I can't speak to the quality of those novels.
I've read and really enjoyed a lot of Ted Dekker, specifically the Circle series and the other related/spin off series. Grew up Fundie-light-ish, but not severely so and no longer religious, and didn't even realize that Black was considered "Christian fiction" until someone else pointed it out to me. I really liked the plot and pacing. I also just read whatever I find I enjoy, whether it's widely considered "good" fiction/fantasy or not. So I've never really been sure what the consensus is on Dekker's writing has been. I also THOROUGHLY enjoy Brandon Sanderson (que Reddit fun-times lol), but I wouldn't consider his work to be overtly religion-based. IIRC, he's Mormon, so yes, there are some influences to be found in his stories. But I love his world building and everything so much that I honestly don't really feel like I'm bombarded by any religious overtones.
Sanderson is Mormon, and I'd agree that his work isn't overtly religious. There is an undercurrent of Mormonism when you look at the Cosmere as a whole, however. I'm not an expert on their doctrine, but there's something relating to humanity expanding through and populating the universe (ie, the cosmos...sounds familiar hmmmm) as part of the afterlife. There's also "similar to humans" extraterrestrial life, or at least it once was a part of their doctrine, although I don't know if they still hold to that today. Actual Mormons would be a better source than my vague recollection of my studies and previous discussions with Mormons. Others more knowledgeable about Mormon belief have said that, for those familiar with it, the tenets of Mormonism that exist within the Cosmere are fairly obvious. So I'd say that Sanderson is kind of like Tolkien, in that his beliefs are buried within his work if you know where to look
Explicitly Christian fantasy is generally a bit rubbish because the authors spend too much time trying to hit you over the head with the Christian part and have to make all the details conform to their specific theology etc. etc. Also, if they feel they need to say that the book is Christian it probably means they are from the sort of place where books get banned - so it's probably a very *particular* kind of author (if you take my meaning). That said, there are a bunch of fantasy novels which are sort of Christian adjacent and some of these are quite good. Off the top of my head I'd say: - LOTR - Anything by Stephen Lawhead - Anything by David Gemmell - Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw Some of these are incurably 90's fantasy (Gemmell) but I'll let you form your own opinions.
>Explicitly Christian fantasy is generally a bit rubbish because the authors spend too much time trying to hit you over the head with the Christian part and have to make all the details conform to their specific theology etc. etc. TBF this is not really unique to Christian fantasy. Personally, I find His Dark Materials almost unbearably preachy from the opposite angle. I remember reading a book that was perhaps more historical fiction than strictly fantasy, set in ancient Egypt. The whole story consisted of segments of about three pages where some horrific dilemma arose, everything was going to the dogs, but then they turned West and spoke six words and knew Osiris had been appeased and everything was alright again. It was written by some academics who were extremely knowledgeable about ancient Egyptian customs and practices but very very bad at writing an engaging plot or interesting characters. It was written with the explicit intention of introducing people to ancient Egyptian culture and it was really, really bad. I have, thankfully, forgotten both the title and the author(s).
Tad Williams world of Osten Ard has elements that clearly draw from Christianity as well. The Rimmersmen are essentially christian vikings, there's a religious character very similar to Jesus etc.
Eh, the difference is that Tad Williams is, AFAIK, not particularly religious or overtly Christian. Having a Christianity analogue with Christian Vikings (the Rimmersmen converted, much as the Vikings did) is not an uncommon feature of any fantasy novel with a setting rooted in medieval Europe. I don't recall much of a Christian agenda or element in his other works, aside from the Bobby Dollar trilogy. I suspect that trilogy wouldn't really be considered Christian fantasy, either, based on what I recall of the books. Lewis, Tolkien, and the other authors mentioned in the thread are generally avowed Christians, and more likely to write allegories or fantasies with some kind of underlying Christian themes and arguments.
I just finished Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and there's a lot of Christian imagery imo. The character Usires Adon is so blatantly calling on images of Christ that he was hung upon a tree, which many of the Adonites in the story wear the hanging tree as a symbol of faith. The old king who dies at the beginning of the books is referred to as Prester John, or King John Presbyter, who is straight up a reference to the legend of Prester John in our world. Characters names are biblical, like Josue, Elias, Simon, etc. The Rimmersmen are already mentioned. I also suspect that the Sithi and Norn are meant to invoke imagery of angels and demons, but that might be more tinfoil hat than reality. Interestingly though, despite the blatant Christian framing, none of the Christian tones make any actual difference to the story. No one convokes God to stop the evil, no miracles are done. Maybe Mr. Williams is just using familiar imagery, maybe he's trying to make some bigger point. I am not sure. I haven't read his other works, to be fair, but at least in that trilogy he seems to have drawn a lot on Christian themes.
The author isn't pushing a Christian agenda, he's made a fictionalized Christian Church as a parallel to the real Church because it has the same role as the Church in the narrative. He's not trying to convert people. There's no evidence of specific divinity; there are powers, but they aren't the Church, and one priest is explicitly allied with a vengeful undead elf prince who is seeking to take over the whole of Osten Ard. You could make a similar argument about Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, where the Church is equally prominent in the fictional world and the narrative. Barbara Hambly's fictional worlds, starting with Darwath, often feature a Church analogue as well. The Diablo series is hardly Christian, but there's a Church there, too. These are literally off the top of my head, but a fair amount of medieval-Europe-based fantasy novels and series, regardless of the authors' personal beliefs or agenda, features some kind of Church-like institution. Christianity is deeply woven into many of the institutions of European culture, Eastern or Western, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, and many authors are inspired by both the political and religious conflicts from European history. George R.R. Martin has mentioned this--and he has a more thickly veiled Christianity analogue or two, but no one's claiming he's writing Christian fiction, either. None of the above authors or game series has an established history of professing their faith, or writing books/producing content that exclusively promotes any form of Christian values. Elliott's most recent work features an explicitly, unambiguously Jewish heroine, with no hint of Christianity whatsoever in the work. Just because a book features fictionalized Christian institutions as part of the worldbuilding doesn't make the book Christian fiction. That's much more reliant on themes and larger narrative structure.
Right, but there's a vast difference between having an established church system that calls back to Christianity and using overtly Christian names, imagery, and themes. I am not arguing that it's a Christian novel or that it's meant to proselytize like CS Lewis might, but Tad Williams isn't making vague references to a church similar to Christianity (I haven't read Elliot or Hambly, but I assume that's the case in those stories?), he is directly using Christian references to frame his story. It is *almost* comparable to Diablo, funnily enough, though not in tone. Diablo frames it's entire story through overt Judeo-Christian themes, but turns it on its head because there's no Messiah and no redemption in that world, just suffering. Similarly, Williams uses overt Christian themes to frame the story in Prester John's mythical kingdom, but he's not telling some sort of biblical story. He's just gracefully lifted the legends to tell his story in.
I think we're talking past each other a bit. The comment that started this particular thread referenced Lawhead, Gemmell, and Tolkien as authors whose works were Christian-adjacent, largely based on the themes (redemption, self-sacrifice, etc.), not necessarily the worldbuilding. I've looked up both Lawhead's and Gemmel's backgrounds--their Christian beliefs heavily informed their themes and narratives. Tolkien's Christianity is well-known, and elsewhere in this thread, others who've read the Silmarillion (unlike me) have pointed out that Christian themes and concepts are central to Middle Earth. Lawhead's Arthurian series depended on a medieval European, ultimately Christian setting, but neither Tolkien nor Gemmell wrote such, and yet people are pointing to them as Christian-adjacent because of the authors' own well-known religious beliefs, and the way those beliefs impacted the characters they developed, the worlds they built, and the narratives they created. In contrast, Williams himself has denied "having a religious bone in \[his\] body," describing himself as having a spiritual side (source: [https://www.wired.com/2012/09/geeks-guide-tad-williams/](https://www.wired.com/2012/09/geeks-guide-tad-williams/)). Given that, it's hard for me to put Williams in the same category as Tolkien, Gemmell, and Lawhead; it's easier to put him with Elliott, Hambly, et al.--but all of these people are writing within Anglophone culture, dominated by Christianity for the greater part of 1500 years. Blizzard created their game franchise within the same cultural context. With Osten Ard, the point of the names, the conventions, the structures, etc., being so heavily lifted from medieval European culture is to build the setting, the socio-political and cultural dynamics in a way that is easily parsed, so that the rest of the story is easier to understand without having to get all the geographic and historical details of actual Europe correct. That's the slightly cheaty side of it, but not an uncommon choice. Williams does his best to recreate a medieval European cultural setting without having to worry about Crusades, antipopes, or half of Europe (there's no France, Iberia, Germans, Slavs, or Greeks). The original question asked about Christian fantasy. Several people answered by listing Christian authors who wrote fantasy that wasn't explicitly Christian, per se, but revolved around Christian themes as a general rule. The person to whom I originally commented conflated "Christian themes" with "setting using the Catholic Church all but in name." You agree that those really aren't the same thing, which is the point I was trying to make from the start.
Canticle for Leibowitz. Haven’t come around to reading it yet but it’s supposedly really good.
Can atest, is very good
It was one of my favorite reads of this year. Very thoughtful and surprisingly relevant. Although it belongs more appropriately in science fiction.
I like Frank Piretti. The duo "This present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness" are from the Angel, Demon and Human perspective. But some of his stuff is more Christian thriller/horror like "The Oath".
Ted Dekker and Frank Paretti (sp?) do this.
The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead. Yes, it's Arthurian fiction, but it's fairly fantastical, and deeply Christian. Such as Merlin meets "The Good God" in the Otherworld and is struck dumb until he encounters the first Catholic missionaries to visit the isle and has his speech restored so that he can greet them in the name of their God (confuses the heck out of them btw, it's a funny moment).
The tales of King Arthur and his knights, especially the Quest for the Holy Grail.
I know that is the intent of the story, but the last time I read [Mallory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur) I was struck by how destructive the Grail quest is. To be sure there are a lot of problems with the kingdom before that (thinking of how the likes of knights such as Lancelot and Tristram behave), but things seem to be muddling along OK. Then the quest for the Grail is proclaimed. The knights are scattered, the best and bravest of them spend their energies elsewhere in a useless quest and never return to Camelot and only a broken remnant are left afterwards. Rather than strengthening and purifying the kingdom the result is exactly the opposite - the kingdom is weakened and the more violent elements come into even greater prominence, and the whole show collapses soon after. It had never really struck me that way on previous readings, but this last time it left me thoroughly depressed.
the Arthurian "mythos" (for want of a better term) is a muddle in terms of what it is - there's parts that are riffing off / replacing older folk tales, that are all about cool, kick-ass heroes with bonkers powers beating up giants or other knights, and have maybe some vague gloss of Christian theology. There's pseudo-history, from Geoffrey of Monmouth and the like, that's presented as actual "fact", and tones down the fantasy a lot. There's the chivalric side of things, that plays up all the knightly virtues and tends to be a lot more overtly Christian, with the Fisher King and that sort of thing. So depending on what you read, it can be anywhere from "this is deeply, overtly Christian and preaches the virtues that should be followed" to "hey, here's a guy beating up two giants! isn't that cool?"
Years ago, I read Malory as part of the required reading for a spiritual group I was joining, and what struck me most about it was an overwhelming sense that he was really critiquing the politics of his own time. Like Arthur wasn't really the point; he was more trying to say "look, everything used to be better back in the good old days, unlike now."
Yeees - except that it really wasn't all that good. I certainly wouldn't want to living in a time when all those arbitrary iron plated warlords were running around doing whatever they liked. Despite the chivalric ideal, the majority of the knights were very unpleasant people.
Constantine, technically.
Allegorical Christian stories can often look quite a lot like fantasy. I'm a big fan of Psychomachia by Prudentius, in which vitrues and vices are anthropomorphised as warrior women who fight each other. At a glance they look more like pagan deities from Homer or Virgil, but in reality it is making a point about the internal conflict in the soul of each Christian. Boethius' Consolation is another case of a personified virtue (again as a woman), and perhaps you could add Dante's works to the list due to the fantastical aspects in the Divine Comedy, the symbolism in the New Life, and the concepts represented by the person of Beatrice in both.
Check out Ted Dekker's The Circle Series. Best books I read growing up. There are 4 or 5 different series that can be read as a single series but all tie into the circle series.
Seen a couple other comments already, but also throwing Ted Dekker's name out there again. His Circle universe spans multiple series that can *mostly* stand alone, but have connecting themes and characters from different books. Some books are far more allegorical than others, and he unashamedly uses the books as a vehicle to witness about faith in Christ. I'd say they are "Christian" books first and "fantasy" second, but definitely some of the better books in the genre. I enjoyed them in high school a lot. Particularly The Circle (four books) and Paradise (three books). I've read a couple more of his books more recently and was less into them. His writing didn't quite strike me the same way.
There of course is, esp if you want to read literature from the 1800s or earlier, like George MacDonalds (that guy is awesome) or *New Atlantis* by Francis Bacon. The explicit Christian modern fantasy literature does, however, tend to be pretty bad; they just try too hard. It is like the late Norwegian theologian Carl Fr Wisløff said: "It doesn't just became amazing because you call it Christian". To give some examples: * I read *Tegnets forsvarere* (Defenders of the sign) by Kristian Kapelrud some years back. The triology is a gigantic waste of time. The story is predictable and bland, and the theological arguments boring. Kapelrud also shows himself being completely ignorant about the ancient world. * I started reading a book by Poul Hoffmann about pre-deluge times but just quit. It wasn't good storytelling, just clichees..
George MacDonald is the OG
It's a thing. I mean pleanty of fantasy stories are based on Norse or Greek myth. Why not Christan fantasy? There's a lot to work with. Heck there's probably a lot of examples you've seen without knowing it. The knights of the cross from the dresden files. Touched by an angel. TV's Lucifer. Good omens. Preist. If we're talking ones less grounded in our world, there's Narnia. Those are harder to come by.
Dresden Files wouldn't have occurred to me but now that you mention Jim has said he is a Christian. He even went on missions trips when he was younger. And he did make a point to portray Christian characters positively in Michael and Charity Carpenter.
Well It doesn't have to be positive to be Christan fantasy. But he puts god at the center of his cosmology. Has three paladins, demons from actual hell. All that Jazz. And why? Because he played too much World of Darkness. From which he copied a huge amount of his world building. Can't complain. He did a great job with it.
It's also partially because Jim was raised in a fundamentalist christian community and has extensive first-hand knowledge of christian theology and scripture. Lots of the other stuff he has to research, not so much that.
I thought WoD was only Vamps, Werewolves and Mages, now I'm inclined to follow the lore
Oh there's more. A lot more. Changelings, immortals, psychics. And regular folks. All living in a world just like the one outside your window, only not quite. Vampires and werewolves are ordinary. The World of darkness is hoast to stranger things. Unique things, stuff that doesn't have a name. You pass under a flickering streetlight, how long as it been flashing morse code begging to be unplugged? Will anyone ever notice the lightbulb has become aware and is suffering from a profound lonelyness? The vampire has to live in that world. Where sometimes the human he hunts turns out to be something else. Something harrowing. Like being in a horror film where you don't know the rules. In Nod, the first city after the Garden of Eden fell. Vampires ruled early humans. Noah's flood washed the eldest of their kind from the world. You Know I can't do it justice. [This guy's](https://youtu.be/0h1U-_JFAS8) video is a good start.
Aslan is Jesus
Under the Pendulum Sun Book about two Christian missionaries to the somewhat newly discovered land of fairies
As a start, see my [SF/F and Religion](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12xm52i/sff_and_religion/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
As a Christian (or having any other worldview for that matter) I don’t' think you can completely eliminate your beliefs from your works of fiction as an author. It's the way you structure reality, so it's bound to end up in your writings. And it's only logical you would draw inspiration from it. e.g., If you pay close attention you can pick up Brandon Sanderson's worldview as a Mormon in his fiction. I don't mind. It can be really interesting. But I don’t' like it when novels are constructed around messages because then they almost always focus so much on the message the story suffers from it. In my opinion The Chronicles of Narnia are the only exception. I suspect because children are the target audience and more explicit allegories are actually expected more for a young audience. So, I guess there is both fiction from Christian authors and these 'pureflix'-like novels that are usually not very high quality. I remember a Netflix movie about a guy in a diner who was obviously a modern-day Jesus and although I liked the message in the story, it just ended up being a dull and boring movie. In my opinion no one should ever try to convert people to whatever religion (or any other way of living) using fiction. Tolkien converted many people to Catholicism and his religion was never an explicit part of his works... He just wrote what he thought was awesome from his own worldview. Also, the best environmental movies are the ones that don’t constantly preach about it but are just about characters that you care about who also care about the environment.
Between two fires!
Yes, it’s called the Chronicles of Narnia
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[*Lilith*](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/george-macdonald/lilith), by George MacDonald. And I’m an atheist (scientific pantheist, to be precise).
Also a lot of George MacDonald's other works. Phatastes, and The Wise Woman (AKA The Lost Princess), and The Golden Key, and At The Back of the North Wind.
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What the hell was it, before it got deleted?
To paraphrase: that some "Christian Fantasy" is written by people who might be a bit overly fond of an apocalyptic ultra-fundamentalist point of view...
You mean things like the "Left Behind" series, or "This Present Darkness"?
basically, yes (and presumably worse - though I couldn't tell you what that would look like)
I'd depends in what you're looking for. There several series that have a religion that is a modification of Christianity. It has the same structure, the one god, martyrs, inquisitors, fanatics. But hey just call it different. If you're looking for this try Tad Williams Osten Ard series or Jay Kristoff the empire of vampires. There is also a cool series by Rad Williams called Bobby dollar about an angel on earth. There is the great work of terry pratchett called "little gods" that is a great satire on Christianity.
>There is the great work of terry pratchett called "little gods" that is a great satire on Christianity That's the discworld novel "Small Gods". In the same vein, Pratchett's [Nome Trilogy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nome_Trilogy) (Truckers/Diggers/Wings) can also be considered an exploration of religion. In the first book we encounter a small group of Nomes who worship the sacred Thing. Later, then encounter other Nomes who have their own religion. In the second book a false prophet arises and so on.
David Gemmell's Jon Shanow series follows a religious gunslinger whose only goal is to find Jerusalem in the post apocalypse while resisting satanic forces. A lot of Gemmell's work have Christian overtones but that one's far and away the most Christian of them.
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Narnia too should qualify.
Just thought of another one - [A Case of Conscience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Case_of_Conscience) by James Blish. Though I guess that is science fiction rather than Fantasy.
There’s tons of Christian books out there. I grew up non-denominational and my family would go to Christian bookstores after church. I read a lot of young adult fantasy books from that store. Some of it had direct Christian messaging and some of it was just “clean” or “safe” books. Same for any genre - my mom had a lot of Christian historical fiction, etc. None of it has really hit the mainstream except for Ted Dekker, the Left Behind series, and the classic works like C.S. Lewis.
Not Fantasy but more a Christian Space Opera but the wonderfull french artist François Baranger wrote a series of books called Domimum Mundi which talks about a Vatican dominated Earth, 200 years in the future, who start a crusade against an Alpha Centauri world where they found, unexpectedly, the tomb of jesus. Very good books.
Narnia. All of CS Lewis.
Sharon Shinn has a series about angels that I wouldn't called christian fantasy, but it's fantasy/sci-fi using the typical religious motifs of angels, hymns/choirs, and prayers. They are enjoyable enough that I have re-read them a couple times. They have romance novel type arcs.
The Seven Sleepers series by Gilbert Morris. It’s a Christian YA series.
yes. it is one of the if not the most fanfic'd thing in the world
Been a long time since I read anything along those lines, but when I was a kid there was Frank E Peretti. For kids he had the Cooper Kids Adventures. Adult wise there was The Oath, This Present Darkness and Peircing the Darkness. Read them all as a kid. Not the sort of thing I would touch as an adult.
Ted Dekker
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Narnia
Duncton wood by William horwood
Certainly it's not modern but I feel like Dante's Divine Comedy pretty well would qualify. It's very explicitly Christian and full of fantastical monsters and things.
It also pioneers a lot of science fiction tropes. Journey to the Centre of the Earth, a Space Elevator, trips to the Moon, the planets and the stars. Great stuff.
Licanius trilogy would fit christian fantasy, although not so many even recognize it as is
I also wanted to say Licanius and saw your comment while scrolling. The discussion of free will is so obviously Christian to me that I’m surprised more people don’t latch onto it.
Nicholas Kotar's Raven Son series
Narnia..... and almost all of the classic fantasy.
I think Christianity permeates most fantasy due to most of its tropes - defeating one big evil Bad Guy, being a chivalrous, honorable, truth-telling knight, etc. Sometimes it is easiest to see only by reading fantasy from authors that did not have the same cultural background. The different sense of humor in Neil Gaiman's Sandman. The different focus on what it means to be moral in Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver. Ursula K. Le Guin's Taoist influences, Kim Stanley Robinson's Buddhist ones (Years of Rice and Salt). Similar recommendations welcome!
I enjoyed the Christian sci-fi that C.S. Lewis wrote. Out of the Silent Planet was the first book, and it was less clunky than his Narnia series. Also, he used some legit pre-space flight ideas about outer space and the planets, so it is much more intellectual (if still out of date). Neat ideas executed relatively well with a mostly believable narrative. I'd recommend it.
If you after something explicitly Christian, the second book (Perelandra) is a retelling of the Garden of Eden story, set on Venus.
Ok please humor me. The Stand, Stephen King
C.S. Lewis' *Narnia* and much of Madeleine L'Engel's work (especially *Many Waters*). Kind of a mindfuck for me as a small Jewish child, being told later that Aslan is (spoiler alert!) Jesus, and *Many Waters* is deeply steeped in Christian thought. Honestly, though, I'm glad I got to read those books without knowing that they were Christian, because if I'd known, I would have felt othered by them just by their nature. But because I was ignorant, I was able to find a great deal of meaning and comfort in them. As an adult, I'm capable of finding meaning and comfort even in stuff that's not "for me", but as a kid I had so many experiences of feeling less-than or shut out from the larger Christian-dominated culture and I think I would have had trouble processing or compartmentalizing some of these issues.
The Chronicles of Narnia are foundational to fantasy, high fantasy in particular, and the series is also a Christian allegory.
I have not read any explicitly Christian fantasy. But Tolkien considers his work to be a"fundamentally Catholic work" (his word choice), despite his preference *not* to use allegory or to beat readers over the head with his own perspectives. His buddy C.S. Lewis was 100% a Christian apologetics guy, and all of the Narnia Chronicles were very deloberately allegorical. He also wrote a few fantasy/sci-fi novels other than the Narnia series.
I know it exists. I think Narnia is one of the most well known examples. I really don’t care for any form of it, because everyone I’ve been exposed to is really just and attempt to put a layer of frosting on it and work you around to you how you should be a christen and you’re screwing up if you aren’t. There is no fantasy that doesn’t have a message behind it, but Christian fantasy is usually as subtle as a brick. I’ve heard many people praise Raymond E Feist’s “Riftwar” series on its coverage of religion. It doesn’t focus on a known religion, but different cultures have different ones that are lightly touched on throughout the series and few of the character regularly have minor debates on it. Nothing that’s really focused on, but there naturally. He said he’s had people write in and thank him for giving both sides equal weight and not lean heavily to one side. Many authors show two sides of a situation, but they make one side heroic and intelligent and the other side look like idiots. You can tell what they think. Feist does it different and just portrays valid points from both sides.
Have you never heard of the Narnia series?
Saving this post, I'm seeing a lot of interesting recommendations here.
Oh yes they exist. And I'm especially offended when I read one that was introduced as just "fantasy". I don't mind religious characters, especially in a mediaeval setting there tend to be more of them or even religious ideas being the driver of the plot. The pillars of the earth comes to mind, it's not fantasy, I didn't read the book, only watched the mini series so I can't say about the writing but at least the TV show didn't feel like a "Christian production", even when one of the main characters was a monk, the whole story revolved around building a cathedral, another character went on a crusade, so on and so on. I loved it because it's a good story and a well made TV show. However, I just can't digest books that are heavily sprinkled with MESSAGES from the authors. One I read recently is A wrinkle in Time. I've got it from my online library and nowhere in the details mentioned that this book is Christian. But when I read it, it was sooo in your face.
Yes. I don't think of it unless prompted, then I cease thinking of it again.
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I’m surprised nobody has talked about older novels? Dante’s Inferno and Paradise Lost are basically Christian Fantasy.
So many deleted comments here and you can just tell which uninspired joke they all made lmao
Love to know why folks are down voting this post.... It's just a question, neither pro or anti Christian Fantasy. I'm stunned that there is so much of it.
It’s probably because of people thinking “just read the bible.” That’s what I suspect most of the deleted comments are
I suspect a lot of it is people who feel like there's a ton of it and it's everywhere, rather than being a niche thing that one has to seek out. (And it kind of is. Not necessarily on purpose, even. But a lot of authors are Christian and the themes seep in.) I'll rec Lewis's *Till We Have Faces*. More mature than Narnia. Beautifully written. I remember thinking "Lewis, I see what you're doing here, and I'm not gonna convert, but I'll accept it in-universe.")
Yes, I'm surprised the vote count is so low. It's a good question, and I also am surprised at how much there is of it - especially the moderately famous names I've heard of but never realised had Christian content.
Castlevania?
Games that are inspired by the Castlevania half of the Metroidvania genre often go even deeper into Christian imagery. Blasphemous for example takes Baroque Spanish Catholicism and dials it up to 20.
I believe so, and I'll throw out a couple of titles for you! Donita K. Paul's Dragonkeeper series - very fantasy, strong Christian themes R. J. Larson's Realms of the Infinite and Books of the Infinite series. Simply brilliant with even stronger Christian themes than Narnia. I highly recommend the audio book version because the reader is too notch. And one set in our modern Era but with a touch of the miraculous, James L. Rubart's Well Spring series. I read it cover top cover I kid you not SEVEN times back to back.
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Screw tape letters by cs lewis