I'm writing a Fantasy novel and I'm a Christian....

So I'm trying to write a fantasy novel, and I'm a Christian, and I wonder, when you right about the religion of your imagined world, does your story include a Christ type? Mine might not, so I suppose it would be more Jewish than Christian fiction...

What books do you suggest, which you would call Christian Fantasy? Are they all based on European landscapes, or are there differences?

I'm a Christian, and everything I've ever written is fantasy. Building religion(s) for my worlds are almost the thing I like the most =) I rarely set out to make any kind of similarities to the established religions in our world, though. Of course, I often end up with (un)intentional parallells anyway...

I've never purposefully included a Christ-like figure/character. I came close once, but then it was a character that had lived several centuries before the time of the story, and legends were abundant.

The trilogy I'm working on now (second part will be this year's NaNo) is inspired by the story of Moses, but are really not very recognizable as that anymore except for some things that happens. It's outlined, some parts better than others - and frankly I'm not 100% decidedat the end. Mateo (who is the Moses-figure) will be killed, that's for certain, and his brother Akir will be leader of their people. I've yet to decide if I want Mateo to stay dead. I just might let him come back, but if so it's going to be in a Christ-like way (not continuing a normal life) and possibly he will become some kind of semi-godlike character .... If I do that, he'll be the most Christ-like character I've ever done - and up to that point he certainly is nothing like Christ in thoughts and behaviour .....


Christian Fantasy? No idea, actually.....

I don't see how a writer's religious affiliation categorises a fantasy novel as Christian fantasy or anything else, unless they are setting out to write some sort of reworking of Christian idea, like the Narnia books. If you're just writing about Orcs and stuff, then it isn't really religious fiction.

It's not a novel, but there's a fantasy game I enjoy with various religions across the country, and one of them appears to be loosely inspired by Christianity (at least in part).

The lore goes that there was a woman named Andraste, a prophetess who spread the word of the Maker (God). She was burned at the stake, and afterwards a religion was born from her teachings. I'll just link you to the wiki, actually, since it has so much more detail than I could give you here: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Chantry

I hope that gives you some ideas!

Jeffrey Overstreet The Auralia Thread - Auralia's Colors is the first book.

Wayne Thomas Batson - The Door Within Series (so good)

Ted Dekker - Black, Red, etc series and there is a prequel that I read that I can't recall the name.

There are LOTS of Christian fantasy writers. Overstreet has a sorta Christ figure but it's a girl, kinda. Batson has one in this series; he's the prince/the leader in charge. Dekker has battles against evil forces; it's so good.

I don't think there's one way to tell a story, right? As a Christian, you let God lead you and He will guide you.

I am going to be writing a Fantasy story and I am a Christian. There will be Christian elements in there but I don't know what it will look like until I write it.

If you want to buddy up, let me know.

Tolkien and Lewis both wrote strongly Christian fantasy. Lewis made Narnia a Christian allegory. Tolkien made Middle-earth a world that adhered to his Catholic values and sense of how the world worked -- hence the general lack of explicit religion in the text, especially in Gondor. Middle-earth, for Tolkien, was a far off mythic past of Britain, and so his mythology for the world directly echoed what he believed to be the greatest religious truths: the oneness of God, the status of world as created and Creator as supreme deity, the intercessory ability of lesser powers (ie saints and angels) on the behalf of mere mortals, the important of memorial and morality in the world, the reality of evil, etc etc. Tolkien especially is the place to look for fantasy written with Christian ethics in mind, but never made explicit.

I'm not adding a Christlike character, but the main (Human) religon is strongly based off Catholicism. Cathedrals, saints, angels, rites and rituals, etc are all major parts of the religon. I'm probaly a bit biased, considering I'm adding several Saints reutnring to the world to help the race of men against the orcs.

Of course, this assuming I go with this story.

Hey MandyMeta,

I think it really depends on the goal of your fantasy novel. For starters, not every fantasy is technically a Christian novel just because it's written by a Christian. The first thing to look at would be whether or not your in-world religion is a reflection of Christianity, or if it's just it's own thing altogether.

Referring to the Circle Trilogy, which someone else already mentionned; Dekker sets up a Christ-like character in his fictional world that is a direct representation of Jesus Christ. You have Tolkien, who used a wizard (Gandalf) as his representation of Christ, and of course, Aslan in Narnia.

The majority of Christian Fantasies do usually have someone who represents Christ, but again, it depends on what your focus is. You could easily write a Christian Fantasy that follows the Old Testament ideals, where a saviour has not yet come and they have to work by abiding the law, or you could use New Testament with Christ -- but really, I would say go where your heart leads you.

A couple of years ago I wrote a Christian Fantasy for NaNo (sadly it's still not finished), which takes place both in our world and in a fantasy world that operates more or less on the spiritual level (physical to those in it, but spiritual compared to ours). I didn't use a Christ-like figure, because with the focus of my novel, at least, for the first book, it's not necessary. Up to this point, they've operated under very different guidelines because their whole world is different than ours. Even God is a little different to them than he is to us (different name, etc.).

I found the more prayer I invested in writing the novel, the more I just knew where to go with it. :)

My last year's NaNo was Christian Science Fiction, so yes, crossing the genres can be done!

As for a "Christ-type," no, I didn't have one of those. I'm a Baptist, and I believe in having a relationship with a living Christ, so I wrote Christ as, well, Christ. He didn't physically appear in any of my scenes (although He did in one of my deleted scenes), but my main male character, an angel, spoke to Him often. However, the reader was only able to hear the character's half of the conversation (like writing one side of a phone conversation).

I'm surprised no one here has yet mentioned Frank E. Peretti. He's done a range of work including children and adult novels, but he's mainly regarded as "Christian Suspense." His novel "This Present Darkness" and its sequel "Piercing the Darkness" (the better of the two, in my opinion), are both GREAT stories. Gripping, moving, and deep. He also does not make parallels like Tolkien or Lewis (although I love their works as well), and instead focuses on real people in real situations...except he also includes angels and demons as their own characters, and introduces a supernatural aspect that is unique and refreshing.

My local library considers the Left Behind Series (http://www.leftbehind.com/) to be Fantasy, although, as a Christian who believes the basis of the plot (the book of Revelation), I am not sure if Fantasy is really the most accurate genre.

You might check Donita K. Paul. She has a series called the Dragonkeeper Chronicles. They're a pretty good example of writing typical fantasy elements (mythical creatures, different worlds, etc.) from a Christian worldview.
Also Francine Rivers is an author you might find interesting. Although I wouldn't classify her books as fantasies, both "Redeeming Love" and "The Last Sin-Eater" could be helpful. In "Redeeming Love" she takes the story of Hosea and sets it in the California Gold Rush era. "The Last Sin-Eater" is set in the Appalachian mountains and is an absolutely beautiful story. Here is the blurb:
Set in Appalachia in the 1850s, The Last Sin Eater is the story of a community committed to its myth of a human "sin eater," who absolves the dead of their sins, and the ten-year-old child who shows them the Truth. All that matters for young Cadi Forbes is finding the one man who can set her free from the sin that plagues her, the sin that has stolen her mother's love from her and made her wish she could flee life and its terrible injustice. But Cadi doesn't know that the "sin eater" is seeking as well. Before their journeys are over, Cadi and the sin eater must face themselves, each other, and the One who will demand everything from them in exchange for the answers they seek. A captivating tale of suffering, seeking, and redemption.

I hope this is helpful!

Donita K. Paul is a wonderful writer too!

And Karen Hancock too--the Light of Eidon.

See? You're in good company!

You've probably read it, but all of the Chronicles of Narnia could easily be considered Christian Fantasy, with Asland the Lion as a symbol for Christ.

Also, it isn't Fantasy, but there is a book called "House" that is Inspirational. I'm atheist, but I still loved it. Definitely one of my favorites.

And, of course, there are the Left Behind books. I don't care for them personally, but I know a lot of people do, so they might be worth looking into.

I'm also writing a fantasy novel as a Christian. In my past (unfinished) books I haven't even had religion enter the equation...In the better one, there was reference to a vague evil that needed to be stopped but nothing counteracting it. Something I'm struggling with, personally, is the use of magic as a Christian. I know C.S. Lewis did it, vaguely. I've read Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Cycle), and he has the elves use the "Ancient Language" to do magic which is basically spells, which I definitely want to stay away from. Anyone have any thoughts?

You might try reading Infinite God Infinite Space which is a collection of Science Fiction short stories edited by Karina Fabian and her husband. The authors are all Catholics. Karina Fabian writes a series about a dragon who is a detective.

Amazon. com has a list of Karina Fabian's novels.

Two years ago during nano, i wrote an apocalytic novel (which I viewed as a fantasy) based on the book of Revelation. it is still in draft form. I'm working on it.

Blessings on your novel.

Thanks everyone! I totally want to write a fantasy novel. And I want it to be captivating to the male audience as well and I wonder how Christian fantasy can do that?

Yay, this is where I belong! Or do I? See, I'm writing a Christian Fantasy novel, but it's not about elves or people with magic in their blood or another world.

It's about Vampires. Modern-day Vampires.

Oh dear. I think that most Christians consider Vampires taboo. But Ted Dekker did an AMAZING vampire novel, spinning off from his Circle books. So can I get away with it? ;)

I think my most specific classification would be Christian Urban Fantasy.

So, tell me. Am I welcome or anathema? :P

I'm a Christian writer and pretty much all my longer stories are fantasy. The one I'm doing for this upcoming NaNo involves a religion that is basically the same as our christian relationship with God. However, the names are different because the people in the book speak a different language and Biblical names are translated as well. So one might not realize the God in my story is the same as the God of the Bible unless they have read the Bible, know Scripture, etc.

I've had your dilemma before, and a good site for you to check out is Holy Worlds in the fantasy section. It's a site for Christian fiction writers of various genres and addresses a lot of common issues we have in our writings, gives writing tips, etc.

http://www.holyworlds.org/

I've been trying to get something finished within the Christian Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre's. I recently discovered that other Christian writers consider this to be Christian Speculative Fiction. I googled it and came up with a list of authors who write within all these ideas (vampires, time travel, dystopia, demonology, elves, dragons, etc).

marcherlordpress.com is an independent publisher of Christian Speculative Fiction that you can't find in book stores. wherethemapends.com is another site for CSF. http://www.arjay.bc.ca/Fiction/CSF/index.htm has a list of authors in the genre. Have fun.

Anyone in the Washington state area?

How is everyone doing?