Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Defining, Discussing, and Setting a Personal Standard - Part II

Defining Christian speculative fiction is a bit more difficult than nailing down the meaning of other genres. From what I've read, it includes books containing angels and demons.

Books like Frank Peretti's, "This Present Darkness," and "Piercing the Darkness" fall into this category. I assume Kathryn Mackel's, "Hidden," would also fit this definition. The powers that be in CBA reason: 1) Angels and demons are real. 2)We don't know how they operate. 3)Therefore, the book is speculative.

What about books based on Biblical stories that contain scenarios not found in the scripture? Are these considered Christian speculative fiction?

Since I lived in New England for over 20 years, I'm aware of the spiritual warfare needed to survive in that area. Frank Peretti's books do not freak me out. While everything may not be 100% accurate, there's a lot of Biblical support for the spiritual battles taking place. Think about the story of Daniel praying, and the glimpse God gives us of the battle between angels and demonic princes.

What other books are considered Christian speculative fiction and why?

4 comments:

Jessica Nelson said...

I have no clue what's considered speculative. I'm a fan of Peretti and Dekker though.
Rachelle Gardner has a post today about the opening of a new CBA publishing house that will probably publish what I'd call speculative Christian fiction. It's very interesting and as long as these things do not confuse truth, I'm all for some imaginative adventure.
C.S. Lewis' Screwtape letters comes to mind as speculative.

Sarah said...

I'm new to the phrase "speculative fiction," but I'll offer up the book Madman, by Tracy Groot. I believe this book qualifies because she uses the few references to the demon-possessed man in Matthew, and writes a whole book around them.

Obviously, she had to use her imagination to fill in the blanks, therefore, I think, that would make it "speculative."

It was a very good book, by the way.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Jessica -

I saw the article you referenced. While romance has dominated the market for quite some time, I think we'll be seeing other genres expand.

Perhaps the question, "what is Christian speculative fiction?" is a good one to ask on one of the many writers' loops.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Sarah -

You touched on one of my questions with your comment about a Biblical story being made into a book. I also thought of Tommy Tenny's, "Hadassah," which was made into a movie.

BTW, I mailed out your book this morning. :)

Blessings,
Susan