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RJR_fan -> The future of Christian science fiction (6/21/2008 6:46:22 PM)

quote:

Although there are believing Christians who practice the art, their name is few. Paul Lineberger, writing under the pen name of Cordwainer Smith, was a high-church Anglican whose theological concerns shaped his art. C. S. Lewis wrote speculative allegory, rather than literature that used the sciences as major themes. Clifford Simak was a practicing Catholic. Gene Wolfe, a living writer, is another Catholic. The best known religious writer currently on the scene is a Mormon, Orson Scott Card. He honors the name of Jesus in his stories, and presents religious people as worthy of respect. A poignant expression of his Mormon faith shows up in his "return to Earth" series, where the protagonists have a devout relationship with an aging, deteriorating man-made deity.


This is a quote from an excellent article Futures for Sale that you can read here.

So, fans. What can we do to make our mark on this genre, for the glory of God? Or should we continue to let a Mormon do all our witnessing for us in this arena? What kind of future does this genre have? and what does God call us to do about it?

Thoughtful reflections invited!



uncabeeil -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/21/2008 7:25:43 PM)

We can read authors like Karen Hancock and Kathy Tyers. We can let the major publishing houses know that there is a market for more than end times or chick lit. There are exceptional authors out there who can't get a publishing deal because the major houses cater to women between 25 and 65 almost exclusively.



SuspenseWriter -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/22/2008 12:04:01 AM)

Jeff Gerke, formerly of NavPress, has started a Christian house looking to do nothing BUT those kinds of books (Marcher Lord Press). You can read more about it at his site, wherethemapends.com. Fascinating stuff there, and the site is huge. And there are other houses doing the same. The tide is turning.



RJR_fan -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/22/2008 1:14:06 PM)

thanks for the link. Interesting stuff. Hope for the future! As well as hope for the literature that is filled with/defined by hope for the future, science fiction.



uncabeeil -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/23/2008 10:01:02 AM)

That's great news. I hope he's hugely successful!



rnershigh -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/24/2008 9:53:41 AM)

I think Brandon Sanderson is Mormon.
I'm not sure about it, but I thought I remembered reading it somewhere.
He's a new fantasy author not sci-fi though, his books are pretty good.



RJR_fan -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/24/2008 9:17:37 PM)

quote:

I think Brandon Sanderson is Mormon.


Well, I was thinking of Orson Scott Card, an excellent writer, whose Mormon weirdness shows through every once in a while.

Catholic writer Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun starts with the central character encountering "the Outsider," a divine Someone who is not an integral part of the generation ship and its cybernetic religious culture.

Catholics can write s.f. Mormons can write s.f. Jerry Jenkins can bang out a "left below" pot boiler in six weeks -- but who among us evangelicals will raise the flag of Jesus Christ over the future?

(I've written a few short stories set in Afrikaans-dominant orbital colonies, but nothing publishable -- yet.)



chrystar -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/26/2008 12:53:33 PM)

I agree , it would be nice to see more Christianity shown in science fiction, and fantasy for that matter and not just as the refuge of the ignorant and superstitous as is shown in so many other books. Also I want to see thank-you for that link mentioned above, I have been looking for good place to submit some things, it is a very promising site!



RJR_fan -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (6/29/2008 6:34:59 AM)

quote:

I agree , it would be nice to see more Christianity shown in science fiction, and fantasy for that matter and not just as the refuge of the ignorant and superstitous as is shown in so many other books.


We kind of brought this one on ourselves. Honestly, how many Christians do you know who are deliberately and soberly taking steps to shape the world of 150 years from now? A few decades ago, one of the richest Christians in America asked R. J. Rushdoony for advice on how to use his money for the glory of God. RJR suggested that he found and endow 100 Christian high schools with an emphasis on excellence. The rich dude, however, got suckered into backing a whole string of "evangelize America overnight" schemes that left nothing of long-term value behind. When his family got control of the wealth, this guy ruefully admitted to RJR that the neglected advice had been good.

Creating a tract, or a comment in a Crosswalk forum, is the work of a moment. Pursuing a doctoral dissertation, OTOH, is a life-changing and years-spanning piece of arduous work. So, too, is writing marketable fiction. We have to believe that we have the time, before we will invest the time, to create stuff that transcends our time.



brothertodd -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/4/2008 4:48:52 PM)

if you want to talk about Christian Science fiction and Mormon Authors one should think upon Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon



RJR_fan -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/5/2008 12:58:09 AM)

Well, Orson Card specifically mentions Joe Smith as one of the major shapers of his style. Card's work also has an undercurrent of nastiness and weirdness that can cause nightmares even in grownup readers!



restnHim -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/7/2008 2:49:45 AM)

Frank Peretti is a Christian sci fi author and his writing is phenomenal!



uncabeeil -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/7/2008 10:29:39 AM)

Actually, Peretti writes thrillers or horror. Not really sf, at least not how it applies to this thread.



restnHim -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/8/2008 12:37:56 AM)

I don't think his writing would neatly fit into either category. If transluscent flesh eating dragons flying overhead isn't sci fi, I don't know what is. Read
"The Oath."



uncabeeil -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/8/2008 9:06:02 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: restnHim

I don't think his writing would neatly fit into either category. If transluscent flesh eating dragons flying overhead isn't sci fi, I don't know what is. Read
"The Oath."

I have read it, and I would still label it a fantasy/thriller. There's no science there, pure fantasy. Fantasy may be a sub-genre of science fiction, but to me there has to be some science involved, whether it be real or made up.



SuspenseWriter -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/8/2008 2:17:24 PM)

If you're looking for some good Christian SF, check out the works of James Byron Huggins, specifically Leviathan or Cain. The first concerns scientists losing control of a genetically-inhanced Kimodo dragon, which is now a hundred feet long and breathes literal fire. The other tells of a creature that kills with the strength of 20 men. Good stuff.



9drtr -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/8/2008 5:27:50 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: uncabeeil

quote:

ORIGINAL: restnHim

I don't think his writing would neatly fit into either category. If transluscent flesh eating dragons flying overhead isn't sci fi, I don't know what is. Read
"The Oath."

I have read it, and I would still label it a fantasy/thriller. There's no science there, pure fantasy. Fantasy may be a sub-genre of science fiction, but to me there has to be some science involved, whether it be real or made up.


Fantasy and science fiction are completely separate genres that are marketed together because there's a huge overlap in readership.

restnHim, if you don't know what science fiction is, read Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement.



SuspenseWriter -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/9/2008 7:09:24 PM)

As an aside, Jeff Gerke (Marcher Lord Press) is going to be at the ACFW conference in Minneapolis in September. I hope to pick his cranium clean while I'm there (figuratively speaking, of course! [:)])



rnershigh -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/10/2008 3:21:32 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: RJR_fan

quote:

I think Brandon Sanderson is Mormon.


Well, I was thinking of Orson Scott Card, an excellent writer, whose Mormon weirdness shows through every once in a while.



I've never read any of his books so I can't comment on his "Mormon weirdness".[:D]
I know Sanderson hasn't injected any of his...beliefs into his book (that I could read), Although he writes a clean book (meaning, no profanity or sex in his books).



uncabeeil -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/11/2008 8:36:18 AM)

I've read the first three Ender novels and didn't notice any "weirdness". Not of the Mormon variety anyway.



RJR_fan -> RE: The future of Christian science fiction (7/12/2008 11:32:33 AM)

quote:

I've read the first three Ender novels and didn't notice any "weirdness". Not of the Mormon variety anyway.


Hey, I'm not going to dis this cultist who is doing our heavy lifting for us! God will not be without a witness. When Christians failed to "step up to the plate" on the issue of chattel slavery, the Unitarians piped up with their recommendations.

I appreciate O. S. Card for portraying a future filled with people who pray and examine their souls for the righteous course of action. His "return to earth" series begins with a deteriorating man-made deity -- and the piety of its worshipers -- definitely a Mormon theme!

The question remains -- is it in us to portray social orders set centuries in the future? Do we have the expansive kind of vision required? Or has our vision been crippled through bad theology? What would a Mennonite community look like on the moon? Would the Catholic Mass be said in Latin in the year 2525? Suppose the dominant language in the Oort cloud was Afrikaans? If an asteroid city voted to increase its taxes to 10.0001%, would that be causus belli, reason for declaration of war? After all, that community had fallen into idolatry, and ascribed divine honors to a human construct, its civil government. And a chastened humanity would know, from its historical studies of the 20th century, where statism leads! Or would neighboring communities content themselves with embargoes, and liturgies of malediction and imprecation?

Can we imagine the kind of world we'd want our grandkids to inhabit in the 23rd century, and portray it so winsomely that we can encourage its formation?



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