Unveiling the Surprise Web Site

Late in July I contacted then-acquisitions editor Jeff Gerke to update him on the latest science fiction and fantasy cyberspace development. He responded by disclosing an exciting plan of his own. We agreed that come launch time, he’d announce his plans here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction and at Speculative Faith. (On Tuesday Stuart Stockton will post an interview with Jeff there.)

Since then this announcement developed into a full-blown interview with now-freelance editor Gerke.

Here is Part One.

– – –

RLM: I understand you’ve been working on something special for Christian fantasy. What can you tell us about it?

JG: WhereTheMapEnds.com is a site for anyone who loves Christian fantasy, Christian SF, Christian time travel, or just about any kind of Christian fiction that other people might consider weird.

Some highlights from the site. I’ve got interviews from major writers in the field. The first interview is from Frank Peretti. Jerry Jenkins is next. Ted Dekker after that. Because I’m friends with so many of these writers I have an advantage getting them to agree to doing interviews.

I’ve got a massive booklist of Christian speculative fiction. When I started compiling it I thought I’d end up with around 40 titles. But it kept going and going. The version I have now has over 250 titles. I’ve sometimes been the first to complain that there just isn’t anything in these genres to read, but that exercise certainly shut my mouth. LOL. I hope my booklist will be the premier list of its kind on the Web.

Besides the interviews and booklist and other things that will appeal to readers of Christian speculative fiction, I’ve included a ton of content that will appeal to writers of Christian speculative fiction. I’ve got articles on writing, books on writing, idea-starters, world-builders, and a lengthy article on what actually happens when a novel is contracted by a Christian publishing company—everything from first contact with an editor to the book on the shelf. The content devoted to Christian speculative novelists, coming from an industry veteran, may be one of the site’s major contributions.

Lots of other goodies, too. Like the full suite of editorial and book doctoring services I’ll be offering through the site. For instance, if you’ve got a proposal you’re about to send off to an agent or take to a writer’s conference, I can help you make it look fabulous and give it it’s best chance.

RLM: Since you’re no longer working as an acquisitions editor, do you still think there’s a future for Christian fantasy within the CBA publishing houses?

JG: Tricky question. My feelings regarding the future of Christian speculative fiction within the CBA publishing industry have not changed. I think several editors at publishing companies are wanting to expand into those genres, but I think there is some resistance, especially on the sales side. Books of this type don’t typically sell as well as books in the more proven genres, so they can be a hard sell in publishing committee meetings. Lots of good people at those companies are still working to get those novels published, though.

However, one of my long-term dreams for WhereTheMapEnds.com is to become a small publisher of original Christian speculative novels. I think there is a future in offering the books people want directly to the people who want them. The Web is the perfect vehicle for this. Readers of WhereTheMapEnds.com will be the demographic most interested in these original novels, so publishing would be a natural extension of the site.

Between independents like me and the efforts of likeminded editors at CBA publishing companies, I think we’ll succeed in providing the speculative fiction your readers crave.

RLM: What, if anything, excites you about the trends in Christian fantasy?

JG: I get excited when I see sites like yours and ritersbloc [ Speculative Faith] and several others cropping up. I’ve felt for 10 years that Christian speculative fiction was on the verge of a revolution, and I think that’s what we’re seeing online. I predict it will be the next major wave of Christian publishing. But for a while it may need to exist underground as a grassroots movement.

If Marcher Lord Press (my proposed name for the original publishing I’d do through WhereTheMapEnds.com) became the unofficial publisher of that movement, I’d love it. But those are possibilities only God holds.

– – –

Part Two tomorrow. By the way, for those of you familiar with the CSFF Blog Tour schedule, WhereTheMapEnds.com is the surprise web site we will be featuring in February. Of course, no one has to wait that long to check it out. 😉

A Look at Postmodernism—Part 2

In order to explain Postmodernism, Crystal Downing, author of How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith, elaborates on the development of Modernism. I found this to be helpful and informative, especially as she contrasts the two views later in the book.

Here are a few salient statements:

The elevation from the premodern to the modern, then, is regarded as the transition from valuing a commonly shared, precious story [the Madonna and Child] to celebrating the individual reader/viewer who has her own point of view.
– p. 60

This brought to mind Nicole’s question from yesterday about existentialism. As loathe as the postmodernists would be if they were to admit it, their emphasis on particularity of experience rather than universality is not so far from the modern development stated above.

Here’s another one:

In contrast, then, to the premodern belief that ultimate truth is revealed by God and mediated through the church (about which one subsequently employs reason), truth for the modern thinker is objectively perceived by the unaided human brain. Reason begins to take precedence over revelation; rational analysis starts to supersede the authority of the church … Hence, while the premodern Christian says that belief precedes understanding, as in Anselm’s famous aphorism (inspired by Augustine) credo ut intelligam (“I believe in order to understand”), the modern era begins to switch it around, saying, “I must understand in order to believe.”
– p. 60

I had a wise college professor who simplified the trends. His view of history was that in the “Dark Ages” man viewed the world as God-centric but erred in understanding Man as a loved, albeit fallen, created-in-the-image-of-God being. At the Renaissance, the pendulum of belief swung to an appropriate balance (and some of the most God-honoring writing—John Donne, George Herbert, et al—took place). After the Renaissance, the pendulum swung toward a Man-centric view of the universe.

[As an aside, isn’t it amazing that as Man learned more of creation, his view of God shriveled and his view of himself expanded. Pride seems to be the only possible explanation. I don’t know for sure that this is a common experience, but I have never once stared up at the heavens when I could see thousands and thousands of stars and NOT felt small.]

Expanding on my professor’s metaphor, when the pendulum had swung as far as it could go, with Man at the pinnacle and God excised from the picture (see Nietzsche, nihilism, and the God-is-dead proclamations of the modern era), a counter philosophy began to reverse the direction. Enter postmodernism.
Because of an antipathy to much of what Modernism stands for, many Christians have embraced Postmodernism. Prior to Postmodernism, many Christians examined the tenets of Modernism in light of Scripture and allowed this to inform their beliefs while others fought against Modernism as the enemy of their souls.

Much like the reaction to Nazi Germany in the 1930s, people either ignored it hoping it would go away, accommodated it in order to co-exist, went underground with an occasional subversive attack, or fled to Communist Russia in hopes of escape.

“Out of the frying pan, into the fire,” my mom used to say. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration in saying Postmodernism is the fire to Modernism’s frying pan. Or is it?

A Look at Postmodernism-Part 1

Despite the fear of alienating some readers who care more about the fiction portion of this blog than the Christian worldview aspects, I want to take some time to look at the prevailing philosophy of our day—postmodernism. It seems important to know what this philosophy is all about in order to know just how to bring a Christian worldview to bear upon it, in fiction or in life.

I’m forming my views, in large part, from information gleaned in How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith by Crystal L. Downing (IVP Academic).

I suppose the logical first question is, What is postmodern philosophy? This is a much more difficult question to answer than it may first appear. Partly because it is always hard to examine, let alone explain, something you’re in the middle of. Partly because of the nature of the philosophy. As I mentioned yesterday, postmodernists themselves—many, anyway—resist the idea that their beliefs can be couched in a list of tenets.

For today let me do just that. (Hey, I freely admit—I’ve been influenced by modernist thinking). Here are the things I’ve learned so far (I’m still reading) about the beliefs of a postmodernist:

Language shapes behavior and is shaped by behavior

An emphasis on particularity of experience rather than universality

The Bible is not self-interpreting. Human beings bring their assumptions to its reading.

History itself is an artifical construction, a narrative fabricated from images of the past that are organized and juxtaposed according to the worldview of the historian

Everything that is constructed from language can only gesture toward, but not completely capture, truth

All knowledge must be taken on faith

From this partial list, some trends become apparent: relativism, the value of story, language deconstruction, de-emphasis of critical thinking, embracing mystery. Does all this make postmodernism “bad” or dangerous or a philosophy to fight against? Only if we enjoy windmill tilting. The fact is, for good or bad, postmodernism is the framework of our present culture.

The challenge is to think Biblically rather than to be sucked into the river channel of prevailing thought. An additional challenge, then, is to learn how to reach those swimming in the current.

Perhaps further discussion will be beneficial.

Christian Worldview Revisited

I find it interesting that in some ways Rudicus (see the discussion about the existence of God) and I think more alike than some Christians and I do.

He and I both believe that people should guard against propaganda, that we should not be swept into following blindly after the first (or second or third or fourth …) slogan-slinging personality with notoriety that touts something sounding like it meshes with our belief system. Instead we should examine the issues, think critically.

It seems that this idea of examining issues, thinking critically, and coming to a reasoned conclusion is out of vogue amongst postmodernist Christians. Rather, all questions are to be left unanswered, swathed in the unattainable mystery. OK, I exaggerate. Not “all” questions. But here is a sampling from my friend (who I have yet to meet, but whom I respect a great deal), Mark Bertrand. From his most recent blog post:

As fascinating as theological speculation can be, it ought always to be approached with caution. As Herman Bavinck said, “Mystery is the vital element of Dogmatics.” Forget that and you end up with a closed system that explains nothing but itself and endangers the truth it originally sought to illuminate.

On the surface, that quote seems to have merit, but when you consider Christianity and its belief in an infinite God, the idea of a “closed system” sounds ludicrous. I suspect that someone claiming to be a Christian yet ending up with a closed system believes more in the system than in God as He revealed Himself through the pages of the Bible.

Which brings me back to “Christian worldview.” As I defined it towards the beginning of this blog, I said:

As a writer conforms his or her themes to what God has revealed, he or she is writing from a Christian worldview.

A day or so before, I wrote the following:

From my perspective, a Christian is one who looks at the world, at God, through the lens of the Bible.

That kind of statement makes some people nervous. Too many rules. A list of do’s and don’t’s.

I’m talking about believing the Bible en toto—as a whole.

From my perspective, a Biblical framework REVEALS God rather than veiling Him with mystery. His intent, after all, is to be known, not hidden. Therefore, He gave us Truth written down and He gave us His Spirit to guide us into Truth.

To be honest with you, this framework for a Christian worldview is becoming less and less popular. On one hand there are modernists who cling to the belief in reason. On the other hand there are postmodernists who cling to the intangibility of it all. Language governs thought, but language is in flux, so real truth is a mystery, something we must believe because we certainly cannot know.

I asked my pastor what he thought of postmodernism. His answer was profound. After saying that postmodernism is the prevailing philosophy in the world today and giving some of its tenets (though a postmodernist does not wish to think in terms of tenets), he concluded by saying that the key is not to think as a modernist or as a postmodernist. The key is to think Biblically.

Now that’s a Christian worldview.

What Next?

After doing the CSFF Blog Tour, I inevitably get excited about Christian fantasy and where it’s going. Consequently, I thought I’d use today as a book-recommendations day.

Mind you, I’m going to mention some books I haven’t read yet, but I have reason to believe these will be winners.

Since we just finished highlighting a science fiction writer, we might as well start there. From my observation, the SF part of SFF is not nearly as strong in the Christian publishing world, but I think that also reflects the culture at large.

While you wait for the next Kathy Tyers book, I recommend you check out the near-future sci fi series Mars Hill Classified (NavPress) by Austin Boyd. Some time ago, I mentioned the first book, The Evidence, but this is one of those in-the-stack-and-waiting books I haven’t read yet. Let me quote an endorsement (which as Brandilyn Collins in her blog Forensics and Faith says, are suspect):

Austin Boyd’s fast-paced tale of good versus evil in the high-stakes world of international politics and armed struggle will have readers impatiently waiting for his next book. The Evidence is an explosive first novel from a major new talent.

-Davis Bunn

That’s a pretty ringing endorsement from a best-selling author.

So I read the opening:

John tumbled half-conscious into the nightstand, sending a glass crashing across the cold marble floor.

The pounding that had awakened him still rocked his door. “Launch the alert crew!” the voice shouted again.

Dancing around the jagged glass shards, John sprang into a flight suit before the last knock sounded. Up and down the spartan hallway, shouts and clatter from his groggy combat aircrew shattered the early morning calm.

OK, I don’t know about you, but I want to keep reading.

In addition, the second book The Proof is about to be released.

The main complaint I read about book one was that it started the story and didn’t finish it. So here might be an instance of two books together being a stronger, more satisfying reading experience than one by itself.

August CSFF Blog Tour Wrap

I have a few incidentals I want to deal with today.

The first concerns one of our more recent blog tour participants. Pamela James will be posting her remarks about The Firebird Trilogy next week. Be sure to stop by her site to read her thoughts. Also note, the link in this post, different from the previous link I provided, will take you to her blog which is where you want to go for aforementioned thoughts. 😉

Somewhere in my review I’d intended to make a comment about The Firebird Trilogy packaging. In my opinion, it was unwise to create one book from three instead of boxing them together as a set. A number of times even our faithful blog tour participants referred to this book as a tome or mentioned its size or weight. In point of fact, this does not encourage buyers.

Once upon a time, readers didn’t seem to mind a book over 1000 pages. I read Gone with the Wind three times, and thought nothing of it. Michner wrote Hawaii, well over 1000 pages, which was so successful he followed it up with the equally lengthy Texas and Alaska and several others. Then there was the 1982 best-seller …And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer, a real tome checking in at 1433 pages.

But today? Seems we have lost the widespread willingness to work when it comes to reading. I hope that changes, but in the meantime, it seems the realities ought to dictate the product, in this case, an 800 page 3-books-in-1 that I think should have been boxed, not bound.

I put this at the feet of the Bethany House people, but I could be wrong. Perhaps this format was something Tyers insisted upon. I can only say, I noticed the negatives attached to the length in the comments these last few days and have to wonder if sales wouldn’t have improved if the packaging had been different.

A special thanks to all the bloggers who participated in the tour. The CSFF Blog Tour Group seems to be gaining momentum, and I’m encouraged by that.

BTW, there’s an open invitation for others to join. You don’t have to be a dyed-in-the-wool SFF fan, either. We’re always looking to introduce new readers to the genre, and one way is to join a tour, recieve a free book, and do a review of it on your blog.

For September we will be featuring a review web site, Edenstar, then in October will highlight Randy Mortenson’s latest middle grade fantasy from his delightful Landon Snow series.

Last add. If you have a newsletter and would be willing to mention the blog tour, it would be a great help. The more readers we have to enjoy the interesting, informative blogs from our participants, the better. 😀

CSFF Blog Tour—Review of Firebird

The August CSFF Blog Tour continues with our focus on Kathy Tyers and her 2004 release The Firebird Trilogy (Bethany).

Not being a science fiction fan—in fact, I might say I lean toward science-fiction resistant—I can confidently assert that Tyers wrote a story transcending her genre. In my research for this post, I came across Tim Frankovich’s review of another Tyers novel, Shivering World. Frankovich states, “This is “hard” science-fiction at its best …”

While Tyers’s writing is certainly strong, I would not call Firebird “hard” science fiction. One of the pluses, in my opinion, is the novel’s accessibility.

Yes, it is set in the future, and yes, it is set in another planetary system on other worlds with space technology and space travel. Maybe since the advent of Star Trek our culture accepts such imaginary things more easily, which lends accessibility, or maybe Tyers paints vivid pictures and infuses the new and different with recognizable details that lend credence to her setting. The truth is probably some combination of the two, but the sum is a novel that takes place in a believable world.

Another strength, in my opinion, is Tyers’s ability to characterize. Early on Lady Firebird became a sympathetic character, perhaps because of her wastling status (what a fresh idea, an imaginative twist to deal with the whole subject of valuing life), her fight to contain her own rebellious nature, her love for her homeland. She was convincing—a tragic figure who wanted to die well, given that she would not be allowed to live. Without a doubt, I was hooked.

I found Brennen to be just as sympathetic. His commitment to control his power to uphold his race’s pledge and protect his people from the consequences of rebellion, immediately makes him an engaging character.

Another positive is that the story is filled with fast-paced action, but not mind-numbingly so. There are some interesting and unexpected developments and a thoroughly satisfying resolution.

The greatest strength, I found, was the appropriate place the faith issues held. There was subtlety and centrality at the same time. Subtlety because the character of faith could not proselytize. Centrality because the place, time, and effect on the story of the other character coming to faith fit naturally into the plot.

If there is a weakness in Firebird—and I am stretching to find something—I’d say the story was maybe light on suspense. Perhaps the plot was somewhat predictable, but I don’t think that was the issue. I’ve read other stories or seen things on TV where I knew before hand what the outcome would be, and I was still on the edge of my seat. As a matter of fact, as I said earlier, I found places in this story that caught me off guard, yet I never seriously feared for the characters. Perhaps it was because I was reading the first book in a trilogy named after the protagonist. I’m just not sure.

With all the other wonderful things about this novel—crisp writing, natural dialogue, inventive terminology, external tensions, internal conflicts—I highly recommend Firebird, not just to those readers who love science fiction, but to readers who love good stories.

– – – –

Be sure to stop by the blog sites of our other CSFF Blog Tour participants:

Jim Black

Valerie Comer

Bryan Davis

Beth Goddard

Rebecca Grabill

Leathel Grody

Karen Hancock

Elliot Hanowski

Katie Hart

Sherrie Hibbs

Sharon Hinck

Pamela James

Jason Joyner 

Tina Kulesa

Rachel Marks

Shannon McNear

Cheryl Russel

Mirtika Schultz

Stuart Stockton

Steve Trower

Speculative Faith

CSFF Blog Tour—Kathy Tyers and Science Fiction vs. Fantasy

As the August CSFF Blog Tour continues and we highlight Kathy Tyers and her Firebird Trilogy, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss science fiction and how it differs from fantasy.

Many of my thoughts come from Philip Martin’s The Writer’s Guide to Fantasy Literature.

Perhaps the most obvious is in the story world.

Fantasy populates the world with people and things very different from the real world we see.

Science fiction extrapolates from some aspect of real-life, populating the world with people and things based on this extrapolation. Thus it creates new futures and other worlds that are connected to some degree with our real world.

Less obvious is the rationale behind the imagination.

Fantasy wonders and wishes and “belief rules over science.”

Science fiction explains and connects the imagined with the real by rational assumptions.

This element leads to a different requirement from readers, I think.

Fantasy requires readers to suspend disbelief, to accept the way the world works according to the dictates of the fantasy realm.

Science fiction requires readers to follow the rational assumptions that explain the way things work in the science fiction realm.

I know this is a cursory look at the two genres, but I think it gives a window into why a fantasy reader may not care for science fiction. As I write that, I wonder if the reverse is also true.

At any rate, I mentioned in my comments to posts from several of our participants that good writing transcends genre, and I think that, above all else, is why readers should seek out books by Kathy Tyers—she can flat out write. No matter if science fiction is your genre of choice, her books will delight.

Speaking of participants in the CSFF Blog Tour. Those fine folks include the following:

Jim Black
Valerie Comer
Bryan Davis
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Pamela James
Jason Joyner 
Tina Kulesa
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Cheryl Russel
Mirtika Schultz
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith

Be sure to check out Karen Hancock‘s comments along with Beth Goddard ‘s interview and Elliot Hanowski‘s review. Also, Rebecca Grabill has a contest going, which just requires you leaving a comment in order to be eligible. Have fun. 😀

CSFF Blog Tour—Kathy Tyers

YEEEAA!! It’s here! 😀 OK, you can probably tell, I’m excited. I may have mentioned in the past that I LOVE the fantasy blog tour. Our August rendition starts today. I am happy to feature Kathy Tyers, one of the first Christian speculative fiction writers to be published in the CBA.

Though Tyers herself doesn’t have a blog (dare I say, “yet”?), she has an informative web site I encourage you to explore. I was especially struck by a comment she made in one article:

As a contributor to this rich, entertaining banquet, how can a writer try to draw a borderline of what’s “appropriate” and what isn’t?

In Kathy’s words, “I don’t think that the answer can come from the mind. There’s no list of words, emotions, or even events that are ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate.’ In my experience — not that I’ve practiced it consistently — discerning that borderline takes a conscience that is absolutely scraped-raw-sensitive to the things that break God’s heart. It takes praying over every single scene that I write, and it takes a willingness to listen for a ‘nudge’ from the Spirit that tells me, ‘Other authors may write it that way. Your calling is more difficult. You must tell that story without relying on commonly used conventions.’ “

This month’s tour is headed up by Beth Goddard . I recommend stopping by this week to read her interview with Tyers. Also, Elliot Hanowski, among others, is planning on a review of the Firebird Trilogy (Bethany, 2004), the featured book for the tour.

Along with comments about other posts in the blog tour, here at A Christian View of Fiction, I’ll have some thoughts about SF versus fantasy and a review of Firebird, the first book in the trilogy. You can check back with me later for my reviews of the final two books. (I am, unfortunately, a slow reader, so unlike Eliott, made no attempt to complete the 800 page trilogy in a week.)

Speaking of other posts, those participating in the August CSFF Blog Tour include the following:

John J. Boyer

Valerie Comer

Bryan Davis

Beth Goddard

Rebecca Grabill

Leathel Grody

Karen Hancock

Elliot Hanowski

Katie Hart

Sherrie Hibbs

Sharon Hinck

Pamela James

Jason Joyner 

Tina Kulesa

Rachel Marks

Shannon McNear

Cheryl Russel

Mirtika Schultz

Stuart Stockton

Steve Trower

Speculative Faith

I hope you have as much fun reading what everyone else is saying and leaving comments at their sites as I will have.

Elaboration Concerning Evidence of God; Other Stuff

Other stuff first. The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour Group will present the August tour of Kathy Tyers and her Firebird Trilogy starting on Monday. I don’t want to truncate the current discussion about the existence of God, should there be further comments and questions, so I will join the rest of you in the comments section during the tour.

CSFF author Donita Paul’s book, DragonsKnight, our June tour selection, is the featured novel this month at the ACFW book club. If you would like to discuss the book with others (as I plan to do), please consider joining. Membership is not limited to ACFW’ers, and it is free. For more information, go to The ACFW Book Club. BTW, at the end of our discussion, Ms. Paul will participate in a live chat, so maybe we can pin her down about who Pallidin is. 😉

– – – –

I continue to think about the subject of the existence of God, especially trying to imagine how I can answer the question, How do I know God exists, to the satisfaction of a logical positivist.

As I said yesterday, though not in so many words, I find this view of discovering truth to be limited. Nevertheless, through inductive reasoning, I think emperical evidence can lead a person to the place that the only logical conclusion is that God exists. A model of the way this would work might be like this: Knowing that 4 apples are on the table and that both Fred and Robert put 2 apples down, I can deduce that 2+2=4.

What we have in this present discussion is a result—the universe—and we’re looking for a cause. By induction, I look at the observable specifics. The world is made up of energy and matter, organic and inorganic. Given that order does not come from disorder(1), I conclude a Cause greater than both, a Cause that pre-existed both.

Of the organic, humans are distinct—containing self-awareness, intelligence, emotions, morality. I conclude a Cause that must account for these, which means a Cause that is also self-aware, intelligent, emotive, and moral, in other words, a person. God.

As to His other attributes, these can also be identified through inductive reasoning.

Because of the limitless scope of the universe, He must be “more limitless.” Because of the order in Nature, He is orderly. And so on.

All much more reasonable (here’s where the critical thinking issue comes into play) than attempting to answer the “What caused the universe” question by the scientific method since the beginning of the universe cannot be duplicated and observed scientifically.

There are two specific, fundamental flaws to belief in evolution as the cause of the universe. One is the scientific law of entropy. The second is the inability to experiment and re-create anything like the Big Bang. Without such, evolution, the Big Bang, Natural Selection—all are reduced to deduction.

On one hand we have the examination of the universe by induction that leads to a Cause and explains the metaphysical as well as the physical.

On the other hand we have an examination of the universe by deduction that does not allow for a proven scientific law (the Second Law of Thermodynamics) and cannot explain the metaphysical.

I ask anyone who wishes to use critical thinking, Which is the most reasonable?

– – – –
(1) Wikipedia’s definition of the second law of thermodynamics: “The second law of thermodynamics is a axiom of nature regarding the directional flow of heat in relation to work and which accounts for the phenomenon of irreversibility in thermodynamic systems. The most common enunciation of second law of thermodynamics is:
   
Heat cannot of itself pass from a colder to a hotter body.”

[In other words, without a “heat source,” no work will take place. No Big Bang. No ordering of matter into complex systems from simple ones.]