Fantastical Truth

What if you grew up learning Scripture memory and biblical virtue from a Christian-made tabletop game system? Then you discovered that game had been “cancelled” by an irritated televangelist in the 1980s? That’s a decent setup for a contemporary novel. But in fact, it’s a true story. Now suspense and fantasy novelist James R. Hannibal, owner of the role-playing game known a...

Christians talk a lot about “backsliding,” that is, doubts or struggles with our faith. Often the stories we share reflect characters who do the same. But how can Christian-made stories best explore this challenge, moving past cliches and shallow pictures of “backsliders” and showing more realistic images of people who fall back from faith but find restoration in Jesus? Concession stand We’v...

What if your father drank a vial of holy water that might have come from the Tree of Life? Then you researched his work, and found yourself waking up in the Middle Ages—just as the peasants began revolting? Novelist Jody Hedlund explores this in Come Back to Me, book 1 of her fantasy-romance-time travel series The Waters of Time, and we will explore this with her in today’s episode. Concessi...

“Fiction should not preach!” many critics say. They may even preach about it. But even if excellent Christian-made stories should not preach, does this mean the stories will have no teaching at all? Is preaching the only way we learn, or don’t we also learn through discipleship. This includes but isn’t limited to sermons! With help from Lorehaven writer and That Pale Host author L. G. McCary , we...

What if dancing could control your world, and your world was a floating island, and you had just escaped from a legalistic Order that had ruled the island? That may sound familiar, because we visited this world in one of our first episodes, about the novel Hidden Current . This time, author Sharon Hinck joins us to explore grace and true heroism versus legalism and false leadership in her recently...

Thousands of people from hundreds of families attended the Florida Parent-Educators Association conference in Orlando on Memorial Day Weekend. Our cohost E. Stephen Burnett was there as an author and Lorehaven publisher. He joined the Realm Makers Bookstore to share novels of fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond, all from Christian authors. In March, he also joined the bookstore for events in Nashville and...

“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” In Colossians 2, the apostle Paul says these regulations made up by man won’t keep you from sin’s infection! But similar rules might protect you from viral infections. So what do we think of these rules when a vaccine comes along? How do we respond to changing views on wearing masks? And how does this whole mask and vaccine situation map pre...

There is so much we don’t know about the solar system, our galaxy, and the universe. What all else is out there? Are there aliens we should be afraid of, or instead concerned for? All we can be sure of is that God has created it all, and he won’t violate his own nature. So drawing from scientific observations and Scripture, what are the Biblical possibilities about alien life? There&#8...

“Hey, did you hear about the new Christian movie or book or thing that’s coming out? Let’s all shamble together to Support this thing (even if it’s not very good). That way, we can Send a Message to our churches, or our unsaved friends, or to Big Hollywood! Support. Support. Blargh …” How can Christian fans avoid this rather undead-sounding complex, even while we share the Christian-made stories w...

Secular science fiction often explores darker themes such as gene-editing and consciousness-uploading. Christian-made sci-fi, however, tends to lean on the softer side, emphasizing worlds without Earth or its cultures. How might this leave an opening for more complex futuristic tales that dare to engage with controversial themes? Novelist Kerry Nietz, who is no stranger to bold sci-fi themes, join...

“This time, it will be different,” quips the mad scientist. “I’m not one of those idiots who don’t know what they’re messing with. I’m an enlightened individual who’s going to accomplish what’s never been done before!” Or so the thinking goes. We see these characters all the time in stories. But increasingly, we’re seeing this mad scientist attitude in the real world. Why is life imitating the ver...

Once upon a time, there was a mean old man who lived on a mountain. Now, this old man was very nasty to the townspeople, his dogs, and especially Christians! Then one day, he yelled so loud at a Christian that an avalanche came and destroyed his cabin. (Text your friends: God’s not dead, but this old man is!) If you didn’t like that story, how about the one where there was this faraway...

Here at Fantastical Truth, we don’t always review fantastic stories made by non-Christian creators. But when we do, it’s when that story showcases greater cultural trends, break new ground in fantasy worldbuilding, or have such a strange backstory of their own that we simply must comment about it. For Stephen’s personal part, it helps when he has personally invested years in hopi...

In the past few months, your two podcast hosts have confronted the deaths of people close to us. Now, millions of Christians across the world just observed Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We explore how Christ’s resurrection, and similar reflections in the fantastic stories we love, help us prepare for times of separation and suffering, and long for the eternal day when our Creator will...

Once upon a time, female characters were given shallow roles. Nowadays, the pendulum has swung the other way to create the Strong Female Character. You’ve probably seen her in movies: punching, shooting, slashing, commanding. But as we’ll explore with our guest, there are many more possibilities than raw strength or battle toughness. We’ll look at: How did the Strong Female Chara...

Cancel culture is making many Christian readers and creators feel unwelcome in “mainstream” culture. Christians may need to retreat and create separate, digital spheres. But what does that look like, and will it work? Characteristics of cancel culture Driven by safetyism and paternalism. Powered by authoritarianism. Enabled by militant secularism . No presumption of innocence, due process, or tran...

In part 1 of this Cancelled Fantasy series , we explored why cancel culture often feels so wrong. But we also have a uniquely Christian way of responding to cancel mobs. Now, for part 2, we’ll look at situations where a person deserved to get cancelled. What do we do with those creators and their works of art? Top three questions How we do discern necessary “cancelling” from legalistic...

She posted a meme, and got “cancelled.” His old tweets “resurfaced,” so he got cancelled too. Then, plot twist: some cancelled heroes come back from this cultural “death” and get right back to normal. But you can’t cheat this “death” by apologizing. Except when you can. It’s confusing. It’s even more confusing for Christian fans try...

Some people say that science fiction is just fantasy with spaceships. Others would say that fantasy is about plausible impossible worlds, whereas sci-fi centers on possible, albeit improbable worlds. But is sci-fi something that Christians actually need? We’ll explore that today! Sci-fi is a shared universe inhabited by God’s gift of common grace. Sci-fi explores the genius and madness of hu...

In our last episode , we explored the fact that Christians actually need fiction as part of our daily lives. However, we could stop there and presume that we only need “realistic” stories, such as historical or contemporary fiction. Instead, we’ll explore how Christian readers also benefit from fantasy stories, so much that we could also say that we need stories about fantastical other worlds, in...

When you reach for a novel, do you ever feel guilty for not picking up your Bible, a devotional, or missionary biography? Some question whether fiction itself is spiritually healthy. And even if novels are harmless entertainment, do we actually need them? Are they worth our time and attention, not to mention our money? Perhaps we have more important questions to ask, such as: What if God made huma...

Christian fans want to build bigger audiences for fantastical stories. Yet how might we help our Christian family and friends share in this happiness? How can we help transform Christian deserts into thriving lands that love excellent fantastical fiction? Here’s a hint: we can’t wait for “the chosen ones” to come along and defeat the darkness and save the land. Instead, we actually need to skip th...

Last year wasn’t all about politics and pandemic-pandemonium. From little space babies eating tadpoles, to that Jesus TV show, to not-quite-forgotten trends, we’re exploring the top seven most-discussed issues at Lorehaven.com today on Fantastical Truth. We take these in descending order: 7. Fantastical Truth ep. 2: What Do We Mean By Saying ‘It’s a Christian Story’ ?...

Will this be the year we finally get to see the aliens? Are we living in an alien invasion movie? According to headlines, it depends on whether a supposed Galactic Federation decides we are worthy. These ideas and questions are coming at us at light speed, and they often bring along competing mythologies. So as Christians, we should think through how to respond. More importantly, we should dwell o...

Want to feel old at Christmas? The first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , released in 2005 and is now fifteen years old. Five years later, the third Narnia film,  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , released in 2010, so it’s now ten years old. Let’s explore these films’ successes and failures, as we’re joined by a special guest and “prince” of Na...