Fantastical Truth

Long ago, before C. S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien, and before even George MacDonald or G. K. Chesterton … lived another fantasy writer, British poet Edmund Spenser. In the 1590s his epic adventure was published in six books. It’s an epic fantasy allegorical poem, written in nine-line stanzas, involving phrases like “iambic pentameter” and other incredible facts we need explained by a literature exp...

For fantasy franchises, 2022 was a rough year. From Middle-earth madness, to not-so-secret Disney agendas, to yet another creative disaster threatening to destroy the DC multiverse, fans have gone through drastic changes. What were the top threats to fantasy fandoms in 2022? And how should Christians view the grief process after corporations seem to destroy the best worlds? Subscribe to Lorehaven...

You’ve just time-traveled. At the approximate rate of 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, you’ve crossed into a new year. As per usual, to start our 2023 season of Lorehaven’s Fantastical Truth, we’ll review the top ten articles, news, and pages at Lorehaven.com last year. Subscribe to Lorehaven articles • news • library • reviews • podcast • gifts • guild Episode sponsor...

We’re preparing for the end of our 2022 podcast season. Between this year and the next, Zack and Stephen will enjoy a two-week break. First, however, we should open one last podcast present. With all due respect for amazing toys, we’d like to talk about useful gifts we received but still remember years later. In the words of C. S. Lewis’s Father Christmas, which “tools, not toys” at Christmas help...

Some months ago, a certain other  Lord of the Rings -ish TV show prompted some fans to say, “Now we’re really going to appreciate  The Hobbit film trilogy!” But after that certain other show, we saw little appreciation. Mostly the fans wanted to criticize that certain other show. Some of us never stopped appreciating The Hobbit films. That’s why we feel so alone in a company of Dwarves who really...

It’s the holiday season! So we would like to say a few words: Whoop-de-do. Also: hickory-dock. These inspiring words come from just exa-a-actly the worst-written Christmas song you may have ever heard of. But you have heard of it—and many others. Which songs are your least favorite? Which fantastical songs are the best? And when should you start listening to Christmas music? Should we Christians f...

Before our new season of Christmas Magic , let’s finish off our Dystopian Doom series with a whole other wicked government for you to rise up against. In a world ruled by twelve alliances, one young man has a chance to compete in The Chase for a chance to pass exactly one law. But how can a newly freed people live under grace? Bradley Caffee, author of The Chase Runner series, dashes into the stud...

Welcome to the world of the Consortium, which uses nanotech implants to turn people into hyper-logical beings. The young woman Recorder is one of these, assigned with her neural implant to high-tech record-keeping. When she’s cut off from that technology, can she discover humanity before the Consortium discovers her? That’s Recorder by Cathy McCrumb, whose sequel Aberration releases this month. Ca...

Just in time for Election Day, we’ve begun our new series: Dystopian Doom . That means we should start with the two most infamous dystopian novels ever made. You’ve heard of them and may have already read them—Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). What are their differences? Which villain is worse, the flippant Mustapha Mond or the torture of Big B...

Once upon a time, evangelical subcultures loved spiritual warfare books and prairie romances. We liked angel figurines and Amish novels. We shared adult coloring books starring small boys who have afterlife visions. Now our subcultures have been overtaken by another trend—politics. When and why did this happen? Should we try to change it? Welcome to Dystopian Doom, our next series of episodes abou...

You’ve heard about them in sermons. You’ve seen their name in dozens of Christian-made fantastical books’ back covers. And now, I’m not saying our next monster for Monster Month was nephilim, but it was nephilim. Join us for this giant controversy. They get such a quick cameo in Genesis 6 but get a starring role in many Christian speculations. Who were these critters? Why do they appear in s...

If it’s not one creepy critter, it’s another, here in Monster Month. Next to rise up moaning, not from the crypt but from the secret lab, it’s mad scientists. Whether it’s Victor Frankenstein from  Frankenstein , or all those Marvel villains, or the folks who let loose dinosaurs from Jurassic Park—or the scientists actively trying to experiment on mutilating humans in the real world—mad science ju...

Listen to them, the new fans of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. What music they make!  As we continue exploring the Count’s evil castle in this month’s Lorehaven Guild book quest, we plan to peer deeper into this crypt. This year, over 200,000 readers have been reading Bram Stoker’s original classic novel, cheering its earnestly good heroes who fight this evil vampire’s predations. What have they tho...

God reveals his truth to us through stories, especially the true stories and fictional parables in his word—and some of the stories he tells are scary. Horror is God’s idea, and he often uses this to prepare us for real-world monsters and dangers. Yet we’ve all seen or heard horror stories that are too disturbing. As a result, Christians often shun this genre. But how do darker stories...

What if humans who survived an apocalypse were forced to flee into the sky to escape a deadly mist? And what if one sky-diver, working aboard an airship, was hired to find the impossible: a way to eradicate the Mist for good? Of course, it helps little that the Mist is rising and threatening to turn humans into steampunk zombies. That’s the world of Morgan Busse’s Skyworld series that...

Sept. 7: Steve Rzasa public library director, prolific novelist Sept. 13: Steve Laube literary agent, publisher of Enclave Publishing Sept. 20: Steve Smith president of Oasis Family Media You’ve met a librarian and novelist who flies spaceships and hunts monsters on the side, Steve Rzasa . Next you encountered a secret agent man who hunts new talent and publishes fantastical Christian-made s...

The Steve Saga continues! Last week we invited librarian and novelist Steve Rzasa to explore his worlds of spaceships, superheroes, and a little steampunk. Now you could say we’re switching genres to a spy thriller. Well, perhaps not, but we do have a secret agent man arriving in the studio. He’s helped to discover some of your favorite authors, helped to create a lot of your favorite...

Sept. 7: Steve Rzasa public library director, prolific novelist Sept. 13: Steve Laube literary agent, publisher of Enclave Publishing Sept. 20: Steve Smith president of Oasis Family Media Not long ago we talked about church libraries and how these resources can help Christians find the best books, including (if not now, then in the future) Christian-made fantastical fiction. What then about public...

This week fans will be fixing to fight. This includes many Christian fans. We won’t say what they’ll fight about, except to say the topic is “prime” for debate. That’s like many topics that Christians dispute, not just relating to politics but relating to the stories we enjoy. Meanwhile in the Lorehaven Guild, we’re enjoying a respite from those clashes, and Lor...

Maybe you’ve heard about that one church that just did a “Christian” version of the musical “Hamilton,” and of course got criticized by the creators and savaged by secular media. Or maybe last Easter you heard about the other church that did a “Christian” version of “Avengers,” just as they’ve adapted (or parodied?) other fantasy franchis...

Okay, we admit, in recent episodes we have sounded more negative about popular culture. That’s justified. At the same time, secular pundits can sound even more negative about decent pop-culture traditions. For example, just two years ago, some critics spoke like movie theaters and the whole cinematic experience were finished, passé, the end! They assumed we’d all be sitting at home in...

We’re finding many Christian-made fantastical novels that want to appeal to Christian and secular readers. Many aspiring authors want to conjure a literary elixir that has evaded all but the most elite creators. They call this “crossing over,” not just reaching readers in evangelical markets, but finding a bigger fanbase in general markets. Should these stories try to help secula...

Now that Zack and Stephen have returned from their separate summer road trips, we need to catch up on all the big news from the Realm Makers conference. This tenth annual gathering, from July 21–23, brought together fantastical creators and publishing pros at an Atlantic City hotel. Lorehaven was there too, sharing with new and existing fans how we explore fantastical stories for God’s glory...

Last week Zack and Stephen left town and headed opposite ways.[1. Photo by Gregory Stewart on Unsplash .] Meanwhile, fans are separating from franchises once thought too big to fail. Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Amazon’s try at Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who—they’re all coming in for much criticism. Some call this “toxic fandom.” Others say this is fans keeping creators accountabl...

Here’s a topic we have been postponing for quite a while, and it’s summarized by a simple question: If we as Christians believe Jesus will come back to judge all people and rule the planet in person, what about any space travelers or colonies at that time? In other words, if our Lord returns to Earth, what happens to people who aren’t on Earth? Today we will explore these possibl...