Christian Fiction: A Guide to the Genre PDF
Preview Christian Fiction: A Guide to the Genre
Christian Fiction : A Guide to the Genre John Mort Libraries Unlimited Christian Fiction Genreflecting Advisory Series Diana Tixier Herald, Series Editor Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests in Genre Fiction, 5th Edition By Diana Tixier Herald Teen Genreflecting By Diana Tixier Herald Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre By Kristin Ramsdell Fluent in Fantasy: A Guide to Reading Interests By Diana Tixier Herald Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978–1998 By Nancy Pearl with assistance from Martha Knappe and Chris Higashi Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990–2001 By Nancy Pearl Hooked on Horror: A Guide to Reading Interests in Horror Fiction By Anthony J. Fonseca and June Michele Pulliam JuniorGenreflecting:AGuidetoGoodReadsandSeriesFictionforChildren ByBridgetDealyVolz,LyndaBlackburnWelborn,andCherylPerkins Scheer Christian Fiction: A Guide to the Genre By John Mort Strictly Science Fiction: A Guide to Reading Interests By Diana Tixier Herald and Bonnie Kunzel Christian Fiction A Guide to the Genre John Mort 2002 Libraries Unlimited A Division of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Greenwood Village, Colorado Copyright © 2002 John Mort All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,withouttheprior written permission of the publisher. Libraries Unlimited A Division of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. 7730 East Belleview Avenue, Suite A200 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 1-800-225-5800 www.lu.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mort, John, 1947- Christian fiction : a guide to the genre / John Mort. p. cm. -- (Genreflecting advisory series) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 1-56308-871-1 1. Christian fiction--History and criticism. 2. Christian fiction--Stories, plots, etc. 3. Christian fiction--Bibliography. I. Title. II. Series. PN3448.C48 M67 2002 809.3'93823--dc21 2001050840 Contents Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Chapter1—TheChristianAlternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 DefinitionsandBackground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 TheEvangelicalNovel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 TheReaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 BeyondRomance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter2—Readers’AdvisorySources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 WebSites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ChristianFictionPublishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Chapter3—ChristianClassics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 BritishClassics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Ransom(ScienceFiction)Series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 LordoftheRings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 AmericanClassics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 WorldClassics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Chapter4—BiblicalFiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 OldTestament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 NewTestament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Chapter5—HistoricalChristianFiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 FifthCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 EleventhCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 TwelfthCentury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 ThirteenthCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 FourteenthCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 SixteenthCentury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 SeventeenthCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 EighteenthCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 NineteenthCentury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 TwentiethCentury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Contents v vi Contents Chapter 6—Sagas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 AmericanSagas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 EuropeanSagas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Chapter 7—RomancingtheWest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 ContemporaryWesterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 NativeAmericans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 RomanticWesterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 TraditionalWesterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Chapter 8—Romance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 ContemporaryRomance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 HistoricalRomance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 LightContemporaryRomance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 UnequallyYoked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 ProblemRomance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 RomanticAdventure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 RomanticSuspense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 ShortStories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Chapter 9—FantasyandScienceFiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Allegories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Fables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 AlternateUniverse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Apocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Fantasy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 HardScienceFiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 SpiritualWarfare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 TimeTravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Chapter10—MysteriesandThrillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Thrillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Chapter11—TheChristianLife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 AfricanAmericans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Angels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Humor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Literary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 MoralityTales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Nostalgia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Pastors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Popular. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Sentimental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 ShortStories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Contents vii Chapter12—CatholicFiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Classics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Historicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 MoralityTales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 NunsAndPriestsAsSleuths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Apocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 ScienceFiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Thrillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Vatican. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 AndrewGreeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Chapter13—Amish,Mennonite,andQuakerFiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 AmishandMennonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Quaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Chapter14—MormonFiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Historicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Contemporary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Romance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 ScienceFiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 ShortStories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Chapter15—YoungAdults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Historicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 ScienceFictionandFantasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 TeenLife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 SuggestedReadings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Acknowledgments IwishtothankthestaffsofRiverBluffsRegionalLibrary,MidContinentLibrary,Johnson CountyPublicLibrary,andKansasCityPublicLibraryfortheirforbearanceandunfailingcourtesy with my endless reserves and interlibrary loans. MythankstoBillOttandBooklistforpermissiontouse,inalteredform,someofthereviews that first appeared in my column, “Christian Fiction.” MythankstoBethanyHouseforpermissiontoquotefromRobertFunderburk’snovel,The FiresofAutumn(1996);toWriter’sDigestBooks,forpermissiontoquotefromPenelopeStokes’s The Complete Guide to Writing and Selling the Christian Novel (1998); to Ohio State University Press,forpermissiontouseapassagefromtheintroductiontoRoyalRhodes’sTheLionandtheCross: EarlyChristianityinVictorianNovels(1995);andtoScribner,forpermissiontoquotefromReed Arvin’sThe Will(2000). Mythanksalsotoallthepublisherswhohelped,andspecialthankstoJeanneMikkelson,Carol Johnson,andDavidHortonatBethanyHouse;LydaHopeatHarvestHouse;BethThorntonatB&B Media;RebeccaGermanyatBarbourPublishing;andRobbyNicholsatCovenantCommunications. All Bible quotations are from the King James translation. LibrariesUnlimitedisgratefultoNoveList(ofEBSCOPublishing)fortheirpermissionto adapt and use images from their program throughout the Genreflecting Advisory Series. viii Introduction ThisbookaimstodefinetheliterarygenreofChristianfictionforanyonewhoisinthebusiness ofansweringquestionsaboutit:librarians,booksellers,home-schoolteachers,writers,andeditors.The broadtraditionsofthefieldareexplored,andwhereitstandstodayisdescribed.Almost2,000titles, classic and contemporary, are covered and in most cases annotated. ChristianFictionisalsoaself-helpbookforthosereaderswhohatetoaskanythingofthe librarian. ChristianFictionisacollectiondevelopmenttool,enablingthelibrariantosearchoutgapsin hercollectionoreveninstructingheronhowtobuilditfromthegroundup.Home-schoolandpublic highschoolteacherscanusethechapteronyoungadultsandthedesignation toextendtheirreading lists.Writerswantingtobreakintothefieldwillfindthedescriptionsofsubgenresandtheannota- tionsinstructive,aswillbooksellersandpublisherswhoarepuzzledbythelibrarymarketorseeka snapshotoftheirindustry.Finally,ChristianFictionprovidesinstantbibliographiesforchurchactivity workers, teachers, and book group moderators. ClassicsasdiverseasPilgrim’sProgressandBloodoftheMartyrsareplacedhistoricallyand summarized.Classicsarenotalwaysinprint,buttheyremainavailableinmanylibraries,andarea vital portion of the lingua franca shared by the writers and readers of Christian fiction. Thisbook’semphasis,however,isonfictionfromthemid-1990sthroughthebeginningof 2002,includingalsotheearlierentriesofongoingseriesandcontemporaryclassicssuchasFrank Peretti’sThisPresentDarkness.Titlesaresummarized,orseriesaresummarizedwheretheyencom- pass many individual titles, as in the case of Gilbert Morris’s House of Winslow series. Someiconoclasticoratleastcontroversialtitlesareincluded,withthefullrealizationthatthe very mention of The Last Temptation of Christ causes some readers to see red. Others regard the novel as a profoundly reverent work, illustrating that what the majority wants is never the whole story, and that readers’ advisors should always be prepared with an alternative. Like other titles in the Genreflecting series, this book is organized according to genres, subgenres,andthemes,enablingreadersandthosewhoworkwiththemtoeasilyidentifyread-alikes andgroupsoftitlesthatwillappealtoparticulartastes.Beyondthesegroupings,readers’advisors should take note of the descriptions and designations within the annotations. Forexample, indicatesevangelicaltitles,thatistosay,titlespublishedbymembersof theEvangelicalChristianPublishersAssociation(ECPA)andbelongingtotheChristianBooksellers Association(CBA).Suchtitlesareassuredofacertaintheologicalstance,butthedesignation’spractical applicationisthatECPAandCBAsubscribetoapublishingcodethatexcludesprofanityorexplicit sexuality.Thattherearemanyreadersdemandingsuchguaranteesisnottobedoubted.Considerthis testimony from an anonymous amazon.com customer: I recently started reading Christian fiction as I am so sick of the filthinsecularreading.Thisstorymademesmileandcryandpraise the lord all at the same time. It was beautifully written and the characters all seemed alive to me. If more of our young people wouldreadthesekindsofbooksmaybetheworldwouldnt[sic]be going to hell the way it is! Introduction ix
Description:The list of books you might like
