One problem I'm having with picking a CF book already is finding Christian Fantasy (CF) that I like. I enjoyed Lord of the Rings, though the verbosity and songs led me to stop after Fellowship of the Ring. But where are the modern Christian Fantasy titles worth reading? I also don't like young adult, so this really narrows down the field. I loved the Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. The first book in the Song of Albion series by Stephen Lawhead was ok, but very Tolkien-like.

I am currently reading Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock and so far it is good. You can get it free on Kindle here: http://amzn.to/dyHEyl

I found a list of best Christian Fantasy books at http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4258.Best_Christian_Fantasy_books

The top book on that list is King of the Trees http://www.amazon.com/King-Trees-Burt-William-Bk/dp/1579210902

Here are some other Christian Fantasy (some sci-fi) books I found:

The Restorer by Sharon Hinck http://amzn.to/aooHOk
By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson http://amzn.to/bDLq5z (2009)
Starfire by Stuart V. Stockton http://amzn.to/actq5n (dinosaurs)
The Word Reclaimed by Steve Rzasa http://amzn.to/ce5fiR (sci-fi)
Dark Man by Marc Schooley http://amzn.to/aEyaqa (thriller)
A Star Curiously Shining by Kerry Nietz http://amzn.to/axqBCu
The War in Heaven by Theodore Beale http://amzn.to/9c2WZl
Summa Electiva by Theodore Beale http://amzn.to/btbFcT

Not sure if this is Christian, though Amazon labels it as such:
The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley http://amzn.to/aHM1Yl

I haven't read any.

Well, thanks for being honest. I haven't read most of these, but if we want to do this award we'll have to get reading. Varon, as I said in the first thread on this, we could do a sci-fi book award also, so you could help with voting for that one.

Yeah, but it would kind of hard. Most of these aren't at my library.

I enjoyed 'Chosen Ones' by Alister McGrath. It starts out a little slow, and the beginning is a little too close to Narnia, but the rest of the book was pretty interesting, which surprised me, considering that it was written for 9-12 year olds.

I've also heard that 'Secret Speakers: And the Search for Selador's Gate' is very high quality (high enough quality for non-Christians to say that it is better than Twilight and Harry Potter (high praise, coming from them), and on par with Narnia and LotR), but I haven't personally read it.

"The Binding of the Blade" by L.B. Graham is really good, but very long.

I haven't read any of the books mentioned so far... I need to get reading!

But, um... since when is Philip Pullman a Christian author? He was on that list, and I thought he was extremely anti-Christian.

Someone else who's read the Myst books! They are really good. But I'm afraid my knowledge of the definition of Christian Fantasy is a little fuzzy... someone said books written by Christians for a Christian Audience? Or books that had a definite Christ Figure?

Okay, I’m an avid reader, and love fantasy, but I haven’t read any of the books Timotheus named! I feel like I’m in the dark ages! Time to get my library shelves restocked!

I haven't read any of them either!

Oh! The Restorer is good! I mean like great! I just haven't been able to get my hands on the next books though. >.<

Starlighter by Bryan Davis is got to be my favorite at the moment, the words just flowed off the page! But it's not on the list! >.<

Atheist to an extreme. I don't recommend reading him any more than Isaac Asimov or H.G. Wells.


Summa Elvetica (published by MLP) is great, on my Wow List. Though if you didn't like LotR and Song Albion because of their verbiage, you probably won't like it (I love those kinds of books, as I think everyone should, but whatever).

I feel like Lord of the Rings is a given.

But I'd also reccommend "The Seven Sleepers" by Guilbert Morris.

they're not brilliant writing by ANY stretch of the imagination, but for elementary school readers, they're really interesting, and a great introduction to the world of fantasy literature.

They turned me on to Lord of the Rings, and everything else.

The book that I think most deserves the title, and one that hasn't been brought up, is The Lion Vrie, which was the sequel to Rise of the Dibor. Christopher Hopper brings up some topics that fantasy has mostly left for dead, while creating a rich world that fits into the tradition of LoTR without coming across as a ripoff. (An example of a ripoff being Eragon, which is the plot of Star Wars set in the world of Middle Earth.)

I highly recommend it.

If I may say, MYST is more western than Christian. It's moral, without any sort of divine figure. I certainly would never categorize it as Christian as it fails to bring any sort of glory to God, since it advocates morality without the source of morals.

I'm noticing a lot of Marcher Lord Press on these lists.

Could we do book reviews for nominations on our Holy Worlds blog? I'm still unsure how we're going to choose a favorite (sorry my brain has been immersed in my novel the past few months and this project fell by the wayside).

What if for 2011 we pick 10 books then whoever agrees to be on the council to choose the winner must read those ten books and write a review for each one. December of next year we place our vote and the book with top votes wins. Then the following year every member can nominate a book for the following year based on books released by Dec 2011 and the top ten (not including last year's winner) go into the pool for the next year's award.

Sounds like a good idea.

I wasn't exactly clear on how the books are selected for 2012 though... could you elucidate?

Each member can vote for his choice for 2012's award in December 2011. I tally the votes and the top ten books are in the running for 2012's award, which will be voted on in Dec. 2012. The only book that can't be voted for is the winner of 2011, so the time to vote would be after the winner is announced (first week or so of Dec). The judges would submit their pledge to participate by Jan 1.

We're a little behind, but I pledge my participation to read the ten books we choose. Now to sending the votes. Send your votes to [email protected]

In subject line put HW vote: Title by Author (but put actual title and author) In the body you could put the link to where you purchased it, but you don't have to.

Can we have these sent in by January 15? I want to give time to the judges to read 10 books and we're not (namely me) as fast as Sir Emeth in reading

Sounds like a good plan.

Ok that works. So for those participating in voting for the crop of ten send your emails to the marcher lords account at [email protected]

It makes sense to have one account so when we advertise on different activities people aren't having to remember where to send stuff. Good work. I sent in my vote already

Also, put your HW name in the email just so we know who's voted.

Can we vote for any Christian fantasy books, or do they have to have been published within the last few years?

And... should we announce this? Most people probably haven't even seen this thread.

Yes I've opened it up to your favorite Christian Fantasy book. I'd like to say Science Fiction, or even just Christian Speculative Fiction. Maybe in honor of the Fantasy Forum being the original we could do favorite Christian Fantasy.

What do you all think, should we open it up to any Spec Fic or just Fantasy? We'll also have to be able to judge across audience age groups YA and adult, so I don't know if it would be bad to also judge across genres.

I've posted an announcement on Facebook and both announcement threads on our brother forums.

Here is the announcement to summarize:
Holy Worlds is planning a book award for 2011. Please email your vote for favorite Christian Fantasy book to [email protected]. Also we are looking for judges willing to read the top ten books voted for this award. These judges will submit their vote on Dec. 1, 2011. I would also like reviews posted of these books. The goal is to promote Christian Fantasy as well as grow in our exposure to quality CF. I would like to have the top ten books selected and judges volunteered by Jan 15 so we can get this rolling. Please direct questions to the forum thread viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1030&p=28421#p28421

I say stick with fantasy for this one. As for when they were published, if we open it up to any, then LotR will probably win. Yah, no surprise there. * grins *

Of course, Phantestes is one of my favorites, and it was published decades before LotR. But I am willing to leave it out if we want to limit it to more recently published books.

Yes to LOTR Hehe!

Do you have a list that you want us to chose from, or can we vote for any at all?

I don't have a large knowledge of different fantasy books, LOTR is like the main ones I can think of. Is Piercing The Darkness fantasy? Another of my favourites.

Piercing the Darkness isn't fantasy enough for this, sorry. More Speculative Fiction than Fantasy.

Aaah ok, thanks Jay

I haven't read any of those either! Will be on the lookout.

I'd like to be a judge. If I spread it out to one book a month, I can read them all before Dec 1 and costs shouldn't be much of a issue, and there might be a chance that I already own one or two of the books.

Are voters allowed to vote for LOTR, or do they have to vote for their favorite book in the series? That would even the playing field a little. Other wise instead of reading ten books, we're reading twelve because we had to read the entire LOTR trilogy. Just wondering.

I would like to be a judge too, but is it alright if I wait until I see what books we will be judging, first?

That's my plan, which is why it's important that we get the books chosen asap. I'm even considering allowing two votes per person to add more to the table. We'll see how we're doing next week on votes. I may ask for another round of votes from our faithful.



I would like to disqualify LoTR on the grounds of the purpose of our award being to promote Christian Fantasy. This award would be laughed at if we chose LoTR as our award winner. That's the only "Christian" Fantasy (if you're of the opinion that it is) book that people know of. I'd like to keep selections to books published in the last ten years, because what would be the point of promoting an author who no longer writes?



Certainly. You could read all the books in a month anyway. Are you worried we won't pick good books? Or that you've already read them? I'm working on a grading scale along with asking for book reviews (200 words min) so that we can have a more objective basis for our winner. I'm concerned with each of the judges picking a different book out of the ten, so I'm trying to find a way to have a clear winner. If we break the scale into 5 points for categories like description, theme, character arcs, plot, and something else...that might work. (pss. Jay, I'd really love if you would help judge. Pretty please It only makes sense for you to have a say. Let me know if there is a way to make this better so you will judge if the current system has flaws.)

I'd be happy to help if I can, the fact is that I haven't read much for Christian Fantasy, or much fantasy at all, besides LOTR. I have also read the Door Within trilogy by Batson. This might be a great way for me to expand what I have read. Just let me know what to read and what to do.

I would like to judge, but I know that I wouldn't be able to buy any books. Once we have all the votes, could you let me know which ones the judges will have to read? That way I can see if they have them at the library. (We have a huge library, so it's possible!)

Anyway... should I vote, especially if I might possibly be a judge?

Part of the benefit of being a judge is the chance to read more in this field so you can apply what you've learned to your own writing. I think this would be great for you, as it will me since I haven't read many Christian Fantasy books that I've liked. I want to see what the best of what CF has to offer. Would you be willing to commit to reading that many books? I would like the judges to write reviews as well, but I don't know how strict of a requirement that is. The ratings will be a requirement so our winning choice is clear.



Yes. I hope they can too, but at this point it seems necessary to be able to read all the books on the list. Some may not be available if they are new. We'll see. I don't want to turn anyone away that wants to be a judge. Pray for God to provide a way if it is His will for you to be a judge. This is a ministry to the authors of these books to promote Christ glorifying Fantasy and to all of us to see how it's done and done well. I will pray for this as well.

Since many fantasy books are in a series, do you think some might be hard to judge without reading the whole series? If you didn't like the first book, it wouldn't matter, but if you did like the first book, it's very possible later books in the series might be better than the first.

* chuckles * Reading time isn't a difficulty with me, it is the choice of the books nominated and the cost of acquiring them that worries me. That's all.

I think I will jump in anyways, though. I need to be in on this.


There is a current tendency among fantasy writers to write one book, but break it into two or three volumes, calling it a trilogy or a series (like LotR, more or less, mostly less). The books don't come close to standing alone.

With those, I would definitely count them all as one book. Such as: The Blood of Kings trilogy by Jill Williamson would be one entry.

Okay!

I am open to judging. I have plenty of my time (In fact, I returned from Christmas break to discover that I don't have ENOUGH school subjects to occupy more than three hours. So I spend most of my day bored.) This is one of the few times in my life that money is no object.

Technically, I suppose I could finish the books inside of two months, but I'll give them enough time to actually think about them.

So would someone state succintly what the plan is and how I can help? That is, what is happening and what should I do?

I don't think they need to be blatant. LotR wasn't. Neither was Phantastes.

Should I go ahead and send in a vote, even if I might be a judge?

Definitely.

We're still waiting for votes on books. Send a vote to [email protected] of the top Christian Fantasy book you want included in the mix.

I'm trying Reiyen but first we have to decide what this award is for and if we need to divide the judges up into voting for multiple awards. I don't know if we can block all the Fantasy books into one award because some are parts of incomplete series, unless we just read that book not taking into account other books in the series (which has differing opinions).

What kinds of books are in the running?
a) Any Christian Fantasy book (single books)
b) Split the award between stand alone and series, but only finished series
c) Books published in 2010
d) Any book/series published between 2000-2010

How many books should we choose to vote on?
1) The top ten books voted on by HW members
- so far this is the list of books voted on and taken as unofficial from this thread:

The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker (with a question if we should include the new 4-in-1 version with new ending at B&N)

Starlighter by Bryan Davis (first book in new series)

Summa Elvetica (standalone)

The Seven Sleepers by Guilbert Morris (started in 1990, spans 10 books)

The Lion Vrie, which was the sequel to Rise of the Dibor. by Christopher Hopper (problem with this one is that it is not yet complete, so this series will have to wait till it is complete unless we're doing a separate award on book of the year)

This Present Darkness (part of series, not Fantasy)

Man, after reading this list of books...this award is getting more difficult. Any thoughts are welcome. I'll keep working on this, but for now here's the update. I have to get back to writing.

I hate to spoil anyone's fun, but I noticed a couple things.

I have been under the impression that the Seven Sleepers was more New Age than Christian.

And, while This Present Darkness is a great book, I would hesitate to call it fantasy. Maybe Speculative Fiction.

I think this might be easier if you use a stricter definition of fantasy. I also think you may want to have three separate awards within the ten books.

1. Best Standalone (come up with a better name): five books which stand alone. Take the standalones nominated and pick a random three.

2. Best Introduction to a Series: the first books of three series. (I know which three I will recommend!) Pick three series randomly from the nominations.

3. Best Series (finished series only): all books of two series. Pick two series out of the nominations.

I'm thinking the options we have are:
1) Have a Fantasy Series Finished by 2010 Award
2) Best book of 2010 Award (spans all genre or just Fantasy)

Series Completed by 2010
Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker
The Lost Books by Ted Dekker
The Books of History Chronicles by Ted Dekker
Song of Albion by Stephen Lawhead
Dragon King Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead
The Seven Sleepers by Gilbert Morris
The Door Within Trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson
Dragon Keepers Chronicles by Donita K. Paul
Dragons in Our Midst by Bryan Davis

Did I miss any?

Doing a search of books released in 2010 will take some time. If anyone knows of books released this year pm me and I'll make a list.

There are a lot of books to read if we did a "Series before 2010" award. Aside from the judges having to buy and read all of them, we could have a collection of ratings by two readers per book and then the series with the best overall rating wins. That way each judge only has to read two series, and can pick series that would be appealing (I'm not that interested in reading YA, so I would pick two non-YA series.)

So, I see four groups of judges:
1) Read 2 series each that were completed by 2010
2) Read all the books published in your favorite genre (Fantasy, SF, Thriller, YA, etc) for 2010
3) Same for 2011
4) Read all books released in a year (Christian)

Great post Neil of Erk, I like it better than mine

OK, send in your votes for
1) Best Standalone
2) Best Series Intro
3) Best Complete Series

I've never read the Seven Sleepers, but let's not embarrass ourselves by choosing a new age book for a Christian award.

I'm having trouble thinking of standalones that are fantasy. Should we open that one up to any Christian Spec Fic?

I like where we are going with this.

What about Aurelia's Colors (spelling?)? Is that Christian fantasy?

I believe it is. It's publishing by a Christian publisher, if I recall. I've read the first book and it certainly seems to be Christian.

I haven't read it yet, but from what I hear, it should be included in the list.

Along with the Dragon Keeper series.

I'm lost as to where we're going from here. Are we going to go through the top ten in each category or the top ten overall and give awards in these three categories? The latter sounds easier to me. Are we still trying divvy things up between judges or are we saying every judge grabs all ten books/series?