Liquid Beauty
Yes, the Kindlings Muse is back! After too long a hiatus over the summer, we can once again have a intelligent, imaginative, hospitable live podcast in frankly the very best place to listen to a Christian talk show- a bar.
This time it was to listen to the new author Jeffrey Overstreet discuss fantasy and Christianity. I was shocked to learn of the recent death of Madeline L'Engle- and greatly saddened. Host Dick Staub brought out how she didn't feel there was anything really behind the Harry Potter series, and so didn't like them. (I think I may be the last progressive Christian on Earth who doesn't like Harry Potter.) This lead into a discussion of what constitutes good fantasy, and what makes Christian fantasy. I knew Tolkien was a Christian, of course, and had been one of the influences that lead Lewis to Christ. I had never realized before, though, until this night, how much of his Christian worldview pervaded Lord of the Rings. You can listen to the whole podcast here. (My question on George MacDonald is at Minute 59.)
I was so impressed with Overstreet I bought a signed copy of Aurelia's Colors. Overstreet described how he came on the idea on a hike with his wife, overlooking a lake. He had an image of a woman with a coat of splendid colors, and she had come to bring it to a city where no color is allowed. From that sprung the book- with a wife who is a poet, and helped him hone every word. I've begun the book, and it's true. Every word drips honey. This is a work of art. The fantasy is so full you have to put the book down every few minutes, to contemplate the tapestry you've been drawn into. I am transported into another land, into myth on the level of MacDonald. Don't wait. Don't walk. Run, and get this book, and know what true pleasure is.
This time it was to listen to the new author Jeffrey Overstreet discuss fantasy and Christianity. I was shocked to learn of the recent death of Madeline L'Engle- and greatly saddened. Host Dick Staub brought out how she didn't feel there was anything really behind the Harry Potter series, and so didn't like them. (I think I may be the last progressive Christian on Earth who doesn't like Harry Potter.) This lead into a discussion of what constitutes good fantasy, and what makes Christian fantasy. I knew Tolkien was a Christian, of course, and had been one of the influences that lead Lewis to Christ. I had never realized before, though, until this night, how much of his Christian worldview pervaded Lord of the Rings. You can listen to the whole podcast here. (My question on George MacDonald is at Minute 59.)
I was so impressed with Overstreet I bought a signed copy of Aurelia's Colors. Overstreet described how he came on the idea on a hike with his wife, overlooking a lake. He had an image of a woman with a coat of splendid colors, and she had come to bring it to a city where no color is allowed. From that sprung the book- with a wife who is a poet, and helped him hone every word. I've begun the book, and it's true. Every word drips honey. This is a work of art. The fantasy is so full you have to put the book down every few minutes, to contemplate the tapestry you've been drawn into. I am transported into another land, into myth on the level of MacDonald. Don't wait. Don't walk. Run, and get this book, and know what true pleasure is.
Comments
But maybe I missed something.
Anyways, I've got a series of posts over at my blog on Christians in science fiction and fantasy, which you may be interested in. It's a topic I post about fairly frequently.
Christian SciFi- sadly a very small genre. The only one I've run across is Lawhead's 3 books- Lewis' Space Trilogy is of course more fantasy than SciFi.