Christian fiction?

[scraparcs]

Do you ever read Christian fiction? If so, what authors, series, or books do you or have you enjoyed? Have any fictional books had any impact on your walk with Christ?

 

[TwistTim]

Roger Elwood - AngelWalk Trilogy
really made me think about how evil this world is,the total depravity of mankind and how great the Grace of God truly is.
CS Lewis - The Space Trilogy
Though I have yet to make my way though the third book, the first two are great works and really eye opening on many topics.
John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress and Pilgrim's Progress II: Christiana's Journey
Charles G. Colman -The Shining Sword
Both of these works(I count Pilgrim's Progress II as part II and not a seperate story in my mind, though it is) really cause one to examine their own selves and see if indeed they Christians or not....
Bill Myers - Eli, Blood of Heaven, Threshold
I can not describe these too much without spoilers... let's just say this, Scifi, Characters meet or deal with Jesus... lives changed... good stuff.
Also Bill Myers for kids... "My Life as..." or funny stuff happens to Wally McDoogle... just has to be read... and of course "McGee and Me" -- this one had a lot of influence on how I saw the world when I was young and moving a lot... loved both the books and the movies made off them...

and this is just a short list, it's late here, to tired to think of more... will do so later...

 

[GoodNewsJim]

Lord of the Rings was pretty good, it had Christian themes.

I like how Frodo has the power in his hands, but can't use it, but must sacrifice it. This is just like how we're called to live. If we ever get power, we can't indulge or use it for our own means, we must help the poor by giving our wealth away. If we try and satisfy our own lusts with power and money, we are actually letting evil beings control us by being a slave to sin. Sin only leads to more sin and death.

 

[Apollo Celestio]

Eh, I'm not into fiction. I like the technical stuff.

 

[Scottish Knight]

"The Chronicles of Narnia", "Perelandra", "The Screwtape letters" by C.S Lewis

"In the Shadow of the Pack" by Ruth Allison

"Crime and Punishment" Dostoevsky

"Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan

"The Father Brown Mysteries" by G.K. Chesterton

"The Water Babies" by Rev Charles Kingsley

"What Katy Did" by Susan Coolidge

"Treasures of the Snow" by Patricia St John

Most of these are children's books I read when I was little, I haven't read much adult christian fiction

 

[Inkachu]

I wouldn't call LOTR "Christian fiction"...even though it was written by a Christian and it's definitely got parallels to Christian faith in the story. But hey, if that fits the OP's description, that's my #1 pick!

It's SO hard to find really good, solid, well-written Christian fiction. Most times I can't get past the first page or chapter because they've got "CHEESY" written all over them.

I do have to give props to Frank Peretti, though. His first books weren't that great; I couldn't finish them. But then he seemed to grow some literary DNA and suddenly I couldn't put his later books down. The ones I really liked were The Oath and The Visitation.

I also LOVE Madeleine L'engle, even though she's usually classified with the "Young Adult" stuff, I still read her books, and they're incredible. She puts some really fascinating spins on faith and science.

 

[Oddish]

I don't really read christian fiction.

 

[Scottish Knight]

Ah, just remembered another one - Jungle Doctor's Monkey Tales - used to love those stories when I was little!

I keep hearing Frank Peretti's name coming up a lot - might try reading some of his books. The only one I've read was "The hangman's Curse" which was an exciting read if a bit lightweight.

 

[kingoffools13]

hmmm really ?

I wouldn't lump pilgrem's progress in fiction exactly, its an allegory. technically not a real story, but ... it is a real story lol

but what surprises me is noone got to frank e peretti or ted dekker

they have both written a ton of books

Frank E. Peretti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ted Dekker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

K
O
f

 

[Marycita]

I am a Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker fan

and I love Melody Carlson too...she writes for teens and young adults a lot, but her adult fiction is great too

 

[Inkachu]

hmmm really ?

I wouldn't lump pilgrem's progress in fiction exactly, its an allegory. technically not a real story, but ... it is a real story lol

but what surprises me is noone got to frank e peretti or ted dekker

they have both written a ton of books

Frank E. Peretti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ted Dekker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

K
O
f

Two people before you mentioned Frank Peretti lol.

 

[Inkachu]

My book is Christian fiction for those who want to check it out

(just don't order it from Amazon, you can get it cheaper from other dealers)

Amazon.com: Shylah: And the Arena (9781413751000): Victoria Frey: Books

 

[Themistocles]

Anything by G.K. Chesterton, especially The Man Who Was Thursday and the Father Brown Mysteries.
Anything by C.S. Lewis, especially The Great Divorce and The Space Trilogy.
If you like epic poetry, The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost are excellent.

And then there's stuff that may or may not be considered Christian Fiction. I LOVE Graham Greene books like The Power and the Glory and Brighton Rock. He was considered "The Catholic Novelist" and a lot his books were really concerned with faith and Christianity. But he doesn't tell traditionally Christian stories; they're more like tragedies with a dash of Christian hope thrown in at the end. Evelyn Waugh is really good about this too.

 

[Wren]

I don't usually read Christian fiction, but there are a few books in that genre I like.

I'm a fan of Lynn Austin's books: Eve's Daughters, Though Waters Roar, the Refiner's Fire series. And I've read books here and there that I've liked by various authors, but can't remember the names of the books right now.

 

[TwistTim]

I haven't yet read any Ted Dekker
but yes, I need to add Frank Peretti to my list... "This Present Darkness" "Piercing the Darkness" "The Visitiation" and "Prophet"
also
His children's series "The Cooper Kid's Adventures" I have only read the first four, from the 80's when I was a kid... need to get my hand on the 90's ones and read them...

 

[Amber.ly]

I read a lot of Christian fiction. I like stories that are slightly fluffy and feel good. And I'm not ashamed to admit that

My favorite two authors are Lori Wick and Dee Henderson. I think most of their books are character driven as opposed to plot driven. So instead of wondering what will happen next, you are wondering what the character will do next.

And some Christian fiction has shaped in part what I think and even my faith. A booked called Stepping Heavenward had a huge impact on my life when I was 16. During that time I was struggling to reconcile growing up as a "Christian" and then actually acting like one. That book made a difference in my life. And then when I was 20 I found that the same author wrote another book called Aunt Jane's Hero. It changed the way I think a Christian marriage should look like.

But 99% of the Christian fiction I read is pure fluffy entertainment. And I read teenage fantasy fiction too. Can't beat a Sherwood Smith or Gerald Morris book

 

[Inkachu]

Another vote for "The Divine Comedy"! Really powerful and thought-provoking.

 

[MacFall]

Some of Peretti and Dekker's stuff is good, although I wouldn't go so far as to call it "great". I enjoyed the Circle Trilogy.

I can recommend any of C.S. Lewis's work, in particular the Space Trilogy and The Great Divorce.

Paul Bunyan, though it's not particularly well written it is classic stuff, and good allegory.

Other than that I just haven't read much that I liked. There was one book that was so awful I can't even remember the author or the title. It was about a Nephalim running amok in some monastery and the Roman centurion who oversaw Jesus' crucifixion was there (for some reason) to kill it, and it tried to be a serious thriller-type story, but...

If I hadn't been on a plane I would literally have thrown it across the room. It was that bad. I got about 1/3 of the way in before I decided I preferred the boredom of the 1 1/2-hour flight to reading any further.

 

[Blank123]

Normally I can't stand Christian fiction because it comes across as very cheesy and very preachy. but there are exceptions.

Pilgrims Progress. One of my favourite books ever.

The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy (both by CS Lewis) are both amazing series' where it makes you think without being very in your face about it.

I also just read John Calvin Goes to Berkeley by James McCarthy, and thought it was really well done. He overgeneralized some with the Calvinist persona, but he actually did a really good job of presenting the Calvinist and Arminian views on predestination. It made the theology geek in me very happy.

 

[TwistTim]

Time Changer by Rich Christiano and Greg Mitchell.
The movie was great, the book was also great.
Really a good thought provoker about how much morality has slipped in the church, even in the last 100 years...
I don't want to spoil to much, but I do hartily endorse this book (and the movie.)