Christian fiction

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. I am interested in reading some Christian fiction but I have no idea where to start and what to look for. What are some "must reads" or "go to" books that you know of? Who should I look for in authors? Thanks for the help.

[ATDrake]

My advice (given as an atheist, mind you) is to start picking up the many time-limited promotional free books the Christian publishers give away in most of the stores practically every week.

From there, sample them at your leisure and try to figure out if there's a particular author or theme that you like. Apparently the Amish subgenre of CF is very popular, and there seem to be a lot of spooky suspense thrillers offered every so often.

Here's the promotional free books page over at the Christian Books e-store. Unfortunately, they seem to be affiliated with that rather unpleasant Focus on the Family organization which advocates spreading lies and enforcing bigotry by curtailing the legal rights of non-believers, and openly solicit donations for them.

But I suppose everyone has their flaws and otherwise their store seems a good place to see many of the current freebies gathered into one area (although they're missing some and you should check the Deals forum here for new ones) and browse for purely Christian books that are guaranteed to fit suitably into what you've previously mentioned about your reading material preferences.

Hope this helps. Oh, and as a personal recommendation, I tried and liked Amy Clipston's A Gift of Grace (seems to get offered free every once in a while), which I felt was a pleasantly non-preachy, non-judgmental and genuinely faithful story which also came with some nice-looking Amish recipes. This may or may not be to your taste.

Are you familiar with The Robe and other books by author Lloyd C. Douglas? I have been an atheist pretty much as far back as I can even remember, but there was a time in my adolescence when I read almost all of his books. Very well written in my opinion. They almost converted me. Then of course there is Ben Hur available for download right here at Mobileread.

Aside from that I suspect ATDrake's suggestion is excellent and that you will find many places eager to give away such books. The quality of writing might not be the highest though.

While I was having breakfast a couple more titles occurred to me that you might find of interest. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth Speare and Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (also available for download here).

[DiapDealer]

As a fantasy fan, I found George Bryan Polivka's Trophy Chase Trilogy to be fantastic reading -- regardless of any religious (or non-religious) affiliations. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes epic fantasy with a nautical flavor.

But to be perfectly frank, I'm not sure why it had to be labeled as anything other than a "ripping good yarn." I wouldn't label myself a Christian, but I loved this trilogy published by Harvest House.

I've always been confused by that particular sub-genre, anyway. What constitutes Christian fiction? Does it have to be fiction about Christian subjects... or is a lack of non-Christian subjects enough? Does it require a Christian publisher and/or author? I'm not looking for a religious debate or anything, just a little clarification on a confusing concept for me.

[DixieGal]

Go to the Reading Recommendation forum and the "Free and Bargain Books for Kindle" thread. In the first couple of posts, there are probably 2 dozen available. Check that thread a couple of times per day, or subscribe to is for alerts, because some os the best deals might only last for hours.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I've always been confused by that particular sub-genre, anyway. What constitutes christian fiction? Does it have to be fiction about christian subjects... or is a lack of non-christian subjects enough? Does it require a christian publisher and/or author?

generalky, from the Christian fiction that I have read, it is like regular fiction, except more emphasis is cast onto the characters' decision-making processes. It isn't "preachy," which turns me off. Grab one of the freebies and give it a try.

Originally Posted by DixieGal

generalky, from the Christian fiction that I have read, it is like regular fiction, except more emphasis is cast onto the characters' decision-making processes. It isn't "preachy," which turns me off. Grab one of the freebies and give it a try.

Yeah, that's always been what I thought. The emphasis on looking to God , the Bible, the church, and religion for guidance in decision making, and clear rewards for doing this. Though some of it can be very preachy and proselytizing.

[DiapDealer]

generalky, from the Christian fiction that I have read, it is like regular fiction, except more emphasis is cast onto the characters' decision-making processes. It isn't "preachy," which turns me off. Grab one of the freebies and give it a try.

I actually paid for some.
The series I recommended above was by a Christian author and published by a Christian publisher. I loved it. I just didn't think the distinction was exactly necessary in it's case.

[Catlady]

You may want to take a look at Christian Book Company. They offer the usual promotional freebies, and even a selection of DRM-free titles. Only epub and pdf though.

It's not necessary to download their reader software to get books.

[WillAdams]

Maybe not what you're looking for, but I really enjoyed _Solomon Kane_ by Robert E. Howard --- the protagonist is quite religious.

Also good would be historical fiction of a religious bent, most of Henty's books (many of which are here) --- just finished _In Freedom's Cause_.

William

[DixieGal]

May I take this opportunity to ask y'all to help me identify a series? It is CHristian fiction, about 18 or 20 books in the series. The author was male. It begins with the family patriarch, a stowaway on the Mayflower. The series follows his decendents throughout America's history, focusing a lot of the series on the settlement of the west and the War Between the States. (I'm feeling very southern today.)

I read it at least 10 years ago, maybe even longer. I remember everything about the books, except title and author.

I think Tim would enjoy reading it if I can ever find it again.

[Vandy]

Originally Posted by s1mp13m4n

Hello everyone. I am interested in reading some Christian fiction but I have no idea where to start and what to look for. What are some "must reads" or "go to" books that you know of? Who should I look for in authors? Thanks for the help.

Hi, s1mp13m4n.

Nice 133+ username, by the way.

I've a couple of recommendations for you.

The "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
Great set of books with a storyline that carries from one book to the next. Adventure, action -- the series has it all.

ANY BOOK by Frank Peretti.

Good luck!

Regards,

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

What constitutes Christian fiction? Does it have to be fiction about Christian subjects... or is a lack of non-Christian subjects enough? Does it require a Christian publisher and/or author?

As I understand things, "Christian Fiction" as the genre it's dubbed as today, is kind of like "romance": a very broad umbrella category that encompasses a lot of conventional genre variants (historical, mystery, sf/fantasy), but put its own twist on them by having to conform to certain standards (core story centred around a couple falling in love and living happily ever after, in the case of romance) to satisfy target audience expectations.

"Christian Fiction" seems to all be required to have "clean language" with absolutely no swearing, also have no explicitly depicted sex. The main characters usually have to uphold fairly conservative US-style Christian values (no non-marital sexual relationships, no same-sex relationships, no divorces*, don't be a borderline alcoholic smoker if you're a noir detective, etc).

Generally they're also supposed to regularly attend church/have religious community involvement/spiritual thought/pray for guidance or otherwise express Christian faith, but some of the Christian "lite" novels skim over this part and are written pretty much like regular secular novels, only completely without swearing or sex and maybe have a few extra mentions of God or scripture quotations. Others are very evangelical and make a point of "converting" even already Christian peripheral characters who are apparently too lax in their faith to devout church-goers who then go on to spread the good word like an expanding ring of killer coral (if you don't like this sort of thing, avoid reading Julie Lessman's "Passion" series, which is in the dreaded Topaz format anyway, at least for the freebie they gave away).

Some publishers make further requirements like avoiding reference to supernatural elements which might be considered pagan, like Halloween and vampires, apparently in order to fit in with the reading taste of that portion of Christianity which loudly proclaimed the Harry Potter books Satanist because they had magic in them, and try to get The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe banned from community libraries in one of those "completely missing the point" moments.

Over at the Harlequin website, they've a set of fascinatingly specific guidelines for aspiring writers, and you can compare the stuff for their "Steeple Hill Love Inspired" Christian line to their other imprints.

Originally Posted by from Harlequin's guidelines

Because Steeple Hill sells to both CBA and ABA bookstores, we must adhere to CBA conventions. The stories may not include alcohol consumption, card playing, gambling or games of chance (including raffles), explicit scatological terms, Halloween celebrations or magic. Lying is also problematic in the CBA market and characters who are Christian should avoid lying or deceiving others.

I'm kind of tempted to see what they prescribe for their erotica imprints now.

* "In my family, we don't divorce our men. We bury them." is a quip from a Southern US comedienne whose name I can't recall.

[s1mp13m4n]

Thank you all for the great help. I am simply curious about the CF title and like another poster listed...what makes it labeled that way....and how does it compare with other styles and writers. I am not looking to be converted or something preachy. The Left Behind series, is that about end times and rapture? I am not trying to start a religion debate or anything like that. I looked into Christian Books website and they use Adobe Digital Editions for their books. I am running Linux and am having a hard time making it work under Wine....yet I hear that it does. I just wish they would email me the file instead. LOL