The interesting twist is that my gift card is from a religious book store chain, you know, one of the ones where all the DVDs star Gary Busey.
I predict I will still have some interesting titles to browse in the fiction section.
I own one book by G.P. Taylor, Shadowmancer
, a dark fantasy set in the 17th century. I actually bought it in Dublin and now I believe there are several more books by Taylor, an Anglican priest who's also penned a sequel to Shadowmancer and Wormwood an 18th-century tale of a Cabalist.Then there's bestselling author Ted Dekker who is sort of the Dean Koontz of Christian fiction. I liked his Thr3e
. Another, Obsessed, dragged a little in the middle, to me, as the protagonist struggled repeatedly to gain access to secret information in a villain's basement, but it picked up in the end. I'm always intrigued by Dekker's thematic examinations though I understand they are being toned down in order to further crossover into mainstream.I also understand there's a book called House
by Dekker and Christian horror author Frank Peretti who's always an interesting and intelligent writer. I enjoyed his book, The Oath
, about a Judeo-Christian demon aroused by the formation of a utopian society.All in all there should be enough to let me spend my gift money.
7 comments:
Well, nice to know you are getting some perks on the job, but interesting perks they are...
You mentioned the Dean Koontz of Christian fiction - I just read a Koontz book the other day that was basically religious horror. In fact, the ending bugged me because A) it was too quickly over with no satisfactory climax, and B) the explanation of what happened was basically explained by biblical references.
Hmmm...
I think Koontz believes strongly in not tarrying after a book is over the way Stephen King sometimes does i.e. The Stand which has another hundred pages or so after the evil is defeated.
Sometimes it does seem like things end too quickly, though.
I think Kate is talking about "Taken," which I read recently and was fairly disappointed with. The early part of the book was beautifully written, I thought, but the way he explained everything and the denoument was pretty weak.
I about Thr3e for my son and he liked it. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.
I have not read that Koontz book. I think it came out before my resurgence of Koontz reading that came with "Odd Thomas."
I think that was it, Charles. I've already packed it and don't remember the exact name.
I had some issues with the opening paragraphs, then the writing improved and I was drawn into the story, but the ending was just so weak it annoyed me. I have mixed feelings about it.
I think this summer I would like to try reading some Christian horror. I want to see what it's like. I mean..the elements of horror are the same no matter what...right? Wouldn't The Exorcist be considered Christian horror of a sort? What about the vampire book by F. Paul Wilson? In that tale a vampire plague is fought by a Catholic priest, with the only religious symbol affecting the monsters being the cross.
That's a good question Stewart, maybe one I can wring a whole post out of in a day or two.
I'd say intent or position may be one factor.
"The Exorcist" and perhaps even more so "Legion" I would say are at least metaphysical novels though not aimed as overt prosletyzing or apologetics.
"This Present Darkness" by Peretti draws its scares from some of the same Judeo-Christian sources but is written from a strongly "conservative Protestant" viewpoint , reflecting Peretti's background and also to some extent the tastes of the primary audience.
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