Thanks for the list, looking forward to reading a few of these this year! Found you through the Wind and Truth review on Goodreads, always glad to find other Christians trying to navigate the content out there. Looking forward to more reviews!
Thank you, my brother! Yeah, that Goodreads review really went south quickly. I have posted a review for every book I've read for the past 2 years, and this is the first one that was even commented on. I get the fandom is protective of that series, but some people really hate Christians. Shouldn't surprise me, I guess. Some of those comments were hilarious though, like one guy just said, "Soft", and that owned me, lol! Thanks again for your encouragement and for watching, my friend! I hope you have an excellent week!
I completely understand not loving a book at first and then it getting better in your mind over time. I was that way with The Road. It was so depressing that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first but now it’s one of my favorite books because I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I have yet to read The Road. I have a copy of it, and watched the movie, and MAN, that was hard to watch just because of how grueling their journey was. It was so good, but SO brutal. Do you have any recommendations on how to approach the book? Like, should I pick up something more light-hearted before, and if so, what would you recommend?
@@joshobrien4960 I just recommend going into it understanding it’s going to be about as dark and depressing as possible. However, it’s the small father/son moments along the way that makes it so great. Something different but positive would be the Drizzt books if you are into that style of fantasy. It’s heroic and noble bright fantasy.
Really cool to hear about reformed theology in The Shadow of What Was Lost. I picked up the Nook edition of that when it first came out several years ago (it was being marketed as “if you like The Wheel of Time”) but I never got around to reading it. Might have to remedy that in 2025!
I sent him an email after I read it, just to thank him for a good story and to hopefully encourage him as a brother to press on. He actually emailed me back (a few months later because he is writing like a madman for the sequel to Will of the Many) and was so kind. He thanked me profusely and said that it's rare that another Christian messages him about his work. He said he often wonders if his work is meaningless, but every time that he gets to that point, a Christian brother will message him and encourage him, and it recharges him. Such a nice guy.
@ Well Josh, I’m glad you asked… From what I remember Islington followed Stephen R. Lawhead who’s a Christian historical fiction and fantasy author known for The Pendragon Cycle, Song of Albion trilogy and The King Raven trilogy among many others. (I just made a video about his most recent novel, Aurelia if you want to know a bit more about him.) But if you want to know some other Christian authors… Gene Wolfe has got to be one of my favorites. Very weird and dense author who often combines really out there scifi ideas with very pulpy fantasy. His Book of the New Sun series is a masterpiece and my favorite scifi series of all time. Often the Christian elements in his books aren’t blatantly obvious, you need to look, you need to meditate on them to find it. Christopher Ruocchio author of the Sun Eater series is also a believer and the Christian themes come out really strong in the later half of the series. This is probably my favorites science fantasy series being written now. Brent Weeks author of the Night Angel trilogy is also a believer and that trilogy has strong biblical themes. Though the series is not grimdark it’s set in a VERY grimdark world so there’s a lot of content warnings (not infrequently against children) that one should be aware of going into it. Tim Powers is a believer and writes secret history fantasy. It tends to read like urban fantasy meets historical fiction. I’ve been reading a book of his lately and it’s been fantastic. Poul Anderson is a contemporary of Tolkien who wrote both sci fi and fantasy and has some good stuff. Not the deepest but still some good stuff. And finally I’ll say A. C. Wilson is an indie author who wrote the Gwambi Tetralogy. The first two have been released and they’re FANTASTIC. It’s colonial inspired flintlock fantasy. It’s got some excellent spiritual themes in it as well. Lawhead, Ruocchio, Wolfe and Wilson are the biggest recommends from me! Hope that helps and let me know if you check any of them out.
I've read all of the Realm of the Elderlings and sadly dnf'd the series with 300pgs to go. In the Liveships trilogy there is on page s*xual assault. In Rainwild there is a homosexual relationship that would meet the definition of being there for entertainment/acceptance of sin as well as explicit s*x assault. And in the 2nd Fitz trilogy (Tawny Man) there are scenes to make you think there is more than close friends with Fitz and the Fool....as well as possible trans. I kept on reading it all thinking that if more liberal people can see it "their way" them i can see it "my way" as just best best friends vs anything more than that. I'm trying not to say too much to not spoil things if you decide to continue on but tread lightly is my recommendation. Im actually thinking of getting rid of all 16 books and have been convicted against recommending it to friends.
Thank you so much! You just saved me a ton of time. I only own Farseer and Liveship. I so I'm not super invested and can easily switch to something else. Thanks again!
@joshobrien4960 it's sad because she's one of the best more modern fantasy authors I've read. Tad Williams is one of the next ones I'm going to try at some point since I own them. I did start Dragonbone chair but then got busy reading classics. 😅
@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD Me too! I've got the Broken Binding editions, and started Dragonbone Chair on audio and just never got around to finishing it. I'm going to start it back up in the next few weeks.
Great list
Thanks for the list, looking forward to reading a few of these this year! Found you through the Wind and Truth review on Goodreads, always glad to find other Christians trying to navigate the content out there. Looking forward to more reviews!
Thank you, my brother! Yeah, that Goodreads review really went south quickly. I have posted a review for every book I've read for the past 2 years, and this is the first one that was even commented on. I get the fandom is protective of that series, but some people really hate Christians. Shouldn't surprise me, I guess. Some of those comments were hilarious though, like one guy just said, "Soft", and that owned me, lol!
Thanks again for your encouragement and for watching, my friend! I hope you have an excellent week!
I completely understand not loving a book at first and then it getting better in your mind over time. I was that way with The Road. It was so depressing that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first but now it’s one of my favorite books because I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I have yet to read The Road. I have a copy of it, and watched the movie, and MAN, that was hard to watch just because of how grueling their journey was. It was so good, but SO brutal.
Do you have any recommendations on how to approach the book? Like, should I pick up something more light-hearted before, and if so, what would you recommend?
@@joshobrien4960 I just recommend going into it understanding it’s going to be about as dark and depressing as possible. However, it’s the small father/son moments along the way that makes it so great. Something different but positive would be the Drizzt books if you are into that style of fantasy. It’s heroic and noble bright fantasy.
@@geauxreadbooks Awesome, I've got the first 3 Drizzt books, so I'll definitely do that. Thanks, my friend!
Robin Hobb is also one of my favorite fantasy authors. Ive read the first three trilogies of Realm of The Elderlings.
Really cool to hear about reformed theology in The Shadow of What Was Lost. I picked up the Nook edition of that when it first came out several years ago (it was being marketed as “if you like The Wheel of Time”) but I never got around to reading it. Might have to remedy that in 2025!
I think you'll really like it. It's truly a unique story. Plus, now I'm just a huge fan of Islington in general.
The reference to reformed theology from Islington makes me more excited to read that book. I’m curious to know how far that goes for him.
I sent him an email after I read it, just to thank him for a good story and to hopefully encourage him as a brother to press on. He actually emailed me back (a few months later because he is writing like a madman for the sequel to Will of the Many) and was so kind. He thanked me profusely and said that it's rare that another Christian messages him about his work. He said he often wonders if his work is meaningless, but every time that he gets to that point, a Christian brother will message him and encourage him, and it recharges him.
Such a nice guy.
@ so I have all his books on my shelf but haven’t got to them for whatever reason. This will change immediately! Thanks for sharing this!
I know James Islington follows several explicitly Christian authors on social media so i suppose I’m not surprised if he’s a believer.
Do you know any of them? I don't really know any fantasy authors who are Christian, other than Lewis and Tolkien, but I'd love to support them.
@ Well Josh, I’m glad you asked…
From what I remember Islington followed Stephen R. Lawhead who’s a Christian historical fiction and fantasy author known for The Pendragon Cycle, Song of Albion trilogy and The King Raven trilogy among many others. (I just made a video about his most recent novel, Aurelia if you want to know a bit more about him.)
But if you want to know some other Christian authors…
Gene Wolfe has got to be one of my favorites. Very weird and dense author who often combines really out there scifi ideas with very pulpy fantasy. His Book of the New Sun series is a masterpiece and my favorite scifi series of all time. Often the Christian elements in his books aren’t blatantly obvious, you need to look, you need to meditate on them to find it.
Christopher Ruocchio author of the Sun Eater series is also a believer and the Christian themes come out really strong in the later half of the series. This is probably my favorites science fantasy series being written now.
Brent Weeks author of the Night Angel trilogy is also a believer and that trilogy has strong biblical themes. Though the series is not grimdark it’s set in a VERY grimdark world so there’s a lot of content warnings (not infrequently against children) that one should be aware of going into it.
Tim Powers is a believer and writes secret history fantasy. It tends to read like urban fantasy meets historical fiction. I’ve been reading a book of his lately and it’s been fantastic.
Poul Anderson is a contemporary of Tolkien who wrote both sci fi and fantasy and has some good stuff. Not the deepest but still some good stuff.
And finally I’ll say A. C. Wilson is an indie author who wrote the Gwambi Tetralogy. The first two have been released and they’re FANTASTIC. It’s colonial inspired flintlock fantasy. It’s got some excellent spiritual themes in it as well.
Lawhead, Ruocchio, Wolfe and Wilson are the biggest recommends from me! Hope that helps and let me know if you check any of them out.
@@iSamwiseooh, thanks for this list Sam!
I've read all of the Realm of the Elderlings and sadly dnf'd the series with 300pgs to go.
In the Liveships trilogy there is on page s*xual assault. In Rainwild there is a homosexual relationship that would meet the definition of being there for entertainment/acceptance of sin as well as explicit s*x assault. And in the 2nd Fitz trilogy (Tawny Man) there are scenes to make you think there is more than close friends with Fitz and the Fool....as well as possible trans. I kept on reading it all thinking that if more liberal people can see it "their way" them i can see it "my way" as just best best friends vs anything more than that. I'm trying not to say too much to not spoil things if you decide to continue on but tread lightly is my recommendation. Im actually thinking of getting rid of all 16 books and have been convicted against recommending it to friends.
Thank you so much! You just saved me a ton of time. I only own Farseer and Liveship. I so I'm not super invested and can easily switch to something else. Thanks again!
@joshobrien4960 it's sad because she's one of the best more modern fantasy authors I've read. Tad Williams is one of the next ones I'm going to try at some point since I own them. I did start Dragonbone chair but then got busy reading classics. 😅
@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD Me too! I've got the Broken Binding editions, and started Dragonbone Chair on audio and just never got around to finishing it. I'm going to start it back up in the next few weeks.