Some of my blogging friends are still talking about Karen Hancock’s Christian fantasy novel, Return of the Guardian-King. I thought I would highlight some of my favorite bits of wisdom they’ve shared over the past two days:
- Eve Nielsen has a good, concise review over on her site. She writes, “The seductiveness of evil was very well portrayed in this book. The action kept rolling and I was often surprised at different twists in the story.”
- In a blog tour that has been more critical than some (ironic considering the Karen Hancock’s obvious talent!), Speculative Faith reminds us to look at what the book does right: “Of all writers publishing in the CBA, Hancock stands out as the one carrying the standard for science fiction and fantasy. Each of her first four novels won Christy Awards, though the categories continued to shift—from allegory to visionary (a combination of fantasy with science fiction and spiritual warfare).”
- Karen Hancock herself, writing from the edge, insists that her work resists allegory. I agree. Fantasy fans know that C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books often get labeled allegory. We can argue semantics all day, but Karen proves her mettle when she describes her process like this: “I study the principles of the Christian life on a day by day basis. This is a vast amount of information, of which I retain a pathetically small amount, but nevertheless quite a body of material from which to draw. This I assimilate into my thinking and then try to apply to my life, usually a process akin to learning to ride bicycle: there’s lots of wobbling, falling down and messing up. It’s an ongoing process wherein I learn about myself, the principles, how exactly they apply, and God – who He is, how He operates, and how He deals with me.” Powerful stuff. Sounds like she recognizes (shameless plug coming) the high calling of her daily work! (And Karen, I know you must have a thick skin after publishing so much already. But I hope some of the overly critical comments haven’t caught you off guard on this tour. Your work is a credit to the CBA!)
- Shannon McNear has a fantastic interview in which Karen gives her next book pitch. It’s always good for prospective writers to see behind the scenes work like this. Here’s the pitch: “When Lacey McHenry accepts a prestigious research fellowship at the world-renowned Kendell-Jakes Longevity Institute, she sees it as a new start on a life shattered by an abusive, now-ended marriage. But when a disturbing late night encounter with a psychopathic intruder leads to an unexpected cover-up by Institute authorities, she soon finds herself in over her head, a lone mouse in an elaborate game of deception and seduction whose purpose she cannot begin to guess. Set in a bizarre world that is part of our own, yet separate from it, Black Box uses cults, cloning, ancient civilizations, aliens, and the nature of perception and deceit to explore the greatest mystery of all – human volition.”
- Rebecca Grabill (who has made the best use of blogger that I’ve ever seen—NICE layout!) lists some of the common grievances against CBA fiction. The discussion there goes from breasts to theology. So naturally, I had to comment there. I did my worst sort of comment hijacking there, so the least I can do is send some readers her way. You have to go at least see her blog design.
I think that’s enough for one post. As always, it’s been fun! Here’s that list of people on the blog tour again. I removed all stars so as not to be a Wemmick!
Nissa Annakindt
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Andrea Graham
Katie Hart
Jill Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Shannon McNear
Caleb Newell
Nicole
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Tsaba House Authors
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
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