For Those That Like Christian Fiction...

[Bronte]

I just finished reading a two book suspense series by Michelle Sutton. Danger At The Door, and In Plain Sight. Both are equally great reads!
The link to her author page on Amazon is below.
http://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Sutto...qid=1311809690

[Salgueiros]

What is christian fiction? What is the difference between that and general fiction?

[Elfwreck]

Christian fiction has strong Christian themes. The good guys are Christians, and some level of devout; bad guys are not Christians; sex is kept non-explicit if it happens at all; homosexuality tends to be non-existent or evil. Often, the story can be used as a lesson tied to a bible verse or small set of verses. Sometimes salvation is a strong theme. Sometimes the Christian elements are somewhat disguised, as in a fantasy novel with different names for everything, but it's still the same recognizable pattern.

[Xanthe]

From the ones that I've read, usually no explicit sex and at least one character who's an example of happily living the Christian faith. There can be characters who don't follow any religion or are antagonistic to religion, but sooner or later they come to acknowledge at least that there is a higher power and that the character who is Christian is admirable and might be clued into something that they are not.

I try to not read it because I always get the feeling that the story has been sanitized for my safety, and I keep waiting for the preaching shoe to drop.

@ Bronte: You might like the Ray Quinn mysteries by Mark Mynheir, "The Night Watchman" and "The Corruptible". I reviewed them for Amazon and I liked the stories and the characters. Not preachy at all; I didn't even realize the first book was supposed to be Christian fiction when I chose it to review. I know that Ray Quinn is going to see the light sooner or later, but the author is realistically portraying his resistance to doing so.

[Salgueiros]

... boring. I was starting to imagine there would be something like a gangs of New York thing with one bad ass guy called JC that talked like Marlon Brandon in the Godfather, or a bank robber that uses his invisibility powers and had twelve accomplices

[Ditchleyportrait]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Christian fiction has strong Christian themes. The good guys are Christians, and some level of devout; bad guys are not Christians; sex is kept non-explicit if it happens at all; homosexuality tends to be non-existent or evil. Often, the story can be used as a lesson tied to a bible verse or small set of verses. Sometimes salvation is a strong theme. Sometimes the Christian elements are somewhat disguised, as in a fantasy novel with different names for everything, but it's still the same recognizable pattern.

this doesn't seem correct to me. although i've only read part of one christian fiction book.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

this doesn't seem correct to me. although i've only read part of one christian fiction book.

What doesn't seem correct about it? That's exactly how I would describe it.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

this doesn't seem correct to me. although i've only read part of one christian fiction book.

Then you should probably read more, to get a better take on the subject.

Remember, too, that there are different degrees of Christian fiction. There's the type that is written by an author out to convince an audience that being Christian is the only way to go. There's the type that's written by an author who is trying to write a story that fits in with the parameters of their particular flavor of Christianity. And then there are the authors who are jumping on the Christian fiction bandwagon either to take advantage of its popularity or to increase their readership base, and merely pop in a Christian character and remove the sex and innuendo from their stories.

Then you have authors like Anne Rice who are flip-flopping around the topic and the rationales like a beached fish.

[exaltedwombat]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

...Then you have authors like Anne Rice who are flip-flopping around the topic and the rationales like a beached fish.

That makes her the only vaguely ineresting prospect! Is she a bad writer, or does she just refuse to come out for one side or the other?

There's no interest in reading a bible, or in reading Richard Dawkins. Neither are exploring anything - they KNOW the answers!

[Hamlet53]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

That makes her the only vaguely ineresting prospect! Is she a bad writer, or does she just refuse to come out for one side or the other?

There's no interest in reading a bible, or in reading Richard Dawkins. Neither are exploring anything - they KNOW the answers!

Anne Rice can be an excellent writer. I thought The Feast of All Saints (one of her books that was not about vampires or Christianity) was excellent. Then she did get the vampire novel craze started and remains one of the best authors in that overloaded genre.

Not something I read, but this old thread discussed Christian fiction as well:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ight=christian