One of our all- too-infrequent commenters has been featured  over at Touchstone Magazine’s Mere Comments blog. It appears that Lars Walker, whom I challenged not too long ago to explain post-modernist thought to me using Monty Python’s “Cheese Shop” sketch, is an author, and a recidivist one to boot.
He’s written four sci-fi/fantasy books published by Baen Books, so we’re not talking small potatoes, either. His brand new book is called, “West Oversea,” and I congratulate him (for his talent, success, and his modesty in not plugging his own books here.)
You couldn’t shut me up about them if I were you, Lars.
Go to Mere Comments, and click on their links to Amazon. (They’re in a fund-raising drive.)
If you catch this, Lars, why don’t you tell us a little bit about your books?
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Based on the title I thought for sure this post was going to be about me.
Due to its proximity with my recent return to threedonia I thought it was about me…I’m still not sure that it’s not.
Thanks so much for the plug, Mike. Unfortunately I won’t be able to write any more books, as now that I’ve been mentioned on Threedonia, I have no remaining dreams left to fulfill.
If you look me up on Amazon, buy anything but ERLING’S WORD. I say this, not because it isn’t a perfectly good book, but because Jim Baen (peace be upon his memory) decided, in his infinite wisdom, to re-release it in a double volume with its sequel. So if you buy THE YEAR OF THE WARRIOR, you’ll get ERLING’S WORD at no additional charge. This book is the prequel to WEST OVERSEA, the book I’m plugging now. Both concern Erling Skjalgsson, an actual historical character who lived in Norway 1000 years ago.
WEST OVERSEA is an adventure involving a Viking voyage to Iceland, North America and Greenland. It’s published by my new publisher, Nordskog Publishing.
Also from Baen, WOLF TIME (available free as an e-book). This is a near-future fantasy. Like all such books, it’s kind of dated in retrospect, but I made some predictions in it that I’m rather proud of.
And BLOOD AND JUDGMENT, a time-travel story involving the historical Hamlet and an amateur theatrical company.
Aside from WOLF TIME, THE YEAR OF THE WARRIOR and BLOOD AND JUDGMENT are available as e-books from Baen, at reasonable prices, here: http://www.webscription.net/s-107-lars-walker.aspx
You can go directly to my new publisher’s page to order WEST OVERSEA by typing the URL: http://www.SendMeThatBook.com.
Lars—
Sorry I missed you, but I fell asleep! I was all tuckered out (poor little fella!) from defending my beloved Jethro Tull on another thread. Don’t worry—I slaughtered the ignorant churls who mocked Ian Anderson! But now, I’ll be up late tonight and then tomorrow…ugh. But enough about serious matters, let’s talk about you.
Why would the eminent Hunter Baker, a man whose writings have appeared in NRO, Human Events, and the American Spectator, take the time to plug a book by you? Do you have something on him? And if so, could you send me an e-mail with the details? Is there any significance to your new book being mentioned at Mere Comments (in other words, is there a Christian element to your work?)
Just three more posts and I score a coveted “Recent Comments” sweep…
Ignore Rufus, Lars. He’s taking his bitterness out on you. Great men, like you and I, rise above such annoyances.
Lars, I just clicked over to Brandywine Books and based on the title to your latest post, I think we’ll get along just fine. I admire men who know their true worth.
blackhawk- What are the numbers now? Like Beverly Hills 90210 or where ever?
Damn here I thought it was ME! HA! Have to read the latest tome Lars considering it sounds like its about my ancestors.
I had you in mind all the time I was writing, Stephanie.
Ha ha ha…
the numbers are actually from the address of the house I grew up in in FL.
Thanks. Was just curious.
Sounds good,Lars.Always enjoy a good Norse saga.
No,Rufus,if the post had been about you it would have read “See,the Conquering Hero Comes”.
Yes, Mike, I write Christian historical fantasy. Which goes a long way toward explaining my poverty.
And yet your books were published by Baen, so they must work as fantasy first, no? This is actually something I’m very interested in. My sister and I were talking recently about how horrible most Christian fiction is.
She had just read The Shack, which had been just an immense seller at my bookstore. She said it was awful, and I hadn’t bothered to read it, because after flipping through it at my store, I could see it was earnest but not well enough written for me to spend time on it. I read the first chapter of Left Behind, and my only thought was, “What a waste.” A waste in that it’s a very good idea for a thriller, but Jenkins and LaHaye are not writers of fiction. The one sub-category of Christian fiction that seems not to be a substantial step down from its secular counterpart is the Romance, but that may just be my low opinion of that category talking. I’d expect regular Romance readers could set me straight.
But there’s obviously a vast market for Christian fiction of any quality, and a writer who could tap both that and appeal to the general readership would really have something special on his hands.
Was it C.S. Lewis who said that the world doesn’t need more Christian books, but more Christian authors? Or something like that. In other words, your values permeate everything you create. So a good writer who is a serious Christian will produce literature that is “good” in both senses.
I’m getting more interested in your books by the minute! Do you have any authors you could suggest for my sister and me?
Mike… P.D. James Children of Men, is a great book. It was made into a beautiful yet insipid movie, but the book definitely comes from a Christian worldview.
I’ve never read these books from some people like This Present Darkness and others by a guy named Frank Peretti (sp.?) I guess it’s Stephen King meets Christian — I’ve never read them so I can’t say, but I can vouch for the James book.
Children of Men is a good suggestion. I’ve been meaning to read that. I’ve seen Peretti’s books and they pass the “flip through” test, in that there’s nothing obviously amateurish about them. I never tried one because I’m afraid that after all the raves I’d heard and the sales I’d witnessed of the Left Behind books, I was leery of anything I found in the Christian Fiction section.
Sometimes, Christian readers and moviegoers remind me of Jon Stewart’s audience. They’re applauding the message, but not the skill with which it’s delivered. There’s all the difference in the world between clapping for a joke and laughing at a joke. That happens with us, too.
Isn’t the “Twilight” series Christian literature?
Tricky one. I’m going to need to speak carefully.
It is, inasmuch as Stephanie Meyer is a Mormon.
But I have no interest in those books. Of all the hundreds and hundreds of copies of her books I sold, I think one teenaged boy purchased them.
I agree with you about Christian fiction. My MIL loved the Shack so I will never read it.
I enjoyed the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. He’s a Mormon, or was, but a conservative who I think has a moral world view. He says he’s a democrat, but I was at one of his speaking engagements, he went off on a rail against 0 that was a thing of beauty.
Tracy, I love you.
Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead were two of the most beautifully written books it’s ever been my pleasure to read. And then Ender’s Shadow told the story of Ender’s Game from the viewpoint of one of the minor characters in the original and did it even better.
Card is a fantastic writer. I read his “Uncle Orson Reviews Everything” columns all the time, even though I could care less what he thinks about a new brand of potato chips. I just want to read his writing.
He calls himself a Democrat, but that may change. He’s stated his opinions on the Iraq War and gay marriage and has been constantly demonized by the left ever since. They’re driving away their best people.
We, on the other hand, drive away people like Arlen Specter.
…watch it with that love-stuff buddy…
Oh! Dr. Zoon!
I thought you were on that other thread, putting the finishing touches on Rufus. (Who you were too gracious to, by the way. When you’ve got him down, stomp on him.)
I’m sorry I openly declared my love for your wife. I’m only saying what every man here feels, though.
And in my defense, I’m completely plastered.
that’s it … you’re on my list.
I think Rufus just used the word “onanism” again, Dr. Zoon! I’d jump on that now, if I were you.
So, Tracy!
Where were we?
Careful Mike. I tried to defend your position above, but I can only do so much without placing myself in a very precarious position!
I want to make something clear, Fritz, and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way.
I love Colonel Klink.
You, I can take or leave.
Got it!
Don’t worry Dr. He loves me too! So he’s OK.
Did I word that right?
Twilight was written by a Mormon author and they definitely come at it form a moral perspective.
So did you like them? You didn’t say. Haven’t read any personally
I have a feeling you’re asking the wrong people, Tracy. In my experience at the bookstore, the Twilight series was an exclusively female phenomenon.
Teenaged girls loved loved loved them. And their mothers did, too. From what I understand they are pure romances. The girls identify with the heroine and swoon for the hero, and the furthest things go between the two is a sweet, chaste kiss.
From what I understand.
I agree with your point about Christian lit. And another problem is that some great artists get ghettoized.
Take the Phil Keaggy video I posted in Sunday Gospel a week or so ago. He is — and this is not hyperbole — as good as ANY guitarist you will hear in mainstream music in his genre (he’s not competing with Van Halen, Steve Vai, et al. though he could). There is some great music being made over there — especially the last 10-12 years.
The same is NOT true for Christian fiction for the most part. I’m sure there’s great Christian stuff being written, but who’s got time when the majors are pushing Left Behind?
Mike… you might also like GK Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries. Again not “Christian” per se, but obviously written by a stalwart Christian.
Floyd’s got two in a row… This is looking promising…
Oh, but Rufus comes from NO WHERE and shuts him down!! That is gon’na leave a mark!
I’ve read a lot of Chesterton’s non-fiction, but for his fiction only The Man Who Was Thursday and The Napoleon of Notting Hill. The first was very dense and philosophical, the second was more pleasurable, but so set in a particular time and place that it was difficult to be truly engaged by it.
I haven’t tried the Father Brown mysteries, though. I certainly love Chesterton’s writing. So many authors who I have great admiration for used quotes from Chesterton in their books—in completely different subjects, and also in fiction—that I had to read him for myself, and I’m glad I did.
You should check those out if you like mysteries. I enjoyed them.
I do like mysteries when I’m in the right mood. And it may have come across as me putting down Chesterton’s fiction, but I thought the two books I mentioned were very well done, but were a little too didactic.
I’m going to check out the mysteries, though.
Floyd, did you see the message my sister asked me to pass on to you? Keep up the good work on the “Sunday Gospels.”
I did see that. I think I replied over there (at least I did in my head). Tell her thanks and I’m very gratified someone is listening/clicking.
Mike, the two Christian novelists (other than myself) that I recommend right now are Stephen Lawhead and Athol Dickson. Both are uneven, with some works better than others (like me, come to think of it), but they’re both head and shoulders above the competition. Serious authors who’d have decent careers in mainstream.
Thanks, Lars. Of course I know Lawhead’s books, but I can’t remember if I’ve read any of them. I’m going to take another look. Dickson is new to me, so thanks for that, too.
The greatest Christian authors of all time were Saint John(the Gospel)and Saint Paul(The Epistle to the Romans)…absolutely sublime
True, Scott. But they didn’t write any fiction.
One other author I might mention is Leif Enger. I especially recommend PEACE LIKE A RIVER. A wonderful, wonderful book.
Ooooo loved Peace Like a River. You beat me to recommending him.
I’m gonna have to check out your books.
You’re sister was right, Mike. I plowed my way through “The Shack.” I’m puzzled. Why do you think it was a best seller?
I can only guess. I think the author did some heavy promotion and came across very well in interviews. I think people are just desperate to have something to read that for once they know will contain no “sucker punches.” I think there was a heavy word-of-mouth effect, and that after people had read it they really wanted to have liked it. They were rooting for the book, and hoping it would do well enough to encourage more books like it. I just hope that the author of The Shack doesn’t look at his success and think, “I know what I’m doing.” He needs to learn to write better—and he may if he’s honest with himself. Many authors are desperately embarrassed by their first novels.
I’m not trying to embarrass the author here, and please believe that I don’t want to offend anybody who’s reading this thread who liked The Shack. I just think Christian authors can do a lot better.
I’m going to trot out my Lord of the Rings obsession again. Tolkien wrote a book that is absolutely steeped in Christian belief (and in places his own particular “brand” of Christianity, Catholicism.) It is embedded inextricably in the story, the characters, their motives, and their dialogue. And if you blink, you’ll miss it, because it’s not a “Christian” work. It’s a true work. And as such, it appeals to all readers, even those who are not Catholics, or other Christians, or believers at all. It calls to us in a way that humans have been constructed to hear, saying, “Come, let me tell you a true story.”
Mike
That is exactly how I explained Lord of the Rings to my friend the other day. That is also why sometime liberal filmmakers can make film with a truly conservative message. When something is true it resonates with people.
I think that wherever I was disappointed in the film versions, it was where they decreased the moral certainty in the books.
I didn’t care so much that they vastly inflated the Arwen storyline. I was frankly grateful that they cut Tom Bombadil’s part. I enjoyed Gimli’s one-liners and was delighted by the elves arriving to relieve the siege of Helm’s Deep. None of those things were true to the novel, but they made a better film.
Changing Aragorn and Faramir’s inherent nobility and goodness was wrong. It was completely outside the spirit of the book. And I walked out of The Return of the King in the theaters. (I’ve since seen it on DVD and can appreciate it more.) I walked out of that film because where the first two movies changed the essential characteristics of the heroes at the end, in ROTK they made the mistake of doing that at the beginning of the picture. (When Frodo sides with Gollum over Sam.) I wasn’t invested in the movie yet, and so I left.
Mike, I see from your latest post that you’re Roman Catholic.
In that case, I have to downgrade my recommendation of Stephen Lawhead. Lawhead, for a period, at least, got onto a severe anti-Catholic Church kick that offended even me (a low-church Lutheran). In particular, stay away from the Celtic Crusades trilogy. In the first 2 of those, he really lets go. Oh yes, also avoid PATRICK.
His more recent books seem more reasonable. The Raven King books, for instance seem (so far) to have no trace of it.
Thank you, Lars!
I wasn’t completely honest in my response to you about Lawhead. I know for a fact that I began one of his books and put it down halfway through. I just couldn’t remember why, and was determined to give it another chance after your recommendation. I can’t remember which one it was, but I think it was the first book in the “Pendragon” cycle. I appreciate your clarification, and will look out for the “Raven King” books.
I just thought of a perfect example of the kind of book I’m looking for (especially for Catholics): Katherine Kurtz’ “Deryni” books. For anyone who likes fantasy, and doesn’t mind a heavy dose of Catholic ritual, these books are gorgeous.
I’ve been working on a book on and off for about a year. I don’t think I’ll ever get it published, in the unlikely event that I finish it, but I guess that’s what Lulu and iUniverse are for.
Keep working at it, Jake. I always enjoy reading your comments, anyway. You put words together well.
Coming over from Big Hollywood…
I’ve read a few thousand SF/fantasy novels.
Favorite Christian SF/F authors…
‘The Shattered World’ by Kathy Tyers. Some of her early works are okay. In this one, her skill matures. She deserves an award for craft.
‘Wolftime’ and ‘Erling’s Word’ by Walker join the list of the few books I’ve reread, and the Wolftime the even smaller list of books that made me laugh out loud (Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan stories and Tom Sawyer are some others on that list.) Wolftime is demented. By that I mean it shows honestly the insanity that is humanity.
The movie The Craft described humanity as a football game between God and Satan with Manon as the stadium. I disagree, but from that I got ‘Life is a battle between Good and Evil with a laughtrack.’ Wolftime shows that laughtrack.
OTOH, I didn’t really like the ‘Blood and Judgement’ book.
Lawhead wrote a trilogy with the middle book being Warlords of Nin which reminded me very much of a fantasy re-telling of King David as I’ve heard him discussed or read about in non-Biblical sources. Not so much the details as the feel.
And my friend, M.J. Young’s ‘Verse Three, Chapter One’ is very interesting. He’s like Tyer’s before The Shattered World in that he needs more practise, but its readable, enjoyable, and quite different. If he matures as an author as Tyers did, he will be one of the great. If I get Blood and Judgement again, I should send it to him as his Time Travel Anomalies in Popular Movies site has won an Event Horizon award. I did send him Time Patrol by Poul Andersen which provoked him to write an article about Lateral Time which made my brain drip down my nose a bit. If I send him B and J, my head might explode as I try to process the ideas in the ensuing article.
Welcome, Tennwriter, and thanks for the suggestions!
HOGAN!