For me, Christian speculative fiction was an oxymoron for a long time. I didn't see where the two could really live hand in hand. I mean, sure, there's the Lord of the Rings series and The Chronicles of Narnia, but they were the exception to the rule. That is, until now. Now we have authors who are writing amazing novels that absolutely fit this category and I'm thankful for it! Let's check them out, shall we?
I think my first introduction to Christian "fantasy" was Sharon Hinck. Years ago I read The Restorer and the consecutive books in the series (Sword of Lyric). What a fantastic read! This is a series I think I'll have to re-read... something I never do! That's how I fell in love with Sharon's writing. Then this past winter she release the first book in her newest series and it was exceptional! Her gift for writing is absolutely Heaven sent! I loved
Hidden Current and can not WAIT for
Forsaken Island to come out!
The Restorer:
A Soccer Mom in Our World. A Promised Deliverer in Another.
Susan Mitchell thought she was an ordinary homemaker. She was wrong. Pulled through a portal into another world, she finds a desperate nation waiting for a promised Restorer.
While she struggles to adapt to a foreign culture, she tackles an enemy that is poisoning the minds of the people, uncovers a corrupt ruling Council, and embraces a profound spiritual journey. Will this adventure demand her life? Can she find a way back to her family? She has always longed to do something important for God, but can she fill this role?
The Restorer's Son:
Chosen to save a people. Called to serve an enemy.
Plunged again into the gray world of Lyric and Hazor, Susan and Mark search frantically for their teenage son, Jake, as all signs hint that a trusted ally has betrayed them. Assassins, political intrigue, false leads, and near misses beset their path, which will lead them into the dark prisons of Hazor before the One's purpose is revealed.
Cast out by those he trusts and preferring to cross swords with the One rather than yield to His will, Kieran flees to enemy Hazor, only to find that the One knows no borders. Pursued by his calling, Kieran finds a boy without a home, a king with burning questions, and a nation torn by darkness. As he embraces the tasks the One has set before him, this new Restorer learns that the One requires his all–perhaps even his life.
The Restorer's Journey:
His choices have the power to save or destroy.
With a loved one's life at stake, Jake charges through the portal into Lyric to stage a dramatic rescue, trusting that the signs that mark him as Restorer will guarantee success. But everything familiar in Lyric has vanished, swept away by deadly lies and a corrupt king. As forces conspire to turn him from his purpose, Jake finds his path leading to places beyond his courage.
While he confronts the temptation to flee his calling, Susan struggles in brutal captivity. Can she gain freedom before the enemy destroys her spirit, and will Jake choose to follow his destiny before everything is lost?
The Deliverer:
A lost song-keeper must lead her people to a long-awaited Deliverer.
Eager to serve the One, a young song-keeper travels to the dark and foreign nation of Hazor, but her confusing, rough-edged companion has lost his Restorer gifts. As danger rises against them both, she loses her freedom, her memories, and her hope. Now even the very music of her soul is threatened.
In our world, Susan Mitchell no longer feels at home in the carpool lane. Burdened by the unhealed scars from her trips through the portal, she fights to suppress her worry about her son, who remains out of contact in Lyric. But when a mysterious message hints Jake is in danger, she and her husband are swept away-to the place they least expect.
Clan rebellions. Lost Restorers. Has the One turned away, or will the face of the Deliverer bring light to the darkness?
Hidden Current:
The dancers of the Order direct their floating world of Meriel with their movements, but are they steering it toward destruction?
Calara spent her life learning dance patterns and seeking to become the perfect servant to her people. When she discovers the work of the Order is built on lies, she flees with a rough-edged herder, Brantley of Windswell. Pursued by soldiers, her journey through the suffering villages of the rim leads her to a forgotten truth that sends ripples through her world-and through her soul.
Calara seeks clues to her forgotten family and discovers newfound courage in the face of danger, while her quest awakens a growing but forbidden affection for Brantley. Yet even his support can’t fully be trusted, since he’d rather destroy the Order than bring reform.
She is a lone woman facing opposition from rim villages and treachery from the all-powerful Order. Can she restore the dance to its true purpose and bring freedom and hope to her people?
Forsaken Island:
On an uncharted world, happiness is effortless and constant … but can true joy exist without sacrifice?
The people of Meriel have long believed their island world floats alone in the vast ocean universe, so they are astonished when another island drifts into view. With resources becoming scarce, Carya and Brantley quickly volunteer to search the new land for supplies.
After navigating a barrier of menacing trees, the pair encounter a culture of perpetually happy people who readily share their talents and their possessions. But all is not what it seems. At the core of the island is a horror that threatens everyone, including Brantley and Carya.
Freeing the villagers of the bondage they’ve chosen may cost Carya and Brantley more than they could have imagined. Even if the two succeed, they’ll have to find a way to return to Meriel quickly … or be cut off from their home forever.
Next we have Morgan L. Busse. Morgan, Morgan, Morgan... I did NOT want the last book in her The Ravenwood Saga series to end. It was such a powerful series, but the last book did me in! What I loved about her books is that they picked up right where the last one left off. If you can get all 3 at once, that would be my suggestion! She actually has other series that are in the same genre, but seem more steampunk, but I haven't read those yet!
Mark of the Raven:
Lady Selene Has Come into Her Family's Power.
But Has She Inherited a Gift or a Curse?
Lady Selene is heir to the House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a dreamwalker, she can enter a person's dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. Soon after the gifting, however, Selene discovers that the Ravenwood women have been secretly using their gift to gather information or to assassinate those responsible for the fall of House Ravenwood to the Dominia Empire hundreds of years ago.
As she becomes more entrenched in Ravenwood's dark past, Selene longs to find out the true reason behind her family's gift, believing that its original intent could not have been for such evil purposes, but she is torn about upholding her family's legacy--a legacy that supports her people. Selene's dilemma comes to a head when she is tasked with assassinating the one man who can bring peace to the nations--but who is also prophesied to bring about the downfall of her own house.
One path holds glory and power and will solidify her position as Lady of Ravenwood. The other path holds shame and likely death. Which will she choose? And is she willing to pay the price for the path chosen?
The Flight of the Raven:
Will Her New Life in a New Land Set Her on a Path
from Which She Can't Escape?
Selene Ravenwood, once the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free of her family's destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new role as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill.
While adjusting to her marriage and her home in the north, her power over dreams begins to grow. As the strongest dreamwalker to exist in ages, her expanding power attracts not only nightmares but the attention of the Dark Lady herself.
With a war looming on the horizon and a wicked being after her gift, Selene is faced with a choice: accept the Dark Lady's offer or search out the one who gave her the gift of dreamwalking. One path offers power, the other freedom. But time is running out, and if she doesn't choose soon, her decision will be made for her.
Cry of the Raven:
Wife. Warrior. Lady of Two Worlds.
As War Looms, Will Her Power Be Enough to Save the Ones She Loves?Lady Selene Ravenwood has come into her full power as a dreamwalker--a power greater than any in history. She embraces her new role as Nightwatcher, able to intercede for her people in the dream world, but the dark shadow of war draws ever closer.
Working together, the Great Houses come up with a plan to secure the borders from the approaching Dominia Empire. But dissension, conflict, and suspicion threaten to destroy their tenuous treaty, and as the empire burns a path across their lands, Damien Maris starts to lose his ability to raise the waters, leaving the lands vulnerable to the empire's attacks.
The only one who can keep the Great Houses unified and restore her husband's power is Selene. But it will require that she venture deep into the dream world to confront the enemies of her past who will do anything to stop her power. Will it be enough, or will both worlds fall under the empire's might?
Next up is Patrick W. Carr. I've read all of his books. The End. hahahaha I kid, I kid. But I really have read them all and enjoyed them all. His books probably most of all reminded me of the fantasy novels I read as a tween/teen. Very adventurous, but also dark. I'd say the comparison would be LOTR. Oh look, I didn't go up in a ball of flames using LOTR as a comparison! Whew! He has 2 series and then, believe it or not, just released a Biblical fiction novel at the end of last year! The two series I read are The Staff and the Sword as well as The Darkwater Saga. His standalone is The End of the Magi.
A Cast of Stones:
In the backwater village of Callowford, roustabout Errol Stone is enlisted by a church messenger arriving with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Eager for coin, Errol agrees to what he thinks will be an easy task, but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he’s joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.
Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom’s dynasty nears its end and the selection of the new king begins–but in secret and shadow. As danger mounts, Errol must leave behind the stains and griefs of the past, learn to fight, and discover who is hunting him and his companions and how far they will go to stop the reading of the stones.
The Hero’s Lot:
When Sarin Valon, the corrupt secondus of the conclave, flees Erinon and the kingdom, Errol Stone believes his troubles have at last ended. But other forces bent on the destruction of the kingdom remain and conspire to accuse Errol and his friends of a conspiracy to usurp the throne.
In a bid to keep the three of them from the axe, Archbenefice Canon sends Martin and Luis to Errol’s home village, Callowford, to discover what makes him so important to the kingdom. But Errol is also accused of consorting with spirits. Convicted, his punishment is a journey to the enemy kingdom of Merakh, where he must find Sarin Valon, and kill him. To enforce their sentence, Errol is placed under a compulsion, and he is driven to accomplish his task or die resisting.
A Draw of Kings:
Dark Forces Have Gathered and the Final Battle for Illustra Has Begun
Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, they’ve been branded enemies of the kingdom. In the wake of the king’s death, Duke Weir is ruling the country–and he intends to marry Adora to bring an heir from the royal line. With Errol and the others imprisoned and the identity of the rightful heir to the throne still hidden in secrecy, Illustra is on the verge of civil war–and threatened by hostile forces gathering on every side.
A dangerous mission to free Errol is attempted, but the dangers facing the kingdom mount with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferrals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw ever closer. Will the discovery of the true heir turn back the tide of Illustra’s destruction?
By Divine Right: (he has this as a free prequel!)
In the kingdom of Collum, Willet Dura makes his meager living investigating crimes. Ever since a terrible battle, he’s had a link to the dead–an uncanny ability to solve their crimes and sense foul play. When several of the gifted are found dead in close succession, Willet suspects a deeper threat and ends up chasing a mystery that will shake his world.
When one man is brutally murdered and the priest he works for mortally wounded, Willet Dura, reeve to the king of Bunard, is called to investigate. As he begins to question the dying priest, the man pulls Willet close and screams in a foreign tongue. Then he dies without another word.
Willet returns to his task, but the clues to the crime lead to contradictions and questions without answers, and his senses are skewed. People he touches appear to have a subtle shift, as though he can divine their deepest thoughts. In a world divided between haves and have-nots, gifted and common, Willet soon learns he’s been passed the rarest gift of all–a gift that’s not supposed to exist.
Now Willet must pursue the murderer still on the loose in Bunard even as he’s pulled into a dangerous conflict that threatens not only his city, but his entire world–a conflict that will force him to come to terms with his inability to remember how he escaped the Darkwater Forest–and what happened to him inside it.
Victory over the dark forces during the feast of Bas-solas should have guaranteed safety for the continent. Instead, Willet and the rest of the Vigil discover they’ve been outsmarted by those seeking to unleash the evil that inhabits the Darkwater. Jorgen, the member of the Vigil assigned to Frayel, has gone missing, and new attacks have struck at the six kingdoms’ ability to defend themselves.
Just when the Vigil thought they had quenched the menace from their enemy in Collum, a new threat emerges: assassins hunting the Vigil, men and women who cannot be seen until it’s too late. The orders of the church and the rulers of the kingdoms, fearing the loss of the Vigil’s members altogether, have decided to take them into protective custody to safeguard their gift. On Pellin’s orders, the Vigil scatters, leaving Willet to be taken prisoner by the church in Bunard.
In the midst of this, Willet learns of the murder of an obscure nobleman’s daughter by one of the unseen assassins. Now he must escape his imprisonment and brave the wrath of the church to find the killer in order to turn back this latest threat to the northern continent.
The kings and queens of the northern continent lay siege to the Darkwater Forest, desperate to contain its evil. But rumors of gold and aurium have lured deserters and the desperate into its shadow, creating a growing army held in its sway. Desperate after the death and dissolution of their greatest ally, Willet and the Vigil seek the truth of what lies at the heart of the evil they face. They delve the mind of an old enemy and find an answer far worse than they could have imagined.
Danger stalks the cities of the north, striking at the rulers of the kingdoms. As Willet and the rest of the Vigil seek to find answers, the group is scattered with an ever-growing darkness around them. Will they discover a path to keep their land safe, or will an ancient evil reclaim the world it once called its own?
There are a couple other authors who I am looking forward to reading. I have two books out of three by Lindsay A. Franklin. She has a series called The Weaver's Trilogy. Ronie Kendig, who I also mentioned in my suspense list of "must reads" has a series called Abiassa's Fire as well as a new series called The Droseran Saga. Lastly, Jill Williamson has a series called The Kinsman Chronicles. The covers look amazing and that's what's drawn me to her books!
Title: The Heart of a Hero
