Talk about a signal grace. No sooner do I publish a post on the need for a confident, masculine Christianity willing to engage the culture than a new science fiction genre rises to the challenge.
Not one, but two vocally Christian authors have stepped up to deliver something not seen since the heady days of the pulps: men’s adventure novels specifically informed by a Christian worldview.
I know what sorts of images the mention of “Christian Fiction” conjures in your minds. Banish all such notions this instant. These ain’t your daddy’s timid morality plays about the power of nice or hamfisted parables about exercising male headship by submitting to your wife. Susan from the Parish Council would not approve.
Book the First: Justified: The Saga of the Nano Templar Book 1 by the irrepressible Jon Del Arroz
I think the cover says pretty much everything that needs to be said about Jon’s groundbreaking new book, but here’s the blurb anyway.
To save a world…
…he must rely on God.
After years of fighting for justice with his deadly nanotech, Templar Drin abandons his post, crash landing on a desert world controlled by a tyrannical alien empire. Its inhabitants are forced into slavery, broken where a once-proud race cultivated its lands.
For the first time in Drin’s life, he has no backup, no support, none of his brothers.
He stands alone against evil.
Drin must face overwhelming odds to liberate millions of slaves from their captors and bring faith to a downtrodden world. But in his way stands the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy.
Can Drin use his Templar training to survive?
Fans of Star Wars and Warhammer 40K will love Justified, the new military science fiction epic from #1 Bestselling author, Jon Del Arroz. Read today!
There’s so much to love about this book, it’s hard to decide where to begin. How about the fact that in one day, Justified hit #1 in all of categories, made it into the top 800 on all of Amazon, and landed Jon among the mega-bookseller’s top 100 authors?
It’s not just that I’m happy for Jon. His book’s breakout success proves what sci fi sages like Daddy Warpig and the Pulp Archivist have been saying for years.
There is a vast underserved market of predominantly male, Christian readers who’ve been ignored by the witches in oldpub, the nihilist nudniks in newpub, and the milquetoast Boomers in Christian fiction for decades.
This untapped market is finally getting what they want: rollicking tales of Christian adventurers busting heathen skulls–a holy spectacle not seen since Robert E. Howard penned Solomon Kane.
And they’re about to get more of it.
Gideon Ira: Knight of the Blood Cross is the forthcoming first entry in the new Deus Vult Wastelanders series by up-and-coming author Adam Lane Smith.
I’ve had great pleasure watching Adam’s career move from strength to strength as his colleague, editor, and friend. Full disclosure: I edited Knight of the Blood Cross, but I have no reservations about saying I would buy this book just for the visceral fun even if I didn’t know Adam from Adam.
Feast your eyes on this blurb:
Demons and Necromancers haunt a burnt and blasted future in the ruins of what was once America.
A holy crusader sworn to slaughter the dark cults of Ba’al the Ever-Hungry must rescue a band of innocent children with his blade and blood-soaked gauntlets, or die trying.
All of Hell thirsts for his blood, but a man of God will never be broken. This holy crusader’s vengeance will be brutal.
The first book in a new heavy metal Christian pulp series.
It’s a good sign that we’re already seeing some fun variation in this brand-new genre. Whereas Justified is nano Templars in space, Knight of the Blood Cross chronicles the grim struggle of mighty yet all-too-human Crusaders in a post-apocalyptic Earth ruled by demons.
Two great tastes that go great together!
Gideon Ira: Knight of the Blood Cross is available for pre-order now. Reserve your copy today!
Perhaps the best part of getting in on the ground floor of a new sci fi genre is taking a shot at naming it. Others have described these books as masculine Christian science fiction, muscular Christian adventure, and futuristic Christian pulp.
My editorial voice loves nothing more than word economy, so I suggest calling this genre Cruciform Sword and Planet.
Will the name catch on? The readers will decide. They’ve already decided that this genre, by any other name, is a hit.
Here’s I’ll take a moment to humbly point out that my Combat Frame XSeed series foreshadowed many of the elements we see rising to the for of Cruciform Sword and Planet SF. You’ve got a swashbuckling Catholic monarch piloting a winged mech to regain his throne, a Bavarian guerrilla band who practice Eucharistic adoration, and an underground monastic order dedicated to preserving the secret history of mankind.
Want to see more? For a limited time, you can get all three thrilling XSeed books for the price of one when you back my red-hot Indiegogo campaign!
I've bought Justified, read it, and loved it. Will be pre-ordering the next two next week.
Backed Gideon Ira, and looking forward to reading it.
When right and wrong are real–when they are good and evil, not just right and wrong–my heart sings.
Glory be to God in the highest; to His Son who lived, died, and rose again, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and to the Holy Ghost who is with us always until the end of the earth.
Amen!
DJ
Agreed. I received Jon's book in advance. I really appreciated very much the spiritual struggles Drin went through and understanding his purpose. Adam's book is similar but both demonstrate the beauty of faith and forbearance.
It's quite moving to see authours offering their books as praise and Thanksgiving to the most Holy Trinity.
You've all inspired me to try too.
xavier
This should also be a confidence booster for all those in Superversive and PulpRev and adjacent movements. There is an audience out there! Just keep at it.
There's a massive neglected audience that's starving for good Christian fiction. The creators who are reaching that audience are laying down grownup money and taking big boy risks. Amateur efforts won't cut it anymore. Time to level up!
Word. I was starving for a good story featuring badass crusaders kicking ass and taking names. I'm sick and tired of all the perverted and subverted versions of knights, crusaders and paladins. Now I've got Justified and all the books coming next, and already preordered Knight of the Blood Cross.
Excellent. Thank you for your support!
I’ll stick with superversive for now. I just don’t have enough confidence in my writing (yet) to put Christianity into my work without devolving it into banal preaching to the choir dreck that’s afflicted most Christian fiction as of late
CrusaderSacren,
Do you have a website? If so, you can post what you've written and I'm sure that the regular posters here would be happy to critique your stories and orient you in consequence.
xavier
"You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take."
-The Great One
Oh I fully intend to jump in on this, but I’m still an aspiring first time writing balancing a full time job and trying to save up money. I have a ways to go in refining my craft but that’s okay I’m in it for the long haul
Look at it this way: Supernatural is about a hair's-breadth from being unabashedly Christian. Most Heavy Metal would be outright Christian if it wasn't working so hard to introduce inversions into everything. Frankly, all the good stuff relies 100% on Christianity for all its emotional needs but then gets flouncy about it when it's time for a goodnight kiss.
If you Show Don't Tell, and make sure what you show is as cool as possible – like a Catholic praying for the souls of the roomful of heretics he just chainsawed to death – you should be fine.
I am in exactly the same situation, Crusader Saracen, and I'll be praying for your perseverance! There's really something to be said for the forty five minute lunchbreak/writing crunch session, in my experience. The stolen moments are always my most productive.
Much appreciated Careless Whisper, I’ll be praying for your success as well
Patience obtains all things.
"heavy metal Christian pulp"
I hear the voice of God. I hear a choir singing Onward Christian Soldiers over a clatter of gunfire, the smell of overheated gas-trap reloaders, and the rhythmic crunch of armoured boots on spent brass.
Hey, apparently Razorfist has dubbed this "Cruci-fiction."
I keep on hearing _Non Nobis_, the Henry V version starring Kenneth Branagh. Otherwise, very similar.
And I think Razorfist has a winner with the term.
Speaking of Razorfist, his recent video on David Lynch could have the alternate title of “Don’t give money to people who hate you.”
Yeah, I saw that. It's catching on!
*George* Lynch, not David. There's a difference between the two!
But it's good to see more refusing to reward those who detest them.
Alrighty! Backed! Look for a redneck called Sam. Deus Vult!
Many thanks, sir. Welcome aboard!
(Backed Brian that is. Everyone else has to wait.)
Thank you for posting this. That is awesome news to hear about Jon’s success! I signed a book deal this week in my effort to contribute to this sea change. Glory be!
Thank you, congratulations and amen!
After I put together/wrote "God, Robot" I found it very interesting that it was considered Christian fiction by probably the majority of readers.
The book was not conceived as Christian fiction by me or written with that intention, nor were all of the stories in it explicitly Christian, though several were.
However, the concept lends itself most readily to Christianity and my own philosophy infused throughout the work is Christian to the core, so I suppose it's no surprise it turned out the wzy it did.
What about 'Cross and Planet'?