Some of the first works of Christian fiction were allegoric writings such as Divine Comedy, by Danti Alighieri and The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan. Today, some Christian fiction may include biblical stories, but it has become so much more. There is Christian romance and romantic suspense, thrillers, historical fiction, westerns, science fiction, and fantasy. The characters in these stories are challenged to handle their lives according to Christian principles. These principles will vary from author to author, but in most cases, the ideas that they convey do not come out as overbearing to the reader. Christian fiction is more of a gentle read, usually without reference to profanity, explicit sex, or strong violence.
If you love John Grisham thrillers, then you’d probably like suspense thrillers written by Robert Whitlow, Harry Lee Kraus, Brandilyn Collins, Ted Dekker, Tim Downs, Terri Blackstrap, Linda Hall and Mindy Starns Clark. If you like stories where good battles evil and the godly triumph, then you may like the works of Frank Peretti and Tim LaHaye, who write supernatural suspense. For Christian romance you might want to try one of these authors, Karen Kingsbury, Janette Oke, Beverly Lewis, Dee Henderson, Tracey Bateman, Melody Carlson, Lori Copeland, or Lyn Cote. For those of you who love to go back in history, authors like Lynn Austin, Gilbert Morris, Liz Curtis Higgs, Linda L. Chaikin, Ruth Glover, Brock and Bodie Thoene, and Davis Bunn will help you travel back in time. For a change of pace you might enjoy a contemporary writer like Melody Carlson, J. Lynne Hinton, Jerry B. Jenkins, Calvin Miller, Jan Karon, or Lisa Wingate.
To honor excellence in Christian fiction, the Christy Award is given each year in several categories. This award is named in honor of Catherine Marshall’s well known novel, Christy. The awards for the 2012 winners and finalists are:
Historical
Forsaking All Others, by Allison Pittman
Historical Romance
Suspense
Pattern of Wounds, by Mark Bertrand
Visionary
Veiled Rose, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Young Adult
How Huge the Night, by Heather Munn
The Merchant’s Daughter, by Lisa T Bergren
Contemporary Romance
Wolfsbane, by Ronie Kendig
Contemporary Series
Contemporary Standalone
First Novel
An Eye for Glory, by Karl Bacon
Southern Fried Sushi, by Jennifer Rogers Spinola
As you can see, there are plenty of choices. I hope there are some that you think are worth looking into. Happy reading.
Picture courtesy of: http://www.wakegov.com/NR/rdonlyres/A86362D8-EC70-44CA-A8BF-2A98B65C7B37/0/ChristyAwards0711.pdf
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