Sorry folks, this one is a bit of a rush as I’m away at the mo, with not much internet available.

The first Christian fiction I read was This Present Darkness, by Frank Peretti. I was a new Christian and it was a treat to read a story that tracked the activity in the spiritual realm, as well as what was happening on earth. A precursor to my experience reading The Screwtape Letters maybe? The situation happening on the ground was being driven by something way beyond human influences, and an actual battle was taking place. To this day I remember the storyline when I’m going through tough times, and wonder about the battle going on unseen to my human eyes.

The last Christian fiction I read, I’m afraid I did not enjoy so much. It was the Francine Rivers novel, Redeeming Love. I gave her another go with Lineage of Grace but I couldn’t get on with it. It’s not a comment on her writing; Rivers is a New York Times Bestselling Author; me not being a fan won’t dent that 🙂 It’s a style and genre preference thing for me. I don’t enjoy that style of storytelling.

Peretti’s stories are clearly about the Kingdom of God – in both realms. There seems to be no hesitance by readers to accept the other-world-ness of series such as Harry Potter and Twilight. Tolkien and Lewis, though Christians, have made their respective kingdoms completely fictional. I suspect that Peretti is only truly appreciated by Christians as he specifically deals with the earthly and heavenly realms as many Christians understand them. That type of other-world-ness isn’t quite so palatable to the masses… 🙂

Though  Rivers has more general appeal, my preference is for Peretti. I have a copy of his book, The Oath, sitting on a shelf somewhere. It’s time I read it! 🙂

Must dash as internet is coming to an end – so is Day 6! x