It’s Star Wars Day! May the Forth be with you …
Do you read science fiction or fantasy?
While I do read some fantasy, I’m quite picky and not good at articulating what I do and don’t like. I know I don’t like allegory, because I’ve read one too many allegories where the plot is forced to fit the allegory, or where the allegory is so obvious that the plot and character development are predictable.
I also don’t like bad writing or bad worldbuilding.
I like fantasy novels that start with a comprehensible world and build on that, rather than starting with an entire universe before we find out who the main character is and what they want. I guess I’m a character-driven reader, so I want to read novels—including fantasy—that start with a person with a problem and build from there.
I mostly read Christian fiction, and there isn’t a lot of Christian science fiction—I wish there was more. I’m more tolerant for plot-driven science fiction, although I still want strong characters and strong writing.
My current favorite Christian sci-fi author is Adam Collings, who is writing an episodic space opera series set on a cruise ship in space–think Battlestar Galactica meets Star Trek meets … well, not The Love Boat, but something set on a cruise ship.
I’m also a fan of dystopian fiction—think Divergent or The Hunger Games.
Both could be described as science fiction, as they’re set in a futuristic version of our world with some differences in technology.
Apprentice by Kristen Young is similar—a future dystopian society in which hate has been outlawed and everyone is raised to love and serve the Supreme Lover … in a society that has some awkward echoes of Nazi Germany. Apprentice is the first book in the Collective Underground trilogy, and the second book, Elite, is due to release later this year.
