I want to know if the time has come to seriously consider publishing LDS speculative fiction, specifically, science fiction with an LDS backdrop. So please answer these questions in the comments trail.
1. Would you, as an LDS reader, purchase and read a science fiction novel with an LDS backdrop, published by an LDS publisher?
2. If no, why not?
3. Would you specifically be interested in the following plot line: Religious people exercising their faith and being blessed for it (miraculous healings, inspired to build a space ship, etc.)-- on another planet?
4. Why or why not?
7 comments:
1) I absolutely would purchase and read a sci-fi novel with an LDS theme, especially if it were published by an LDS publisher! (Whoever you are.) In fact, I'd probably buy a couple of copies. (I've bought four copies of The Believer and counting. I LOVE that book!)
3) The plotline is compelling, and the woman who is proposing it is devout, creative, and very talented. Sounds like a winning combination to me!
PS - Great blog! I send everybody I know with Internet access and an interest in writing here!
Thanks so much for your support. Really appreciate it.
I, too, would buy LDS sci-fiction. Does that mean it's in conflict with my belief? Absolutely not. We know the gospel is universal, that there are more worlds than these and that God, the Creator of all things, is the same yesterday, today and forever. Why can He not be the same in some distant part of His universe as well? Why can't a fiction writer use those truths inside a space ship or on some distant planet?
I absolutely would read LDS speculative fiction, if well written. I believe the pathway might be a bit rockier than for the other genres, but absolutely I would purchase this over any other genre, if as enjoyable as The Believer by Stephanie Black or Tathea by Anne Perry.
1.I think being LDS would lend an incredible viewpoint to spec. fiction and sci-fi!
I watched a Star Trek episode once where one of the captains made the remark that people from earth had gotten "past" the state of believing in God. I always thought that was so ridiculous - how could you travel the stars and not find a testimony of a Supreme Being??
2 - I would worry that an author might go overboard - dilute or minimize the importance of the gospel. Then again, I tend to be very "careful minded" with anything I read. Once I gained trust that the publisher and/or author were going to treat the gospel and the church with respect and proper reverence, you'd have a loyal reader for life!
3- Absolutely - as long as no one tried to claim that Joseph Smith was reincarnated to be the prophet on Godor 3 in the Vesuvian Sector!
4- I look more for a book that has great values and does not shy away from religion, like Star Trek did, than I look for specific religious name-dropping.
So that's my four cents worth! Hope it helps. I am glad to see that I'm not the only one who'd be glad to see these sorts of books!
:^>WL
1. I'd love to see some LDS speculative fiction. Heck, I'd love to write some LDS speculative fiction. However,
2. I'm really sick to stinking death of prophecy-fulfilling speculative fiction, such as the Left Behind books or the recent Seventh Seal trilogy. Ugh.
3. I wouldn't dislike it necessarily, but it'd have to be handled well. I'd be much more interested in sci-fi with LDS characters and values, than in inspirational sci-fi. I think there's a huge difference there. (Then again, I'm of the opinion that a lot of LDS fiction is a little to And-The-Moral-Of-The-Story-Is:Read-Your-Scriptures. I like LDS books that depict LDS characters and LDS values, rather than books that try to convert the reader over and over.)
I think it all depends on the book. We already have a lot of the "end of the earth" books available; I would want it to be different. But it would need to be handled in a way that allowed the Priesthood to work the way it's supposed to, or else it would be too sacreligious. If there was a way to keep the tenets of the Gospel the way we know they are supposed to be kept, then I would offer a cautious "yes." As far as me buying it personally, I don't know. I'm not much of a sci-fi reader. I did love "The Believer," though, and Linda Paulson Adams' two books, "Prodigal Journey" and "Refiner's Fire."
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