Science fiction, fantasy and faith: Part 4

(Don't forget Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3!)

I should make mention of a resource I've used extensively when seeking out this kind of literature: Adherents has exhaustive (and exhausting) lists of the religious affiliations of sf and fantasy authors, as well as religious references in sf and fantasy.

My own exploration of the topic is more narrowly focused on what I consider to be high quality work - in both the literary and theological dimensions. Secondly I'm dealing chiefly with books I've personally read and reread, and discussed with other Christians. Finally, I'm writing mainly for an audience of intelligent, literate Christians who would like to encounter more of this kind of literature. However, if you're eager to use a wider net, try Adherents, or some of these websites: Refracted Light: A Christian Perspective on Fantasy, Christian Fandom Home Page, Xianworldview, and the late Ross Pavlac's Christian SF and Fantasy Reading List.

I think it's important to keep one's eyes open and be ready for the unusual when looking for this kind of literature. There's a line from William Gibson's Idoru in which an aging rock star says "We didn't expect the next Jimi Hendrix to be a kid from the Thai pop scene. But then again, we weren't expecting the first one either."

So you never know what direction to look in. I don't think the traditional 'Christian market' was expecting Gene Wolfe or Connie Willis (heck, most of that market is still completely oblivious). Nor did traditional sf & fantasy fans expect that some of the most influential sf authors in the early 21st century were going to be Christians, of all things! Didn't that religion stuff die out long ago?

But back to the point! These first few authors are fairly famous:

Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) occasionally called himself an Episcopalian. His personal religious beliefs seemed to change quite often and veered into very unusual territory. Gnosticism seems to have been a fairly big influence on him, and when he wrote The Man In the High Castle (a book I've commented on here and here) he was interested in Taoism. Some insight into his beliefs can be gained from the interview in What If Our World Is Their Heaven? There has been a great deal of scholarly attention paid to his ideas, relative to that paid to other sf authors. Stories like "Rautavaraa's Case" and "The Faith of Our Fathers" put disturbing twists on religious concepts. There is clearly some sort of religious symbolism in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the martyr figure) and its film adaptation, Blade Runner (the bird, the nail in Roy's hand), but just what it signifies is open to debate.

Fred Saberhagen (1930-) at some point identified himself as a Catholic. His 1967 collection Berserker, about marauding robotic hordes, is a minor classic in the genre and a highly enjoyable read. Several of the interlinked stories in Berserker contrast principled 'Believers' with nihilists and hedonists. One story, "Stone Place," is a retelling of the Battle of Lepanto. Another, "Peacemaker," has a pacifist arguing natural theology with a berserker. Saberhagen's fantasy books, such as Empire of the East and the rambling Swords series, are laden with religious and mythological symbolism, though this is generally classical or Asian.

I've been feeling a bit guilty about not including R.A. Lafferty (1914-2002) in Part Two. He was a conservative Irish-American Catholic. "Wildly inventive" doesn't quite do justice to his work, and adjectives like 'bizarre,' 'psychedelic' and 'hilarious' beg to be used. His best work seems to have been in the short story field, with such classics as "Eurema's Dam." He wrote openly Christian works like "The Name of the Snake" (which serves as a dour counter-balance to Bradbury's optimistic "The Fire Balloons") or the beautiful "And Walk Now Gently Through The Fire."

Philip K. Dick was friends with Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock (1950-), and K.W. Jeter (1950-). All three write science fiction and fantasy. I must admit that I don't know much about Blaylock, who is reportedly a Protestant. He has collaborated with Powers on a number of projects. I must also admit that what I've read of his work hasn't impressed me so far.

Likewise, most of Jeter's work has struck me as second-rate, with one exception - the sadly underappreciated cyberpunk novel The Glass Hammer. A paranoid thriller about high-speed racing, media hype and corporate control, it is also beautifully obsessed with God and His actions in the world. One of the opening epigrams is from St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

"As the glorious sun penetrates glass without breaking it... so the Word of God, the light of the Father, passes through the body of the Virgin, and then leaves it without undergoing any change."

Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an 'Old Catholic.' I know him chiefly by his fantasy works featuring magical detective Lord D'Arcy. These stories take place in a detailed alternate history in which licensed wizards defend Christendom against black magic. He was also the author of several 'Gandalara' books, which I know very little about.

I'll round off this section with Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986), who's best known for his stories about Silver John, a homespun magician who wanders around battling various occult threats. His world is suffused with a quiet Appalachian Christianity.

I know there are many other authors I haven't covered, such as Steven R. Lawhead and Zenna Henderson, mainly because I don't know much about them. I'd be eager to hear more, if any of their fans would like to comment. There are also authors like Anne Rice and Marion Zimmer Bradley, both of whom wrote wildly popular occult and neo-pagan works before returning to Christian practice. I'm not sure if they fit within my purview.

Next time I'll post about authors I've temporarily forgotten and on worthwhile anthologies.

(The next section is here.)