This month the bloggers in the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy tour are sharing about their favorites — books and authors — in speculative fiction. So what is speculative fiction? Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more highly imaginative fiction genres, specifically including science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction and alternate history. (Thank you Wikipedia and Margaret Atwood)
Today I am going to share my all time favorites from my teenage years. I read a lot of books during those years but only a few made a real impact. The books that I kept thinking about and reread are The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings trilogy by 
J. R. R. Tolkien. I was so excited when The Lord of the Rings came to the movies, and for the most part I liked all 3 offerings. But nothing can beat the true pleasure of reading Tolkien. You become immersed in the story, becoming one of the adventurers. Not a Christian as a teen, I missed a lot of the meaning of the novels. But truth has a way of touching a soul, whether in music, art or literature. Many years have passed since I was a teenager, but I still recall with fondness my travels with Bilbo and Gandalf, still feel the temptation of the ring and still celebrate the victory over Sauron. (Uh oh, I feel a hobbit fix is needed!)
I was excited when my youngest child became interested in fantasy. I thought, how great to pass down my passion for Tolkien. He dutifully read The Hobbit and made it half way through the Trilogy, but gave it up at last. Oh well, I tried! But I didn’t fail completely since he found his own favorites. Tomorrow I will share what those are.
In the RBC Library, you can find copies of The Hobbit and the Lord of The Rings trilogy. Check them out today!
See the favorites from others on the tour:
Brandon Barr
Thomas Clayton Booher
Keanan Brand
Grace Bridges
Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse
Jeff Chapman
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
George Duncan
April Erwin
Andrea Graham
Tori Greene
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Mike Lynch
Rebecca LuElla Miller
New Authors Fellowship
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Jason Waguespac
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Phyllis Wheeler
KM Wilsher
I have read and re-read Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit more times than I can count. They never get old and I never tire of reliving the adventures.
It’s also inspiring to me that a Christian actually set the standard for the fantasy genre!
I certainly cherish Tolkein! His books are all favorites of mine.
I concur with Sarah–it’s great to know that a Christian set the standard and really kicked off this whole genre we call fantasy fiction. But he wasn’t the first or the only influential Christian fantasy author. George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle … fantasy has always had strong Christian voices. No other voice like Tolkien’s, though!
I love Tolkien’s work, too. I’ve re-read them a couple times since I started writing. I wanted to see what I thought after having studied the craft. But alas, I got lost in the story and stopped thinking about the writing. So now, when I get the itch (usually around Christmas, for some reason), I happily dig right in.
Becky
Isn’t it great when our children pick up the same interests as us. It gives more in common, and more to share with each other. Thanks for your comments.
Mike