Sci Fi and Religion

At first religion and science fiction might seem to be at odds but themes of religion are often addressed or found in science fiction. Science fiction asks the grand questions. This month you pretty much can read any science fiction and just give us a blurb on which of these grand questions might be explored in the book you chose to read.

Some ideas:
Afterlife

Angels

Creation Myths

Missionary/Evangelism

Fictional Religions

Messiah

Millennialism and Millenarianism

Original Sin

Penance

Theocracy


Many of these books fit several of the categories. So read away, just about anything you read will fit a category. Ideas were taken from Wikipedia. There are ideas for sci fi and fantasy. The picture was taken from Wikipedia as well.

More ideas needed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_ideas_in_science_fiction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_ideas_in_fantasy_fiction

Might I also suggest:

about an interplanetary missionary

and

a collection of science fiction short stories with religious themes

>1 Kristelh: thanks for setting up the thread! :)

Here are some books I have read recently that would fit in this category:
Stranger in Olondria
Throne of the Crescent Moon
Lord of Light
The Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemison
Poul Anderson's Genesis

But for me this month, it will be A Wrinkle in Time

I have pulled Lamentation by Ken Scholes and The Gospel of the Knife off my TBR shelves for this month's theme. Although a reread of Lord of Light would be good too. It's been, like, 50 years since I first read that book. Really.

There are also Frank Herbert's Dune books.

I've not yet decided on my read for this challenge, but will make some recommendations:

Eye of Cat by Roger Zelazny

Any of the Deryni stories by Katherine Kurtz, starting with Deryni Rising. Note: the series becomes darker and more serious as it progresses.

Fortress in the Eye of Time by CJ Cherryh (I can't recommend this highly enough)

The Faded Sun trilogy, also by CJ Cherryh (ditto)

Any of the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey, although I like the Arrows series best. Exile's Honor is great, too

The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White

Gate of Ivrel by C.J. Cherryh (the entire series is excellent)

A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Child of an Ancient City by Tad Williams, or, if you're ambitious, start this author's superb Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy with The Dragonbone Chair

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, or his very funny The Screwtape Letters

And one more by CJ Cherryh, Rider at the Gate, which is SciFi/Fantasy/Religion and a little bit Horror as well...brrr...but a good read

In addition to all of the great suggestions above, I'd also like to put in a plug for Eifelheim, which would perfectly fit with this topic. And if you haven't read The Yiddish Policemen's Union, it would also fit.

For fantasy, The Mists of Avalon would work well.

I am hoping to read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, since I've loved some of her other books! Another possibility is Passage by Connie Willis.

This might be the month for me to reread American Gods before it comes out on Starz the end of April.

I am planning to read Eifelheim by Michael Flynn so I was happy to see >8 sturlington: recommend it for this theme.

I'm planning to read Summerlong by Peter S Beagle

>12 VioletBramble: I love Beagle, but I've not read that one...hmm.

>13 fuzzi:. it's a retelling of the Persephone myth.

I've been doing a reread of Dune, following Tor's read-a-long, which continues into March.

I'm also planning to reread The Golden Compass this month. I decided to reread this series after hearing the exciting news that Philip Pullman will be writing a new trilogy featuring Lyra and other characters from His Dark Materials.

If I have time to get to it, I might also include The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay.

>11 DeltaQueen50: I hope you like it, Judy. A thought provoking book, in my opinion.

I'm excited to read Godless, which is a YA about a boy who creates his own religion when he's fed up with that of his parents, but it begins to grow out of control. I'm not 100% sure it will fit into sci-fi/fantasy since that's not clear from the book's blurb, but I'll try to fit in another read if not. I've jut been too excited about this one to hold off any longer, and it looks like it might fit... :)

>17 whitewavedarling: One of my favorite YA books! I love how he showed different aspects of religion all in a small group of boys who choose a water tower as their focus of belief. I suggested it for my daughter (in middle school at the time) and her book club. It fostered a lively and interesting discussion.

Question??? I noticed on the general page it is Religion themed Sci Fi and Fantasy, but only Sci Fi is listed on top. I was planning to read The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis for AwardCAT and chose it so I could use it here. Is this still ok?

>19 luvamystery65: SciFi OR Fantasy, both are included.

I've figured out my choice, a recent arrival by the wonderful Tad Williams, The Heart of What Was Lost: A Novel of Osten Ard.

>18 mamzel:, I'm glad to hear it! I'm struggling through another book right now, and looking forward to being able to pick it up sooner than later :)

I think Sweet Lamb Of Heaven would work here. While it may not be labeled SF or fantasy it does have elements. It also has some elements of horror. Anyway I think it would work if anyone wanted to read it for ToB.

I am sorry that I always mess up the title of the thread. It is very unforgiving because you can't edit it once it is set. It should have read March SFFantasy Unofficial CAT:

>22 Kristelh: Don't worry about the thread title. We all knew what the title meant. I think you have a minute or two to edit the title after you post. It would be nice if we could edit thread titles any time.

>23 VioletBramble:, agree, not sure why they don't allow but I am assuming that LT is trying to avoid problems by limiting access.

Well, as I suspected when I revisited the blurb, Godless didn't actually land into the sci-fi/fantasy category, though I did enjoy reading it. I'm going to look around in the next few days and figure something else out to try to fit in this month; I've got enough sci-fi/fantasy on my shelves that I know there's bound to be plenty to choose from :)

Oh! Looking on my soon-to-read TBR stack, I found What I Tell You in the Dark, which a friend recommended me a few months ago. I was anxious to read it when I got it, and as things go, it slipped to the side.

From the blurb: "A nameless angel has been out of God's favor since things went wrong with his last mission, 2,000 years ago. He has spent the intervening millennia watching the humanity he so loves fall into moral disrepair. ... In a moment of weakness and bravado, the angel decides to take over Will--'jumping in' as he did more than two millennia ago. What follows is a mortal struggle between good and evil, as comic forces fight to maintain the status quo..."

Considering that I'm slightly obsessed with Supernatural, this should be right up my alley, and I can't wait to jump in. No doubt, it will fit the challenge better than my last attempt :)

An ILL book arrived unexpectedly, finally, so I put it on the top of the TBR stack...and it fits this month's challenge, woo!

It's Exiles of the Stars by Andre Norton, the follow up book to Moon of Three Rings that I read back in 2016.

>15 mathgirl40: This is great - nothing really popped into my head for this month, but the suggestion of The Golden Compass is perfect! His Dark Materials is one of the series I plan to read this year, and this will be the perfect time to start!

I have completed Eifelheim by Michael Flynn for this months challenge. The story of aliens who crash into Germany's Black Forest in 1349 and the priest who at first feared them as demons, but through conversations of political, religious and scientific nature learned to have a high regard for these creatures. This was a very thoughtful, slow read but one that I found quite touching.

I have decided to listen to the audiobook of Bujold's The Curse of Chalion which I think will fit this category... I haven't read any of her non-Vorkosigan books before!

>30 leslie.98: I just read that one...excellent story!

I decided to pull Good Omens by Neil Gaiman off my shelf and read that. If I have time I will listen to The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis narrated by Patrick Stewart.

I finished Pyramids, one of Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld books. It covered several religious ideas particularly about belief & ritual.

>32 luvamystery65: Patrick Stewart narrates The Last Battle? I may have to forget the copy I own & see if my library has that one!

>33 leslie.98: Does your library have Hoopla? That is where I found it. If not, I hope your library has a copy.

ETA: I just looked at the other books in the series from this collection and the narrators are Micheal York for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Kenneth Branagh for The Magician's Nephew, Jeremy Northam for The Silver Chair, Lynn Redgrave for Prince Caspian, Derek Jacobi for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Alex Jennings for The Horse and His Boy. All in all seems like a nice set of narrators.

I do have Hoopla! Thanks for the info :)

I have just finished The Magician's Nephew, the creation story of Narnia. Excellent entry in the series & one I had no memory of whatsoever!

I read Version Control by Dexter Palmer for ToB and I think it fits here. It is labeled Science Fiction and it looks at a lot of stuff. It is a book about Quantum Theory/physics and so much more. It examines ethical issues of Big Data. The reason why I think it fits here as there is discussions by the father of the main character about god. He is a Unitarian pastor and he has some interesting statements. But the reason why I am adding it is a dystopian book set in the very near future, could be right now and in one area where Rebecca is going shopping she enters a store where the mannequins are riding four horses; Red, White, black and transparent (pale). This is definitely a reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It also looks at time travel, predistination, free will will. Very good book by the way. If you like Neal Stephenson, you might like this.

The April Apocalyptic and Dystopian Themed Thread is up and can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/251830#

I read The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. It won the Newberry Medal for 2017 and it is a fantasy story with a lot of magic but in the poetry told by the swamp monster we get a version of creation story. This is a coming of age story told through Fairy Tale. I highly recommend it. I listed to the audio. It was well done.

Starting Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

I am reading Dune and it is so good.

I finished The sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, a very rewarding read.

>42 MissWatson:, I really enjoyed The Sparrow, too.

>43 Kristelh: I'm glad I found this through LT.

>42 MissWatson: >43 Kristelh: I love The Sparrow. (and Emilio is probably my biggest ever literary crush!)

>41 Kristelh: I recall Dune being very good...the sequels not so good.

COMPLETED Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis. Moving on to the second in the trilogy, Perelandra.

My review:

Elwin Ransom is on a walking tour when he is drugged and kidnapped. He wakes up on a spaceship headed for Malacandra, which we know as Mars.

I'm not sure how grounded in contemporary (pre WWII) science this was, but anyway it's more an exploration of theology. What might a planet where there was no Fall be like? And what would be the effect if Fallen man (and it is man, I don't think there were any female characters apart from a brief appearance from a random countrywoman at the beginning on Earth) arrived? Enjoyable, but needs a shifting of mental gears to get into if you're more used to traditional SF.

Finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman and I can't wait to see it on TV (Starz - Apr. 30)!

Religions are places to stand and look and act, vantage points from which to view the world.

>42 MissWatson:, >43 Kristelh: and >45 Jackie_K:. I also really enjoyed The Sparrow!
Today I started reading the sequel: Children of God.

Finished Dune by Frank Herbert. I listened to the audio book narrated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Evan Morton, Simon Vance and Iliana Kadushin. It was great. The story is set on the desert planet Arrakis and is the story of Paul Atreides. He will avenge the plot against his noble family and try to prevent a jihad. Is Paul Atreides the fulfillment of the prophecy of a mysterious man known as Maud'dib. The story is one of the first ecology epics, an adventure story and political and has it spiritual/mysticism as well. It won the Nebula Award. It is one of the greatest epic science fiction books. I've had it in the back of my mind to read some days but I must confess, the giant worms kept me from getting to this book.

Somehow I lost my star on this thread and it slipped completely out of my consciousness. And I haven't read anything that fits this month, and I probably don't have time to fit one in as I have several library books that I need to finish before they are due. :-(

>48 mamzel: American Gods is one of my all time favorites!

I finished Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It was so hilarious.

>52 luvamystery65: I have yet to read Good Omens. It'll be sooner rather than later I think.

So I put The Sparrow on hold at my library weeks ago, but it came in while I was out of the country! By the time I got back, the hold had expired, and I had to place a new one. Still waiting for that second hold to come in, although I'm first in the queue...hopefully it will arrive in time for me to read it for this month!

COMPLETED Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, the second and third stories in C. S. Lewis's mix of theology and SF.

>55 Robertgreaves: I read that series about 15 years ago. It was unusual, interesting, and definitely worth reading at least once.

I just started The Golden Compass - not sure if I'll finish this month, we'll see.

>56 fuzzi: I've probably read them once a decade or so since I found them in my 20s.

I've given up on The Sparrow and will instead plan to read Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones, in which several of the characters are Norse gods.

I finished my reread of The Golden Compass. This time around, I listened to the audiobook version, which I would recommend highly. Pullman does a great job as narrator, and there's a huge cast doing the voices of the various characters.

I started The Handmaid's Tale at the end of March and will continue reading it into April. Fortunately, it fits April's theme too!

Finally finished Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. Definitely worth it.