Review of Christian Science Fiction Magazine Dragons, Angels & Knights Magazine

Science Fiction and Fantasy is a genre on the rise throughout Christian Fiction. For a very long time, Sci Fi and Fantasy novels were often passed over or not well marketed because publishers in the CBA, (Christian Booksellers Association), operated their submission process in a rather lock-step formation: every manuscript needed to follow a formula: all good guys must be life-long or recently born again Christians, the bad guys must be clearly evil, sinners, and unsaved. Everything needed to fit in a safe little box in the end: the story’s resolution needed to reinforce good’s triumph over evil. No out “of the box” thinking was allowed: theology and ideology were heeded; all theological points and plot twists had to correspond with relevant scripture references: ie. no alternate universes, alien life on Mars, or magical lands where animals talk, men look into crystal balls for answers, and swords are magically released from stony prisons.

The inherent problem with this narrowing of focus to accepting only stories of evangelical nature excluded a large number of life-long Christians who simply love to read for relaxation or entertainment, not for an additional Bible study. It’s a little daunting to wonder how many Christians have read secular novels over the years instead of novels produced by Christian publishing house, taking the risk of encountering offensive material just to also encounter a good story.

However, the tide has turned as of late – the success of recent novels such as Waking Lazarus, Comes A Horesman, The Hidden, Relentless – has opened up a market starving for above all originality and a little more freedom to use God-given creativity to craft well told stories, not Sunday School lessons. One online magazine in particular working hard to advance the cause of Christ and great stories is Dragons, Knights, & Angels: An Online Magazine of Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction.