Biblical speculative fiction is a relatively new genre and one that meets with some suspicion
in the Christian community as evidenced by the CBA's (Christian Book Association)
reluctance to publish it. Author Frank Creed has this to say:

    Christian bookstore shelves are nearly barren of spec-fic, or speculative fiction:
    fantasy/ sci-fi/ horror/ supernatural/ alternate history and magic realism. We own
    the copyright to fallen-angels, right? Can you name a single Christian horror title?
    Christian sci-fi is considered a contradiction in terms. Seeing as God monopolized
    creativity an infinity ago, this group's artists have banded together to market the
    Lost Genre.
Let's start with: What is speculative fiction?

The collective term for a set of genres which include: fantasy, science fiction, alternative
history, horror, etc. In other words, fiction that speculates about worlds and times that are not
like this world (at present).

from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

_______

According to Orson Scott Card (See How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, Writer's
Digest Books, 1990, p. 17), Speculative Fiction includes all stories that take place in a setting
contrary to known reality. This includes:

  • All stories set in the future, because the future can't be known. Out-of-date futures, like
    that depicted in the novel 1984, simply shift from the "future" category to:

  • All stories set in the historical past that contradict known facts of history or "alternate
    world" stories.

  • All stories set on other worlds, because we've never gone there. Whether "future
    humans" take part in the story or not, if it isn't Earth, it belongs to fantasy and science
    fiction.

  • All stories supposedly set on Earth, but before recorded history and contradicting the
    known archaeological record--stories about visits from ancient aliens, or ancient
    civilizations that left no trace, or, "lost kingdoms" surviving into modern times.

  • All stories that contradict some known or supposed law of nature. Obviously, fantasy
    that uses magic falls into this category, but so does much science fiction: time travel
    stories, for instance, or invisible-man stories.

In short, science fiction and fantasy stories are those that take place in worlds that have
never existed or are not yet known.
So . . . Biblical speculative fiction

A real mouthful to describe this lost genre.
What is “Bib-spec-fic”? it is speculative fiction
that is written from a
Christian world view intended to inspire and
entertain readers.

Both the Lost Genre books and the Lost Genre
recommended list have to meet some basic
criteria (listed in no particular order):

  • the works must be speculative in nature
  • the works must be respectful of Christian
    values and be scripturally sound
  • the works must do more than tell a
    story— Lost Genre books have depth of
    plot line and characterization; at the
    same time, they are tightly written and
    can hold their own next to the best.
EXAMPLES of SPECULATIVE FICTION

Alternative History
Apocalypse or Holocaust
Coming of Age
Contemporary Fantasy
Cyberpunk
Dark Fantasy or Horror
Dystopia
First Contact
Genetic Enginerring
Hard Science Fiction
Light Fantasy
Light Science Fiction
Military Science Fiction
Post-Apocalyptic or Post-Holocaust
Social Science Fiction
Space Opera
Traditional Fantasy

SOURCE: D.D. Shade "Lost Books"
And, another common question and controversy, this time amongst writers and fans of the genre:

What is the difference between Christian spec-fic and Biblical spec-fic?

Fortunately, someone has tackled this concept and we can do no better than to offer this:

    Biblical speculative fiction is Speculative fiction that uses Christian themes and incorporates the
    Christian worldview. (It is thus distinct from speculations on the Bible and/or Christianity such as
    Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.) The difference between biblical speculative fiction and general
    Christian speculative fiction is that the Christian nature of the story is overt. This represents the
    tension in the Christian fiction community between those who prefer stories that reflect a
    Christian worldview without explicitly Christian references (such as The Lord of the Rings), and
    those who prefer the more overt Christian material usually found in the works of G.K. Chesterton
    and C.S. Lewis. Current examples of these views may be found in the explanatory page of Ray Gun
    Revival [1], a magazine that takes the non-explicit route, and the homepage blurb of the Lost
    Genre Guild [2], a group dedicated to explicitly Christian speculative fiction.

To read more and peruse the links, check out the Biblical speculative fiction article at Wikipedia.
HOME
PROJECTS
SUBMISSIONS
ABOUT TWCP
CONTACT