so we wait with bated breath til some Christ-followers can actually write, direct, film and act in a movie that is worth watching… there have been some that come close but at the moment it’s still ‘secular’ movies like The Blind Side and Dead Man Walking that seem to portray Christian love, grace, acceptance and forgiveness better than any ‘Christian’ film i am yet to see, and i sadly still believe that most ‘Christian’ movies are pretty rubbish [you disagree? post your ‘Christian’ movie of choice and let’s see if i’ve seen it]
in the meantime though it is exciting to see that the Christ-following authors have strongly gotten their act together, altho to be fair if we look back to Pilgrim’s progress and C.S.Lewis’ Narnia books i spose we can say that’s been happening for a while. But when i discovered my first Ted Dekker book titled ‘Thr3e’ something in me jumped and said ‘it is time.’ As much as i think Francine Rivers catches the heart in some of her stories [to be fair, only read Redeeming Love and The Atonement Child] and i really did enjoy both the ones that read, i think that her writing is still painfully cheesy at times and she doesn’t quite do it for me [and millions disagree and that’s okay – nice stories, not great writing imo] but Ted Dekker arrived and boom!
again there were authors like Frank Peretti whose ‘This Present Darkness’ series blew me away at the time altho most of his subsequent books failed to produce the same kind of response in me [‘House’ by Peretti and Dekker on the other hand…] and the Left Behind series guys who also provoked a ‘wo’ in me(at the time, altho stopped halfway through cos they couldn’t keep up with me, but then once they started writing prequels and left behind for kids i think i got a lot more suspicious about their motivationals and lost interest)
i had seen Ted Dekker books in christian bookshops for years and was always wondering if they were any good cos seemed to be a bunch of them and if they were good then a bunch of cool stuff to read, but never got round to making the move of trying one out. then i think someone recommended ‘Thr3e’ and i read it and was hooked and have now almost pretty much run out of Ted Dekkers and wait patiently (like for Terry Pratchett) for the next one – i describe him as Stephen King if he was a Christian and yeah ‘Thr3e’, ‘Blink’, ‘Circle Series,’ ‘House’ and others are well worth the read – very, very dark some of them, hectic thriller with supernatural elements but never going too far into the message-preaching realm but giving enough to make you think – very real characters, honest, raw, rough writing and page-turning stuff – difficult to put down
which brings me to Robert Liparulo – happened to venture into gospel direct last week and saw these two hardcover books which looked intriguing called ‘Comes a Horseman’ and ‘Deadfall’ for R55 and R40 which is nothing for a hardcover – never heard of him altho there was a Ted Dekker endorsement in the one book so thort let’s give it a try and yeah, he’s no Ted Dekker but he is not too far off…
equally dark and supernatural in terms of ‘C a H’ being about secret societies and anticipation of the antichrist and ritual serial killings but again some good characters, some hardcore action and some pretty decent writing… and now reading Deadfall which i am enjoying even more – occasional semicheesy trying-that-little-bit-too-hard line of dialogue, but generally riveting stuff
sadly, i think he only has one other book out – ‘Germ’ – so i might have to add him to my pile of authors-who-need-to-write-quicker-so-i-can-read-their-stuff but for the time being (with half of Deadfall to go) i am happy…
anyone else read him? thoughts? feedback? other good reads?
Totally with you on the whole no-good-christian-movies thing (which really sucks big time). Loved Ted too, but more of a Frank fan (but agree – no real variation after present darkness).
Liparulo also has “Deadlock” out, which a sequel to Deadfall. The guy is fantastic! He can really write. He has said that his next adult title will be out next year called “13th Tribe” and it will include slight supernatural. I can’t wait. He also wrote the bestselling YA series “The Dreamhouse Kings”–6 books and they are incredible! (Even if I am an adult.) “Dreamhouse Kings” is that rare series that’s hard to put down from book one, but each book in the series gets better. I like Dekker, but I have to say that Liparulo can write circles around him (my opinion, anyway).
And, by the way, I agree with your assessment of “Christian” movies. But I guess just like it’s unfair to call a novel a “Christian” book or not just because it is put out by a Christian publisher or not – it’s unfair to say that movies from mainstream studios aren’t Christian. If you look at content and intent only, I’d say “Signs” is one of the best Christian movies out there.
i hear what you’re saying Mike and look forward to getting hold of those Dreamhouse Kings books yay and excited about a sequal too… and yes with what you said about the ‘christian’ movies but i think what i mean is evident and my original point was going to be there are some so-called secular movies which are more Christian than some christian ones
totally disagree on Signs though – wow i did not enjoy that movie – felt like everything was too conveniently set up for that final scene where oh look a baseball bat and glasses of water (why water-o-phobic creatures attack a planet mostly-percent made up of the stuff who knows) – very good thrills throughout but ending for me was a little you-got-to-be-kidding… but that’s wot the arts are for – different people enjoy different things
What I got from Signs (I may be wrong) was that it was God who set up the “coincidences” of, for example, the baseball bat and the water. That the brother and daughter were into the water and baseball BECAUSE they would eventually face these creatures. It showed that God’s in control and helping us (prepare, etc) for the things we will eventually face. I think if you don’t see it that way, it would be way too hokey, but that was my take the first time I saw it and since then, too.