The Lily CafeFantasy with Friends: Religion in Fantasy
Briana and Krysta at Pages Unbound are hosting a fantasy discussion meme this year called Fantasy with Friends. Since fantasy is my favorite genre, I thought it would be fun to take part. This week, their question is:
What are some interesting portrayals of religion in fantasy? Do you like seeing invented religions, or do you prefer fantasy worlds to have none?
Religion and I had a falling out about 25 years ago. Despite being raised at a Lutheran school and attending a Catholic church on the big holidays, my family wasn’t particularly religious. So I’ve always been able to think rather flexibly about religions. Having an interest in Greek mythology, and even more ancient pantheons, helped, too. Religion has always felt more like a series of stories to me, especially since I can never quite decide if I believe in reincarnation or just, poof, zapping out of existence upon death. To me, religion has always been less a way of life and more of a desire to figure out what comes after death.
Anyways. I love invented religions in fantasy novels, when I do notice them. Honestly, I don’t pay much attention to whether there’s religion in the books I read. Most of the time, I can see the parallels to the religions we all know. Some of them are thinly veiled Christianity, and that doesn’t always work out well (like The Mystery of Lancelot Kingdom by Andre Alexander. It was just Christianity under different names, and it didn’t really work well with the fantasy story). Really, I could take or leave religion in fantasy. I don’t need it, but it’s fun to see what spins an author takes on religion. If a book doesn’t have one, I never feel like I’m missing out. I’m an atheist, so religion is just a fun bit of world building to me. Otherwise I don’t pay much attention to it. I’m assuming since so many of the books I’ve read have had gods interfering there must be some kind of organized religion around them, but I really don’t pay attention to it.
But I have to take a moment to talk about Lucia Damisa’s A Desert of Bleeding Sand series. I’ve been a faithful follower of her blog since before she wrote these books, and it’s so wonderful to be able to read them now. I know she’s Christian in the most beautiful way, and I love seeing how it translates into her novels. While it’s written under the guise of a fictional religion with a fictional god, it’s easy to see the references. I love how neatly Christianity, under a different yet similar name, slots into her world. It’s woven in so perfectly that I can see the inspiration, the pure faith, and still see her books as a fantastic fantasy world with its own religion. I feel like I’m explaining this poorly, because it’s really so masterfully done.
In answer to the question, I don’t really care if there’s religion in a fantasy novel. If there is, I hope it makes sense. If not, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
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