Wednesday, September 24, 2008

CSFF Blog Tour: More Marcher Lords

CSSF Blog Tour

The other day I mentioned that nothing in the launch catalogue from Marcher Lord Press made me want to rush an order in. So, in the spirit of constructive criticism, I thought I should lend a few ideas about what I would rush to buy. Such as:
  1. A sort of cyberpunk allegory (if cyberpunk isn't too 1990s for the Christian market) - like a Christian novel version of Tron or The Matrix.
  2. An epic time travel story, reaching from the 21st Century to Christ's life on Earth, and rescuing Him from crucifixion...
  3. A futuristic Jekyll and Hyde, where our hero meets his Doppelganger - a man with the same character flaws and weaknesses, but instead of choosing to resist the temptations they led to, chose the easy route and embraced his dark side. What happens when the two meet?
  4. An urban fantasy in which our protagonist encounters a man with the ability to remove the darkness of his past. Presumably this man would, effectively, have lived through the darkest chapters of our hero's life, and be left with the emotional baggage that followed. In taking on the ills of the world, is he a kind of Christ-figure, or is he just removing the negative so that the positive results also disappear? For in deleting that one mistake, that one bad decision, our hero loses all the good that cam from it: all that he learnt, the ways he became a stronger person, the people he helped when they found themselves in the same situation.
  5. A near future dystopian Earth, where the cult of celebrity and an increasingly hedonistic populace bestows power and influence on porn stars, and a lonely Christian voice rails against an increasingly powerful adult industry.
  6. A classic science fiction tale, based on the raw and gritty stuff in the Old Testament, putting them in a sci-fi setting so the essential truths can be more easily grasped by a sci-fi reader. Sort of an Old Testament Space Opera, if you will...
By a staggering coincidence, I have stories along the lines of the above in various states of (in)completion, so if Jeff (or anyone else) has any thoughts about which I should finish first, well, you know where the comment button is. ;)

4 comments:

fredösphere said...

I'd vote for #3 or #4, or maybe a blend of #3 and #4.

David B. Ellis said...

#2 reminds me of a comedy parody of Terminator 2 I once saw on Youtube.

In it, the reprogrammed Terminator is sent back in time to save Jesus from being executed and can't understand why Jesus keeps getting angry at him when he intervenes to stop them.

Very funny, though some might find it sacrilegious (I didn't---but I'm not christian and probably not as sensitive on the issue).

David B. Ellis said...

I always thought it was as good a premise for a serious story as it was for a comedic skit.

UKSteve said...

Fred, I see 3 and 4 as definitely being variations on the same theme. Someday I'm sure to finish something on that theme...

David, I guess that shows there's nothing original any more... I hadn't really thought of the sacriligious aspect though - maybe I should play that up more, it's always good for publicity!