From: darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu (Richard Darsie)
Subject: New Thread: Pagan Fiction
Date: 12 Aug 92 23:24:28 GMT

In the grand tradition of the Pagan Movie thread, I thought I'd ask
people for their favorite works of fiction with pagan themes. I'll
start by listing several of my favorites:

THOMAS THE RHYMER, by Ellen Kushner. A novelization of the Child ballad
about a minstrel who is bound in service by the Queen of Elfland for seven
years. A superior story which really captures the atmosphere of an
earlier age.

A VISION OF LIGHT and IN SEARCH OF THE GREEN LION, both by Judith
Merkle Riley. Set in 14th century England (not one of history's high points).
The protagonist here is one Margaret of Ashbury, who is a very
unusual woman for her time. Very well written, absorbing stories.

SEVENTH SON, RED PROPHET, and PRENTICE ALVIN, by Orson Scott Card.  
Again, very well-written books. These represent an alternative American
frontier history where "magic" works. One of the most imaginative
"alternate worlds" ever created, IMHO.

Obviously Arthurian fiction will be prominently featured in any such
list. It's really become a genre of its own. Personally I've never
gotten much into it, but it certainly has proliferated lately. I had
the occasion last year to attend a talk by Persia Wooley, author of an
Arthurian trilogy told from Guinivere's standpoint. The first of this
trilogy is "Queen of the Summer Stars". I haven't read it yet, but the
author's talk on her research into Celtic paganism was inspiring.

I guess Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books would have to qualify
as pagan fiction, as would Kathryn Kurtz' various Deryni series (in
that they feature a magic-practicing race, though the author is
clearly a very devout Catholic).

===
From: jasmine@sscux1.ssc.gov (Karissa Walden)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 01:36:28 GMT

My favorites include anything by Charles de Lint and right now I'm
addicted to the author who wrote _Gossamer Axe_ and _Strands of
Starlight_.  I will post others as I remember them

===
From: cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese)
Date: 13 Aug 92 04:00:48 GMT

...
Well, of COURSE _The Mists of Avalon_ is great, and so is just about
anything by Ursula LeGuin.  James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon) is also
very good, though she leans to science fiction (she's won a Hugo).  I
don't know if she'd be considered P/pagan, though . . .

===
From: pierson@kukri.mps.mlo.dec.com (dan pierson)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 15:26:59 GMT

MOONWISE by Greer Ilene Gilman.  A new, very different, fantasy novel
with a lot of serious pagan symbolism.  It's expressed in its own
terms and thus is a bit hard to understand at first.  The atmosphere
is reminiscent of Peake and Bear but all its own.  Very well worth
reading.  Oh, that woman has an intricate, twisty, mysterious mind!

THE HIGH PLACE (and many other things) by James Branch Cabel.  Not
really pagan, but they do a wonderful job of turning conventional
concepts of magic and religion upside down.  I mention this one
because it features "the adversary of all the gods of men", who is not
what most people think he is.  Cabel's protagonists tend to be male.

===
From: altheimm@nextnet.csus.edu (Murray Altheim)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 16:38:14 GMT

I'd have to recommend highly:
THE MAGUS by John Fowles
A book that pretty much blew me away the first time I read it.  The
plot twists, the subject matter and the handling of characters is
excellent, and there are many pagan threads running through, such as
the living presence of the gods, etc. but I won't give the plot away
so there nyaah.

===
From: ciaran@county.lmt.mn.org (Ciaran Benson)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 18:49:47 GMT

C. J. Cherryh's "Rysulka" (sp?) trilogy, without question. Matches my
idea of how magic works in a pagan world, anyway.

===
From: ailsa%ailanth.uucp@wang.com (Ailsa N.T. Murphy)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 19:18:01 EST

>>the author who wrote _Gossamer Axe_ and _Strands of Starlight_.  

The unnamed author above is Gael Baudino, who is also a good read cos
her books contain lesbian sensibilities.  (good read for me, anyway.
ymmv) and i LOVE james tiptree junior, r.i.p.  B(

I like Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian trilogy (Hawk of May, Kingdom of
Summer, In Winter's Shadow). That's pretty pagan, expecially the first
book, where Gwalchmai meets Lugh.

Terry Pratchett's books often have a wiccan undertone to them,
especially _Wyrd Sisters_ which is about three witches. They're also
fun, and while he might not be perfect on the anti-sexism front, he is
certainly trying to be even-handed, as witness _Equal Rites_, which
ALSO has wiccan references in it... 

[Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) is a fine        ]
[criticism of Christianity. P. is obviously not a Christian. Neither is]
[Gaiman, I think. --Ceci                                               ]

Hmm...  I post on pagan kidbooks as i find them, so i don't need to
repeat myself about _Grandfather Twilight_ (but I will anyway - it's
beautiful).

And then there's _Widdershins_ which is a story of a bunch of wimmin
forming a coven on an island in Maine, and scaring away some evil
developers at the same time.  It's not exactly perfectly written, but
it is much fun, and developers WERE a terrible problem in the
eighties. Never thought i'd be thankful for a recession, but at least
it has those landmurderers sticking to their OWN states and not trying
to muscle into MINE. (As you might gather, I consider developers to be
right up there on the Forces of Evil list.)

No other pagan fiction comes to mind...  maybe i should get off my
butt and WRITE some...  Oh yeah, and one of the wimmin in the _Dykes
to watch out for_ comic series is a dianic.  
===

From: n9140397@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Michael J. Hamilton)
Date: 14 Aug 92 19:29:11 GMT

_Mists_of_Avalon_ by Marion Zimmer Bradley was by far the best peice
of pagan fiction I've ever read.  There's a lot of philosphy packed
into a great stroy.

The Tarot series by Piers Anthony was pretty good, though not
especially, at least by comparison.

A classic, which maybe isn't quite "pagan", but definately a must read
for anyone in that sort of a belief direction: Robert Heinlein's
_Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_.  It's been recently rereleased with some
extra material which was edited back when it was first released.  Like
I said, it's definately a must-read.  
===

From: canders@isr.harvard.edu (Carl E. Anderson)
Date: 14 Aug 92 20:53:39 GMT

	I have always been entertained by Elizabeth H. Boyer's books.
Likewise with Poul and Karen Anderson's Ys series.

ps - I might add that Poul Anderson's reworking of Hrolf Kraki's Saga
     really totally kicks ass!
===

From: aardvark@dragon (Pam Williams)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 02:58:16 GMT

Personally, I HATED "The Magus." My memories of it are of a mostly
dull plot about a pathetic main character and his manipulation by
several people who are made out to be powerful and vaguely sinister
but who are quite unimpressive. I remember that I held a big grudge
against a good friend of mine for inflicting that long, boring
thing-that-walks-like-a-novel on me. Not even the supposed parallels
to the Tarot (it has 78 chapters) could redeem it in my eyes. But then
again, I read the "classics" for the story...

Some of my favorites (feel free to blast them to pieces in
retaliation): "Moonheart" and "Greenmantle" by Charles DeLint -
Wonderful, magical, and more than a little scary at times. I've
noticed that DeLint's villains are REALLY gross, sickeningly evil
people, and their nasty acts are told in deliciously gruesome
detail. The Bad Guys are really bad, and the Good guys don't usually
come out of the battle without a lot of healing to do. If you have a
weak stomach or unusually active imagination, you may want to pass him
by, but for the strong in constitution and those who are horror fans
as well as Fantasy Lit fans his books are a great find.

"Contrarywise" and "Trickster's Touch" by Zohra Greenhalgh - True gems
for all you Trickster fans out there. You know who you are... Written
by a woman who is a former student of Jane Roberts and Seth. The tone
and some of the content are reminiscent of Jane Roberts' books about
Oversoul Seven (IMHO...  any readers of the Seth Material out there
care to comment?). These two books are among my all-time favorites.

"Door into Fire" and "Door into Shadow" by Diane Duane - I'm very fond
of these two books, mostly because they were the first books I read
which had well-rounded, developed queer main characters (both male and
female). I really like Duane's mythology and the construction of her
world, even though some aspects of her world's operating magic system
bother me a bit. They're a little hard to find these days, but are
worth looking for.

"War for the Oaks" and "Bone Dance" by Emma Bull - Two different
novels, one concerning the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and what happens
when their battle erupts into modern-day Minneapolis and involves a
young musician, and the other set in the post-disaster future where
the technological reality behind "the divine horsemen" clashes with
the magical reality behind the same.

And finally, John Myers Myers' "Silverlock," a book that every person
who has ever had to take English Lit. courses in school should
read. Trying to catch ALL the references in this book would be a
daunting task indeed! Unfortunately I didn't discover it until years
after I had graduated from College.