DiscussMormonism.com

Is it the space gods thing? I've been sending slightly snippy emails back and forth with a speculative fiction author I like who happens to be a Mormon. When you think about it there are literally tons of Mormons in the field.

I can think of two, out of probably thousands of scifi writers. You lose again.

Well, I'm a LDS writer; not really science fiction. I sometimes loose focus as a Mormon writer. The Mormon's are a closed-knit group and don't have a lot of life experience. Mormons are smart people and there writers are pretty good.

Simon Belmont wrote:I can think of two, out of probably thousands of scifi writers. You lose again.

Simon, happily not everything is governed by what you do or do not know...

Yahoo Bot wrote:Well, I'm a LDS writer; not really science fiction. I sometimes loose focus as a Mormon writer. The Mormon's are a closed-knit group and don't have a lot of life experience. Mormons are smart people and there writers are pretty good.

I take it the irony is intentional . . .

Simon Belmont wrote:I can think of two, out of probably thousands of scifi writers. You lose again.

Orson Scott Card, Brandon Sanderson (who just won the David Gemmell Legend Award for The Way of Kings---go Brandon!), David Farland/Wolverton (The Courtship of Princess Leia featured a wedding between Han Solo and Princess Leia based on an LDS sealing ceremony), Aprilynne Pike (as soon as I saw her first name, I knew there was a high chance she was Mormon), and Glen Larson (producer of the original Battlestar Galactica). I guess you could arguably count Stephanie Meyer. And those are just a few of the ones I can name off the top of my head.

malaise is correct. There are quite a few Mormon sci-fi and fantasy writers out there. This article explores the issue and names a lot more names.

Adherents.com lists about 80 LDS science fiction/fantasy authors and about 60 Jewish, and 40 Catholic sci/fi authors. It seems there are quite a few, they list the sources used to find the information at the bottom.

café crema wrote:Adherents.com lists about 80 LDS science fiction/fantasy authors and about 60 Jewish, and 40 Catholic sci/fi authors. It seems there are quite a few, they list the sources used to find the information at the bottom.

That does seem like a significant number of authors. It also seems that a large number of LDS are avid readers of science fiction. Are there any fans of the genre here who might give some insight as to why it is so popular amongst Mormons?

I wonder if one of the reasons is that writers really can't do serious literary fiction about Mormonism without risk of getting in trouble with the Church. By depicting Mormon themes through this veil of fantasy and science fiction, it puts some distance between the "actual" Church and the drama and conflicts within the narrative. Thus: the "temple sealing" depicted in the Star Wars book that MsJack mentions is going to be okay, but the similar temple stuff described in, say, Red Water is going to get dismissed. Similarly, if you were to portray Brigham Young as a heavy-set polygamous vampire, it's going to be less likely to piss people off than a straight-up, realist depiction.

Because they are imaginative? Sounds like a great thing.

Also, LDS can't be painters or sculpters without being addicted to porn, so...