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The White Rose Emporium's
Pagan Fiction ListPart One: Lady FaerieFire on Pagan Fiction
Part Two: Some Original FictionI have found fiction to be of inestimable value for anyone who's just starting on the Pagan path, since it helps you to understand how it is to live as a Pagan 24 hours a day, and depending on the setting, in a world where being Pagan is a virtual norm. It gives you the freedom to imagine a life where believing in the "extraordinary" is entirely expected, and being able to do more than a few "extraordinary" things doesn't make anyone doubt your sanity or your goodness.
One of the first things I have always done for my students is to give them a list of fiction to start reading for pleasure. In most cases it turns out to be even more of a pleasure for them than they'd ever dreamed it would be.
So, here's a quick list of some of what I've gotten and enjoyed over the years:
Mercedes Lackey : all of it is good. Two specific series with Pagan themes: The Vows and Honor series (The Oathbound and Oathbreakers), and the Diana Tregarde series. Vows and Honor features a warrior priestess of sorts, and the Tregarde character is a Wiccan/psychic detective/investigator of occult crime. Some of her more recent work, I feel (and have had others agree) has tread some already-walked paths from previous work, and has not lived up to the standards those works set. So, if you have to pick which ones to read, I would say the earlier, the better.
Marian Zimmer Bradley: The Mists of Avalon is a standard, of course. For those who are not familiar, it covers the Arthurian legend from the point of view of Morgan Le Fey. Very feminine (not quite feminist) point of view, but tells the story from the viewpoint that Morgan was a Druidess. The follow-up is The Forest House which follows another Druidess through her life. There is also a book called Firebrand on the character of Cassandra, the seer of the story about the fall of ancient Troy. Again, very feminine in perspective. Her more recent work seems to be running against many of the sympathies (women and witches) that these earlier writings had. In fact, there are many who refuse to read her altogether these days due to that perception. That does not eliminate the validity of the earlier work.
Patricia Kennealy: a Celtic sci-fi series. She started off with the idea of putting the King Arthur legend in space ("Celts in space"<G>). That ended up as the second series of the group. The first is the tale of a High Queen of these space-going Celts. Very good in its details. Great for any Celt-lovers. Uses a lot of the Celtic languages and societal details. Those three books are: The Copper Crown, The Silver Branch, and The Throne of Scone. The Arthurian series is The Hawk's Grey Feather and The Oak above the Kings. The TOP recommendation on my list, especially for any Celtic-oriented Pagan. Kennealy is a Witch herself (a High Priestess in a Celtic tradition, as a matter of fact), and was handfast to Jim Morrison (of The Doors) before he died. She wrote about that in her book Strange Days, also a great read, since she deals with her faith a good bit, along with her history with him. The more recently release "fiction" Blackmantle is a must-read if you like her personal story. (And check out her web page too!)
Andre Norton: She's got a bunch of books out, but the one I like for Pagan purposes is Moon Called. The plot doesn't quite follow a Pagan line, and it's not quite true to true Paganism, but it gets the idea across.
Diana Paxson: Many of her books have Pagan characters and themes, including a newer one, The Wolf and the Raven, which tells the story of (pardon any spelling errors!) Seigfreid and Brunahild, which, for those who know opera, was also made into a rather famous opera.
Gael Baudino: She's a Dianic Wiccan herself. Very feminist. A warning that at points she tends to male-bash, and seems (to me) to have a deep dislike of men, and it comes through in her writing. The best of her work is the series that starts with Strands of Starlight, and includes a conflict between Elves (and a medieval witch or two) and the Christian church. Also of interest is Gossamer Axe, which has a Celtic theme, along with some modern rock and roll culture thrown in.
A few miscellaneous bits:
Heartspell by Blaine Anderson. Quasi-historical-romance. But a nice easy read (I call it "brain candy"). Involves a Druidess in ancient Ireland, during the rise of Christianity. Her religious faith seems earnest enough, making it worthwhile if you're in the mood.
The Meri and Taminy by Maya Kathryn Bohnhoff. Involves the conflict between a male-dominated religion and a few women who are called to the service of that faith's goddess (!). Sea themes for those of us who are sea-witches by nature. : )
The Chalice and the Blade is a relatively recent release from Glenna McReynolds. There's lots of magic, lots of Druids and some running around in the woods in pairs, if you know what I mean.... It's certainly above the level of a standard "bodice-ripper", but it's not War and Peace either. Well written, even if the focus is a bit on the romance/action-adventure end of things.
There are a lot more books with Pagan topics and characters coming out all the time now, more and more as the years pass. Therefore, there is
....more to come....
