From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V2 #255 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Wednesday, February 4 2004 Volume 02 : Number 255 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 20:18:57 -0500 From: Samuel Brown Subject: [AML] thanks re: NDEs Thanks for the help. Strangely, the information was relevant for both a historical paper and a short story. I didn't know much about this= literature previously, and I've been fascinated by how popular and powerful it is--in= one odd sense, it's the paranormal made overwhelmingly personal. and because it= refers to the transition to death in traditional religious terms, it's not quite as strange for people to accept as eg UFOs or the other more bizarre paranormal phenomena. I discovered someone named Arvin S. Gibson who has written extensively on= this topic, using it to prove Mormon doctrine and to write a novel, among other endeavors. And I noted that the #2 on publisher's weekly fiction list was= "5 Dead People you Meet" or something like that, a maudlin but successful treatment of what I suppose I would have to call an "NDE-no refund." These= are psychologically rich areas: in a strange way, you could even see Dante's= Comedy as an extended NDE. And who am I--a smug and secular= pseudo-intellectual--to discount these people? Thanks again for the help. And thanks for the great help with the names of= Biblical sinners. I much appreciate the assistance. Hopefully my writing= is better for those details. - -- Samuel Brown, MD Massachusetts General Hospital - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 17:27:41 -0800 (PST) From: Veda Hale Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Near-Death Literature I, too, have had an experience that could be said was a near death one, however, I don't think my life was actually gone. It was during childbirth. I wrote about it in my novel, "Ragged Circle" out last December from Cedar Fork. There was the "wonderful" and the scary. I don't remember details, but it changed my life, that's for sure. Veda Hale - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 06:54:09 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] 2003 Mormon Literature bibliography Hiho, time for my annual Mormon Literature year in review and bibliography. = Sorry it is late coming out. Here is my list of 2003 novel bibliography. Some are slightly annotated, and I note the jist of reviews. I include any= novel written by a Mormon. In the past I also included stuff about Mormons= by others, but not this time, just becuase this list is long enough already.= I am sure I am missing things, or have mistakes, so I welcome corrections= and additions. I also am posting my year-in-review section about novels and short stories today. Next week I will post the theater list and review. 2003 Novels Adair, Liz. The Lodger: A Spider Latham Mystery. Deseret, May. First appeared serially on the Deseret Book Mormon Life website. - ----- After Goliath: A Spider Latham Mystery. Deseret, May. Sequel. Jeannie Hansen liked them, compared them to Tony Hillerman. Allen, N. C. Faith of Our Fathers Vol. 3: Through the Perilous Fight. Covenant, Sept. Allred, Tara C. Sanders=92 Starfish. Cedar Fort, September. A young psychologist meets a challenge in his first position. Andersen, C. B. Book of Mormon Sleuth #3: The Hidden Path. Deseret, August. Anderson, Garthia. Spellbound in Seattle. Love Spell, 2003. Fantasy/romance/humor. Arnold, Marilyn. The Classmates. Cedar Fort, July. Mystery about a serial killer. Baker, Madeline. Wolf Shadow. Signet, July. Her 37th book. Historical romance. Fall Irreantum novel excerpt. - -------, Dude Ranch Bride. Harlequin, Feb. More Indian romance. - -------, Lakota Legacy. Silhouette, Oct. Collection of three novellas by historical romance authors. Baker=92s called "Wolf Dreamer". Bell, Michele Ashman. Pathway Home. Covenant, March. Dead husband, romance, adventure, etc. - ------, Timeless Moments. Covenant, August. A breast cancer survivor meets a former Vietnam POW, who she used to wear a bracelet for. Hansen loved it, said it was less gentle then her earlier books. Blair, Kerry and Christine Wolfe. Digging Up the Past. Covenant, September.　 Lythgoe said the pacing was good, and overall it was pretty good, but it had too much corny, distracting humor, and a lack of depth. Hansen liked it. Blake, Reed. A Paiute Wind. Cedar Fort, May. Mormons and Indians in 19th century southern Utah, and one man torn between them. Call, Jeff. Rolling with the Tide. Cedar Fort, September. An RM becomes a star Alabama quarterback. Hansen says it is better written and edited then his first novel. Card, Orson Scott. The Crystal City. Tor, November. Penultimate novel in the series. Card, Orson Scott and Doug Chiang. Robota. Chronicle Books, Oct.= Illustrated adventure, about alien robots who take over the world. Chiang is an Academy award winning illustrator, did art for the new Star Wars movies. = 75 pictures, a big, expensive book. Carter, Ron. The Impending Storm. Prelude To Glory v. 7. Deseret, June. Checketts, Candie. Another Chance. Covenant, March. Civish, Fred. The Sunnyside War. Cedar Fort, Spring. About the clash between labor and management in the coal fields of southeastern Utah in the 1920s. Naparsteck said it is a worthy story, but lacks freshness, is overly familiar. Card said nice things about it. Cope, Todd. So Much For Christmas. Cedar Fort, September. A family faces Christmas and a mystery days after their mother is killed. Corpany, Susan Law. Push On. Hagoth, 2003. Volume 3 of the Unfinished Business series. Crane, Cheri. The Long Road Home. Covenant, July. Boy with a shallow testimony falls, then comes back. Hansen liked it. Crowley, James S. The Magic Hour. Cedar Fort, July. Juvenile, a 9-year old boy sees his dead twin brother on Halloween. Carolyn Howard-Johnson said it used various ancient beliefs and folk tales to give the work depth and texture. Darrington, La Resa. Crossroads. Covenant, March. A woman tries to spiritually heal a man injured in a car accident. Dashner, James. A Door in the Woods. Cedar Fort, June. Juvenile adventure/ fantasy. Anne Bradshaw said it was "Harry Potter-like". Daybell, Chad. Chasing Paradise. Cedar Fort, Feb. Girl dies, is converted= in spirit prison, tries to help her family and friends on earth. Deseret Book= took it off their shelves in March for a comic scene involving an angel. Draper, Jessica and Richard Draper. Seventh Seal. Covenant, April. LDS apocalyptic. Jessica is the main author, Richard, a BYU religion professor,= is the expert on prophecy. Jeff Needle gave it a terrible review, bad prose, annoyingly right-wing, homophobic, unbelievable situations, etc. Cathreine Arveseth, reviewing it at Meridian Magazine, was very positive about the writing, especially the "engrossing plot". "Startlingly real". Durrant, George. Shakespeare=92s Best Work. Cedar Fort, August. Father reveals a family secret to help rebuild his son=92s life. Edwards, Paul M. The Angel Acronym. Signature, March. "Bibliomystery" about Community of Christ archivists and a forgery. Needle liked it, most other reviewers did too, with some reservations. Edwards, Wendie. Millennial Glory, Vol. 2: Wars of Light. Seventh Seal, Sept. Last Days and bad Muslims. Vol. 1 came out in 2001. Evans, Richard Paul. A Perfect Day. EP Dutton, Sept. A author becomes suddenly famous. Begins to ignore his family. Has an It's A Wonderful= Life experience. Naparastack: "Their religiosity is generic. So are the emotions of the characters. . . Harlan=92s emotions are interchangeable with those of characters facing the same predicament in soap operas. . . . All of this is presented in a style cluttered with hundreds of uninformative words." Farland, David. Runelords: Lair of Bones. Tor, Nov. Fourth volume wraps up the series. David Hansen says it is an improvement from the sluggish third. PW said it reads like a hallucination, Booklist was more positive. = Full of suspense, action, and convincing characterizations. Samuelson loves the series. Feehan, Christine. Dark Symphony. Jove, 2003. Dark Melody. Dorchester, Nov. Shadow Game. Berkley/Jove, 2003. Vampire romances. Prolific. Galli, Guy Morgan. Lifted Up. Covenant, March. About Simon the Zealot, who carries the cross. Hansen gave it a fairly good review, both good plot and insightful. But said the ending was too neat and easy. Gardner, Lynn. Rubies and Rebels. Covenant, August. Hansen liked it. Gardner, Willard Boyd. Pursuit of Justice. Covenant, Jan. Sequel to his 2001 debut novel. Police thriller. Gilchrist, Jeri. Out of Nowhere. Covenant, June. Green, Betsy Brannon. Don=92t Close Your Eyes. Covenant, April. Murder mystery. Jennie Hansen gave it a fairly good review. - -------, Above Suspicion. Covenant, October. Hansen liked it. Grimmett, Gerald. The Wives of Short Creek. Limberlost, August. Comic novel about the Short Creek polygamists. Naparastack loved it. Guymon, Shannon. Justifiable Means. Cedar Fort, Feb. A young woman tries to change a man's ways. Hale, Shannon. The Goose Girl. Bloomsbury, August. YA fantasy, based on a Brothers Grimm story. Good review by Lythgoe in the DN, and others. Hansen, Jennie. Breaking Point. Covenant, May. Romantic adventure. Campers work together to survive a flood caused by a dam collapse. Bell gave it a very strong review in Meridian Magazine. Harrell, Jack. Vernal Promises. Signature, September. Early version was a Marilyn Brown Unpublished Novel winner in 2000. Great review from Needle. Heimerdinger, Chris. Tennis Shoes Adventure Series: Tower of Thunder. Covenant, Feb. Set in Nimrod. - -----, Passage to Zarahemla. Oct, Heimerdinger Entertainment. Also a Spanish translation released soon after. Self-published. Heuston, Kimberly. Dante's Daughter. Front Street Press, Oct. Ages12 and up. Historical novel, narrated by Dante's daughter, her coming of age as= an artist in 14th century Italy and France. Hickman, Tracy and Margaret Weiss. Journey into the Void. Eox, Aug. - -----, Night of the Dragons. Wizards of the Coast, 2003. Hughes, Dean. How Many Roads? Hearts of the Children vol. 3. Deseret, August. Jarvis, Sharon Downing. The Fairhaven Chronicles #1: A Fresh Start in Fairhaven. Deseret, March. A new bishop in a Southern US town struggles to lead a newly combined ward. Jordan, Aaron. A Dream of Freedom. Cedar Fort, October. Thriller set in 1930s USSR. Kemp, Kenny. The Carpenter of Galilee and The Welcoming Door. Alta Films Press (Kenny=92s own press), Aug. An illustrated version of one of the stories from his 2002 The Welcoming Door. Illustrated by J. Keith Richards. Kilpack, Josi S. Surrounded By Strangers. Cedar Fort, March. Thriller,= woman changes her identity and live on the run to protect her children from their abusive father. Hansen gave it a pretty good review, said her "style is warm and immediate; it also is a bit more earthy than most LDS novels." = Charlene Hirschi: "I am impressed with her ability to tell a spellbinding story and create characters that evoke deep caring on the part of the reader." King, Beverly. Unlikely Match. Covenant, April. Mormon writer falls for a Jewish doctor. Koho, Sharon Lewis. Painting on the Pond. Cedar Fort, September. An artist is drawn into an Alaska mystery. Romance, but more of a ghostly mystery. Leavitt, Martine Bates. Heck, Superhero. Front Street Press, May. Age 9-12. A boy on the streets encounters harsh reality. - ---------, Tom Finder. July, Red Deer College Press. YA novel. Tom, on= the streets of Calgary, goes on a quest for himself and another boy. Linton, John. Vermillion Cliffs. Cedar Fort, July. In the early 20th century, a mother and daughter struggle with sin and compassion. Littke, Lael. Searching for Selene. Deseret, September. A girl discovers she was kidnapped as a baby. Now she is torn between her adoptive and birth parents. Marcum, Robert. House of Israel, Vol 2: Land Divided. Covenant, September. McClure, Marcia Lynn. Dusty Britches. Distrations (Granite), August. Romance. McKendrick, Lisa. A Life of My Own. Covenant, Jan. Young adult. A BYU freshman girl. Michele Ashman Bell: Laugh-out-loud funny, witty dialogue. But the drama was lacking, sometimes contrived. Miller, Sherry Ann. Angel=92s Gift. Granite, Spring. Mouritsen, Laurel. The Kade Family Saga, v. 1: In Quest of Zion. Granite, 2003. Reprint of a 1991 novel called "A Season for Strength." Nielson, Steven D. Two Runs of Stone: A Beckoning Call. Granite, 2003. Danish pioneers. Norton, Tamara. Molly Married? Cedar Fort, June. Sequel YA novel. Molly at BYU-Idaho.　Bell liked it, said it was cute and fun, with a good message. Nunes, Rachael. A Heartbeat Away. Cedar Fort, April. Kidnapping/murder,= and help beyond the veil. - -------, Where I Belong. Cedar Fort, August. Young woman torn between marriage and motherhood and an artistic career. Excerpted in the Fall Irreantum. Hansen liked it a lot. Oborn, Mike. Ghost Between Us. August Ink (Bellvue, WA), July. Terribly written anti-Mormon novel. Scathing review in the SL Weekly in November. Peck, Steven L. The Gift of the King=92s Jeweler. Covenant, Nov. A= Babylonian jeweler brings a gift to the Christ child. Novel or children=92s book? Perry, Anne. A Christmas Journey. Ballentine, Nov. Pitt series prequel. - ----, Death of a Stranger. Fawcett, Aug. Monk series. He regains his memory. - ----, Seven Dials. Ballanitne, Feb. Pitt series. - ----, No Graves as Yet. Random House, Nov (in the UK). Historical novel set= in Cambridge on the eve of World War I. First in a projected five-book= series. - ----, Come Armageddon. Ace, Sept. Fantasy/allegory, sequel to Tathea. Published in the UK in 2001. Deseret was going to do it, but never did. Was there a problem? Poulson, Clair. Conflict of Interest. Covenant, May. Legal thriller. An innocent law student is accused of murder. Hansen liked it, compared it to Grisham, lots of interesting moral issues, "gripping". Pratt, Sheralyn. Spies, Lies, and a Pair of Ties. Spectrum, Sept. Self-published. First in a series about a tough/glamorous female detective who joins the Church. Rallison, Janette. All=92s Fair in Love, War, and High School. Walker and Co.,= Oct. Light comic novel about a 16-year old girl gaining some character. - ----- (as Sierra St. James). "What the Doctor Ordered." Fall Irreantum novel= excerpt. Randle, Kristen D. Slumming. HarperTempest, July. Grades 8-11. Three= Mormon high school seniors try to reform three misfits, with unexpected results. Good reviews. Reid, Pamela. Something Familiar. Covenant, Jan. Romance set in New Zealand. Ritter, John H. The Boy Who Saved Baseball. Penguin Putnam, May. Middle school readers. Rutter, Michael. Run of the Arrow. Granite, 2003. Indians and Mormons in the 19th century. Ryan, Gordon. Threads of Honor. Mapletree, Nov. Boy Scout, astronaut, the flag. Paperback reprint of 1996 Deseret hardback. Sanders, Brett Alan. A Bride Called Freedom. Ediciones Nuevo Espacio, Nov. = A bilingual edition. Scott, Jeffery. Saints and Soldiers. Thompson Productions, Oct. Novelization of the movie. Sebra, Diane. Making Mountains out of Moles. Cedar Fort, August. A girl feels self-conscious about a mole on her face. Setzer, Lee Ann. Gathered: A Novel of Ruth. Cedar Fort, May. Jennie Hansen generally liked it, said it was well written, portrayed the main characters= fairly. Siddoway, Richard. Degrees of Glory. Cedar Fort, June. Fictional visit to various states of the afterlife, based on D&C 76. Smith, Robert Farrell. Never Can Say Goodbye. Deseret, June. Smurthwaite, Donald. Letters by the Half-Moon. Deseret, September. Stansfield, Anita. Gables of Legacy, Vol III: The Silver Linings. Covenant,= Feb. - ------, Gables of Legacy, Vol IV: An Eternal Bond. Covenant, August. - ------, Gables of Legacy, Vol V: The Miracle. Covenant, October. "A Gilded World". Fall Irreantum excerpt. Steenhoek, David. The Plan. Cedar Fort, Feb. BYU grad's plan for life= hasn't worked out. Then he meets an interesting girl. Stewart, Chris. The Great and the Terrible, vol. 1: The Brothers. Deseret, Dec. War in heaven. Series will move on to be about the last days. Author has done techno/military-thrillers for the general market. Tayler, Randy. The R. M. Halestorm, Oct. Taylor, Lorraine. Last Words. Covenant, June. A man tries to understand his dead, emotionally tormented mother. Terry, R. K. A Familiar Ring. Covenant, August. Fable about a man who lost everything, who is given another chance by an anonymous benefactor. Is R.= K. the same as Keith Terry? Hansen said it is sentimental and predictable, but= still "a delight". Thayer, Douglas. The Conversion of Jeff Williams. Signature, December. A teenage boy lives with his rich uncle and seriously ill cousin in Provo. Thane, Carol. See Carol Warburton Twain, Mark and Lee Nelson. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians. Cedar Fort, May. Nelson finishes this Twain fragment. Seagull decided not= to carry it because of its language (Ogden Standard-Examiner article), but Deseret Book does carry it Wadsworth, Amy Maida. Shadow of Doubt. Covenant, June. Warburton, Carol. Before the Dawn. Covenant, Feb. Romance/adventure. Farmer woman loses her husband, finds new man. - ----, (As Carol Thayne). A Question of Trust. Covenant, July. Romance/mystery. Hirschi: "equal parts sweet romance, chilling intrigue and mystery . . . an= interesting and worthwhile read." Weldon, Virginia. Bound by Honor. Covenant, Jan. First novel. First-century Britain taken as a slave to Rome. Hansen liked it. Weyland, Jack. Cheyenne in New York. Deseret, Jan. An Idaho Mormon girl goes to New York, sparks with a non-Mormon young man. Then 9/11 happens. Jeff Needle gave it a fairly good review. "A more textured and complex= book than his previous offerings." But the "story arcs are often strained and stretch our credulity" Weyland, Jack and Linda Kudlik. Eagles Don=92t Eat Worms. Horizon, Fall. A boy gets caught in a crime stealing from a blind woman. Punished by having to wear blind lenses. Romance and adventure. Wheeler, Jeff. Landmoor. Amberlin, 2003. Self-published fantasy. Winters, Rebecca. Another Man's Wife. Harlequin, 2003. - -----, Bride Fit for a Prince. Harlequin, 2003. - -----, Home to Copper Mountain. Harlequin, 2003. - ----, Rush to the Alter. Harlequin, 2003. Woolley, David G. The Promised Land, Vol 3: Place of Refuge. Covenant, Dec. Lehi is still in Jerusalem. Yates, Dan. Lack of Evidence. Covenant, May. Detective novel. Private Investigator tries to solve his father's disappearance. Yorgason, Blaine M. One Tattered Angel. Deseret, May. Republication, original published in 1995 by Gentle Breeze. True story of being the father to a girl born without most of her brain. Young, Margaret Blair and Darius Gray. The Last Mile of the Way. Standing= on the Promises, v. 3. Deseret, May. Andrew Hall Denton, Texas - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 08:26:07 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] 2003 Mormon Literature Year in Review: Novels/Short Fiction 2003 Mormon Literature Year in Review by Andrew Hall Novels While 2003 was a relatively quiet year for Mormons in the national market, the growth of the Mormon-specific market continued unabated. The five largest Mormon publishers released 77 novels in 2003, up from 59 in 2002 and 49 in 2001. The community of literary critics have not, however, kept pace with this growth in publishing, and therefore serious reviews of a majority of these works have yet to appear. While for many of these unreviewed books the silence is undoubtedly charitable, some notable novels may have escaped my attention, for which I apologize. Before turning to the Mormon-specific market, a review of novels by Mormons in the national market is in order. I was disappointed the major publishers did not produce a significant adult literary novel either by or about Mormons in 2003. Fortunately, the continuing flood of quality young adult novels by Mormon authors helps to make up for that void. There were seven nationally published YA novels in 2003, perhaps most notably Shannon Hale's debut fantasy The Goose Girl. A retelling of a Grimm Brothers=92 fairy tale,= it has garnered numerous rave reviews. For example, a reviewer in School Library Journal wrote, "Hale's retelling is a wonderfully rich one, full of= eloquent description and lovely imagery, and with a complex plot, a large cast of characters, and a strong female protagonist. Fans of high fantasy will be delighted with this novel." Several veteran authors also produced notable works for young adult readers. Kristen D. Randle's Slumming is the story of three Mormon high school students who pledge to reform one school misfit each, with unexpected results. One reviewer commented, "The premise of trying to impose one's ideals and= values on others without knowing their circumstances is a life lesson that gives teens much to think about." Another wrote, "The fact that these friends are drawn together by religion, which is an integral part of their lives, is particularly refreshing." Martine Bates Leavitt released two novels, Heck, Superhero= and Tom Finder, both coming-of -age stories of boys facing harsh realities living on the streets, both of which received positive reviews. John H. Ritter's middle school novel The Boy Who Saved Baseball is a blend of baseball nostalgia, fantasy, and the modern world set in a California border town, that will, according to one enthusiastic reviewer, "have readers feeling they are actually at= the ballpark tasting the swirling dust amid the authentic Mexican food cooked by= the supportive townspeople." Reviewers of Kimberly Heuston's second historical= novel, Dante's Daughter, praised her for the richness of detail on 14th century European domestic, political, and artistic life, but also noted that her attention to= detail tended to overwhelm the story. Finally, in a lighter vein, Janette= Rallison produced All's Fair in Love, War, and High School, a comic high school romance. In speculative fiction, Orson Scott Card and Dave Farland continue to produce the kind of high-quality work that has earned them devoted readers. Card released three books, Robota, a stylish collaboration with the illustrator/movie designer Doug Chiang, First Meetings, a collection of four novellas set in the Ender=92s Game universe, and The Crystal City, the sixth and penultimate volume of the Alvin Maker series. While Card has consistently been at his most imaginative with Alvin Maker, in The Crystal City he rectifies an imbalance in the last two books, in which he allowed the charm of characterizations and dialogue to overwhelm the overall drive of the plot. Also, by creating a equivalent to Nauvoo, Card connects the alternative universe of the series closer to the Joseph Smith story than he has since the first volume. On the topic of fantasy, David Farland (the pseudonym of Dave Wolverton)= issued the forth and final volume of his Runelords series, Lair of Bones. While Publisher's Weekly said it reads like a hallucination, "full of rich and brilliant descriptions, but not always making much sense," most other reviewers were much more= positive, citing its suspense, action, characterizations, and deep moral center. I was very impressed with some of Wolverton's earlier novels, so this latest series is= high on my list of to-reads. Anne Perry continues her prolific work in the mystery genre with four new publications. Besides entries in her long-running Pitt and Monk series, set= in Victorian England, she released No Graves as Yet, the first in a new mystery/spy series set in Cambridge on the eve of the First World War. She also found an American publisher for Come Armageddon, the sequel to the allegorical fantasy novel Tathea, which Deseret Book published in 1999. A reviewer at Publisher's Weekly said of Come Armageddon: "The epic scale describes cities and countries, not individuals, which blunts emotional impact, and characters too often descend into types." Professional critics have voiced little but disdain for Richard Paul Evans' sentimental novels, like the newly published A Perfect Day. A reviewer at Publisher's Weekly, however, seems to have captured the appeal to Evans' legion of fans: "The inevitable twist is clever, the writing throughout assured, the sentiment unapologetic and the author confident that he knows just what his readers want and that he's the man to give it to them." There were two novels of note among smaller non-Mormon presses, Gerald Grimmet's farce The Wives of Short Creek, published by a small Western publisher, and Brett Alan Sanders' first novel, A Bride Called Freedom, published by a Spanish-language press in bilingual form. Grimmit's tale of the turmoil caused by the discovery of a lost Joseph Smith prophecy comically skewers= polygamists, mainstream Mormons, as well as most everyone else in the Utah/Arizona= border region. Sanders' more serious work tells the story of a legendary 19th century Argentinean woman who is captured by Indians, who she comes to love. I was impressed by a pair of stories Sanders published in Dialogue in recent years, and so I look forward to reading the novel. Moving on to the Mormon-specific market, Signature Books continues to play in a different league from its competitors in terms of the content and marketing of its publications. The press published four literary works in 2003, novels by Paul Edwards, Jack Harrell, and Douglas Thayer, and a poetry collection by Paul Swenson. Although the three novels very widely in style and tone, all are notable for= the complexity of the characters presented and the nuanced observations on faith= in the modern world. Unfortunately all three novels appear to be fated to almost complete obscurity among Mormons, in part because of their literary nature,= but also because almost no Signature literary titles have appeared on the shelves of= Mormon- specific bookshelves for several years now. Paul Edwards' murder mystery The Angel Acronym may be the most accessible of the three. Edwards sets the story in the administrative structure the Community of Christ (RLDS Church), a milieu familiar to him from his years working there as a historian. Several reviewers praise Edwards for his creation of a fascinating and complex protagonist, his humor, and his insightful musings on the nexus of faith and organizational behavior. Some have expressed frustration that Edwards squanders the work's momentum by allowing the central mystery to be= resolved half-way through the book. Jack Harrell's first novel, Vernal Promises is a more serious work, about a young man with an addictive personality, who swings between abuse of drugs, alcohol, and sex, and the outward observances of religion and personal piety, finding no= relief for his suffering in either direction. Its portrayal of a young, serious-minded= man haunted by the specter of a harsh, merciless God seems reminiscent of Levi Peterson's The Backslider and John Bennion's Falling Toward Heaven. Reviewer Jeff Needle praised both the content and style of the novel, calling it a "parable of religious excess and radical human weakness . . . a chilling, thoroughly engrossing reading, with one of the most engaging protagonists I've come across in a long time . . .= a triumph in the world of Mormon publishing." Although Douglas Thayer was a central figure in the birth of modern Mormon literature in the 1970s, The Conversion of Jeff Williams is only his second= published novel, and his first in 20 years. It tells the story of a teenage boy who spends a summer with his seriously ill cousin in Provo. Signature released it in December, and so far no significant reviews have appeared. Eugene England frequently praised the unpublished manuscript, and Richard Cracroft, perhaps the leading critic of= Mormon literature since England's death, provided the following promotional blurb:= "This landmark novel is the finest fictional exploration to date of growing up humanly and mormonly. [It is] clearly the best coming-of-age novel in Latter-day Saint= literature . . . It is a tender and moving love song to spirituality and a Mormon world view." Existing in almost a different universe from the outsider Signature Books press is the Church-owned and financed Deseret Books. Despite its institutional nature, however, Deseret has in recent years published a number of remarkable works,= most notably Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray's historical fiction series Standing on the Promises, which retells the stories of African-Americans in the Church. In 2003 the third and final volume, One More River to Cross appeared, picking up the= narrative at the turn of the century and taking it to the 1978 Revelation on the Priesthood and the present day. Young and Gray have succeeded in creating an achingly beautiful masterpiece, combining a comfortably familiar narrative voice with= incisive social commentary and depictions of pain caused by discrimination both inside and out of the Church. Almost equal to One More River to Cross in terms of thematic depth and stylistic skill is Dean Hughes' How Many Roads, the eighth volume overall in his Children of= the Promise/Hearts of the Children historical fiction series, bringing the story= to 1968. How Many Roads, the best selling novel by a Mormon publisher in 2003, evenhandedly explores the social and internal conflict which occurred when those raised with traditional Mormon values encountered the ideas and attitudes gaining ground= in 1968. Hughes, in his clean, straightforward writing style, does a fantastic= job of exploring Mormon experiences in this pivotal era through a wide variety of points-of- view. After eight years of consistently excellent work, it could become easy to take Hughes for granted, but one should not. Desert published 13 novels in 2003, up from 8 in 2002. Among its top-selling novels were Jack Weyland's Cheyenne in New York, Ron Carter's The Impending Storm, and Chris Stewart's awkwardly titled The Great and the Terrible: The Brothers. With Stewart, a nationally-known author of techno/military-thrillers, Deseret has continued its string of convincing successful Mormon authors to publish= Mormon- specific works with them, as they did with Anne Perry and Orson Scott Card. = Stewart's novel is the first of a series following characters from the pre-existence through the last days. Every year in recent memory Covenant Communications, Deseret Books'= main competitor, breaks its previous record of total new fiction published. In 2003 they published 33 novels, up from 25 in 2002, an unprecedented amount for the Mormon market. Most of the titles are paperback romances or thrillers, as well as= a few hardcover historial fiction series, and few of the titles appear to have lasting literary value. One should fear for any young husband in a Covenant romance, because= a reoccurring motif is husbands who die young. Perhaps this is because a marriage that ends in the husband's untimely death marks the widow as a respectable,= mature woman with some emotional heft and the chance to have a little fun, a character that might appeal to many female readers. The most frequent site of reviews of Covenant books is the online Meridian Magazine, where Covenant authors themselves review their fellow authors' work. Four novels which appear to stand out, based on these admittedly biased reviews, are N. C. Allen's Through the Perilous Fight, the third volume in her Civil= War historical fiction series, Michelle Ashman Bell's Timeless Moment, about the bond between a breast cancer survivor and a former Vietnam War POW, Jeannie Hansen's Breaking Point, a romantic adventure about a dam collapse, and Lynn Gardner's fast-moving thriller Rubies and Rebels. By far the best selling author at Covenant, and= probably the best overall selling Mormon fiction author in 2003, was the Anita Stansfield, who released three volumes of her Gables of Legacy romance series over the course of the year. The next most active Mormon publisher is Cedar Fort, which published 23= novels, up from 19 in 2002. The owner of Cedar Fort, Lee Nelson, produced the publishing coup of convincing the Mark Twain estate to allow him to write a middle and= ending for a fragmentary rough draft called Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians. Twain, in the original, used Huck as the narrator and put him, Tom, and Jim= in a group traveling in Indian country who are attacked, with several taken captive. Twain abandoned the story after about 56 pages, and Nelson, a prolific author of Western adventure tales, wrote an additional 200 pages to complete the story. Reviews of the work vary widely, some focus on the deficiencies in Nelson's= writing style, which falls considerably short of Twain's, and his generally approving description of Mormon characters, considering Twain's known derision of Mormonism. = Many fan-reviewers noted, however, that while Nelson does not have the literary chops of Twain, he can tell a "ripping-good yarn". It was Cedar Fort's best selling= book of the year. Cedar Fort authors Josi Kilpack and James Crowley are among those who have received good reviews. Kilpack=92s Surrounded by Strangers is about a Mormon= woman who takes her children and flees her affluent Salt Lake life to Arkansas after the legal system fails to protect the family from her abusive husband. Charlene Hirschi of Cache Magazine said she was impressed with Kilpack's "ability to tell a spellbinding story" and her "maturity of writing style". Crowley's The Magic Hour is a young adult supernatural thriller about the ability of a child to communicate with his dead twin. Carolyn Howard-Johnson said in her review, "The author draws upon various ancient beliefs, superstitions and folk tales to give the work depth and texture." Other Cedar Fort works that have received some attention are Rachael Nunes' Where I Belong, about a young woman torn between motherhood and an artistic career, Marilyn Arnold's The Classmates, a mystery about a group of elderly= friends who solve a mystery, and Jeff Call's Rolling with the Tide, about a Mormon quarterback at the University of Alabama. Among the smaller houses, Granite Publishing released 4 novels, about its average for the last several years. Granite also acquired Evans Books, a distributor for smaller presses and independent authors. Horizon Publishers, after a period of reorganization, reentered the Mormon fiction market with two books authored by Jack Weyland.= A new press, Mapletree Publishing, announced its arrival with one new novel and several more scheduled for the following year. Finally two novelizations of= LDS films, The R. M. and Saints and Soldiers, were published by their respective film distribution companies. Short Fiction Three Mormon-specific journals, Dialogue, Irreantum, and Sunstone, publish short fiction (Exponent II also publishes stories, but I do not have any details on them). The three published 24 stories in 2003, up from 18 in 2002 and 16 in 2001. The= best of the group, I thought, were Levi Peterson's "Brothers" and Robert Hodgson= Van Wagoner's "A Good Sign", both emotionally powerful stories about family bonds, which appeared in the Summer 2003 (36:2) volume of Dialogue. There was one collection of short stories released by a Mormon publisher, Jack Weyland's Everyone Gets Married in the End, published by Horizon. Nationally Brian Evenson, Neil LaBute, and Darrell Spencer had stories published in literary journals, Lee Allred and M. Shayne Bell had stories published in speculative fiction magazines, and Orson Scott Card had three stories published in short= fiction anthologies. As mentioned above, Card also released a collection of Ender Wiggen- related novellas. Andrew Hall Denton, Texas - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 16:07:14 GMT From: "Jeffrey Needle" Subject: [AML] Maxine HANKS with Jean Kinney Williams _Hanks and Williams, Mormon= Faith in America_ (review) Review =3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D Title: Mormon Faith in America Author: Maxine Hanks with Jean Kinney Williams Publisher: Facts on File, Inc. Year Published: 2003 Number of Pages: 128 Binding: Hardback ISBN: 0-8160-4991-2 Price: $30.00 Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle (In the interest of full disclosure, Maxine Hanks is a personal friend.) "Mormon Faith in America" is one volume of a series on religion in America, written especially for young adults, with J. Gordon Melton serving as General Editor. Many will recognize his name as the editor of the Encyclopedia of American Religion, and as a frequent speaker on that subject. The purpose of the series is to introduce the American religious experience to young readers. A very noble goal, and one that needs to be approached with respect for the young minds they are trying to reach, and a firm grasp of the subject matter. The choice of Hanks as the author of this volume is an interesting one. For those who don't know her, she might be described as a Mormon expatriate. She is one of the "September Six" -- sometimes described as "intellectuals and feminists" -- who were excommunicated from the Church in September of 1993. She has moved on in her spiritual life. The co-author, Jean Kinney Williams, was unknown to me. From the blurb on the back cover of the book she has some experience writing for young adults, especially in the field of American religion. It is to be said that such a series is a welcome addition to the literature available to young adults. Religion can play a large part in their lives. The young are generally idealistic, many looking for role models and heroes. They sometimes find their heroes in religious figures, some noble and some rather dangerous. Giving young people a solid grounding in the beliefs of the prominent religious organizations can be very helpful. And, in fact, the book is quite accessible to the young adult wanting to learn about Mormonism. Mormon history and belief are treated in an understandable and sometimes-sympathetic manner. But the book has some weaknesses, notably 1) general bias and 2) accuracy in the details. Following a brief foreword by Dr. Melton, the chapter titles are as follows: Mormon Beliefs and Practices (Introduction) The First American Religion is Born Key Events in Mormon History Mormons and American Culture The Mormon Church in American Society The Mormon Church and Politics Prominent Mormon Americans The Mormon Church: From America to the World Glossary, Time Line, Resource List and Index There were parts in the book that just shouted Hanks' involvement. The theme of women and Mormonism is often repeated and emphasized, sometimes in a less-than favorable light. And this seems consistent with the General Editor's own views. He retains the copyright to the seventh chapter, "The Mormon Church: From America to the World," from which the following is excerpted: The other issue remaining to be faced by the leadership is the increasing pressure from female members to participate in the Church's leadership. Currently, female leadership is limited to the Church's women's auxiliary organizations, such as the Relief Society, the Primary, and Young Women. The Church has been among the leading organizations to argue for traditional roles for women as wives and mothers. It actively opposed the Equal Rights Amendment and has excommunicated outspoken feminists... The Church's position on women has developed out of the abandonment of polygamy and the elevation of the nuclear family to center stage. It has adopted a program of support for family life and looks to its male leaders as models of faithful wage-earners, husbands, and fathers. The role assigned nuclear families in Mormon life has also had repercussions on its gay and lesbian members, who have been excommunicated when they reveal their sexual orientation. (p. 116-117) I don't suppose this depiction of the Church will be very attractive to a young person, particularly a young woman, in today's society. And it may be that some will disagree with Melton's presentation of the facts. While the chapter headings are clear and descriptive, there is a great deal of repetition in the book. You read of the same events two, three, more times. The writing is generally terse and easy to follow, but from time to time you wonder whether the authors of the various chapters consulted with each other, to avoid overlap. Now, my biggest problem with the book. Given the credentials of the authors/editor, I was astonished at the number of errors that escaped the eyes of the editor. I don't know that I caught all of them, but they were exactly the kinds of mistakes that a person unfamiliar with Mormonism would make. I can only guess that an editor at Facts on File, Inc., blundered through the manuscript. Let's look at some of them. I assume I may omit the "" as in each case the error will be obvious: ...America was first populated by a group of Israelites, the Jeredites... (p. 28) The first issue of Law's paper, "The Nauvoo Expositer,"... (p. 31) Jesse James Strange (1813-1856)... (p. 32) On page 34, the authors have Brigham Young saying, "This is the place." It was actually "This is the right place." (I'm fairly certain on this point, but will welcome correction.) Page 65 has Howe's book as "Mormonism Unveiled." Of course, it is "Unvailed." Page 113 has Howard W. Hunter's presidency at six months. It was actually nine months. And there are some errors in perception of the Mormon scriptures. Read the following carefully: He [Joseph Smith] translated two additional books, the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham...Smith also began, but did not complete, a new edition of the Bible with material added the he had received by revelation. (p. 30) As you know, the Book of Moses is *not* a book, but a part of the "new edition of the Bible" mentioned later in the paragraph. This is such an odd mistake to make. George Reynolds, the subject of the famous Mormon polygamy "test case," is mentioned on page 89. On page 91, his name morphs to George Ryan. On a hunch, I checked the index. Sure enough there are two entries -- one for Mr. Reynolds, and one for the elusive Mr. Ryan. How in the world did this get by an editor? Amazingly, on page 14, the King James Version of the Bible is given a print date of 1610. Of course it was a year later. Very sloppy work indeed. And on page 123, in the Resources list, we have recommended to us a book on Church history by Dean Hug. Oops. Of course it's Dean Hughes, who I suspect will not embrace the idea of being so summarily renamed. This constant onslaught of errors ruined the reading of this book for me. There are portions that are very instructive, and the presentation of the history of the early Church is nicely done, with an abundance of special inset articles and illustrations. But one must wince at the parade of inaccuracies, and wonder how this work could have gone out under the name of Maxine Hanks, whose other writings have been exemplary. I suppose a young person, totally unfamiliar with the Church, will learn from this book. And it is presented in an approachable and readable manner. It's just a shame that the editors did such a sloppy job before sending the book to press. I regret that I cannot recommend this book until a new edition, if it should ever appear, is fully edited and corrected. The subject matter merits that much effort. And, the final irony, the publisher is "Facts on File." I'll bet there are *plenty* of facts on file to have helped their editor weed out the mistakes and produce a helpful, if pricey, volume. - ----------------------------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V2 #255 ******************************