Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Yes, this is for the BINGO reading challenge :)

Considering I'm reading a lot of books about myths and gods/angels/demons you'd think this would be a super easy slot to fill. But somehow most of them just don't work for me, and others that might have I needed for other slots.

Sure, angels are from Judeo/Christian religions, and I've read tons of stuff based on Greek/Roman/Norse myths but they don't really focus on religion. They just take characters/creatures/stories from those old religions and put a new spin on them. No priests, no worship, no ritual.

Thus I'm a little stumped to find something that actually features a religion. Of course I don't care if the religion is real or made up, it just needs to be a core feature of the book.

The only ones I own that might fit (but since I haven't read them I'm not sure) are:
- The Godmakers by Frank Herbert
- Archangel by Sharon Shinn

Or:
- Dune...been wanting to re-read this and religion is definitely explored as the series goes along, just trying to remember if there was enough in the first book, probably yes...it's been way too long since I read it!

If you've read one of the first two can let me know if it is a good match or not, otherwise I'm open to suggestions!

Does it have to be a certain length?

Three suggestions:

Shadowfall which is 513 pages, or

After Bell Hill by a member of our group, which is 164 pages, or

The Immortal Prince which is 658 pages.

Isle of the Dead & To Die in Italbar are SF books that feature alien gods. Sandow studied hard to allow one to bond with him & he can create worlds. In the first book, a rival god sets a trap for him on the isle, more of a galactic murder mystery. In the second, the bonding doesn't work out well in another case & Sandow has to stop it. While the gods are central to the plot, the books aren't really about them & simply describe the religion. It's more about the men & there isn't any worship on Sandow's part, so I'm not sure if they'd work.

The Spider trilogy by W. Michael Gear starts with The Warriors of Spider. Gear & his wife are anthropologists & this is about a kind of Native American culture on a backwater planet suddenly going on a holy war to take over the galaxy. It's been 15 years since I read it & I'm not sure how much the religion is discussed.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein?

It's years since I read it but I'm sure religion features fairly heavily. The title is taken from the Bible.

Thanks for the mention Michelle. ☺ Andrea, how about a Canticle for Leibowitz? By Walter M Miller Jnr? If I'm honest I can't remember one single thing about it and I'm only semi sure I read it once a very very long time ago but I know religion is central to the story and I know it is a massive cross over hit book accepted as Sci-Fi and mainstream. So it fits the bill.

Additional thought. C S Lewis wrote some adult fiction. That is little talked about. I really enjoyed them when I read them back in the 70s I don't know how they would look to me now... Pretty dated I imagine. I am particularly thinking of, 'That Hideous Strength,' even though it is the final book of a series. Strangely I seem to remember reading it first and then finding the earlier books later, so I think it must have made some sort of sense as a standalone.

Black sun might also fit from more recent books

Apart from the ones already mentioned:

and
both heavily focus on priests, gods, and religious worship. They are recent reads for me and I highly recommend them both, they're very well-written.

is about nuns in space and a really excellent novella.

This last book in the Mistborn trilogy is also very special and has a strong focus on a fantasy religion and priests.

Other books that focus on religion/priests/gods:

Oh yes, 'The Tombs of Atuan,' how did I miss that one. Love all the Earthsea books and religion is most definitely central to that book.☺

Love everything that Ursula Le Guin ever wrote.

Canticle for Leibowitz is a great suggestion Robin. Similarly, the early books in the Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz feature religion pretty strongly.

Rather than Dune, you might read Dune Messiah - it has a far stronger focus on religion (and is a lot shorter).

I didn't suggest A Canticle for Leibowitz because it is Christian based. No angels or demons, strictly SF, although there are a couple of appearances of the Wandering Jew.

Creatures of Light and Darkness features Egyptian gods in an SF setting. It's pretty weird being an experimental piece that Zelazny never meant to publish. His editor talked him into it, but I like it a lot. It also contains the "Agnostic's Prayer" which has been referenced by other SF authors.

Length doesn't matter

Eva wrote: "is about nuns in space and a really excellent novella"

First thing that came to mind was the Muppets "Pigs in Space!"

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually do own A Canticle for Leibowitz. I didn't yank it out at the start of the year since as mentioned it doesn't have the angle/demon/gods theme but it would fill that BINGO slot :) Although, I have to redo the plaster on one wall of my bedroom that is peeling off so I've had to move my books all over the rest of the house, at least I have a few more months to figure out where I put it.

Several others catch my eye too so will see what the library (or Open Library) might have to offer.