Book Review: The Lime Kiln and Other Enchanted Spaces
Geoffrey Reiter's Powerful Collection of Short Fiction and Poetry
I want to be open about my bias. Geoffrey Reiter was my professor when I was at the Baptist College of Florida (now Baptist University of Florida). I took his Christian Literature class and a master's class on academic writing. I was blessed by both of these immensely. In his class, I was exposed to the depths and breadth of our faith's legacy in literature. So as I write this review, I am writing as someone who has been blessed immensely by Dr. Reiter.
Geoffrey Reiter brings impressive credentials to his craft. Currently Associate Professor and Coordinator of Literature at Lancaster, he holds an MA in Church History from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a PhD in English from Baylor University. Beyond the classroom, Dr. Reiter is a prolific writer and associate editor at Christ and Pop Culture, having authored over twenty academic articles on theology and genre fiction. His own creative work spans dozens of published poems and short stories in horror, fantasy, and science fiction—genres that deeply inform this collection.
In this book, we find a collection of poems and stories that explore truth in the darkness. While featuring stories that have elements of genre fiction (sci-fi, horror, fantasy), it follows in the long legacy of great Christian fiction writing. It does not sacrifice artistic craft to become preachy, nor does it sacrifice truth at the altar of story. In the spirit of Flannery O'Connor, the horrors of a sin-soaked world are explored with honesty. In the likeness of Lewis and Tolkien, science fiction and fantasy are explored with the eyes of faith. This work will stir your emotions and affections in ways that put you face to face with reality in the midst of the fantastical and horrific. It's a work that has the draw of Lovecraft in creating cosmic horror in rural settings, but with the reality of the gospel as a powerful undercurrent.
Just a Taste
The opening story alone is worthy of the price of the book. We see Reiter wrestle in story with our modern worship culture and the spiritual reality behind it. The characters feel real. The horror puts you in the middle of the action and gives you the sense of dread that is real in this sin-touched creation.
Conclusion
Dr. Reiter has crafted something rare in contemporary Christian fiction—a work that neither retreats from the darkness of our world nor abandons the light of gospel truth. This collection stands as a testament to what happens when scholarly depth meets creative courage, when faith engages honestly with the complexities of human experience. For readers willing to venture into literature that challenges as much as it comforts, this book offers a journey worth taking. It reminds us that sometimes the most profound truths are discovered not in the safety of familiar ground, but in the unsettling territories where faith and darkness collide.
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