Chris Hamilton on Faith and Fantasy
Chris Hamilton discusses how his Christian faith influences his fantasy writing, weaving themes of hope and moral complexity into his stories. Through the Eastern Tales Series, he creates a world where magic and spirituality coexist, challenging readers to reflect on their own values. Hamilton delves into his world-building process, balancing realism with fantasy, and how personal experiences shape his characters and narratives. Looking forward, he plans to tackle deeper themes, such as love, faith, and the complexities of relationships, while continuing to evolve his craft.
How does your lifelong Christian faith influence your approach to writing, particularly in the fantasy genre? Are there specific themes or messages you strive to convey through your stories?
For me, it’s about telling a story, rather than delivering a sermon. I consider myself a storyteller above all, so telling an engaging tale is priority number one. The only thing I really try to convey is hope; even if things are darker than they’ve ever been, there’s always hope to be found. From there, audiences have the benefit of having the world’s information at their fingertips, if they want to know more. So, I don’t feel the need to push doctrine or agendas to persuade them to anything in particular. I can give hope, and point them in the right direction.
Faith has become a part of every aspect of my life, so extending it into my writing felt natural. In my life, I can always look to The Bible to provide guidance and principles of how to approach various situations. However, it’s a unique challenge trying to convey those principles in story settings that do not, typically, have the same access to guidance from The Bible. Then it becomes a matter of taking what I’ve found to be inspirational and relay that through a narrative.
In Eastern Tales Series Volume 1, you feature two best friends navigating a world filled with corruption and magic. What inspired you to create these characters, and how do you think their friendship reflects real-life relationships?
A lot of the inspiration came from my own life experiences, but a lot in this case came from relationships I’ve witnessed. I took a somewhat unconventional approach to college life, and when I got into college in earnest, I saw how hard it was to navigate, and how much it really made a difference to have other people, or even just one other person, there to rely on. Some of the friends I’ve known from college have persisted for more than a decade, because you can grow that close.
It was important to me that, even though Darnis and Joran are swept up in this huge fantasy saga, it’s clear that they’re everyday, normal guys trying to make it in life. No prophecies, no latent superpowers that would emerge dramatically at the last second. I needed readers to connect with them on that level, in order to get across the message of hope.
Fantasy often serves as a platform for exploring universal themes. How do you see your stories connecting with readers from diverse backgrounds, and what commonalities do you hope they find in your narratives?
The college experience was definitely one that I knew was going to resonate. College is this strange period of time where people start to treat you like a full adult, no gloves, no real safety nets—or at least, not as many safety nets as when you’re a kid. That’s sort of the intro or first layer.
From there you can see a pretty vast array of life experiences at work: being promised something lifechanging only to have it ripped away from you. Facing systemic injustice and having no means to fight back. Love, loss, power, an increase in wealth, finding new responsibilities, all these are things we face in life to various degrees. And then, of course, there’s the hunger for purpose, a drive to find meaning in something greater than yourself. I also know that a big motivation for me throughout life has been to get some kind of understanding of God, of the spiritual nature of human beings, and especially of the world around me.
Given the political drama in your book, how do you handle moral ambiguity in your characters and their choices? Do you believe that fiction can offer valuable lessons about ethics and decision-making?
I absolutely do believe that. Even better, I believe that fiction can be a non-threatening area to work out the major problems and moral dilemmas we face.
I myself have The Bible to look to, but, again, characters in my fantasy world don’t. It’s an interesting exercise to force myself to think outside the box, so to speak, of religious upbringing to decide how they would act in a given situation. I have to think: ‘if I wasn’t a Christian, how would I handle this? What would be my guiding principle?’ That forces me to consider all the angles to an issue, or as many of the angles as I can, and then decide what actions best speak to my moral centre.
Hopefully I can inspire a similar train of thought in my readers. By connecting with a character on an emotional level, and sort of being right there with them trying to navigate massive decisions and moral quandaries, I hope they can pick up on some principles that they can apply to their own life. At the very least, it helps us get outside of our own head, our own biases, and look at things from a new perspective.
Crafting a unique fantasy world is a challenge. Can you share your process for world-building in the Eastern Tales Series? What elements do you consider essential for creating an immersive experience for readers?
The two biggest fantasy authors that I think have really impacted the world, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, both had massively-different approaches to world building. Tolkien, of course, did such thorough work that people can spend lifetimes absorbing it all. C.S. Lewis, on the other hand, seemed to throw pieces together as he went forward in his stories, and still ended up with a cohesive world when all was said and done.
I like to think I’m somewhere in the middle of those extremes, but if I’m honest, I skew pretty heavily toward the C.S. Lewis approach of flying by the seat of my pants. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that; the important thing is that it both feels real to the readers, and it’s consistent no matter where you go in your stories.
I think one of the most important elements is a sense of believability, and natural consequences. As people and societies develop, there are going to be behaviours, cultural and social norms that emerge as a consequence of the way things are. I think any good fantasy writer will be able to capture and reflect that in the world they’re building. For example, if you write about a culture that views men and women as social equals, you’re going to have a lot of strong, capable women, so you as the writer need to be able to reflect that and do the characters justice.
How do you incorporate contemporary social and political issues into your fantasy narratives? Do you believe that fantasy can serve as a commentary on real-world challenges?
More than that it can, I believe fantasy should incorporate real-world challenges. Otherwise, in my mind, I’m so far removed from the world, I can’t connect with anybody or anything in it. I’ve personally never had to pick up a sword and defend my village from monsters, for example, but I have dealt with people in power making decisions that are contrary to my best interests. Being able to find that element of relatability is key.
My approach is to know your audience, know how much they can tolerate seeing modern issues reflected, and, like I mentioned, trying to incorporate all perspectives you can see, so that it doesn’t come across as one-sided or preachy. You definitely don’t want to set up straw men of people you disagree with; the best narratives are the ones where the “villains” could easily be the ones with the best plan, under the right circumstances.
The interplay of magic and spirituality is a recurring theme in fantasy. How do you balance the fantastical elements with the spiritual undertones of your Christian faith in your storytelling?
I love this question. It’s key because the juxtaposition of fantasy elements with faith elements has been a point of contention for as long as I can remember.
There’s so much I can say about fantasy and how much of it Christians are willing to accept. For me, personally, I try to first root the fantasy elements in reality as much as possible. People in my stories are walking around carrying swords and longbows because that was where their society was. We’ve had times like that in our world.
But when it comes to magic, I do my best to redefine it. The way Christians view and conceive “magic” in reality is completely different than the way I present it in my writings. In the world of Eastern Tales, magic is a natural part of the world. People are literally born with it. This was designed that way intentionally, to help Christian audiences put distance between it and what we consider magic. There are still those who will see the book contains “magic” and will immediately be put off, but I believe more people than not will see it for what it is in terms of the story.
What do you hope readers take away from Eastern Tales Series Volume 1? Are there specific emotions or thoughts you wish to evoke through your writing?
Another great question! Volume 1 was fully intended to connect with readers like me, who are hungry for fantasy but have to consider their faith and the standards of their beliefs. You can see that in the dedication at the beginning of the book. I think, overall, I want to let those readers in my core audience know that Christian fiction doesn’t have to be as limiting as it has been in the past. You can have a full fantasy world that’s kosher, so to speak, with your faith.
And for everyone who reads it, I just hope that the story resonates, sticks with you, and entertains you.
What does your typical writing routine look like? Are there particular rituals or practices that help you stay focused and inspired while crafting your stories?
I laugh about this with fellow authors, because there’s this tendency for authors to think that they’re being weird when they do something that helps the writing process for them. Chances are, though, almost every writer does a lot of the same things we think are “weird”.
Frequent snack breaks, doom scrolling social media, mentally kicking yourself for feeling like you’re getting off track, talking to yourself while trying to craft a scene, all part of the process.
For me personally, I try to let my subconscious do the heavy lifting as much as possible. If I’m stuck on a certain point, or questioning where the story needs to go, I’ll look at it, get a good understanding of the question, and then “change channels”. Literally shift my focus off to something else. My subconscious will keep working the original problem, and by the time I revisit it, I’ll have a handful of creative solutions or ways to move forward in the story.
It’s also hugely important to consume art and culture. Travel, go for walks in nature, visit an art museum, read other books and watch movies along the same subject lines. These are not only helpful, but crucial to the process in my opinion.
As you continue your writing journey, what are your aspirations for the Eastern Tales Series and your broader body of work? Are there themes or projects you’re eager to explore in the future?
I certainly want to take this series higher and test my own limits as a writer and storyteller. The mission will always remain the same: tell good stories, elevate Christian fiction in the world, serve my core audience.
Eastern Tales is just beginning, but there are themes I want to explore that might not be right for that series to touch on. For example, I want to talk about love, relationships, and being hurt by your church, so I’m writing a Christian romance novel that tackles those points. I want to talk about deeper, heavier themes and situations than we saw in Easten Tales, so I’m planning a prequel story, set in the same world, but geared towards a different audience segment. It may not even be YA, but it will be relatable.
How else that will look on a micro level, I’m still exploring. I’m working with my friend E. A. Logan, and she’s been such a huge blessing to my writing career. She’s helped me think outside the box, and given perspective on a lot of things. I know the future is bright, I just want to do my best to capture that and give my fans an experience they deserve.
Make it stand out
Chris Hamilton is both a lifelong Christian and fan of the fantasy genre. He is also a lover of reading, driven by the purpose to tell a life-changing story.
The goal remains the same with every published work: to point back to God, and to entertain readers, no matter where they are in the journey of life and faith.