The writer is all things.
He is an engineer. A physicist. A doctor. A bum. A shogun.
He has lived in London and Tokyo and in other galaxies.
The writer is a lowercase god in every way but one.
He is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient.
He has total freedom for benevolence or evil.
He is utterly sovereign.
The only divine qualities he lacks are infinite energy and perfect good.
Unlike his creation, he cannot go on forever.
I think I know what you are getting at, Griffin—the gift of writing is the ability to create your own reality. I have always found poorly written fiction difficult to read. In fact, I always preferred that my children read “non-Christian” classic books over the plethora of poorly written, contrived Christian books. I think people thirst after the true reality that exists in those classics which have stood the test of time. I appreciate CS Lewis’ nonfiction—in fact his essay, “The Weight of Glory” might be my favorite piece of all time, but his fiction falls short, to me. How is it that Tolkien’s fiction shouts out truth in my heart, while CS Lewis’ fiction ends up feeling two-dimensional in its forced allegory? While not setting up any obvious Christian symbols, the world Tolkien creates vibrates with glimmers of the truth: there is an overall plan that Gandalf knows is in play; Sam, and Frodo are every one of us, faithful in our small part in the kingdom; Aragorn and Gandalf hint at our true King; the elves echo the reality of what angels are; the ultimate triumph at the end is what is supposed to happen, yet the outcome does hang on a razor’s edge. How does Tolkien create a completely imaginary world that is so TRUE?
I heartily agree that so much classical fiction beats out the available offering of Christian fiction. I actually do appreciate Narnia, though it is the victim of plenty of the traditional Christian-fiction tropes. Of course, allegory lends itself to that. I love inventive, new stories, but I don’t mind a story that’s obvious and recycled (sometimes), as long as it’s well-written and the character are readable. Tolkien’s world is just so much more massive and full and seemingly totally coherent–you can never get enough of it. Narnia is way more predictable than Middle Earth, but I think I go to them for different reasons. Narnia and candy (that is somehow still good for you); Middle Earth is a feast (though not always fine dining!).
Yes, Narnia is like candy, fun to play with, but if you try to stretch the allegories too far, they fall short. There is a glimmer of truth, of who Jesus is, in Aslan.