Happy reading this Christmas 

What are you doing for Christmas? Why don’t you read some Christmas-themed sci-fi and fantasy novels?

You have more options than you realize. We can start by getting the obvious ones out of the way. Did you know The Polar Express by Robert Zemeckis (2004) was based on a Chris Van Allsburg novel from 1985?

The original book is a simple children’s tale a mere 32 pages, in which a boy awakens one random Christmas Eve to find the Polar Express at his door, waiting to whisk him away on an adventure to the North Pole.

Allsburg never expected his magical story to become a popular Christmas classic. While children appreciate the magic and the whimsy, adult readers have praised the stunning illustrations. And if you don’t have children, but stories within the vein of The Polar Express appeal to your sensibilities, The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton is a 48-page book that recreates the famous animated dark fantasy film from 1993.

Jack Skellington, the protagonist, spends his days turning Halloweenland into the creepiest place in the world. When he grows bored with his task, Jack undertakes a quest of self-discovery that leads him to Christmas Town. The book is fascinating because it could easily pass for a Halloween book; in fact, the macabre imagery in the animated film may scare younger viewers away.

However, the tone shifts somewhat when Jack stumbles across Christmas town. The book pushes some of the mildly frightening aspects of the film to the back. Some characters only appear as silhouettes. Nonetheless, the book maintains the spirit of the film. Also, the artwork is fantastic.

I am hesitant to mention Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The protagonist is a 12-year-old boy who befriends a little girl, unaware that she’s responsible for the body of a teenage body, found dead and emptied of blood. Tomas Alfredson directed a Swedish adaptation of the book in 2008.

The English version came out in 2010 (Let Me In), directed by Matt Reeves and starring Chloe Grace Moretz. It is horror, but many people categorize it as ‘Christmas fiction’ because of the wintry setting.

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper is far more fitting. Will, the protagonist, wakes on the eve of his 11th birthday (21 December) to a horrifying surprise. The young boy wanted snow. Now, the world is transformed. His family is fast asleep. Snow covers every roof, and the land looks much like it did centuries ago.

The Dark is Rising is often counted among the greatest coming-of-age fantasy novels, just as influential to young readers as The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. The Coal Elf by Maria DeVivo is not nearly as well known as The Dark Is Rising, but the concept is intriguing. Ember Skye, the protagonist, hails from an upper-middle class family in the North Pole.

Her kind is supposed to write songs and make clothes. And yet, a clerical error damned her to the Mines where she has spent the last six years digging coal for the children on Santa’s naughty list. The Coal Elf is as Christmas-themed as they get.

The Life And Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum is precisely what you expect. The book came out in 1902, and as the title suggests, it chronicles the origins of Santa Claus, highlighting his days as an abandoned baby discovered by the Master Woodsman of the World and raised a wood nymph.

Through Baum’s magical tale, you grow to understand why Santa Claus is the way he is. Last but not least is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in which Ebenezer Scrooge is forced to change his outlook on life after a series of hauntings show him the error of his ways.

Since A Christmas Carol was written in the 19th Century, the archaic vocabulary is bound to frustrate modern readers. However, you have a bevy of simpler abridged versions to choose from.

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