For as difficult as it must be to write quality fiction, it is probably more challenging to write good Jewish fiction. Not only must the author tell a compelling or insightful story in a specific religious context, but s/he must do so without resorting to shallow stereotypes, condescending explanations, or heavy-handed moralizing. Sadly, I’ve found that most authors of Jewish fiction fail on one or more of these areas, and in the worst cases do so while compromising the actual story. The result often is not only a biased or inaccurate portrayal of Judaism, but also a work of bad fiction.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised by Rabbi Gidon Rothstein’s Murderer in the Mikdash. While exploring the highly controversial Messianic era, R. Rothstein skillfully addresses significant religious issues without compromising or distracting from the core narrative. The end result is a readable work of fiction in which the narrative is supported by educational material and social commentary.

If you’re an old computer gamer¹ you’ve probably played or at least heard of Lucas Arts classic Monkey Island series. I know I’m about a decade behind on this, but it just recently came to my attention that the dueling insults were actually written by Orson Scott Card, author of the Ender’s Game series and many others.
Two random links of pseudo-relevance: 1. His website has interesting pictures of him at a sci fi conference in Israel. 2. See I-Mockery’s Monkey Island 2 Outtakes.

1. Meaning, you’re a geek who likes playing old computer games or you’re just an old geek who used to be a gamer back in the good ‘ol days.