Dear Mr. Davis;
My name is Samuel, and I would like to extend my deepest thanks. I don’t know if you remember, but a few years back I emailed you asking to come visit my middle school, and while nothing worked out, younger me was thrilled you emailed back at all!
Your work not only spurred my love of reading, but helped me in my walk with God and living a life full of faith. but I won’t lie. I kind of cheated. Not only myself, but you and God, if that can even be considered possible. The first time I read through Dragons In Our Midst and Oracles Of Fire, I skimmed over the prayers, journals, songs, and prophecies. I thought they took away from the epic fighting scenes between Billy and Sir Devin, the Clashes between dragons, Watchers, and humans, thought it took away from Walter’s jokes, from the wonderful character building, lovely detail, and put a stop in the story as a whole. And I want to apologize so very deeply for ever thinking that.
That was when I was younger, however, and a lot of time has passed since then. I had re-read most of the books, doing the same thing until, on a sleepless night, I realized my mistake. The scriptures and prayers didn’t take away, if anything they were the stars of the book! No longer did they pause the intense fights, they highlighted and accented and added to them. I had missed the purpose of the book, because i thought it was a little boring. I Told myself i would read through them all again, from the beginning, and really focus on each piece of scripture, each prayer Bonnie wrote or said, each journal entry, each song sung to glorify the Lord. Focus and figure out what they meant, and what they meant to me.
There was a small problem, however. I Couldn’t find my copy of Raising Dragons to start. I tore the house apart, but never found it. And then came the miracle that was the tenth anniversary addition. My favorite book in the series was swiftly regained and better than ever!(hence why I am holding it in the picture) I threw myself into reading, and after really focusing on the parts I had originally skimmed, I came to a few conclusions.
First, my faith didn’t mean as much to me as I would have liked. Second, I needed to fix that, and did soon after. Third, you are an even more amazing author than I had at first perceived, and I loved your work so much that, i can say with honesty, J. R. R. Tolkien is your only real competition as far as my favorite author goes.
Children Of The Bard came out somewhere in that timeline, and I gave it my full the First time around (after re-reading all the others again, of course) and it was truly a blessing to be part of this journey. Billy was the first character I ever truly connected to, and seeing him reach such a blissful journey’s end, it gave me hope for what I have to look forward to when we all get to Heaven.
So thank you, thank you so much for blessing this Earth with your wonderful works, and being the author behind what pushed me to strengthen my faith.
With much love and respect,
Samuel W.