Bryan Davis’s writings challenge me and teach me to learn to grow in my faith. In many of his stories, his characters are pure unadulterated examples of how people should live, untainted by the clutter of everyday life. Sapphira Adi from The Eye of the Oracle lives alone for thousands of years with only her faith and trust in God to guide her. Even when God does not speak to her, she trusts in Him, and when her faith falters and she stumbles, God catches her. Cassabrie from Liberator also plays the role of a trusting follower, though hers is a much more roundabout way. Cassabrie wanders away from the path God chose for her, trying to go her own way. Though she still wished to follow God, she did not wish to follow His path, and died as a result. She later came back to life for her second chance. She embraced the path she had spurned, and ended up sacrificing her life, and saving the life of everyone on the planet. These characters all embody a way of life I want to follow: strong faith and loyalty to God. My perspective of myself has been changed from ‘trying to look/act like other people’ to knowing that God loves me unconditionally, and I don’t have to be afraid of who I am. My faith has been made stronger as a result of these stories, and I have grown in my understanding of God’s love.
Bryan Davis influences my writing through the themes in his works and his personal critiques of my stories. Themes of Bryan Davis influence characters in my writing. Bryan Davis has recurring themes of love and sacrifice. The idea of sacrifice has been incorporated in several of my own stories. In Secret Dragon, one of my characters will end up giving her life for her friends and for her sister, so that they survive and defeat the bad guy. This act of sacrifice was inspired by Bryan Davis’ character Acacia, who performs a similar act in The Bones of Makaidos. He also influences my writing directly through critique. I have had several pieces of mine critiqued by him, and each time he has given me invaluable advice. Some of his more frequent advice, other than grammar errors, is the importance of detail. When he was critiquing my story The Dragon Tamer, I had a sentence which read; “A knight, clothed in strange, black armor.” He told me to show why it was strange instead of telling it was strange. I changed it to; “A knight, clothed in strange, black armor, covered with mysterious, arcane symbols.” His advice made the sentence feel better. This and his other advice made the story richer and more interesting to read. These themes and critiquing have affected my stories in valuable ways.
Bryan Davis’s writings are unique, exciting, and contain valuable themes that inspire me. He is always willing to answer a question or critique a story. His characters all go through lessons and hardships that are beneficial to learn from. My writing, lifestyle, and thoughts have been changed by his books, and his life. Through his work, I have been inspired.