Открытое письмо Д.Локхарда и сторонников Л.Уотт-Эвансу

Hello, Mr. Watt-Evans.

My name is George Lockhard, I’m Russian Sci-Fi writer. Along with me, many people have signed this letter, including writers, critics, artists and many others. We are united in great love to Fantasy and creatures of imagination. Please excuse us for possible mistakes – the English language is not native to us.

Rather recently, your “Etshar” series have been published in Russia including the new "Dragon weather" from “Obsidian chronicles”. I have to admit that these books aren’t the first such literature for us to meet, but your novels, especially "The Blood of a dragon", shocked me so much that I decided to write this letter to you.

The idea was supported by many of my readers, fans and friends, and now we send you this petition. We just hope you will consider and think about our concerns. Just a little.

Before I read your books, I believed that the greatest meanness people can do in Fantasy is the regular "massacre of infant dragons" festivities taking place in the novel "Prince of Dragons" by Melanie Rown. The essence of the "celebration" is clear from its name. I even wrote short story (one of my best) "to answer" this book and wish I could send it to you if my friends help me with translation.

However, after I discovered your books I understood that my imagination is primitive and poor. I could never think that any person – normal person – is capable to write entertaining books about concentration camps for children. I would never imagine this even in a bad dream.

Total hunting and extermination, where the children become victims in 99% of all cases. Adult dragons aren’t even present in the world – the dragonets simply have no chance to live long enough. Occasionally people even bring home dragon eggs, hold newborns dragonets as domestic pets and kill them like swine when they grow up. It's a decent way to treat children of another intelligent race, isn’t it?

Your characters hunt dragons, slay dragons, dream of destroying the dragon race, even breed dragon babies on farms with the purpose of the blood sale. Most of the dragonets are slaughtered at the age of 7-8 months, while the others are “kept for breeding" and allowed to live as long as four or five years. And of course, “farmers” regularly break wings to all the children and regret that they cannot pull out their teeth and claws – “hatchlings then cease eating”. In other novel, your heroes are seeking for the drop of a blood of castrated dragonet. And so on, and so forth, everywhere, in every story. That would be disgusting even if dragons were animals, but your dragons are not...

And I wonder, why a baby dragon is slaughtered before he or she learns to speak? It’s indecent to kill “speaking animals”, isn't it? The "farmers" should be getting rid of such the "animals" while they are infants, BEFORE they’d learn to speak, otherwise a "conscience" would prevent people from slaughtering baby-dragon begging for mercy, is that correct?

Your site says that you have two children. Imagine that someone (not human) just killed YOUR OWN CHILDREN in infancy, pretending that they are animals while unable to talk – wouldn’t you tell that he is monster? Wouldn’t you begin to hate this creature, this vile murderer?

The dragons of your books are intelligent and practically immortal. They’re not animals, not even human’s enemies – just neighbors on a planet. Please, tell, WHOM it is necessary to be, what fascist soul to have to write such books as yours?

I couldn’t even imagine that a writer could construct his entire WORLD based on children's slaughtering and sympathizing to the murderers, as if "truth" was of their side. “Truth”? Because they’re humans and "protect the Earth" by slaughtering of CHILDREN?

Yes, slaughtering of CHILDREN! Did you know, scaly reptiles may be children, too? Longer childhood is well explained by dragon’s long life, but the fact they’re reptiles doesn't make murdering of these children less mean!

Good Indian – dead Indian, yes, Mr. Watt-Evans? Somehow, I thought that most of modern Americans do not welcome racism and fascist theories of “race domination”. Perhaps at this point you’d answer that your dragons were created by mages, centuries ago, but I’d like to ask you: if an intelligent creature has come to your door, would you ask him if he’s a “natural result of evolution” or a creation of some alien race? And if the answer is the second one, would you deny he is an intelligent being? Would you start HUNTING these creatures and start slaughtering of their infants?

But the worst thing I was struck by wasn't the described world and not even the destiny of unlucky dragons. You see, the fact that someone writes a novel about fascist death-camps doesn't make him a fascist. Everything depends on HOW the author expresses his view point. In 1998, I wrote a novel called "Control shot", where humans enslaved an alien race and put them into death camps for “energy” extraction. But my characters weren’t on human’s side, even though some of them were actually humans. They fought for the freedom of enslaved race and finally gained it.

Reading your books, I was literally shocked when I realized that they clearly advocate "the right to kill" newborn babies for their “heroes”, and that the author obviously believes that THIS is quite “good” and “normal” behavior for human being. Almost every your character dreams of becoming a dragonslayer, of murdering dragons, of hunting them and eliminating their race! So what is so attractive in genocide, Mr. Watt-Evans?

Never had any book aroused in me such a terrible feeling of disgust and contempt for the fact, that I am a human. Even «Mein Kampf», even anti-Semitic propaganda materials of Hitler times – even THERE there was no such extreme hatred! After your books, I feel shame to call myself “a human”.

And the "Etshar" is not all. In the new series, "Obsidian Chronicles", you decided to exterminate the entire dragon tribe, because 700 years ago they ruled the world. Your "heroes" are proud of murdering children, and the new novel's book cover presents Arlian piercing a sleeping dragon by a spear. Quite a heroic person, eeh?

Mr. Watt-Evans, could I ask you please, why do you hate the Winged race so much? What for? Do you really think that there’s not enough racism and hatred in the real world? Dragons already became an image of the "common enemy". To murder a dragon is always a "heroic act" regardless of circumstances. Their murderers are recognized as the saviors of the nation. It is terrible, awful to slaughter a baby human, but building a slaughtering farm to baby dragons becomes good entertaining, subject to “fat fantasy novels”... Why?!

Why the "truth" in your books is always on the side of humans, while any other intelligent being should be either the slave, or a resource? You do believe that living being of other race don’t want to live? Don't they have their own dreams, emotions, love and hatred? Why "aliens" have to be exterminated?

Or, may be, you believe that "aliens" should be exterminated? The human, the true Human, should break wings to newborn children of other race, should slaughter them and persuade his fellow tribesmen to wipe "aliens" out completely and finally because – how terrible! – “aliens” dared to live on the same planet with them and to struggle for their vile, scaly freedom...

I congratulate you, Mr. Watt -Evans. Bravo. I hope, in your subsequent products you would develop the ideas, and near to «Mein Kampf» it will be soon possible to put another book, under the pride name «Mein Kampf gegen die Drachen»

Good luck to you.


Draco (G. Lockhard, [email protected])
Rhayader (Irakly Bakhtadze)
Alien ("Chugzoy")
StormBringer ([email protected])
Skie (Andrey Banaev, [email protected])
Dem (Iostman Dmitri, [email protected])
LEX
Evriala
Shezzy, the White Dragon ([email protected])
GreenDragon ([email protected])
Dre-Ikan
Red Dragon ([email protected])
Pet ([email protected])
Helgi Allik
Red Kite ([email protected])
Cougar ([email protected])
Shadenuat Erdana,the Navigator Dragons clan warrior[S][ND] ([email protected])
Aenur ([email protected])
Grey Swan ([email protected])
Zordark ([email protected])
Асат ([email protected])
Secoh ([email protected])

P.S. If you'd like to speak directly to any of us, feel free to visit our Forum (http://www.drakia.com/forum) or web-chat (http://dracosaurus.caucasus.net). The Forum has english version, selectable from registration options.