Dear Reader,
Thank you for your many heartfelt words of support. Your flood of letters and emails really means a lot to me. To underscore the overriding sentiment, yes—it is truly sad that a few heartless, conscienceless people can do so much harm, and there's no rational reason why others would believe such nonsense. The Internet makes it easy for anyone to say any hateful, untrue thing they want—and when a small group with agendas does this for nearly a decade, I can see why otherwise smart people might start to believe it.
Clearly the originators—and perpetuators—of this nonsense are enormous fans of George R.R. Martin. Back in 2002, those lies knocked the books off Amazon's Top 50 after a 26‑week run. In 2005/2006, those same lies knocked the books off Audible's #1 Fiction and Top 100 lists. Yet, the books continued on the Audible Kids & YA list for another 120 consecutive weeks, with the first book holding a Top 10 spot for 182 consecutive weeks out of over 14,500 titles.
Why have the books endured despite widespread smear campaigns? Simply put—they're good and beloved by people of all ages.
Please do look up my books:
Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers: A Reading and Selection Guide
Complete Idiots Guide to Elves and Fairies
Ancient Art of Faery Magick
Dramatic illustrations draw the reader into the Tolkienesque world of Ruin Mist—plunged into darkness after a Great War five hundred years past. Blaming magic for their demise, the Kings of Men decreed that all things magical be destroyed. Yet, despite their efforts, the magical Dark Lord is slowly returning to power. Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Elves, Seth—First of the Red Order of the Queen Mother Elf—is sent on a journey across the Great Sea to prevent war. Stuck somewhere in the middle is Vilmos, a young magical boy abducted for his own safety by a Yoda-like guide named Xith. All three journey to an unknown fate against treacherous and sometimes supernatural foes. Stanek augments this complex tale with sparse illustrations and a 22‑page glossary of People, Places, and Things in Ruin Mist.
In June 2007, The Journal of Electronic Defense gave my book Stormjammers: The Extraordinary Story of Electronic Warfare Operations in the Gulf War their highest recommendation. Based on my daily diary, the book lets you experience the long hours of boredom punctuated by sudden moments of terror that are typical of combat flying.
Seriously, if this wasn't so ludicrous, I'd be in tears. But the fact remains—my body of work, spanning from 1995 to the present (about 10 million printed words), should speak for itself.
Thank you for reading and for your unwavering support.
Sincerely,
Robert Stanek