Donita Paul, author of the "DragonKeeper Chronicles", concurs, “Fantasy is basically the story of good conquering evil under seemingly insurmountable odds. Look around our world today and see that unconscionable evil permeates our culture. The news brings tales of evil from all around the world to our living rooms via the TV. We need heroes. We need the reestablishment of honor. I think the youth of today have a longing for goodness and light … fantasy defines the concept.”

Davis, who began writing fantasy when his teenage son told him that if he wanted to reach today’s youth he needed to publish within the genre, writes, in part, to help kids see that they can be heroes (or heroines) for God. He hopes to illustrate what it means to follow God in faith and obedience, stepping out and conquering life through faith, hope, and love.

“Fantasy stories open our eyes to an unseen world and train our minds to see beyond the visible. In the New Testament context, this is where our real battles are fought,” says Davis. “Good fantasy will reveal the hidden powers of evil that threaten the hero’s life and upset his journey. Good fantasy focuses on how a hero finds victory when he learns that he can’t win by himself, so he submits to the higher power in faith and obedience.”

Author Randall Mortenson of the "Landon Snow" series, written for children ages 9 to 12, compares fantasy to the teachings of Jesus, “As Jesus told parables to get across spiritual points, I think fantasy can also make clear some Scriptural truths that may otherwise be hard to comprehend.”

Davis agrees. “Children these days who ride in SUVs might not relate to stories about camels. And their parents buy fish at the supermarket, so they might never realize what it means to cast a net to gather in a harvest from the sea. These symbols might be foreign and strange. But if we give them illustrations they can relate to, we can use them to hearken back to the Scriptural stories.

“For example, in 'The Lord of the Rings,' we see Gandalf standing at the bridge, using the power of light to prevent the evil beast from crossing to attack the others. As the kids say ‘Wow!’ it is so easy to then point to a Bible reference and say, ‘You know, in a similar way, the Holy Spirit protects us from evil powers we can’t see.’”