Bad review of Bound in Stone One

I have been expecting this and pretty much as it was written. A reader left a review early this morning for Bound in Stone: Volume One and was thoroughly disgusted and accused me of writing/including kiddie porn in my novel.


Why use pedophilia as part of the conflict? Why not just use the usual simple threat of death or bodily harm? To both questions I would answer with another. Why would anyone expect me to avoid using it? Yes, sure, in the current climate of censorship in North America, it is very difficult for a writer to use this concept. Some people would like to have pedophilia swept into a crevice where it can be ignored. Publishing houses lately have rule where any character involved in a sex act must be eighteen or up in age. Is this good for art or is it an attempt to again hide from the truth? I think it's bad for art and bad for the truth. It is never good to hide from the truth.

Pedophilia exists. It is dangerous. It is insidious. It is horrible and it is not something that should be swept from view.

So yes, I did use pedophilia as part of my story conflict. Other than threat of death or bodily harm to oneself and one's family, what else is there that could harm a child? Threat to physical and mental integrity come quickly to mind. In Bound in Stone: Volume One, I have the worst possible outcome of pedophilia, the brutal abuse and murder of a child. I also have the worst possible outcome for a pedophile, his brutal mutilation and murder. So what is the reader objecting to? Where's the porn?

Perhaps this reader objects to the more sordid aspect of pedophilia: that children aren't always forcibly taken, but seduced. Yeah, you read that correctly. Children are seduced. Sure, they are coerced, but it is naive to believe seduction isn't a weapon in the pedophile's arsenal. Look it up. It's called grooming. In my story, seduction is part of the conflict the youngest main character must surmount. Not only must he survive possible murder, he must survive and resist coercion and seduction. And of course, he must eventually escape.

Is that kiddie porn? Or is it a form of realism?

The reader, any reader, should find pedophilia reprehensible, because it is. I am grateful for the review, not angry. Questioning pedophilia should be encouraged, not repressed.

However I do not write kiddie porn, and I will not change the content of Bound in Stone One for any reason involving censorship. Fantasy settings with fantasy characters are ideal for exploring harsh questions, including pedophilia. It's better than sweeping it into a corner like it doesn't exist.