The Sword and the Pen

The Sword and the Pen by Elysa Hendricks is one of those odd books that doesn't fit into any one category. On one hand it's an epic fantasy full of wizards and sword fights and girls in skimpy armor. On the other it is an urban fantasy with everything happening in our world with a most unlikely grand mage.

The story is mostly about Brandon Davis, a writer who writes bad fantasy novels. After ten novels he has decided to give his most beloved creation the warrior princess Serilda (who kind of reminded me of Xena Warrior Princess in my mind), a noble and heroic death so that he can move onto other things.

 

This brilliant plan back fires though when Serilda shows up in his study. At first he thinks she's a rabid fan, but soon finds out that somehow he has brought his "creation" into the real world. After falling in love with her, he follows her into her world to try to rewrite the fate he had given her landing into the body of another of his creations King Donoval, a kind of He-man figure.

Together they must rewrite the story so that they may somehow live happily ever after. The item is available on Kindle and used from other sellers.

Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad (1958, 1973, 1977)

I have long considered Ray Harryhausen to be the master of special effects. I grew up with his epic movies and think his clay monsters to be almost as real as any of the computer generated effects you see today. The only time my belief is suspended is when the clay monster "grabs" one of the characters. Then you see that they made the character out of clay too. The following review is about his Sinbad movies.  The first movie, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad came out in 1958 with Kirwin Matthews in the title role. Sinbad's lady love, Princess Parisa (Katharine Grant) is minturized by the evil Sokurah when Sinbad refuses to return to Sokurah's home island so that Sokurah can retrieve his genie from the Cyclops. The rest of the movie consists of the voyage and consequent adventures once they reach the island.

The second movie, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, came out nearly twenty years later. In this one Sinbad (John Phillip Law) has to retrieve a magical talisman to prevent the evil Koura from gaining it and the world. One of the highlights of the film is the drunken youth Haroun (Kurt Christian) whose father pays Sinbad to take along on the journey. Haroun's father is hoping that it will make a man out of him, and I guess it does in the end. He is certainly the comic relief of this film.

The last Sinbad movie is Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Although still loads of fun, this one is the weakest of the Sinbad movies. Sinbad is played by Patrick Wayne, son of the legendary John Wayne, and you get the feeling that he was just riding in on his father's shirttails. He is certainly not the best actor in the world. The film's villain, however, almost makes up for any shortcomings in its lead actor. She is the evil Zenobia (Margaret Whitting) who is so desperate to have her son inherit the throne, that she turns the rightful heir into a baboon. Sinbad and his lady love, Farah, must then journey to a far off land at the top of the world with Kassim the baboon to reverse the spell.

What I think is funny about these movies is how much the girls' costumes changed in twenty years. I swear Grant is wearing a body suit whereas Caroline Munroe, who plays the leading lady in The Golden Voyage, can barely fit her breasts into her costume. Observe:

 

Then in the Eye of the Tiger, we have a partially nude image of Jane Seymour who plays Farah.Yes, her hair is artfully covering all her private parts, but it is still implied that she's naked.

Amazing how things change, right?