The Sword and the Pen
Grade : B-

In The Sword and the Pen, a popular sword and sorcery writer comes face to face with his most popular character.

Brandon Alexander Davis is the reclusive author of a very popular series of fantasy novels featuring the leather wearing, sword wielding heroine Serilda D’Lar and her fight against her sworn enemy Roarke (note: Please writers, please retire this name. I’ve never liked it and it is all over romance novel land now). Brandon’s series is massively popular, the movies want it and his agent is all over him to write more, but Brandon wants to try something new and plans to kill Serilda in the latest book. Easier said than done, Brandon has a terrible case of writer’s block, and his character is not cooperating. Serilda just does not want to be killed off.

One day while he is wrestling with the conclusion of the novel, a woman who looks like Serilda shows up in his office. Brandon thinks she’s a fan who has read all the books and he humors her by going along with her. Eventually he does realize that she is Serilda, but only after he writes the final scene and she disappears. By then, he has fallen in love with her and tries to re-write it to get her back.

The Sword and the Pen was a pleasant enough read, but I had a couple of problems with it. In the first part, when Serilda was in our world, the sections from Brandon’s perspective were told in omniscient view while the sections from Serlida’s perspective were told in the first person. This was a bit awkward at first but the transitions gradually smoothed out. When Brandon moved to Serilda’s world in the last half of the book, the transitions were much smoother. The other problem I had was that it took way too long for Brandon to realize that Serilda was real. When I had gotten past page 100 and he persisted in thinking that she was a particularly zealous fan, I wondered about him.

The relationship between Brandon and Serilda was a pleasure to read. He was a loner, a recluse whose previous relationships had not gone well and he lived in the world of his books. Serilda brings him out of himself, and in the finale when Brandon has to take on the role of the hero Donoval, he comes to care for someone other than himself.

If you like sword and sorcery mixed with romance, I think you will enjoy this book very much. I found it a nice change of pace from the usual contemporary and historical romances I normally read, and it was very pleasant to read a paranormal book with no vampires.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : B-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : May 27, 2009

Publication Date: 2009

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Ellen Micheletti

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