The ship of Ishtar

Imagine a smart explorer named John staring at a super cool tiny blue ship toy from super old Babylon times in a museum. Suddenly, magic happens! The toy grows huge and pulls John onto the real Ship of Ishtar on a magic ocean that never ends, where a beautiful good lady named Sharane fights a super mean bad priest named Sargon and his evil god's monsters. John uses his brave ideas and gun to help Sharane win big battles, they fall in love, and together they beat the darkness and escape back home, proving love beats hate.

In A. Merritt's 1926 fantasy novel 'The Ship of Ishtar,' archaeologist John Kenton discovers a mesmerizing miniature model of a Babylonian ship in a museum, intricately carved from lapis lazuli, ivory, and gold, symbolizing the eternal enmity between the goddess Ishtar and the god Nergal. As Kenton examines it, the artifact activates through ancient sorcery, enlarging to full scale and transporting him, along with a diverse group of modern companions, onto its decks amid an endless, otherworldly ocean where perpetual twilight reigns, forcing them into the roles of ancient protagonists in a divine drama of love versus hate. Aboard the Ship of Ishtar, Kenton allies with the ethereal priestess Sharane, devotee of the benevolent Ishtar, against the malevolent priest Sargon and his shadowed minions serving Nergal. Amidst naval battles, shape-shifting demons, hypnotic seductions, and clashes of sword and sorcery, Kenton leverages his 20th-century rationality and courage to aid Sharane, igniting a passionate romance that defies godly taboos. The narrative builds to a apocalyptic showdown, exploring humanity's defiance of cosmic forces, ultimately offering redemption through sacrifice and the triumph of light over primordial darkness.