The Moon Pool

The following comments and observations are directed towards individuals who are curious about author Abraham Merritt or who are contemplating reading the Moon Pool. This title, a fantasy novel, was first published in 1919. The story line, farfetched as it is, is easy to summarize: good and evil fantasy beings and their followers live in caverns far underground that can only be entered through mysterious ancient ruins located on as island in the South Seas. Several explores enter the underground realm and become caught up in the supernatural goings on. The resolution, good triumphant over evil is never in doubt. The curious may ask then why is this 90-year-old novel by an unfamiliar author reprinted so many times? In my opinion it is the stylistic, ornate way Merritt describes supernatural events and everyday occurrences that rates this book a classic of fantasy. If you find the following quotes from The Moon Pool fascinating and enticing than you should read the book. If on the other hand you find them stuffed with quirky affectations then you should skip it. "We were enveloped by a silence; a silence so intense, so - weighted that it seemed to have substance; an alien silence that seemed to cling and stifle and still stood aloof from us - the living. It was a stillness that might have followed the long tramping of millions into the grave; it was - paradoxical as it may be - filled with the withdrawal of life". "There issued apparently from the air around us, a peal of sound that might have been the shouting of some playful god hurling great suns through the net of stars. It was like the deepest notes of all the organs in the world combined in one summoning, majestic, cosmic! It held within it the thunder of the spheres rolling through the infinite, the birth song of suns made manifest in the womb of space; echoes of creation's supernal chord! It shook the body like a pulse from the heart of the universe - pulsed - they died away." I gave the book five stars so onward with the "supernal chord" and bring me another book by Abraham Merritt! By warned you may get hooked and want to read his other novels.

One of the most popular science-fiction writers in the early 1900s, Merritt had the reputation of the Lord of Fantasy. "The Moon Pool" evidences the "baroque complexities that Merritt introduced into his fairly standard plots through his use of elaborately contrived creatures, technologies, and settings," as the editor Levy remarks in his Introduction. The Dweller reawakened on the island of Ponape where an ancient civilization once existed by a Dr. David Throckmartin and his group of scientist explorers is a vampire seeking new souls to devour. Merritt's fantasy about the Manichean struggle between good and evil is colored by his interest in the mystic Madame Blavatsky. Looked on unfavorably by some leading critics of the time, Merritt never gained much notice outside of the field of science fiction. For later generations, his ornate style limited his appeal. But he holds considerable historical interest in this genre of popular literature for opening it up to diverse elements such as developments in the sciences of physics and biology, figures from folk literature, literary references of all types (e. g., Celtic literature), and philosophical and religious ideas and themes like Blavatsky's mysticism which were all a part of his eclectic erudition. One sees such effects not only in today's fantasy literature, but also the popular fantasy movies.

This novel sags in the middle with what appears to be padded material to lengthen it out, but the beginning and ending chapters are breathtaking fantasy in a beautiful style. Merritt was a genius and one should simply ignore the padding and enjoy the brilliant parts.

I gave this five stars because it deserved it. It's still a classic and still a lot of fun to read. However, readers be warned. You must remember it was written in 1919. Stereotypes abound. Women are voluptous, wear very little clothing and are either totally good or totally evil. If you can make allowances for all that, then it's a thoroughly enjoyable romp and the author's imagination is stunning. Today, he would place his adventure on an alien planet. In 1919, the vast uncharted regions of the Pacific were vast and alien enough to contain lost races, lost civilizations, unimaginable science, etc. My recommendation is to suspend all disbelief and critical judgment and simply enjoy.

abraham merritt: a great writer from the age before the far corners of the world had been explored. when there was still a sense of innocence about what the world contained. it is gone now that we have investigated the whole world. there are no strange islands in the south pacific; no metal monsters in outer mongolia; no bridges to valhalla above the artic circle in scandinavia. there are times when knowing too much hurts the ability to dream. from pat taylor