Hidden in the heart of unknown Asia, a fantastic world of living metal awaited: Monsters of solid metal, pulsating with an unearthly electric life, wise with wisdom not of this world--and dreaming of the day when the harder-than-steel horde could roll forth smashing and flattening the world of mere humans. Into this realm wander three modern men and a girl. . . .
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Could make a great movie,
By Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Metal Monster (Masters of Science Fiction) (Paperback)
When Dr. Walter T. Godwin sets out to study a rare flower in Tibet, he has no idea of what adventures await him. Meeting old friends in the secluded Himalayas, he quickly finds himself fleeing from the descendents of a lost Persian Empire city right into the domain of a seemingly omnipotent metal intelligence. This extraterrestrial metal intelligence is made up of a collective composed of living cubes, pyramids and spheres. Even stranger, the intelligence seems to work through a human woman of great beauty, Norhala. This metal intelligence is beyond anything that Godwin and his compatriots can even understand--is humanity about the be replaced as the ruler of the Earth?OK, this book is a little bit odd at times. He keeps bumping into old friends in the Himalayas, there are descendents of the Persian Empire (a whole city, in fact) that no one knows about, and the ending is something of a deus ex machina. However, for having been written in 1920, this book is quite good! Though the storyline needs a fair amount of suspension of disbelief, it is quite entertaining. Also, when the metal intelligence forms shapes out of its cubes, pyramids and spheres, I couldn't help but think that modern special effects would turn this into quite an excellent movie. So, overall I do recommend this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative concept, not story is the appeal of this classic,
By
This review is from: The Metal Monster (Classics of Science Fiction) (Paperback)
The highlight of this book is Merritt's very imaginative concept of a metallic form of life made up of an enormous number of smaller components that can reshape, divide, or combine as needed. Much of this book is spent in an extended exploration/description of this concept. Merritt, writing in 1920, gets very high marks for imagination, anticipating current nanotechnology. This is worth four stars all by itself.
The story does not really do justice to the concept, unfortunately. Merritt's dominant female personality, Norhala, doesn't really fit. Merritt seems to include her merely because Merritt is obsessed with such personalities and they feature in most of his books. The scenes against the long lost Persians likewise seems to be grafted on just to give the story some action to offset pages and pages of exposition. The resolution comes right out of nowhere with little foreshadowing. Merritt's descriptions are very poetic - the man had a vocabulary - but ultimately can't be visualized by the reader. This doesn't make the story hard to follow, fortunately, but the reader is pretty much left to his own devices as far seeing the story in his mind's eye. Modern readers will also be put off by the slow pacing that was the fashion when the story was written. Although the book justifies its classic status modern readers would be better starting out with Merritt's "The Ship of Ishtar". Recommended for readers willing to overlook serious flaws. It will reward some patience.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Left An Impression,
By Fred Rayworth (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Metal Monster (Classics of Science Fiction) (Hardcover)
I read this book in the early seventies while living in Spain. It has left a lasting impression on me and I consider it a lost classic. The plot has been outlined already so I won't get into that, but the metal icky bugs in this story are unique and I've never read anything like it since.
After I read this story, I kept noticing a huge sign on a building in Madrid that read, Metal Mazda. I know that has nothing to do with this book, but it always reminded me of Metal Monster and every time we drove into Madrid, there it was! I wish I still had the book somewhere as it warrants a second read. If you want a unique sci-fi story, this is it!
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