The Moon Pool - Phoenix Science Fiction Classics (with notes and critical essays) [Paperback]

A. Merritt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2010

Merritt's science fiction and fantasy inspired many to become future writers in the field. His influence is widespread and continues to the present day. **** The Moon Pool is his seminal piece. It is a haunting tale of "fantasy, romance, adventure; something of a mystery, something of the supernatural." (New York Times Book Review). **** The story details the adventures of Walter Goodwin, who leads an expedition to rescue those who have fallen victim to the Dweller The Dweller is a being of enormous power, unimaginable terror and great beauty, created by the ancient inhabitants of the mythic land of Mauria, deep within the bowels of the earth. **** This student edition contains critical essays by Hugo winning Cory Panshin and Paul Cook, Principal Lecturer (English) at Arizona State University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Pick (February 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160450448X
• ISBN-13: 978-1604504484
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,343,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars THE MOON POOL by Abraham Merritt, April 22, 2011

By 

thepaxdomini "The Book Review" (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moon Pool - Phoenix Science Fiction Classics (with notes and critical essays) (Paperback)

The Moon Pool is a 1919 "lost world" fantasy novel by Abraham Merritt based on two of his short stories. Here, a scientist leads a small band beneath the surface of the Earth in pursuit of others abducted by an evil entity called "the Shining One," whereupon they discover a lost civilization on the brink of war.

Merritt's writing is wonderfully imaginative and extraordinarily detailed. His ideas, his places, his devices, and his underground world are enthralling. The Moon Pool does have a certain charm. And yet the writing has a lot of problems.

Pacing is the most egregious issue. The book crawls in many places, and for long stretches. This shouldn't be; there's plenty happening in the story, but Merritt's writing ranges between verbose and extremely verbose. The storytelling is further hampered by a cast of flattish characters spouting corny dialogue, a great deal of which neither develops the characters in meaningful ways nor moves the story along.

Merritt devotes paragraph upon paragraph to his vivid descriptions of subterranean wonders, and yet the reader's sense of place is often poor, as Merritt can scarcely ever be bothered to tell the reader where, specifically, his characters are, or where that might be in relation to the other places he's depicted.

There are other issues. It's painfully convenient how quickly all the characters learn the subterranean language. Much of the mystery of the underground world isn't resolved until much too late in the book, and then by way of a massive expository dump. The book's climax, an epic clash between warring factions, should be exciting, but the resolutions are clichéd and predictable.

The Moon Pool has been cited as an influence on Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu." As far as horrific creatures emerging from lost cities beneath the sea to ravage humanity go, that seems reasonable. Beyond some basic thematic similarities, however, there's really no comparison.

Merritt isn't read a great deal these days, and now you know why. On the whole, The Moon Pool feels like a missed opportunity, and it's too bad. As it is, there are no doubt plenty of better books in the genre. And yet...The Moon Pool would probably make a pretty good film.