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Atlantic Abomination
by
A horror novel by John Brunner?
A science-fiction shocker by the man who wrote the "Hugo" winning STAND ON ZANZIBAR? By the author of THE JAGGED ORBIT, CATCH A FALLING STAR, TIMES WITHOUT NUMBER?
Of course! The Brunner talent is manifest in this edge-of-the-seat novel about what happened when the first sea-bottom explorers brought up a not-so-dead body of an inhuman intellig ...more
A science-fiction shocker by the man who wrote the "Hugo" winning STAND ON ZANZIBAR? By the author of THE JAGGED ORBIT, CATCH A FALLING STAR, TIMES WITHOUT NUMBER?
Of course! The Brunner talent is manifest in this edge-of-the-seat novel about what happened when the first sea-bottom explorers brought up a not-so-dead body of an inhuman intellig ...more
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Mass Market Paperback, 128 pages
Published
1960
by Ace Books (NY)
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Start your review of Atlantic Abomination

A lovely little classic, three and half stars.
The Atlantic Abomination is good! Not as impressive as the best known science fiction especulative novels by the author (such as Stand by Zanzíbar) but it is an entertaining story about a mysterious creature found in an Atlantic abyssal deep. This novella maybe was influenced by the monster movies of the fifties, but it is not a “monster novel”, or not exactly, it is a good science fiction story. Disregarding some prejudices from its time: the role ...more
The Atlantic Abomination is good! Not as impressive as the best known science fiction especulative novels by the author (such as Stand by Zanzíbar) but it is an entertaining story about a mysterious creature found in an Atlantic abyssal deep. This novella maybe was influenced by the monster movies of the fifties, but it is not a “monster novel”, or not exactly, it is a good science fiction story. Disregarding some prejudices from its time: the role ...more

An Abomination!
No pictures, please! One needs only imagination to see what an abomination looks like. And I used plenty of imagination while reading this monstrosity!
Just imagine what the world would be like if some repulsive alien horror came to earth 100,000 years ago, and then decided to stay put.
When the monster decides to wake up from its slumber, the earth and its people are changed, but it makes no difference.
No pictures, please! One needs only imagination to see what an abomination looks like. And I used plenty of imagination while reading this monstrosity!
Just imagine what the world would be like if some repulsive alien horror came to earth 100,000 years ago, and then decided to stay put.
When the monster decides to wake up from its slumber, the earth and its people are changed, but it makes no difference.

review of
John Brunner's The Atlantic Abomination
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 3, 2014
After writing a huge review of OPEN SPACE 15/16 ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... ) it's a relief to read something that I don't have much to say about. Brunner's been my 'new' favorite SF writer for awhile now so I don't mind considering one of his works to be borderline mediocre since all in all I like his work immensely. THIS is possibly the 'worst' thing I've read by him yet. It's pret ...more
John Brunner's The Atlantic Abomination
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 3, 2014
After writing a huge review of OPEN SPACE 15/16 ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... ) it's a relief to read something that I don't have much to say about. Brunner's been my 'new' favorite SF writer for awhile now so I don't mind considering one of his works to be borderline mediocre since all in all I like his work immensely. THIS is possibly the 'worst' thing I've read by him yet. It's pret ...more

A giant alien monster is unearthed by deep-sea explorers, along with the ruins of its ancient city. Using its powers of psychic dominance, the beast corrals an army of human slaves to do its bidding. This future-world has ended the Cold War peacefully, having all but given up on nuclear weapons, and traditional countermeasures aren't slowing the beast down. There's also the issue of the millions of innocent slaves it's accrued, including the protagonist. So what's the military to do?
Sound like a ...more
Sound like a ...more

This is one of the worst books that I have ever actually finished.
"Horror" is way too kind. Horrific, perhaps. Gross and largely pointless.
But other than that, I didn't care for it at all. ...more
"Horror" is way too kind. Horrific, perhaps. Gross and largely pointless.
But other than that, I didn't care for it at all. ...more

An undersea expedition accidentally awakens an alien being who has been slumbering under the waves for thousands of years. Upon awakening, he gleefully uses his enormous mental powers to enslave as much of humanity as he can... An early work by Brunner, different to his later more serious works., this is a rattling good read, with disturbing images of an entire city (Jacksonville, Florida) under the merciless mental control of the creature, forcing people to work until they drop.

Brunner's take on Cthulu.
...more

It's fine. Definitely not up to the level of The Sheep Look Up, but just some decent older sci-fi.
...more

Jan 02, 2021
Bill Ramsell
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
This is a rather short BEMMY* novella. It's fun, though a bit dated.
*BEM= Bug Eyed Monster. ...more
*BEM= Bug Eyed Monster. ...more

Great Cover! And totally references the story. The scene in the front is pretty well described in the prologue, while the cool futuristic tower comes into play at the end.
Published 1960.. funnily enough, the back cover proclaims it a Horror Novel, though it's very clearly sci-fi. Looks like it was written in novel form (though, at 128 smallish pages, maybe more of a novella) from the start. it appears this was the 2nd printing of the book, first appearing as a double novel with The Martian Missi ...more
Published 1960.. funnily enough, the back cover proclaims it a Horror Novel, though it's very clearly sci-fi. Looks like it was written in novel form (though, at 128 smallish pages, maybe more of a novella) from the start. it appears this was the 2nd printing of the book, first appearing as a double novel with The Martian Missi ...more

You know those giant monster B-movies from the 'Fifties and 'Sixties? This is a thinking man's version of that. Imagine if Godzilla emerged from the ocean, but instead of stomping Japan flat, he wanted everyone to worship him instead. That's what this book is kind of like. The monster in this one has the ability to control people's minds, and before long, it has a legion of worshippers as the government does its best to battle the thing. It's a lot of fun, and the cover is one of the more loaths
...more

What if a Lovecraftian horror actually made an attack on a modern mainland city? Find out in this hastily written trifle by John Brunner, from the glory days of the 75,000-word supermarket rack SF novel.
*spoilers*
A few good details will stick in my mind -- like "Old Hundred," the hymn chosen by the citizens of Jacksonville to worship their new abomination-overlord, or the naked fat woman plugging the hole in a sinking boat with her own body. This book came out in 1960 with three others by Brunn ...more
*spoilers*
A few good details will stick in my mind -- like "Old Hundred," the hymn chosen by the citizens of Jacksonville to worship their new abomination-overlord, or the naked fat woman plugging the hole in a sinking boat with her own body. This book came out in 1960 with three others by Brunn ...more

I'm a little embarrassed to say I actually enjoyed this book. It's not very well written, or thought provoking, or compelling. But I found it a fun read. The ending didn't really make much sense at all... it's like the alien suddenly got stupid. Why not just go to another part of the world and begin the mind take-over process again? Instead he just sorta gets blowed up real good. Oops- spoilers.
...more

Well...what an odd book. A contrast of respectable science fiction and pulpy science fiction; potentially good story and awful clichéd B-movie scripting; progressive vision and period sexism; flashes of decent prose and cringing melodrama. Too short to have any depth, the book's best feature is its short length. Still, I intend to read a few more of his before returning to Stasheff and Chalker.
...more

Not in the style of Brunner's great novels, just a modest one. Even so is a good reading. Characters are not so developed but it is a short novel, just 100 pages, so I think plot was more important. Although for today's standards maybe is not a good book, I enjoyed it, and that was enough.
...more

Oct 13, 2009
Erik Graff
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
Brunner fans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
sf
I have a vague recollection of the contents of this science fiction novel, a clear recollection of its outrageous cover.

An old-fashioned sci-fi 'Thing from the Deeps' story. I'd give it three stars but the ending was a bit of a let-down, and they could have gone into more detail about the alien race.
...more

A cliched potboiler that is far from John Brunner at his best. At only 128 pages, there really wasn't much room for development.
...more
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John Brunner was born in Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at St Andrew's Prep School, Pangbourne, then to Cheltenham College. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Ro
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