From the Bookshelf of Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"…

The Moon Pool (Dr. Goodwin #1)

A. Merritt

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Nov 30, 2017 Clint rated it liked it

Shelves: pulp-studies, appendix-n, 2017

This started great, but by 2/3 of the way through I was pushing just to finish. Originally published in 1918 as the short story “The Moon Pool” (and recognized by H.P. Lovecraft in his essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature” as one of the greatest Weird stories written), a much longer sequel was serialized later that year. In 1919, the two were combined and edited into the novel The Moon Pool. A race of elder beings called The Silent Ones seems an obvious influence upon Lovecraft, and I noted This started great, but by 2/3 of the way through I was pushing just to finish. Originally published in 1918 as the short story “The Moon Pool” (and recognized by H.P. Lovecraft in his essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature” as one of the greatest Weird stories written), a much longer sequel was serialized later that year. In 1919, the two were combined and edited into the novel The Moon Pool. A race of elder beings called The Silent Ones seems an obvious influence upon Lovecraft, and I noted the repeated use of the word Cyclopean.

It is a subterranean earth story, like Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar series; but, unlike its predecessors it is not a savage lost land full of dinosaurs and such. Instead, A. Merritt’s hollow earth is populated by seemingly fantastic creatures and races who use a mixture of futuristic devices and primitive. The novel’s narrator is a man of science that gives convincing (for 1919) plausible explanations.

This novel by A. Merritt was listed in “Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational [influences upon the Dungeons & Dragons game]”, by Gary Gygax. A. Merritt is listed as one of the prime influences upon the game along with Robert E Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt.

I can see the D&D inspiration. It a vast underground realm with dwarves, an evil priestess, a dragon and a vampiric smoke monster. There is even a backstabbing Russian scientist that reminded me of Baltar from the original Battlestar Galactica with his weasel attitude. Also throw in Celtic and Norse Mythology.

When the ABC show Lost was popular, this was advertised as a precursor to the show. There is the afore mentioned smoke monster, but that is about the only similarity I found.

Merritt gives detailed, and flowery descriptions of his creations. Sometimes these descriptions flowed like a prose poem, by sometimes they were descriptive without meaning. Ultimately, the conclusion depends upon a forced romance and a too strong belief in. It squanders and slides during the last third spoiling what was an engagement with a mysterious world full of adventure.

I believe this was Merritt’s first novel. I did not love it, but I did enjoy it enough to read more of him. ...more

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