Fantasy Merritt, A.: The Metal Monster. v1. 30 May 07

[Dr. Drib]

The final installment (?) of all the Merritt I could locate from PD channels.

Here is a wonderfully written synopsis and historial perspective about The Metal Monster:

"Abraham Merritt's second novel, "The Metal Monster," first saw the light of day in 1920, in "Argosy" magazine. It was not until 1946 that this masterful fantasy creation was printed in book form. In a way, this work is a continuation of Merritt's first novel, "The Moon Pool" (1919), as it is a narrative of America's foremost botanist, Dr. Walter T. Goodwin, narrator of that earlier adventure as well. As Goodwin tells us, he initially set out on this second great adventure to forget the terrible incidents of the first; if anything, however, the events depicted in "The Metal Monster" are at least as mindblowing as those in the earlier tale. While Goodwin had encountered underground civilizations, frogmen, battling priestesses and a living-light entity in the earlier tale, this time around he discovers, in the Trans-Himalayan wastes of Tibet, a surviving Persian city, a half-human priestess, AND an entire civilization made up of living, metallic, geometric forms; an entire city of sentient cubes, globes and tetrahedrons, capable of joining together and forming colossal shapes, and wielding death rays and other armaments of destruction. As in the earlier tale, Goodwin is joined in his epic adventure by a small group of can-do individuals that he meets in the most unlikely, godforsaken areas of the world. This time around, it's a brother-and-sister team of scientists, as well as the son of one of Goodwin's old science buddies.
The sense of awe and wonder so crucial to good adventure fantasy is of a very high order in this book. Goodwin & Co., in one of the book's best set pieces, explore the living city of metal, and witness the life forms feeding off the sun, reproducing, and preparing for war. Later on, Merrittt treats us to a titanic battle between the metal folk and the lost Persians, as well as an hallucinatory cataclysm at the novel's end. Indeed, much of the book IS hallucinatory, with the metal shapes coalescing and morphing like crazy Transformers gone wild....With writing like this, a well-thought-out plot, exotic settings and some great action sequences, "The Metal Monster" does indeed live up to its rep as a fantasy classic. There ARE some unanswered questions by the book's end, but that only adds to the aura of cosmic mystery that Merritt has built up. The book is a winner, indeed."

I hope you thoroughly enjoy it. Take a look at some of the wonderful pulp covers I've included.

Don

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[Lobolover]

so this is the ORIGINAL text and not the revision which you find on the net?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Lobolover

so this is the ORIGINAL text and not the revision which you find on the net?

I can't remember if this is the original version or not.

Don

[Lobolover]

does it start with "the return of Dr. Goodwin"?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Lobolover

does it start with "the return of Dr. Goodwin"?

Here's the quote from the Prologue:

"Before the narrative which foloows was placed in my hands, I had never seen Dr. Walter T. Goodwin, it's author."

Aside: I see you have no Sony Reader. I have one I'm going to put on sale today. Check MobileRead.

Happy reading!

Don

[Lobolover]

except I live in the czech republic and don't have my credit cards yet.I meant if the first chapter is named "The return of Dr. Goodwin".

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Lobolover

except I live in the czech republic and don't have my credit cards yet.I meant if the first chapter is named "The return of Dr. Goodwin".

Chapter One is "Valley of the Blue Poppies"

Don

[Lobolover]

then its the revision .