79 replies to this topic

[deuce]

While I was checking on some Merritt stuff, I stumbled upon this blog review of The Face in the Abyss by our own Ryan "Ring-Haunter" Harvey:

http://realmofryan.b...e-in-abyss.html

[Cap'n Kidd]

Avon was publishing Merritt's stuff back in the 60's and I bought and read "Dwellers in the Mirage". This past year I bought "Metal Monster", "Seven Footprints to Satan", and "Dwellers" (among others) on ebay for a song and reread Dwellers after almost 40 years. You can definitely see the influence on Lovecraft and Howard in that story.
The character was a very Howardian type while much of the story with the fantasy and the "elder god" seems reflected more in the writings of Lovecraft.

I have since googled him and read many bios as well. He was an extremely interesting character. An adventurer in his own right.

This should be an interesting thread.

[deuce]

Here's a blog featuring some of Hannes Bok's art (he did covers for Arkham House's REH books) illustrating the works of Merritt:

http://goldenagecomi.....el/A. Merritt

[Doug]

Merritt is an all time great. It's so sad that so many readers have never heard of him. I still have my Avon editions from the 1970s. The Face in the Abyss and Dwellers in the Mirage are my Favorites.
God bless him!

Take care.
Doug

[Libaax]

Funny to see this thread i have been trying to get hold of Merritt works to try him. I have heard alot about him from fellow fans of the wierd. His Moon Pool i have heard alot about.

Im thinking about trying him with a new paperback book of his since the library dont have him in english.

Now im thinking which book is the best place to start, Ship of Ishtar sounds good to me. I want to get to know Merritt before i try his most famous book.

Edited by Libaax, 19 June 2009 - 08:03 PM.

[Mikey_C]

Paizo's Ship of Ishtar is due out in September. I like the cover:

[Almuric]

Gah.

[deuce]

Here's a site with an audiobook adaptation of Merritt's The Moon Pool:

http://marialectrix.....com/?s=merritt

While possibly AM's most influential book, I think that, style-wise, it doesn't match up to later works like The Ship of Ishtar and Dwellers in the Mirage. Still, I recommend it to anyone who loves to read tales packed full of imagination and action.

[deuce]

Some excellent blog posts about Merritt by Chris Perrida here:


http://antiquarianwe...label/A Merritt

[docpod]

It's Ariel!

Morgan

Paizo's Ship of Ishtar is due out in September. I like the cover:

[deuce]

Two cool blogs about Merritt can be found here: http://john-adcock.b...abel/A. Merritt

[Almuric]

Deuce's piece on the Planet Stories reprinting of The Ship of Ishtar:

http://www.thecimmerian.com/?p=8133#more-8133

[daniel]

LOL!
i've read a few works by meritt:
the moon pool
the metal monster
the face in the abyss
seven footprints to satan
the dwellers in the mirage
the ship of ishtar

my favorites are seven footprints and the face in the abyss. i've read on the paizo blog, that for each of these works there exists more than one revision by meritt himself. this is quite jarring, because you feel left out on some important information.
i wonder what the paizo cover to my favorites will be like...

[deuce]

LOL!
i've read a few works by meritt:
the moon pool
the metal monster
the face in the abyss
seven footprints to satan
the dwellers in the mirage
the ship of ishtar

my favorites are seven footprints and the face in the abyss. i've read on the paizo blog, that for each of these works there exists more than one revision by meritt himself. this is quite jarring, because you feel left out on some important information.
i wonder what the paizo cover to my favorites will be like...

Hey Daniel! The great thing about the Paizo editions is that they go for the unabridged texts, usually. Having read the Borden/Paizo version of "Ishtar", I can definitely say that this beats the other three versions I own. There were several spots where a bit of savagery or crucial information had been abridged in other versions, whether by AM or Avon, I don't know.

Merrit wasn't always the best judge of his work. The Hippocampus edition of The Metal Monster goes back to the version that HPL would've read. While I haven't read other versions, from what the editors said, it definitely sounds as if that one should be considered "definitive". Later in life, Merritt seems to have doubted his own genius a bit and revised out some of the best parts (IMO).

Like you, I really enjoyed "Seven Footprints" and "Abyss". Pulp adventure at its best. Paizo is keeping a close eye on how "Ishtar" sells to decide whether they should reprint more Merritt. Just another reason to buy the book.

BTW, for anyone wanting to buy The Ship of Ishtar, here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.co...SMDJKKY2819V8AY

[daniel]

does anyone have a scan of the cover by avon books to "seven" and "dwellers?" by the way i think that meritt is much more similar to kuttner and moorcock than haggard. i'm not one to apply the cliche "this and that is a style all unto himself" but haggard has very few precedents that i cn think of, basically since most of the adventure writers we tend to associate with his style wrote more or less contemporaneously with him. that includes stevenson, in response to whose "treasure island" haggard wrote "king solomon's mines".

[deuce]

does anyone have a scan of the cover by avon books to "seven" and "dwellers?" by the way i think that meritt is much more similar to kuttner and moorcock than haggard. i'm not one to apply the cliche "this and that is a style all unto himself" but haggard has very few precedents that i cn think of, basically since most of the adventure writers we tend to associate with his style wrote more or less contemporaneously with him. that includes stevenson, in response to whose "treasure island" haggard wrote "king solomon's mines".

Hey Daniel! I never said that Haggard had many "precedents", especially Merritt, who started writing several decades later. I know that Moorcock is a Merritt fan. Not positive about Kuttner, but I know his wife, CL Moore, was a MAJOR fan.


If you want Merritt covers, the place to go is the Merritt yahoo group. They have the most extensive, and best quality, library of AM cover scans on the Net:
http://groups.yahoo....ABEMERRITTFANS/

You have to join to access the library, but they're good people. They even have many excellent scans of foreign editions.

[docpod]

I am a moderator at the Yahoo Merritt group and we generally get people approved within a few hours of requesting to join.

Morgan

If you want Merritt covers, the place to go is the Merritt yahoo group. They have the most extensive, and best quality, library of AM cover scans on the Net:
http://groups.yahoo....ABEMERRITTFANS/

You have to join to access the library, but they're good people. They even have many excellent scans of foreign editions.

[daniel]

thanks. i have to get a yahoo account first. i'll see to it soon.

[Axerules]

The third part of Deuce's review of The Ship of Ishtar is on David Drage's Dial P For Pulp! podcast.
Show n?11 is finally out! Here's the link: http://www.ironmammo...t/dialpforpulp/

[Taranaich]

The third part of Deuce's review of The Ship of Ishtar is on David Drage's Dial P For Pulp! podcast.
Show n?11 is finally out! Here's the link: http://www.ironmammo...t/dialpforpulp/

I plan on doing an overview on Deuce & co's reviews on The Cimmerian. Until then, you guys get over there!