Books › The Moon Pool
The Moon Pool
650 pages
A descent into a luminous, subterranean world where ancient cosmic horrors and breathtaking wonders collide in a pulp-era fever dream.
What it feels like
Reading this classic of weird fiction feels like stepping into a luminous, subterranean fever dream. The prose is famously lush and highly descriptive, painting a hidden world of radiant beauty and creeping dread with archaic grandeur. It begins with the eerie tension of a scientific expedition gone wrong before plunging into a brisk, awe-struck adventure through a hollow earth. The atmosphere is thick with the allure of the unknown, balancing pulp-era heroism against a seductive, monstrous entity born of ancient hubris. It is a story of cosmic mysteries and the duality of good and evil, wrapped in a melodramatic, romantic tone. Readers who delight in the imaginative worldbuilding of early pulp fantasy and the florid, atmospheric dread of classic weird fiction will find themselves utterly captivated by this descent into the abyss.
- Mood
- eerie
- luminous
- subterranean
- wondrous
- dread-tinged
- Tone
- melodramatic
- earnest
- awe-struck
- romantic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- duality of good and evil · hubris of creation · allure of the unknown · ancient cosmic mysteries · power of love
- The writing
- Lush, highly descriptive, and steeped in the romanticized, archaic grandeur typical of early pulp fiction.
- The arc
- Begins with scientific curiosity and creeping dread, plunging into awe-struck wonder, and culminating in a heroic struggle against a seductive evil.
- Who it's for
- Fans of classic weird fiction and hollow-earth adventures who love florid prose and imaginative, lost-world worldbuilding.
Content notes
- kidnapping
- loss of autonomy
- colonialist attitudes
- mild horror elements
About the book
"On the island of Ponape in the South Pacific, the cold light of a full moon washes over the crumbling ruins of an ancient, vanished civilization. Unleashed from the depths is the Dweller, a glittering, enigmatic force of monstrous terror and radiant beauty that stalks the South Pacific, claiming all in its path. An inter-national expedition led by American Walter Goodwin races to save those who have fallen victim to the Dweller.
The dark mystery behind the malevolent force is Muria, a forgotten, mythic world deep within the earth that is home to a legendary people intent on reclaiming what was theirs long ago. This commemorative edition of The Moon Pool features an introduction by Robert Silverberg, a review of the first edition, and a glossary of the Murian language."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
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