Other editions of book The Metal Monster

When Dr. Walter T. Godwin sets out to study a rare flower in Tibet, he has no idea of what adventures await him. Meeting old friends in the secluded Himalayas, he quickly finds himself fleeing from the descendents of a lost Persian Empire city right into the domain of a seemingly omnipotent metal intelligence. This extraterrestrial metal intelligence is made up of a collective composed of living cubes, pyramids and spheres. Even stranger, the intelligence seems to work through a human woman of great beauty, Norhala. This metal intelligence is beyond anything that Godwin and his compatriots can even understand--is humanity about the be replaced as the ruler of the Earth?

In the wilds of the Trans-Himalayan region, a quartet of adventurers led by Dr. Walter T. Goodwin stumbles upon a tribe of human primitives forgotten since the age of Alexander the Great, and an awesome being of living metal commanded by the exiled Norhala. As Norhala’s guests, Goodwin and his team witness the mind-boggling marvels that are the Metal Monster’s way of life, and the unspeakable horrors it commits when Norhala takes it to war against her persecutors.A. Merritt’s second published novel, The Metal Monster was first serialized in a pulp fiction magazine in 1920. Its exotic setting and extravagant scientific speculations make it a landmark of lost-race fantasy fiction. Dissatisfied with its writing, Merritt kept his story from book publication until 1946, revising and reshaping it for more than twenty years. This edition reprints for he first time the tale as it was originally published, restoring close to 10,000 words of text Merritt cut from the original. This definitive edition features cover artwork and a frontispiece by famed fantasy artist Virgil Finlay.

Armchair fiction presents extra-large paperback editions of the best in classic science fiction novels. A. Merritt’s “The Metal Monster” is the seventh installment of our "Lost World-Lost Race Classics" series. They discovered a lost world filled with monsters! Hidden deep in the heart of an unknown region in Asia was a monstrous lost race of metal monstrosities, which vibrated with a fantastic electronic life force. Wise with their knowledge of the outside world, this race of solid metal monsters dreamt of the day when their harder-than-steel hordes, mountain high, could roll down upon the unsuspecting world, smashing and obliterating the entire human race. It was up to a small band of four adventurers—three men and a girl—to somehow stop the impending wave of destruction and save mankind from a horrifying fate. “The Metal Monster” is a an unforgettable thrill ride by one of the early pioneers of science fiction, Abraham Merritt.

The Metal Monster follows a group of botanists who discover the seemingly reanimated Darius III of Persia and legions of soldiers. The group is saved by a mysterious woman, Norhala. Seemingly magical, Norhala inhabits a hidden city and controls strange metal automatons capable of joining together and forming colossal monsters, each possessing powerful weapons fully capable of defeating all the armies on Earth.

Abraham Merritt (1884-1943), who published under the byline A. Merritt, was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction. Originally trained in law, he turned to journalism, first as a correspondent, and later as editor. He was assistant editor of The American Weekly from 1912 to 1937 under Morrill Goddard, then its editor until his death. He was a major influence on H. P. Lovecraft, and highly esteemed by his friend and frequent collaborator Hannes Bok. Merritt's stories typically revolve around conventional pulp magazine themes: lost civilizations, hideous monsters, etc. His heroes are gallant Irishmen or Scandinavians, his villains treacherous Germans or Russians and his heroines often virginal, mysterious and scantily clad. What sets Merritt apart from the typical pulp author, however, is his lush, florid prose style and his exhaustive, at times exhausting, penchant for adjective-laden detail. His fondness for micro-description nicely complements the pointillistic style of Bok's illustrations. He wrote Through the Dragon Glass, and The People of the Pit (1917), The Moon Pool (1918), The Metal Monster (1920), and Three Lines of Old French.

A. Merritt was a sci-fi and fantasy writer during the early 20th century. From the prologue: "Before the narrative which follows was placed in my hands, I had never seen Dr. Walter T. Goodwin, its author. When the manuscript revealing his adventures among the pre-historic ruins of the Nan-Matal in the Carolines (The Moon Pool) had been given me by the International Association of Science for editing and revision to meet the requirements of a popular presentation, Dr. Goodwin had left America. He had explained that he was still too shaken, too depressed, to be able to recall experiences that must inevitably carry with them freshened memories of those whom he loved so well and from whom, he felt, he was separated in all probability forever. I had understood that he had gone to some remote part of Asia to pursue certain botanical studies, and it was therefore with the liveliest surprise and interest that I received a summons from the President of the Association to meet Dr. Goodwin at a designated place and hour. Through my close study of the Moon Pool papers I had formed a mental image of their writer. I had read, too, those volumes of botanical research which have set him high above all other American scientists in this field, gleaning from their curious mingling of extremely technical observations and minutely accurate but extraordinarily poetic descriptions, hints to amplify my picture of him. It gratified me to find I had drawn a pretty good one. The man to whom the President of the Association introduced me was sturdy, well-knit, a little under average height. He had a broad but rather low forehead that reminded me somewhat of the late electrical wizard Steinmetz. Under level black brows shone eyes of clear hazel, kindly, shrewd, a little wistful, lightly humorous; the eyes both of a doer and a dreamer. Not more than forty I judged him to be. A close-trimmed, pointed beard did not hide the firm chin and the clean-cut mouth. His hair was thick and black and oddly sprinkled with white; small streaks and dots of gleaming silver that shone with a curiously metallic luster. His right arm was closely bound to his breast. His manner as he greeted me was tinged with shyness. He extended his left hand in greeting, and as I clasped the fingers I was struck by their peculiar, pronounced, yet pleasant warmth; a sensation, indeed, curiously electric. The Association's President forced him gently back into his chair. "Dr. Goodwin," he said, turning to me, "is not entirely recovered as yet from certain consequences of his adventures. He will explain to you later what these are. In the meantime, Mr. Merritt, will you read this?"

This early work by Abraham Grace Merritt was originally published in 1920 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Metal Monster' is a fantasy novel about Dr. Goodwin's travels in the Himalayas and the mysterious metal beings he encounters there. It tells the tale of adventurous explorers who discover an unknown world. Abraham Grace Merritt - also known by his byline, A. Merritt - was born on the 20th January, 1884 in New Jersey, America. Merritt's stories typically revolved around conventional pulp magazine themes. His heroes are gallant Irishmen or Scandinavians, his villains treacherous Germans or Russians and his heroines often virginal, mysterious and scantily clad. Merritt married twice, once in the 1910s to Eleanore Ratcliffe, with whom he raised an adopted daughter, and again in the thirties to Eleanor H. Johnson.

"The most remarkable presentation of the utterly alien and non-human that I have ever seen." -- H. P. Lovecraft In the wilds of the Trans-Himalayan region, a quartet of adventurers led by Dr. Walter T. Goodwin stumbles upon a tribe of human primitives forgotten since the age of Alexander the Great, and an awesome being of living metal commanded by the exiled Norhala. As Norhala’s guests, Goodwin and his team witness the mind-boggling marvels that are the Metal Monster’s way of life, and the unspeakable horrors it commits when Norhala takes it to war against her persecutors. A. Merritt’s second published novel, The Metal Monster was first serialized in a pulp fiction magazine in 1920. Its exotic setting and extravagant scientific speculations make it a landmark of lost-race fantasy fiction. Dissatisfied with its writing, Merritt kept his story from book publication until 1946, revising and reshaping it for more than twenty years. This edition reprints for he first time the tale as it was originally published, restoring close to 10,000 words of text Merritt cut from the original. A "must own" Lost Race novel for "Weird Fiction" fans; as innovative and fresh today as it must have upon first publication.

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!