I'm presently finishing work on a long essay about ten works of "forgotten fantasy" – stories I consider to have been influential or otherwise important to the subsequent development of fantasy but that have largely been forgotten or otherwise overlooked by later generations. Included among those ten works is Abraham Merritt's 1932 novel, The Dwellers in the Mirage. Though barely known today, the novel was quite popular in its day and may have played a role in inspiring Robert E. Howard to create his character of Conan the Cimmerian.
The fine men over at DMR Books recently released a new edition of the novel that restores Merritt's preferred ending. It's a great edition, well worth picking up, if, like me, you're a fan of Merritt. I highly recommend it.
Shout out to D.M. Ritzlin with DMR Books. He does great work.
ReplyDeleteThis is, I think, the most brutal and ruthless of Merritt tales, and he rarely holds back about the horrors that result when ancient lives intersect with modern.
ReplyDeleteAnd if the new ending makes it even better, I need my rating system to go to 11…