First published in 1919, &quot;The Moon Pool&quot; embodies all the romanticism and poetic nostalgia characteristic of Abraham Merritt&#39;s writings and has become one of the most gripping fantasies ever written.<br /><br />Set on the island of Ponape, full of ruins from ancient civilizations, the novel chronicles the adventures of a party of explorers who discover a previously unknown underground world full of strange peoples and super-scientific wonders. From the depths of this world, the party unwittingly unleashes the Dweller, a monstrous terror that threatens the islands of the South Pacific.&nbsp;<br />The protagonist, Dr. Goodwin, would later appear in Merritt&#39;s second novel &quot;The Metal Monster&quot;, originally published in 1920.<br /><br />Although Merritt did not invent the lost world novel, following in the footsteps of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Burroughs and others, he greatly elaborated upon that tradition.