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The Face in the Abyss
The Face in the Abyss is a classic from a "golden age" of science fiction. A brilliant tale filled with weird imagination, marvelous writing, horror, beauty, and it may well be called the most "visual" book ever written for the world of fantasy. The Face in the Abyss is a grand book with a grand cast of characters. Visualize a monstrous head that cries tears of gold, locked deep in a cavern out of time forgotten. Consider also the incredible, Snake Mother, who is both human and reptilian, and her battle with the thing called the Lord of Evil.
Cover: Rodney Matthews
Cover: Rodney Matthews
278 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1923
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597 people want to read
About the author
A. Merritt
227 books125 followersAbraham Grace Merritt, wrote under the name of A. Merritt, born in New Jersey moved as a child to Philadelphia, Pa. in 1894, began studying law and than switched to journalism. Later a very popular writer starting in 1919 of the teens, twenties and thirties, horror and fantasy genres. King of the purple prose, most famous The Moon Pool, a south seas lost island civilization, hidden underground and The Ship of Ishtar, an Arabian Nights type fable, and six other novels and short stories collections (he had written at first, just for fun). Nobody could do that variety better, sold millions of books in his career. The bright man, became editor of the most successful magazine during the Depression, The American Weekly , with a fabulous $100,000 in salary. A great traveler, in search of unusual items he collected. His private library of 5,000 volumes had many of the occult macabre kind. Yet this talented author is now largely been forgotten.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
April 15, 2025
Three greedy men, desperate foreigners in South America have a map, that promises them fabulous riches ( the usual lost Inca gold), but no money to finance an expedition. Starrett, their leader asks Nicholas Graydon who has the dough, for aid in Quito, Ecuador and a big share of the uncountable, presumed profits. A mining engineer, graduate of some obscure school called Harvard (never heard of it either). So Graydon ten years after leaving the university needs to make something of his life, even taking a chance with such unsavory looking gentlemen, he doesn't expect this document to be authentic (none are). Mr. Graydon is an educated man and the chasing of legends , is not what Nicholas worked for so hard, anyways there are valuable minerals in the stunning Andes Mountains, still you can imagine transportation during the early 20th Century, is very primitive indeed here. Eight burros are attained, six local Indians as guides to do all the difficult tasks required, Roads? They make them sometimes, the packers are nervous too many strange incidents have occurred, in this forbidden isolated, territory so the superstitious Indians leave without permission, in the small hours of the the night taking half of everything, why does this happen in every adventure story (plot enhancement)? Selfish people must be very sound sleepers, (like logs) the rest of the group hardly misses them and go on, without the anxious guides. After a long tiring hike, of many days the first interesting thing they find ... Suarra, an unbelievable beautiful girl in this the remotest part of the Andes, what race is she? Not Indian or Spanish or any known tribe on Earth. Graydon rescues the lady from Starrett's annoying advances, she had been draped with a great amount of precious jewels... Making him Starrett instantly an enemy of the others ( nobody likes a double- crosser), and prisoner too. Not to worry Suarra returns, leads them into the Hidden Land (Yu-Atlanchi) where people live forever, a place full of ferocious dinosaurs and the riders on them, also invisible flying Demons (messengers, as they like to be called). The Face in the Abyss in a dark, terrifying, colossal cave with a moving weird head and great voice inside a rock (the Evil One), just call him ... Nimir. Graydon gets a little scared who wouldn't ? Almost collapses, not to mention also there Lizard-men and spider-men too, real big spiders not the Hollywood kind. Incredible death defying rapid travels through caves and tunnels, an unknown somethings is after the terrified intruders. The strangest part of all Snake Mother, half reptile and half woman Adana, she's thousands of years old , however doesn't look it. The outsiders see a magnificent, ancient city by a gorgeous lake, arriving at a rather unhealthy moment though, for the four newcomers, civil conflict breaks into the open between the Snake Mother's, and the Dark Lord's rather less respectable, bloodthirsty followers . Fought with mostly deadly rays, of different, gorgeous colors ( the old-fashioned sharp swords and spears too) . Graydon and Suarra fall madly in love, while he fights for the snake. In any war there is always time for a little romance nevertheless, yet how old is Suarra. This is a land of unlimited life if they can avoid an unpleasant and unforeseen "accident". Nicholas is afraid to ask the lady her age, it's not nice to do so...Mr. Merritt shows again here why he was such an incomparable artist, he may have been a purple prose writer still no one else did it better....
March 15, 2023
A group of greedy men trek through the jungle to look for treasure when they come across a girl named Suarra, who’s carrying some valuable jewelry. The greedy men want to steal her valuables and possibly even rape and kill her. One of the men won’t allow it though. Graydon stands up to his fellow travelers and allows Suarra to escape. Since he’s outnumbered, he easily gets defeated. But to everyone’s surprise, Suarra returns to the travelers with more treasure. She wants to lead Graydon and his captors to her city, where she claims even more treasure can be found. She’s clearly taken a liking to Graydon and seems to have a plan to help him. The greedy men suspect it might be a trap. And they’re right. But their greed won’t allow them to turn back. And what they find in the city is simply beyond their wildest dreams.
This book is actually a combination of a short story and a longer lost world story. While the two parts are easily distinguishable, they don’t clash too hard with each other. On the contrary, they manage to supplement one another quite well. The short story is used as an introduction for the two main characters. This allows us to already know and care about the protagonists before we get to the more plot-driven lost world story. And it also serves as a great way to show us that it was not an easy journey to get to the lost city.
Once we get to the second and largest part of the story, it’s like we’re shifting multiple gears at once. It’s honestly one of the best lost world stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. The world building is so cool. Yu-Atlanchi is such a fascinating mysterious setting, with so many fascinating things to explore like lizard-men, spider-men, invisible winged serpents and dinosaurs. It’s basic good Vs evil as Yu-Atlanchi is ruled by two ancient god-like beings. You have the Snake Mother representing good, and Nimir representing evil. Nimir is trapped in a face made of gold and his worshippers are plotting to release him. The Snake Mother and Suarra are trying to stop that from happening. But they’re clearly in need of help, because Nimir’s forces are growing stronger by the minute. Graydon is allowed to leave but he refuses to do so. He feels like he owes the Snake Mother and Suarra after they saved him. And he wishes to return the favor, so he’ll do all he can to help them. But Nimir has also set his sights on Graydon.
Abraham Merritt was a very popular science fiction and fantasy writer during his time. Nowadays, he’s pretty much forgotten. Lost in time, if you will. But it’s stories like this one that will hopefully be able to keep his legacy alive.
A bit of a slow start and some hints of an outdated world view, but easily one of the best lost world stories I’ve ever read. It’s incredibly imaginative and creative, action-packed to say the least and simply highly entertaining. It’s escapism done right.
This book is actually a combination of a short story and a longer lost world story. While the two parts are easily distinguishable, they don’t clash too hard with each other. On the contrary, they manage to supplement one another quite well. The short story is used as an introduction for the two main characters. This allows us to already know and care about the protagonists before we get to the more plot-driven lost world story. And it also serves as a great way to show us that it was not an easy journey to get to the lost city.
Once we get to the second and largest part of the story, it’s like we’re shifting multiple gears at once. It’s honestly one of the best lost world stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. The world building is so cool. Yu-Atlanchi is such a fascinating mysterious setting, with so many fascinating things to explore like lizard-men, spider-men, invisible winged serpents and dinosaurs. It’s basic good Vs evil as Yu-Atlanchi is ruled by two ancient god-like beings. You have the Snake Mother representing good, and Nimir representing evil. Nimir is trapped in a face made of gold and his worshippers are plotting to release him. The Snake Mother and Suarra are trying to stop that from happening. But they’re clearly in need of help, because Nimir’s forces are growing stronger by the minute. Graydon is allowed to leave but he refuses to do so. He feels like he owes the Snake Mother and Suarra after they saved him. And he wishes to return the favor, so he’ll do all he can to help them. But Nimir has also set his sights on Graydon.
Abraham Merritt was a very popular science fiction and fantasy writer during his time. Nowadays, he’s pretty much forgotten. Lost in time, if you will. But it’s stories like this one that will hopefully be able to keep his legacy alive.
A bit of a slow start and some hints of an outdated world view, but easily one of the best lost world stories I’ve ever read. It’s incredibly imaginative and creative, action-packed to say the least and simply highly entertaining. It’s escapism done right.
August 19, 2011
Abraham Merritt's "The Face in the Abyss" first appeared as a short story in a 1923 issue of "Argosy" magazine. It would be another seven years before its sequel, "The Snake Mother," appeared in "Argosy," and yet another year before the book-length version combined these two tales, in 1931. It is easy to detect the book's provenance as two shorter stories, as the first third of the novel is pretty straightforward treasure-hunting fare, while the remainder of the book takes a sharp turn into lost-world fantasy, of the kind popularized by H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. In this novel we meet Nick Graydon, an American miner, who is searching for lost Incan loot with three of the nastiest compadres you can imagine. In the Peruvian wastes, they come across a mysterious girl, and are led by her toward Yu-Atlanchi, the so-called Hidden Land. Graydon's cohorts suffer a mysterious fate, but Graydon himself goes on to discover Yu-Atlanchi's many wonders. He meets the Snake Mother, one of Merritt's finest creations: a half snake/half girl entity who is countless aeons old and possessed of ancient wisdom. The Snake Mother is similar in nature to the Silent Ones of Merritt's first novel, "The Moon Pool," but is a much more fleshed-out character. It seems that Graydon has stumbled into Yu-Atlanchi just as civil war is about to break out there. Nimir, an evil lord whom the Snake Mother had imprisoned ages ago, has returned, and is intent on using his weapons of mind control and superscience to rule the world. Merritt does ultimately treat us to a nifty battle between the forces of Nimir (aided by his lizard men, dinosaurs and various weapons) and the Snake Mother (aided by her invisible flying lizards and assorted way-out armaments). But before we get to that battle, Merritt also dishes out a dinosaur hunt, a dinosaur race, a tour through the Cavern of Lost Wisdom, a garden of evil, mind control, spirit possession, spider-men (and NOT of the Peter Parker variety!), and some fascinating history of and philosophizing by the Snake Mother. It's all wonderfully pulpy and improbable stuff, but Merritt throws quite a bit into the book to keep the reader well entertained.
On the down side, "The Face in the Abyss" does not feature as much of the wonderful purple prose that made earlier Merritt works such as "The Moon Pool" and "The Metal Monster" so special. This book seems to have been written more quickly and, in some places, almost carelessly. For example, in one scene, the moon is said to be rising from the west! In another, Graydon is said to have only one pistol, under his arm, although the pistol he's had at his waist is never mentioned again. That Cavern of Lost Wisdom seems so easy to come across that it's impossible for the reader to believe that it has been undiscovered for thousands of years. Merritt is also guilty of occasional fuzzy writing in "Face" (such as when he refers to a "three foot parapet"; is that three feet high or three feet wide, or what?), and much of the geography of the incessant tunnel crawling that takes place in the book is hard to follow. But perhaps this is deliberate on Merritt's part. Not all of our questions are concretely answered by the novel's end, and Graydon's theorizing is apparently meant to suffice. But I suppose that this is all nitpicking. What "Face" ultimately does succeed at is in providing action-packed escapism, constant imagination and colorful wonders. What an incredible Hollywood blockbuster this would make! Anyway, as it is, this is yet another fine fantasy from Abraham Merritt.
On the down side, "The Face in the Abyss" does not feature as much of the wonderful purple prose that made earlier Merritt works such as "The Moon Pool" and "The Metal Monster" so special. This book seems to have been written more quickly and, in some places, almost carelessly. For example, in one scene, the moon is said to be rising from the west! In another, Graydon is said to have only one pistol, under his arm, although the pistol he's had at his waist is never mentioned again. That Cavern of Lost Wisdom seems so easy to come across that it's impossible for the reader to believe that it has been undiscovered for thousands of years. Merritt is also guilty of occasional fuzzy writing in "Face" (such as when he refers to a "three foot parapet"; is that three feet high or three feet wide, or what?), and much of the geography of the incessant tunnel crawling that takes place in the book is hard to follow. But perhaps this is deliberate on Merritt's part. Not all of our questions are concretely answered by the novel's end, and Graydon's theorizing is apparently meant to suffice. But I suppose that this is all nitpicking. What "Face" ultimately does succeed at is in providing action-packed escapism, constant imagination and colorful wonders. What an incredible Hollywood blockbuster this would make! Anyway, as it is, this is yet another fine fantasy from Abraham Merritt.
September 7, 2016
I was struck by the Lord of the Rings parallels: Nimir, the Lord of Evil, was imprisoned or otherwise diminished by powerful beings in some previous age. Those responsible have passed from the world, and Nimir now whispers from his imprisonment, a shadow of himself seeking corporeality, and is served by the corrupt and foolish as well as fallen beings of his own creation.
While obviously not human, Adana the Snake Mother considers herself a woman foremost, bearing what she claims are a woman's vanities and foibles. But Greydon, and through him Merritt, suggests that these traits are crude affectations and manipulations similar to those done by Nimir. At the denouement, her resolutions are ruthlessly efficient and inhumanly merciless despite whatever frailties she appeared subject to. Her earlier statements, about the rightness of genetic manipulation of humans, also suggest that the 'good' and 'evil' at play are at best relative, or that this conflict is less about morality and more about personal enmity or personal interests. Merritt--perhaps just his narrator--is more wrapped up in the romance and drama of events and never pulls this thread to its conclusion.
While obviously not human, Adana the Snake Mother considers herself a woman foremost, bearing what she claims are a woman's vanities and foibles. But Greydon, and through him Merritt, suggests that these traits are crude affectations and manipulations similar to those done by Nimir. At the denouement, her resolutions are ruthlessly efficient and inhumanly merciless despite whatever frailties she appeared subject to. Her earlier statements, about the rightness of genetic manipulation of humans, also suggest that the 'good' and 'evil' at play are at best relative, or that this conflict is less about morality and more about personal enmity or personal interests. Merritt--perhaps just his narrator--is more wrapped up in the romance and drama of events and never pulls this thread to its conclusion.
February 23, 2017
Intriguing and frustrating. I can see reading this why A. Merritt's work was so popular back in the day and why it fell into oblivion since then. Where Merritt really excels is creating weird, otherworldly impressions, not so much with the poorly paced, meandering large scale plot. (Which is maybe why I've enjoyed the short fiction I've read of his more.) His the characters are flat even by the standards of generic pulp adventure archetypes, including some not-great portrayals of Indians. But there's some wonderful, evocative moments like the first appearance of the Face, the hero's confrontation with the Lord of Evil in his cursed garden, and the Dream-Makers. And of course, there are dinosaurs, which improves any book.
December 10, 2017
A lost world fantasy, reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Arthur Conan Doyle (The Lost World), featuring dinosaur survivals in a remote area of Peru, cut off from contact with the outside world, but with an early genetic engineering vibe - a race who originated in the South Pole before a polar shift made that area uninhabitable have somehow banished death (while at the same time making it impossible to have children, in order to keep their numbers in check), and have manipulated others into particular physical types such as humanoid spiders called Weavers.
The protagonist stumbles upon this remnant of an advanced civilisation as part of an expedition looking for fabled riches. He falls out with the expedition leader when the latter assaults a young woman who originates from the hidden race. She later returns to lead them to the riches the other expedition members crave, though the protagonist cares only for her welfare, having instantly fallen in love with her. The riches then turn out to be a form of judgement. After that, the story takes a different turn as the hero becomes entangled with an imminent civil war between factions in the lost world, the apparent good guys being led by an apparent human-reptilian hybrid, the Snake Mother, who may be less human than she leads him to perceive.
The story concentrates on action, but flags in places, and has very little character development. The protagonist and his would-be girlfriend are particularly cardboard. The book has elements which later would become fantasy tropes such as a dark lord (it was published in 1931, apparently based on magazine stories dating from the 1920s). In some ways it better fits the label of science fantasy, as the various ray-weapons etc are, we're told by the Snake Mother, all products of the former civilisation of which she is the only direct member, and not magical. Obviously it cannot avoid being dated by today's viewpoints, though, to the author's credit, manages to avoid racism in relation to the Native Americans who form the labour force and are the spear carriers in the armies of the various factions. But it rather loses impetus by the end and fizzles out, and has rather too rambling a plotline to always hold interest, hence only 2 stars for me.
The protagonist stumbles upon this remnant of an advanced civilisation as part of an expedition looking for fabled riches. He falls out with the expedition leader when the latter assaults a young woman who originates from the hidden race. She later returns to lead them to the riches the other expedition members crave, though the protagonist cares only for her welfare, having instantly fallen in love with her. The riches then turn out to be a form of judgement. After that, the story takes a different turn as the hero becomes entangled with an imminent civil war between factions in the lost world, the apparent good guys being led by an apparent human-reptilian hybrid, the Snake Mother, who may be less human than she leads him to perceive.
The story concentrates on action, but flags in places, and has very little character development. The protagonist and his would-be girlfriend are particularly cardboard. The book has elements which later would become fantasy tropes such as a dark lord (it was published in 1931, apparently based on magazine stories dating from the 1920s). In some ways it better fits the label of science fantasy, as the various ray-weapons etc are, we're told by the Snake Mother, all products of the former civilisation of which she is the only direct member, and not magical. Obviously it cannot avoid being dated by today's viewpoints, though, to the author's credit, manages to avoid racism in relation to the Native Americans who form the labour force and are the spear carriers in the armies of the various factions. But it rather loses impetus by the end and fizzles out, and has rather too rambling a plotline to always hold interest, hence only 2 stars for me.
May 31, 2016
Completely over the top pulp adventure with dinosaurs and ray guns, force fields and genetic engineering, a Dark Lord and a Snake Goddess. This is great stuff, i'm not a big fan of pulps but this has a more descriptive style than most. Its sort of like half-way between Burroughs and H.P.Lovecraft.
In structure its a bit like the 'Chronicles of Riddick' in that it started out as a short story and years later the author expanded it into other crazyness. Unlike 'Pitch Black' however its the crazy over the top part of this which is really enjoyable. There is the usual princess and blank slate protagonist but some of the side characters have real personality which makes up for the card board cutout hero.
Also you might get a strong 'Lord of the Rings' vibe in places, i'm assuming thats coincidence and that Tolkien never read this but you never know :) .
The author throws absolutely every idea he can into this story, if you ever wanted to try a pulp this is the one to start with.
In structure its a bit like the 'Chronicles of Riddick' in that it started out as a short story and years later the author expanded it into other crazyness. Unlike 'Pitch Black' however its the crazy over the top part of this which is really enjoyable. There is the usual princess and blank slate protagonist but some of the side characters have real personality which makes up for the card board cutout hero.
Also you might get a strong 'Lord of the Rings' vibe in places, i'm assuming thats coincidence and that Tolkien never read this but you never know :) .
The author throws absolutely every idea he can into this story, if you ever wanted to try a pulp this is the one to start with.
April 8, 2019
This was another interesting and different tale for Merritt. It got very fantastical very quickly, and I really liked that, spider people, snake people. And I really liked that the snake queen wasn't evil!
September 3, 2013
These days I don't let myself pick up random books by authors I have heard talked about. I make sure that I know which books to look for first. But this has been on my shelf for a while, back from the time when I wasn't quite so meticulous and did pick up random books. And getting to the end of this reminded me why I revised by book acquisition strategy!
A lost world adventure story that mingles elements of science fiction with fantasy as the protagonist Graydon discovers a hidden valley in the Andes that hides humans of an ancient race that have conquered ageing as well as having created strange animal-human hybrids. He falls in love with a woman he meets there and becomes embroiled, and ultimately pivotal, in a conflict between two warring factions. Can he help stop an ancient evil from rising again or will he become its instrument?
While it did have its moments, it felt overall to have dated quite badly. It was often slow and plodding, peppered with antiquated ideas and simplistic philosophising, its characters were shallow and one dimensional. I didn't feel that the author did a good job of bringing this lost world to life, evoking a sense of wonder in the reader.
One day I will find a copy of The Moon Pool which is the book that most seem to cite as being his best work but until then, I won't pick up anything else I see by him.
A lost world adventure story that mingles elements of science fiction with fantasy as the protagonist Graydon discovers a hidden valley in the Andes that hides humans of an ancient race that have conquered ageing as well as having created strange animal-human hybrids. He falls in love with a woman he meets there and becomes embroiled, and ultimately pivotal, in a conflict between two warring factions. Can he help stop an ancient evil from rising again or will he become its instrument?
While it did have its moments, it felt overall to have dated quite badly. It was often slow and plodding, peppered with antiquated ideas and simplistic philosophising, its characters were shallow and one dimensional. I didn't feel that the author did a good job of bringing this lost world to life, evoking a sense of wonder in the reader.
One day I will find a copy of The Moon Pool which is the book that most seem to cite as being his best work but until then, I won't pick up anything else I see by him.
August 28, 2017
A cross between Indiana Jones and The Lost World maybe? Track this down.
February 16, 2016
Another book showcasing the incredible imagination and purple prose of perhaps the greatest of all the pulp writers of the 20s and 30s, Abraham Merritt, born in New Jersey in 1884. He passed away in Florida in 1943 at the age of 59. This one features some of Merritt's favorite themes--a lost civilization, a daring adventurer, a beautiful woman to be won, bizarre creatures, and an apocalyptic conflict between good and evil. "The Face in the Abyss" first appeared in the September 8, 1923 issue of Argosy-All-Story. Not my favorite of Merritt's work--I think his later "Dwellers in the Mirage" remains my favorite.
February 18, 2016
I couldn't finish this book. It had some imaginative ideas, with some inspiring scenes and settings. But reading it was laborious, with its "purple prose" and uninspired melodrama. I understand that many decades ago when the books was published, it may have been a sweeping adventure, and certainly it inspired other authors whose work I enjoy and admire, but I was not able to get into this book. Usually I'm a black hole for books, but I had to give this one up.
I did love the Rodney Matthews cover of this edition, which is awesome.
I did love the Rodney Matthews cover of this edition, which is awesome.
June 14, 2019
A Merritt had rather a simple way of writing stories: an American adventurer stumbles into a Lost World populated by a Lost Race and some sort of ancient Deity rules/stalks the place. He meets and falls madly in love with a local and then helps to sort out the problem. Merritt never varied this theme much in his novels, but he did ring the changes on the players. This version is particularly good, with some nice images and lots of rampaging dinosaurs to help out when things slow down. An enjoyable, if predictable, read.
December 27, 2019
Probably deserves a four-star but golden age SF and fantasy hasn't aged well. Again Merritt spends too much time describing surroundings and objects that still, at least to me, aren't clear in the reader's mind. But the overall setting was interesting and the plot moved well. Good old-time lost world SF&F.
November 26, 2009
Merritt wrote fun "lost world" type adventures of sort that H. Rider Haggard once wrote. You can easily imagine Indiana Jones staring in almost any of Merritt's novels. Merritt's books are largely forgotten now; there is not much long term memory in the world of adventure fiction.
April 5, 2020
Feels very much like Indiana Jones meets fantasy and scifi. Treasure hunters stumble into a lost world of dinosaurs and technology that is so advanced as to appear as magic.
June 12, 2025
"The Face in the Abyss" was my long-anticipated introduction to the writing of Abraham Merritt, a perhaps lesser-known figure today but a true powerhouse of early fantasy fiction. A contemporary of Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose work similarly defined early SF/fantasy (both began writing in the same decade), Merritt was so popular at the time that a fiction magazine, A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, was named in his honour shortly after his death.
This story falls into the "lost world" genre, following four adventurers — an honorable protagonist and three hardened thugs — seeking treasure in a remote mountain range. The situation quickly turns ugly when the protagonist, Graydon, intervenes to rescue a mysterious woman named Suarra from the worst of his companions, leading him and the others to turn against him. With Graydon now kept hostage as leverage against Suarra's people, their greed drives them onward as they force Suarra to lead them to a fantastical location isolated from the rest of the world, where she promises they will find more gold and gems than they can ever want. Unsurprisingly, they plan to dispose of Graydon once they've gotten what they want, and that includes both the treasure and Suarra. The way these men (aside from Graydon) betray each other reminds me of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, yet this story predates that novel by four years.
The narrative boasts an intriguing and imaginative setting with captivating environments, fascinating creatures and monsters (including nagas and driders), enigmatic hooded guardians hinting at non-human origins, and peculiar magical abilities. This is very much a kind of story I enjoy, and I'm impressed not only by Merritt's imaginative concepts but also by his writing style and the sincerity of the romantic elements. Also, unlike many lost world stories I've encountered, this one avoids the trope of the lost world's destruction or permanent isolation, and surprisingly, there's a sequel! My one minor critique is the late-story attempt by the characters to rationalise some of these fantastical elements through science, which felt unnecessary and unwelcome, even though they reached no definitive conclusions. I'm definitely eager to read more of Merritt's work.
This story falls into the "lost world" genre, following four adventurers — an honorable protagonist and three hardened thugs — seeking treasure in a remote mountain range. The situation quickly turns ugly when the protagonist, Graydon, intervenes to rescue a mysterious woman named Suarra from the worst of his companions, leading him and the others to turn against him. With Graydon now kept hostage as leverage against Suarra's people, their greed drives them onward as they force Suarra to lead them to a fantastical location isolated from the rest of the world, where she promises they will find more gold and gems than they can ever want. Unsurprisingly, they plan to dispose of Graydon once they've gotten what they want, and that includes both the treasure and Suarra. The way these men (aside from Graydon) betray each other reminds me of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, yet this story predates that novel by four years.
The narrative boasts an intriguing and imaginative setting with captivating environments, fascinating creatures and monsters (including nagas and driders), enigmatic hooded guardians hinting at non-human origins, and peculiar magical abilities. This is very much a kind of story I enjoy, and I'm impressed not only by Merritt's imaginative concepts but also by his writing style and the sincerity of the romantic elements. Also, unlike many lost world stories I've encountered, this one avoids the trope of the lost world's destruction or permanent isolation, and surprisingly, there's a sequel! My one minor critique is the late-story attempt by the characters to rationalise some of these fantastical elements through science, which felt unnecessary and unwelcome, even though they reached no definitive conclusions. I'm definitely eager to read more of Merritt's work.
October 2, 2025
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Wealthy explorer Nicholas Graydon teams up with a rough trio to search for hidden treasure in the Andes. They find it, along with a beautiful maiden, her mysterious protector, and a handsome, forbidding face carved in a dark cavern.
Review
I read a fair number of A. Merritt books when I was young. They’re very much adventures in the Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard line, and I’m not sure why he’s not better remembered. They’re certainly of their time, but still enjoyable.
Despite that, I evidently don’t recall the stories as well as I thought. This one, in fact, turned out to be quite different from what I recall. For one thing, the titular face in the abyss that I remembered most strongly turns up mostly at the start and is far from the center of the story that I imagined.
There’s also the casual racism and sexism of the time – the beautiful damsel is to be protected, the Indians are mostly disregarded, and genocide of another race is a positive solution. That all sounds terrible, and it’s not great, but it’s mostly on the sidelines. The principal story is about heroism, nobility, loyalty, etc. – standard adventure fare. But there are some twists – the villains are handsome, the hero is ugly and often in need of rescue due to weakness, it’s a woman who holds most of the power and saves the day, and there’s no magic – just advanced science.
All in all, it’s an effective escapist adventure, if not quite the story I recalled.
Summary
Wealthy explorer Nicholas Graydon teams up with a rough trio to search for hidden treasure in the Andes. They find it, along with a beautiful maiden, her mysterious protector, and a handsome, forbidding face carved in a dark cavern.
Review
I read a fair number of A. Merritt books when I was young. They’re very much adventures in the Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard line, and I’m not sure why he’s not better remembered. They’re certainly of their time, but still enjoyable.
Despite that, I evidently don’t recall the stories as well as I thought. This one, in fact, turned out to be quite different from what I recall. For one thing, the titular face in the abyss that I remembered most strongly turns up mostly at the start and is far from the center of the story that I imagined.
There’s also the casual racism and sexism of the time – the beautiful damsel is to be protected, the Indians are mostly disregarded, and genocide of another race is a positive solution. That all sounds terrible, and it’s not great, but it’s mostly on the sidelines. The principal story is about heroism, nobility, loyalty, etc. – standard adventure fare. But there are some twists – the villains are handsome, the hero is ugly and often in need of rescue due to weakness, it’s a woman who holds most of the power and saves the day, and there’s no magic – just advanced science.
All in all, it’s an effective escapist adventure, if not quite the story I recalled.
May 8, 2018
If the pulp magazine thrills of Doc Savage or The Shadow set your heart racing a bit faster, this book has more creative elements and larger spectacle than is usually found in them. It is a fun adventurous diversion. If you can’t imagine why anyone would waste their time on such things, then you’d best steer clear of this one.
In a much more extensive tale of the type that would have been found in “Amazing Stories,” an American adventurer is waylaid by a trio of unscrupulous treasure-seekers. Their trek leads them to a lost civilization with uses of science so startling that it seems like magic. Of course, that could have something to do with the Dr. Moreau-ish human / creature hybrids that inhabit a land filled with strikingly beautiful people.
Like most of Merritt’s work, THE FACE IN THE ABYSS would have made an extremely entertaining cinematic pot-boiler for the Indiana Jones fans. There are long sections of traveling descriptions that seek to dazzle by lingering over the sights being seen. I kept wishing for those longer chapters to end so that I could return to the adventure.
The ending is as spectacular as anything I’ve read in a John Carter tale (and with characters that would have seemed right at home there). However, the John Carter tales frequently had some social commentary interwoven into the narratives that made them more memorable. This one did not.
If you are in the mood for a nostalgic fantasy adventure, you should take a look at THE FACE IN THE ABYSS.
In a much more extensive tale of the type that would have been found in “Amazing Stories,” an American adventurer is waylaid by a trio of unscrupulous treasure-seekers. Their trek leads them to a lost civilization with uses of science so startling that it seems like magic. Of course, that could have something to do with the Dr. Moreau-ish human / creature hybrids that inhabit a land filled with strikingly beautiful people.
Like most of Merritt’s work, THE FACE IN THE ABYSS would have made an extremely entertaining cinematic pot-boiler for the Indiana Jones fans. There are long sections of traveling descriptions that seek to dazzle by lingering over the sights being seen. I kept wishing for those longer chapters to end so that I could return to the adventure.
The ending is as spectacular as anything I’ve read in a John Carter tale (and with characters that would have seemed right at home there). However, the John Carter tales frequently had some social commentary interwoven into the narratives that made them more memorable. This one did not.
If you are in the mood for a nostalgic fantasy adventure, you should take a look at THE FACE IN THE ABYSS.
October 23, 2017
An interesting foray in the weird pulp fiction of the 20's-30's with inspired, strange descriptions albeit simple characters, "The Face in the Abyss" was actually the joining of two tales, and it is quite noticeable.
The main male character Nicholas Graydon does not change very much in any of the tales, although the main female character Suarra goes from an eerie, with a hint of a menacing presence to a mere supporting character that is there for motivates the actions of hero, her importance in the narrative taken by a more interesting female, but inhuman character.
It is worthy of note that the best characters in the book are not human and they don't act as humans for the most time and the moments in which they do are shown in contrast with their usual behavior.
There is an insistent effort by the author to provide scientific explanations to the weirdest moments (for the Science of the period). This, rather that being welcomed, results in over exposition because most of the time is not really needed and through the book prevails a haunted atmosphere that collides with such explanations. One could even argue that the Shadow of Nimir appears as a precursor to the Dark Lord Sauron from "Lord of the Rings", which was written decades after.
Taking it as a whole, it is a very enjoyable reading with several shortcomings which don't invalidate the work.
The main male character Nicholas Graydon does not change very much in any of the tales, although the main female character Suarra goes from an eerie, with a hint of a menacing presence to a mere supporting character that is there for motivates the actions of hero, her importance in the narrative taken by a more interesting female, but inhuman character.
It is worthy of note that the best characters in the book are not human and they don't act as humans for the most time and the moments in which they do are shown in contrast with their usual behavior.
There is an insistent effort by the author to provide scientific explanations to the weirdest moments (for the Science of the period). This, rather that being welcomed, results in over exposition because most of the time is not really needed and through the book prevails a haunted atmosphere that collides with such explanations. One could even argue that the Shadow of Nimir appears as a precursor to the Dark Lord Sauron from "Lord of the Rings", which was written decades after.
Taking it as a whole, it is a very enjoyable reading with several shortcomings which don't invalidate the work.
January 26, 2019
The first quarter of this novel is a readable adventure story: a group of men come together to explore the South American jungle in search of riches. There is even some decent character development and nice imagery. Then . . . things completely fall apart. It becomes science fiction/fantasy. It becomes monotonous, with long passages constantly describing rays, mists, caverns, crypts, passageways, pools, flashes, and other vague terms applicable to the hidden world of spidermen, tame dinosaurs, lizard people, snake goddesses, and dark lords. Oh, yea. There is a big battle at the end. You'll never guess who wins.
There is also the matter of the writing. As with the storyline, it's a tale of two stories. The first quarter of the book is acceptable. But the sf/fantasy is messy. Its prose is tortured. Word choices become repetitive. And even the simple syntax is clumsy and confusing. It's simply bad writing.
There is also the matter of the writing. As with the storyline, it's a tale of two stories. The first quarter of the book is acceptable. But the sf/fantasy is messy. Its prose is tortured. Word choices become repetitive. And even the simple syntax is clumsy and confusing. It's simply bad writing.
January 21, 2023
A mostly enjoyable, if uneven, romp. Worth the price of admission for three or four absolutely batshit crazy scenes that wouldn't be out of place on the side of a panel-van. And if you're an old-school D&D player it's fun to spot those things that Gary Gygax latched onto - lizard people, serpent women, labyrinthine caverns stocked with weird treasures and traps. Merrit's love of the old "lost white race with Native American underlings" trope is on the nose, of course, but if you can look past that, you'll enjoy the sheer verve of his writing and his imaginative power.
November 16, 2011
I think I'm spoiled by more contemporary Sci-fi, because I felt like this dragged on a bit. I think it would also be better to read when I was less sleep deprived, and could really focus on visualizing the things he was describing instead of having to re-read the same paragraphs over and over in order to make them sink in.
September 3, 2018
This one is a SciFi/Fantasy/Adventure story all rolled into one. Nicholas Graydon is in South America searching for lost Inca treasure, meets Suarra who is the handmaiden of the Snake Mother and who leads him to an abyss where Nimir the lord of evil is imprisoned in a face of gold. The tale takes off from there.
January 6, 2015
Solid and classic
A solid sci-fi/adventure tale from a time when lost worlds, good and evil faced off, and the hero tested on many fronts was the sought after story to experience. I enjoyed this for the rich prose and learned a lot from the choices of words employed throughout it.
A solid sci-fi/adventure tale from a time when lost worlds, good and evil faced off, and the hero tested on many fronts was the sought after story to experience. I enjoyed this for the rich prose and learned a lot from the choices of words employed throughout it.
February 24, 2008
A. Merritt wrote classic fantasy novels
August 28, 2013
The first few chapters can be kind of a slog, but stick with it, it's worth it.
February 15, 2016
Another good novel by this pulp era Writer. Recommended
July 10, 2016
I just find his stuff really hard to get through. There's interesting ideas in there, just not for me.
February 15, 2020
An epic, evocative, adventure-filled journey of weird science fantasy. There is a strange repetitive back-and-forth feel to the last third of the novel, but it still delivers.
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