Face in the Abyss

Face in the Abyss by Abraham Merritt is a fantasy book, first published in a 1923 edition of American pulp magazine, Argosy All-Story Weekly. The story tells of the lost world of Yu-Atlanchi with it's strange array of creatures such as dinosaurs, frog-women, lizard-men, spider-men, and the deathless people. Mining engineer Nicholas Graydon and his colleagues are searching for lost treasure in South America when they happen upon a beautiful young woman. They learn that she is called Suarra, and that she is a servant of the Snake Mother of Yu-Atlanchi. The men arrive as civil war is breaking out in the lost world, with the followers of the Snake Mother warring with the followers of the evil Nimir who is currently imprisoned in a rock in an abyss. Whilst Graydon's companions are punished for their greed, Graydon is not, and the story follows his adventures as he joins with Suarra and the Snake Mother in their fight against Nimir.



As a writer Merritt influenced such luminaries as H. P. Lovecraft, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999.