The Moon Pool

The Moon Pool is a fantasy novel by Abraham Merritt (1884–1943). It originally appeared as two short stories in All-Story Weekly: "The Moon Pool" (1918) and its sequel, "Conquest of the Moon Pool" (1919). These were then reworked into a novel released in 1919. The protagonist, Dr. Goodwin, would later appear in Merritt's second novel The Metal Monster (1920). The plot concerns an advanced race which has developed within the Earth's core. Eventually their most intelligent members breed a creature. This created entity encompasses both great good and great evil, but it slowly turns away from its creators and towards evil. The entity is called either the Dweller or the Shining One. Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884–August 21, 1943) — known by his byline, A. Merritt — was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction.