Rick Robinson and Drongo urged me to review A. Merritt’s classic The Ship of Ishtar so here it goes. I read this book back in the 1960s. Now with Planet Stories’ new edition being published, it was great to reread this mind-bending fantasy. The first fact you need to know is that The Ship of Ishtar was first published in 1924. Literary fashions change over 86 years. In The Ship of Ishtar the reader needs to adjust to florid descriptions like “His eyes dwelt upon her sweetly amorous, scarlet mouth, the tiny chalice for kisses at her throat.” (p. 62) The glamorous redhead on the book’s cover is Sharane, the avatar of Ishtar (Mother of the Gods and Men). Opposing her on the Ship of Ishtar is the evil Klaneth, avatar of Nergal (God of Death). Into this fantastic brew lands John Kenton, an archeologist recovering from injuries sustained during World War I. Kenton’s adventures aboard the Ship and his frequent journeys back to his mansion in 1924 make for a choppy narrative. But stay with the story for the dramatic rescue in the Temple of the Seven Zones. If you enjoy High Adventure in the mode of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Otis Adelbert Kline, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard then you’ll enjoy The Ship of Ishtar. Eric Mona and the staff at Planet Stories have put together a great package: the most complete edition of this novel in 60 years including Virgil Finlay’s legendary erotic artwork. This book should be in your personal library.
I’m just beginning to enjoy the work of Robert E. Howard. Maybe a little later I will tackle this pulpy sounding adventure.
THE SHIP OF ISHTAR is certainly in that REH tradition, David.
I read this probably ten years before you did, in the middle ’50s, and I loved every purple paragraph. In fact, I went through a lot of Merritt books at about the same time and loved them all.
I did the same thing, Bill. I started reading one A. Merritt book and went on to read them all in quick succession. The purple prose didn’t bother me back then.
I’m intrigued by that comment, “the most complete edition…” Were previous editions missing text? I have the Avon version from the 60s.
Just beginning REH, David. Dang, you have a world of adventure waiting for you.
George, thanks for this!
Always happy to oblige, Drongo!
Given the choice, I’d read Robert E. Howard before this one any day. As I said in my review, this is just a little too archaic and florid – to use your word, George – for my tastes. I probably would have liked it better if I’d read it in the 1950, like you and Bill.
There was also a longer, more in-depth review of the book over at the Black Gate website.
Robert E. Howard’s work has held up better over time than A. Merritt’s, Rick. No doubt about that. Yes, that florid language–what Bill Crider refers to as “purple prose”–isn’t as bothersome when you’re a teenager. For a contemporary reader, A. Merritt’s baroque writing style could be irksome.
I was warned away by Damon Knight and James Blish (as William Atheling, Jr.), inasmuch as I didn’t much care for purple prose as a kid, either…Merritt, for me, always was more important as an early influence on Jack Williamson and others.
A. Merritt certainly influenced a whole generation of writers, Todd. H. P. Lovecraft read Merritt’s works as did Clark Ashton Smith. THE SHIP OF ISHTAR is typical of a Roaring Twenties adventure novel. Sadly, those kinds of books are not in fashion in the 21st Century.
This sounds like just the kind of book that might be in fashion for me. Yours isn’t the first review I’ve read that warns of some of the issues with the narrative, but it still sounds like something I’d like to experience, and that cover image is so great that I want it just for that reason alone.