The Ship of Ishtar is a fantasy novel by American writer A. Merritt. Originally published as a magazine serial in 1924, it has appeared in book form innumerable times.

The Ship of Ishtar is a fantasy novel by American writer A. Merritt. Originally published as a magazine serial in 1924, it has appeared in book form innumerable times.The Ship of Ishtar tells the story of Kenton, who receives a mysterious ancient Babylonian artifact, which he discovers contains an incredibly detailed model of a ship. A dizzy spell casts him onto the deck of the ship, which becomes a full-sized vessel sailing an eternal sea. At one end is Sharane the assistant priestess of Ishtar and her female minions, and at the other is Klaneth the assistant priest of Nergal and his male minions, representatives of two opposed deities. None of them can cross an invisible barrier at the midline of the ship, but Kenton can. His arrival destabilizes a situation that had been frozen for 6,000 years.

The Ship of Ishtar, a universally hailed classic of the fantasy novel by A. Merritt.

The Ship of Ishtar, a universally hailed classic of the fantasy novel by A. Merritt.

Abraham Merritt (January 20, 1884-August 21, 1943), who published under the byline A. Merritt, was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction.

The Ship of Ishtar, a universally hailed classic of the fantasy novel by A. Merritt.Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884-August 21, 1943) - known by his byline, A. Merritt - was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction. Merritt's writings were heavily influenced by H. Rider Haggard and Gertrude Barrows Bennett (writing as Francis Stevens), with Merritt having "emulated Bennett's earlier style and themes." Merritt's stories typically revolve around conventional pulp magazine themes: lost civilizations, hideous monsters, etc. His heroes are gallant Irishmen or Scandinavians, his villains treacherous Germans or Russians (in accordance with the politics of the time) and his heroines often virginal, mysterious and scantily clad. What sets Merritt apart from the typical pulp author, however, is his lush, florid prose style and his exhaustive, at times exhausting, penchant for adjective-laden detail. Merritt's fondness for micro-description nicely complements the pointillistic style of Bok's illustrations, and often serves to highlight and radicalize the inherent fetishistic tendencies of pulp Sci Fi.

John Kenton, WWI vet and archaeologist, gets a stone block from Babylon from a friend. Unbeknownst to both, the block contains the model of a golden ship. Soon, Kenton finds himself transported to the ship the model represents, sailing the seas of an alien world and taking part in the agless battle between two Babylonian gods, Ishtar and Nergal. Can he win over the priestess of Ishtar and free the ship from Nergal's influence?

The fantasy pioneer A. Merritt was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. Seminal classics such as ‘The Moon Pool’ and ‘The Metal Monster’ had a major influence on the development of science fiction and fantasy literature, primarily through Merritt’s genuine imaginative power, creating surreal, yet hypnotically attractive alternative worlds and realities. He was extremely popular during his life and considered by many as the supreme fantasy genius of his day. For the first time in publishing history, this eBook presents Merritt’s complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Merritt’s life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * All 8 novels, with individual contents tables * Includes the original ending of ‘Dwellers in the Mirage’, digitised here for the first time * Includes Merritt’s opening seven chapters of his unfinished novel; ‘The Black Wheel’, first time in digital print * Features rare short stories and poetry, appearing for the first time in digital publishing * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Includes Merritt’s articles * Also includes Merritt’s brief autobiography * Ordering of texts into chronological order and genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Novels The Moon Pool (1919) The Metal Monster (1920) The Ship of Ishtar (1924) Seven Footprints to Satan (1927) The Face in the Abyss (1931) Dwellers in the Mirage (1932) Burn, Witch, Burn! (1932) Creep, Shadow! (1934) The Black Wheel (1949) [only Merritt’s seven chapters; Bok’s continuation cannot appear due to copyright] The Shorter Fiction The Moon Pool - novelette version (1918) Conquest of the Moon (1919) Cosmos (1933) The Challenge from Beyond (1935) The Fox Woman and Other Stories (1949) Uncollected Short Stories The Poetry The Poetry of A. Merritt The Non-Fiction Miscellaneous Articles The Autobiography The Autobiography of A. Merritt Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles or to purchase this eBook as a Parts Edition of individual eBooks

The Ship of Ishtar by Abraham Merritt Notice: This Book is published by Historical Books Limited (www.publicdomain.org.uk) as a Public Domain Book, if you have any inquiries, requests or need any help you can just send an email to [email protected] This book is found as a public domain and free book based on various online catalogs, if you think there are any problems regard copyright issues please contact us immediately via [email protected]

The Ship of Ishtar, a universally hailed classic of the fantasy novel by A. Merritt.Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884-August 21, 1943) - known by his byline, A. Merritt - was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction. Merritt's writings were heavily influenced by H. Rider Haggard and Gertrude Barrows Bennett (writing as Francis Stevens), with Merritt having "emulated Bennett's earlier style and themes." Merritt's stories typically revolve around conventional pulp magazine themes: lost civilizations, hideous monsters, etc. His heroes are gallant Irishmen or Scandinavians, his villains treacherous Germans or Russians (in accordance with the politics of the time) and his heroines often virginal, mysterious and scantily clad. What sets Merritt apart from the typical pulp author, however, is his lush, florid prose style and his exhaustive, at times exhausting, penchant for adjective-laden detail. Merritt's fondness for micro-description nicely complements the pointillistic style of Bok's illustrations, and often serves to highlight and radicalize the inherent fetishistic tendencies of pulp Sci Fi.