The Ship of Ishtar: 100 Years of a An Influential Fantasy Masterpiece
A Guest Post by John Bullard, with assistance from Deuce Richardson.
If you have never read, or heard of A. Merritt’s The Ship of Ishtar, then you are in luck. On the centennial anniversary of its first publication, November 8, a new, definitive printing of it by DMR books will be available to buy in paperback or digital form (Centennial Edition of A. Merritt’s Ship of Ishtar Coming in November — DMR Books ).
Merritt was one of the founding fathers in America during the 1910’s and 20’s of fantasy literature. He was incredibly popular and successful, so much so that after his death, a pulp magazine was named after him: A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine.
The Ship of Ishtar is considered to be Merritt’s greatest fantasy work. The story concerns the adventures of an American, John Kenton, who is a member of the Lost Generation after surviving World War I.
He funded the archaeological dig of Forsyth, an archaeologist friend of his doing an excavation in Iraq on Mesopotamian and Babylonian sites. Kenton was unable to go on the dig as America entered the War and he patriotically joined the army instead.
After being wounded and sent home, Kenton is aimless and restless until Forsyth sends him a block of stone from the dig to examine. As Kenton is inspecting the stone, he strikes it with his hand in frustration, and breaks the stone open to reveal a magnificent ship model that appears to come alive before his eyes. Magically he is transported to the ship and becomes embroiled in the never-ending battle between the Sumerian deities, Ishtar and Nergal as embodied in the two forces occupying the ship.
The side of Ishtar is led by one of her priestesses, the beautiful Sharane, while Nergal’s group is commanded by his priest, Klaneth. The ship is divided in the middle with Ishtar’s bow side a brilliant white ivory and Nergal’s stern side a dark black. The amidship is a magical boundary which neither side can cross except when their two leaders see each other and can physically attack each other, being the only two that can make contact at that time.
The battle started when the high priests of Ishtar and Nergal, Zarpanit and Alusar, fell in love, in violation of their respective god’s wishes, and were condemned to live in a timeless, pocket universe on the ship with their assistant priests, Sharane and Klaneth, and some followers, on an endless voyage where whenever the two lovers saw each other on the ship, they would become possessed by Ishtar and Nergal and attack each other until the priests’ love for each other is replaced by sheer hatred and revulsion.
Zarpanit and Alusar eventually died, only to have their places taken over by Sharane and Klaneth. Kenton, not being a member of either religion, and a man from the modern world, has the ability to cross through the barrier on the ship, and each side tries to use him to win the battle.
Of course, Kenton falls madly in love with Sharane the moment he sees her, and only wants to help her. Merritt then sends Kenton on a path from a galley slave on the ship gaining allies, to a leader, in Kenton’s quest to end the war, with all the resulting violent fights in his hero’s journey to succeed and win the love of Sharane.
The Ship of Ishtar was a massive success and ruled the American Fantasy market for decades. Merritt had an enormous impact on many writers. H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, E.E. “Doc” Smith, Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett and Michael Moorcock were and are huge fans. Robert E. Howard also liked Merritt’s work, and one can see the probable inspiration and influence this book had on Howard’s famous Conan story, “The Queen of the Black Coast”.
So, if you’re interested in reading The Ship of Ishtar, please take a look at the DMR book’s forthcoming edition. As Dave Ritzlin says in his announcement, the book will have Merritt’s preferred version of the text, all of the illustrations Virgil Finlay did for the first two times the book was published in pulps, and other items from A. Merritt’s estate in it.
Abraham Merritt definitely needs to be re-examined by all lovers of fantasy if you haven’t read any of his stuff. So if you have never read The Ship of Ishtar, or it’s been years since you read it, get a copy of it at DMR books ( https://dmrbooks.com/ ) starting November 8th, and start enjoying a forgotten master’s work again.
