Thyra - Bennet, Robert Ames

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Résumé :
Review by Darius M. Klein: A Classic of the Genre is how Jessica Salmonsen has described this work. Robert Ames Bennet was primarily a writer of Westerns, but also wrote two Lost Race romances, one of which is Thyra: A Romance of the Polar Pit. The plot concerns a group of explorers who fly in a balloon to the North Pole, where they discover, via an opening, that the earth is indeed hollow. Once inside the earth they encounter Viking and Neanderthal communities, along with survivals of Mesozoic megafauna. Thyra manages to intertwine the Utopian Lost Race and Lost World subgenres into a single, action-packed plot which never meanders or digresses. The first Viking community upon which the heroes stumble after they enter the bowels of the Earth (and where they find the eponymous heroine) is an unlikely Christian-Socialist Utopia. As they penetrate further into the Earth's interior, they encounter those Vikings who have given themselves over to idolatry and human sacrifice, along with a community of stereotypically aggressive and bestial Neanderthals. At the novel's climax, they have a perilous close encounter with some demonic prehistoric reptiles in the Hela Pool (a particularly well-written scene). The copy of this work which I obtained is a photocopy of the microfilm of the original 1901 edition, which has delightfully quaint illustrations; I don't know if they have been reproduced in the Lost Race and Adult Fantasy Fiction series' edition. Mr. Bennet's other Lost Race Romance, The Bowl of Baal, also combines Lost Race and Lost World motifs, and is recommended here. Of the two, however, Thyra is the better.

Sommaire:
Robert Ames Bennet was an American writer born on February 3, 1870, in Denver, Colorado. He gained recognition for his works in the genres of westerns and science fiction. Early in his career, Bennet wrote short stories, drama scripts, and novels across various genres, sometimes using the pen name Lee Robinet. His writing often explored themes of adventure, survival, and the human condition. Throughout his career, Bennet's work appealed to a wide range of readers, particularly those interested in thrilling and imaginative tales. Although his later works leaned towards science fiction and westerns, he had a diverse literary output, contributing to a variety of magazines and periodicals. Bennet was the son of Hiram Pitt Bennet, and his life spanned a period of great change in the literary world. He continued writing well into his later years, becoming a respected figure in his field. Bennet passed away on March 11, 1954, at the age of 84, leaving behind a legacy of adventurous and thought-provoking fiction....