[1] Although Merritt did not invent the "lost world" novel—he followed in the footsteps of Bulwer-Lytton, Burroughs, Conan Doyle, and others—this work extended the tradition.

They have also been sentenced by the good among their race to remain in the world, and not to die, as punishment for their pride which was the source of the calamity called the Dweller, until such time as they destroy their creation—if they still can.

The Dweller is in the habit of rising to the surface of the earth and capturing men and women whom it holds in an unholy stasis and who, in some ways, feed it.

The book has been published a number of times: "The Moon Pool" has been collected in numerous general anthologies, including Volume 2 of The Road to Science Fiction (the 2002 edition by Scarecrow Press only) and Book 1 of The Ancient Mysteries Reader by Peter Haining.

Analog magazine considers The Moon Pool to be the author's "most celebrated novel".

[3] In particular, The Moon Pool is partly set on Nan Madol,[4] a location which would, some claim, later inspire Lovecraft's R'lyeh.

Beginning with The Moon Pool in 1919, he produced a series of novels about caverns, lost races, ancient ray machines, shell-shaped hovercraft, and other marvels.