The Lost Level

I am not going to lie. I loved this book. It is fast-paced but intriguing. Once I got started, I could stop. Due to IRL time constraints, it took two weeks to finish, but I will be honest it I did not have other responsibilities, I could have seen myself finishing this in one sitting. Is it groundbreaking? No. But it sure is good. Like Keene's other titles, I love the multi-dimensional universes or “levels”. Also the member-berries are great!

NOTE: I was sent an electronic ARC of this book and asked to write a review once I had finished it.

The Lost Level fits firmly into the pulp adventure genre, with the main character, Aaron Pace being an occultist who finds himself trapped in a parallel dimension of sorts (the titular Lost Level) that's home to a range of oddities from snake men and dinosaurs to lost socks and Nazi flying saucers.

There's a native warrior woman who does a lot to avoid the classic “damsel in distress” tropes that exist in other stories from the genre, she and a humanoid cat called ‘Bloop' (well, that's all the character says, so it's assumed to be a name) join Aaron and act as important conduits for information about the strange land they occupy - both for Aaron and for the reader.

The story is told as purely from Aaron's point of view and covers his first few adventures in the Lost Level. It's written as if an extended journal that Aaron is writing after a while spent in the Lost Level, so makes reference to topics that will probably feature heavily in future books.

On the whole, this is an enjoyable romp of an adventure that while not a classic, but it certainly makes for easy and entertaining reading. If you enjoy the works of Burroughs or Wells than you will probably find something to enjoy in The Lost Level.