Roy Norton's The Glyphs

The Glyphs is a lost civilisation novel by Roy Norton which was originally published in The Popular Magazine in 1919.

Roy Norton (1869-1942) was an American newspaperman who wrote a lot of westerns and a handful of science-fiction novels.

A moderately honest American big game hunter, explorer and adventurer named Hallewell encounters an eccentric and definitely not very honest Italian archaeologist. Dr Morgano has made a thrilling discovery - it is a key which will allow him to decipher ancient inscriptions in the Mayan tongue. He wants Hallewell to led an expedition to Guatemala so that Dr Morgana can get cracking on reading those inscriptions. Halelwell is not interested until Dr Morgano mentions the possibility of long-lost treasure.

A huge eccentric English explorer and hunter named Wardrop is persuaded to join the expedition, and pay the bills.

Dr Morgano might have flexible ethics in many respects but he really is a great archaeologist.

Accompanied by a guide who is a descendant of the Mayans they set off into the jungle of Guatemala.

They find an ancient road which will take them to a lost city but the road ends at a chasm. The Mayans destroyed the bridge centuries before. Hallewell does find a cave. Perhaps there is another way to reach the city.

This is a jungle adventure in which the most dangerous foe is the jungle itself. It’s a green hell. There is no action. There are no encounters with hostile tribesmen. There are no battles. 

There is however plenty of danger and excitement. An explorer who takes one wrong step could be entombed in a mountain forever. A mistake with a rope could lead to a deadly plunge into an almost bottomless chasm. There are venomous snakes and other nasty crawly things.

This is an epic of survival and endurance.

It’s also a tale that focuses on the motivations of the explorers. Hallewell, Wardrop and Dr Morgano are far from perfect but there’s a certain core decency in all three men. Morgano is genuinely driven by intellectual curiosity. Wardrop is driven by a taste for adventure but he is to some extent at least infected by Morgano’s enthusiasm for knowledge. Hallewell hopes for treasure but he can’t help being excited by the idea of being associated with what might be the scientific discovery of the decade. The Mayan guide hopes to revive his people’s past glory.

Respect and admiration has grown up between all four men. They don’t always agree but treachery is just not in their makeup.

They do reach a lost city and what they find there is not quite what they expected. Perhaps they have discovered as much about themselves as about the ancient Mayans.

This is a well-written novel that offers entertainment and excitement without relying on action clichés. Highly recommended. Norton is an author worthy of rediscovery.

The Glyphs has been reissued by Armchair Fiction in their marvellous Lost Worlds series.

I’ve also reviewed Roy Norton’s 1909 lost civilisation novel The Land of the Lost, and it’s pretty good also. Also reissued by Armchair Fiction.