Claimed! was esteemed by none other than H.P. Lovecraft himself for its "amazing and thrilling scenes." Sadly, he was correct to say that this novella "would have been praised to the skies" had it been written by another author. Francis Stevens was actually the pen name for Gertrude Barrows Bennet, one of the first women to break into speculative fiction. As with Lovecraft and his cosmic horror, she is even credited with developing a whole new genre: that of dark fantasy. This did not save her from lapsing into obscurity, however, and she remains largely unread even today.

Claimed! really is an impressively original story. Most of the summaries make it sound like basic pulp, with its premise of a dashing hero trying to save a beautiful woman from being kidnapped by Poseidon. In fact, the familiar name is barely used and the god is presented instead as an unimaginably ancient force of nature embodied by the sea itself, an elemental power almost beyond human comprehension. It is an existential threat, not the menace of a mere singular villain. In this way Bennet's Poseidon has more in common with Lovecraft's Eldritch Abominations (complete with requisite cultists) than anything from Greek mythology. Definitely check this book out if you enjoy early Weird Fiction from the master's own era.