"The Great White Space"

by Basil Copper
originally published Valancourt Books, 1974

I must say I am indebted to Jeffrey Scott Sim's writings on The Great White Space, for, among other things, saving me from re-reading it.  However, in all seriousness, I direct readers to Mr. Sim's page and his essay on the novel, which can be found here. 

Let's start with the synopsis, which I have stolen verbatim from Mr. Sim's site (without his permission):

Set in 1933, the story is presented as an account by Frederick Plowright decades later. He harks back to his days as a commercial photographer, an adventursome fellow prone to working in strange places under strange conditions (the title of his motion picture documentary: To the Ends of the Earth) who, as a result of his professional and personal reputation is called upon by an American scholar to take part in his most daring yet expedition. Secretive Professor Clark Ashton Scarsdale offers him "the adventure of a lifetime".

What Scarsdale proposes is a journey to a remote region-- its whereabouts cloaked under the misleading designation, the Great Northern Expedition, intended to confuse outsiders-- where lies the vaguely described Great White Space, which he suspects is the focus of weird cosmic events impinging upon our world and possibly threatening it. The previous year Scarsdale attempted the trip with inadequate means, failed to gain his ends, now means to do it right. Scarsdale's scientific team, gathered for training and preparation at a rented English estate, include his respected rival Van Damm, along with colleagues Prescott and Holden. These five men, when ready, will venture around the world, delving into ancient lands and wilderness, eventually reaching and exploring a series of mysterious caverns.

This they do. Incredibly well equipped by the standards of 1933, they travel in remarkable tank-like tractor vehicles to the lovely archaic city of Zak, where they pick up as guide the dwarf Zalor, an unpleasant fellow obviously up to no good. Following a long motorized trek across country to the lesser village of Nylstrom-- at the edge of what passes for civilization in those parts-- Zalor attempts to sabotage the expedition, is forestalled but escapes. The team of five continues on into the bleak Plain of Darkness, concerned by disquieting portents associated with Zalor and his unfathomable hostility.
Arriving at the towering Black Mountains, the expedition spends days driving into fearsomely difficult country, until at last they attain their immediate goal, the astonishing gateway to the caverns, an opening 500 feet high carved by unknown builders in eras lost to history. A menacing inscription in stone, translated by Scarsdale, bodes ill for their safety. Nevertheless they proceed, in two of their inexhaustible, battery-powered vehicles, into the underground world of perpetual darkness.

They travel for dozens of miles along an obviously artificial corridor, with numerous creepy openings in the walls. During this run they make a frightful discovery, coming upon the dead body of Zalor, in such condition that Holden suffers distress akin to temporary insanity, and is never quite himself again. This grim puzzle perplexes: how did Zalor get ahead of them, and what reduced him to that hideously violated corpse? After this Plowright seldom questions the large amount of armaments the professor insisted on carrying.

In time they come to the limits of Scarsdale's earlier exploration, exiting from the tunnel into a vast cavern chamber, really a subterranean world, illuminated by dim phosphorescence. A sullen lake bars the way, but Scarsdale has come equipped with rubber rafts. Abandoning the vehicles, the team paddle across with all the gear they can haul. As they cross they first hear the sound of a distant pulsation, a curious and disturbing sound ever afterward with them. Having crossed, the spookiness of the novel intensifies, the weirdness mounting spectacularly.

On the far shore they quickly confront another vast portal like that at the entrance to the caverns, and beyond it, up a long flight of huge steps designed for feet other than human, they enter a cyclopean hall lined with big jars. Opening one, they're sickened and fascinated by the loathsome, insectoid corpse that pours out. Investigation reveals that other jars are similarly occupied.

Leaving what they term the "embalming gallery", they trek on to an ancient city of cubic stone, perfectly preserved but utterly abandoned. This awesome place is known to Scarsdale and Van Damm from their arcane studies, being the legendary city of Croth. Everything about it is weird, including the obvious implication that it was never a human habitation.

From this point the aspect of menace looms large. While most of the group investigates beyond the city, Holden, left behind to guard the camp, experiences a ghastly adventure on his own. Something creeps through the city toward him; he catches a glimpse of it; the brain-stunning sight causes him to let loose with his machine gun. His comrades rush to his aid, but by then the apparition has vanished, albeit leaving behind a slimy, stinking trail. The expedition carries on, making for the spooky pulsating sound, smothered in fear.
They enter a new tunnel, advancing again in pitch darkness past a maze of side passages, until the pulsation mounts to a mighty throbbing, and a strange light once more pervades the gloom. There Holden unexplainably collapses. With Van Damm left to care for him, the remaining trio approach with consternation and awe the region which is no less than the fabled Great White Space.

I will not go into the details here of the extended climax. They do reach the Great White Space, and what they find there, and the horrors lying in wait for them, make for grand terror and excitement.

I read The Great White Space about 8 years ago.  Sims, I have to say, likes it a lot more than me.  Frankly, the summary above covers, as I recall, about 95% of the novel.  The "grand terror and excitement" takes up little more than a few pages at the end.  In other words, there's a lot of sizzle, but not much steak here.  I was frankly getting bored by the end, and found the book a letdown.