Fire in The Abyss

Fire in the Abyss is a science fiction novel by Stuart Gordon, pen name of Richard Gordon, (1983), having as its main character the Elizabethan adventurer Humphrey Gilbert, an actual historical figure, as a time traveler.

The first section of the book is set in England and spans Gilbert’s youth to his fateful voyage to North America. These chapters are well researched and blend historical fact and fictitious events and individuals. Numerous, as well as humorous, notable individuals from 16th century England populate this section, including Nick Udall, headmaster of Eton College, and Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister who was beheaded. The arrogant and occasionally brutal Gilbert works his way up the social ladder of England’s hierarchical society until he secures the financial and political backing to launch two expeditions to North America, both of which are ultimate failures, the later a deadly disaster.

The last which recorded history knows of Gilbert is that he and his ship the "Squirrel", were lost in a severe storm off Newfoundland in 1583. Since nobody ever saw or heard of him or his ship again, it is generally assumed that the ship went down with all hands, Gilbert included. Gordon's book, however, assumes that Gilbert did not drown but was transported through time to the 20th century, by a secret project of the United States Navy.