The inventive power which we commonly think of as Smollett's was the ability to work over his own experience into realistic fiction.

Of this, Ferdinand Count Fathom shows comparatively little.

It shows relatively little, too, of Smollett's vigorous personality, which in his earlier works was present to give life and interest to almost every chapter, were it to describe a street brawl, a ludicrous situation, a whimsical character, or with venomous prejudice to gibbet some enemy.

This individuality--the peculiar spirit of the author which can be felt rather than described--is present in the dedication of Fathom to Doctor ------, who is no other than Smollett himself, and a candid revelation of his character, by the way, this dedication contains.
It is present, too, in the opening chapters, which show, likewise, in the picture of Fathom's mother, something of the author's peculiar "talent for invention." Subsequently, however, there is no denying that the Smollett invention and the Smollett spirit both flag.

And yet, in a way, Fathom displays more invention than any of the author's novels; it is based far less than any other on personal experience.