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ATLANTIS This web page is about Heroic Fiction set in Atlantis, Lyonesse, and the like. It will be expanded as the fancy strikes me. It also includes other 'lost civilization' subjects.	Vanished Islands There is something appealing about the idea of the great island civilization sinking without trace beneath the sea. It is often due to their hubris and pride, having angered the gods or meddled in arcane science or magic, that they deserve this, but in retrospect they are regarded as 'golden age' people with great wisdom. The original Atlantis, which is mentioned by Plato, might have been the island Santorini in the Mediterranean, which blew up 'real good' in a massive volcanic explosion a few thousand years ago -- there could have been a Cretan presence there, perhaps an academy of soothsayers and philosophers, hence the legends.
Examples Rider Haggard Jack Vance Poul Anderson Stephen Lawhead Harry Harrison	Lyonesse was the Celtic equivalent of Atlantis, and may have been based on what happened (and is still happening) to the Isles of Scilly off Cornwall. That was once one big island but it has gradually subsided into the sea, so the central lowland area is now a sea lake. Who knows what 'civilization' might have existed there 3000 years ago? There are stone circles and burial menhirs and signs of that sort. Hy-Brasil is, of course, the Isle of the Blessed or whatever, where the elves, ancient races who have disappeared, and Celtic hero/gods went when there was no longer any place for them in the contemporary world.
Home Page	Sideline: Here are some other imaginary islands Farnish Almondsey

Book List

• Poul Anderson: The King of Ys. A massive undertaking by the famous science-fiction/fantasy author and his wife Karen about the Roman British Centurion Gratillonius (Gradlon) who becomes King of the incredible lost city of Ys in Brittany, his wayward daughter Dahut, and the revenge of the Irish Niall of the Nine Hostages; hubris and vengeful gods, historical and mythical characters mixed, Celts and Rome -- this has everything. Wonderful.
• Lin Carter (ed.): The Magic of Atlantis. Nice small anthology of stories by Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, etc.
• Ignatius Donnelly: Atlantis. The classic 'history' written at the turn of the century, when spiritualism was at its height.
• Rider Haggard: When the Earth Shook. A ripping yarn.
• Stephen Lawhead: The Pendragon Cycle -- Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur. Very interesting merger of the Atlantis and King Arthur legends.
• Harry Harrison (and Leon Stover): Stonehenge. A violent novel about the building of Stonehenge, the idea being that it was designed by a survivor of the fall of Atlantis (a Mycenaen prince, the Atlanteans being the villains) and an Egyptian architect. But this is the Thera/Santorini Theory, not the mythical Atlantis continent out in the Atlantic, but the Bronze-Age civilization on an island north of Crete that blew up about 1500 BC (which is actually rather convincing as the basis of the Atlantis legend, archeologically and historically). The bonus is that the hero Ason's son, from a British princess, is Atreus, and he's the guy that founded the House of all the Greek tragedy, starting with the Trojan War.
• Michael Moorcock: Melnibone. This is SF/Fantasy, but is nominally set in an Atlantean-type environment that includes elves; the earlier books in the series are marvellous. [Many of the Elric series and others take place in Hy-Brasil]
• Jack Vance: The Lyonesse Trilogy -- Lyonesse, The Green Pearl, Madouc. Vintage Vance, witty and imaginative.
• Joseph O'Neill: Land Under England. Uninspired title, but this is one of the most harrowing 'Lost World' tales ever written. A roman à clef in a sense about totalitarianism (it was published in 1935), the premise is a lost Roman legion and their camp followers who disappeared near Hadrian's Wall into a huge cave system in the Dark Ages and lived there ever since, going blind like cavern fish but developing telepathy and mind control as a compensation. Their society is one of the most horrendous one can conceive of -- a very painful and thought-provoking book to read, but at the same time a nice adventure.
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