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Masterworks of Adventure #3
Atlantis and Lemuria: The Ultimate Anthology: 24 Classic Tales
Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, but there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune the island disappeared in the depths of the sea." ~Plato, Timaeus & Critias
Atlantis tales were one of the most popular Lost World sub-genres of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You could argue that it's still the most popular Lost World sub-genre today. Plato's tale of a sunken world has spawned countless, books, films and TV shows. The survivors of that sunken continent appeared to have scattered to every corner of the globe, founding new civilizations on every continent, in isolated jungles, underground, or beneath the waves.
This Masterworks of Adventure anthology is a collection of 23 tales considered to be among the best and most influential works. We started with 333: A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel, by Crawford, Donahue and Grant (1953), which lists the best works published before 1950, then cross-referenced them with Science-fiction, the Early Years by Everett Franklin Bleiler and Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Lost Race Check Guide, the ultimate checklist for collectors. You'll find stories told in a variety of styles: adventure, dystopian, dark fantasy, philosophical adventure and pulp fiction. Some have been made available for Kindle for the very first time and are exclusive to ROH Press.
It didn't take long to discover that critics don't always agree. Will you like every tale in this collection? Maybe, maybe not. Tastes are personal. But there is a lot to choose from! A few tales of note: The Lost Continent by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne is considered by most to be the 'ultimate tale' of ancient Atlantis (Salmonson described it as 'among the best novels ever on the subject'); Bleiler chose Atlantida by Pierre Benoit as his personal favourite, but he also spoke highly of Roy Norton's The Toll of the Sea, describing it as 'one of the better lost races of the period' (I agree, it's been unjustly forgotten!) If a brilliant tale filled with weird imagination is your thing, then check out A. Merritt's The Face in the Abyss; if you prefer some philosophy (or a lot) with your adventure, H. Rider Haggard's When the World Shook may be the way to go. Two novels in this anthology were written by women: Claimed! by Gertrude Barrows Bennett, an excellent fast-paced dark fantasy tale, and Fugitive Anne by Rosa Campbell Praed, one of the rare novels in the genre with a female protagonist. For those of you who want a little sword and sorcery, check out Howard's Kull Saga and Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis series, 7 action-packed tales of pulp adventure. Enjoy!
Tales of Atlantis
The Lost Continent by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne
The Kull Saga by Robert E. Howard
The Shadow Kingdom
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune
Kings of the Night
The Erlak of Atlantis Series by Henry Kuttner
Thunder in the Dawn
The Spawn of Dagon
Beyond the Phoenix
Dragon Moon
Atlanteans in Africa
Atlantida by Pierre Benoit
When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard
Atlanteans in the Sargasso Sea
Queen of Atlantis by Frank Aubrey
Atlanteans in South America
The Devil-Tree of Eldorado by Frank Aubrey
The Face in the Abyss by A.
Atlantis tales were one of the most popular Lost World sub-genres of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You could argue that it's still the most popular Lost World sub-genre today. Plato's tale of a sunken world has spawned countless, books, films and TV shows. The survivors of that sunken continent appeared to have scattered to every corner of the globe, founding new civilizations on every continent, in isolated jungles, underground, or beneath the waves.
This Masterworks of Adventure anthology is a collection of 23 tales considered to be among the best and most influential works. We started with 333: A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel, by Crawford, Donahue and Grant (1953), which lists the best works published before 1950, then cross-referenced them with Science-fiction, the Early Years by Everett Franklin Bleiler and Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Lost Race Check Guide, the ultimate checklist for collectors. You'll find stories told in a variety of styles: adventure, dystopian, dark fantasy, philosophical adventure and pulp fiction. Some have been made available for Kindle for the very first time and are exclusive to ROH Press.
It didn't take long to discover that critics don't always agree. Will you like every tale in this collection? Maybe, maybe not. Tastes are personal. But there is a lot to choose from! A few tales of note: The Lost Continent by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne is considered by most to be the 'ultimate tale' of ancient Atlantis (Salmonson described it as 'among the best novels ever on the subject'); Bleiler chose Atlantida by Pierre Benoit as his personal favourite, but he also spoke highly of Roy Norton's The Toll of the Sea, describing it as 'one of the better lost races of the period' (I agree, it's been unjustly forgotten!) If a brilliant tale filled with weird imagination is your thing, then check out A. Merritt's The Face in the Abyss; if you prefer some philosophy (or a lot) with your adventure, H. Rider Haggard's When the World Shook may be the way to go. Two novels in this anthology were written by women: Claimed! by Gertrude Barrows Bennett, an excellent fast-paced dark fantasy tale, and Fugitive Anne by Rosa Campbell Praed, one of the rare novels in the genre with a female protagonist. For those of you who want a little sword and sorcery, check out Howard's Kull Saga and Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis series, 7 action-packed tales of pulp adventure. Enjoy!
Tales of Atlantis
The Lost Continent by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne
The Kull Saga by Robert E. Howard
The Shadow Kingdom
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune
Kings of the Night
The Erlak of Atlantis Series by Henry Kuttner
Thunder in the Dawn
The Spawn of Dagon
Beyond the Phoenix
Dragon Moon
Atlanteans in Africa
Atlantida by Pierre Benoit
When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard
Atlanteans in the Sargasso Sea
Queen of Atlantis by Frank Aubrey
Atlanteans in South America
The Devil-Tree of Eldorado by Frank Aubrey
The Face in the Abyss by A.
4461 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 13, 2018
14 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne
242 books12 followersBorn on the 11th of May 1865, in Bibury, Gloucestershire, but raised in Yorkshire, Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne attended Cambridge University, where he received both a Bachelor's and Master's degree.
Best remembered today for his The Lost Continent, he was also extremely popular at one time for his fanciful tales of Captain Kettle, a dashing Raffles of the Sea. Besides these he wrote historical novels, travelogues, political commentary and an autobiography, totalling roughly fifty novels and a large number of short stories.
He also wrote under the names C.J. Cutcliffe-Hyne and Weatherby Chesney.
Hyne died on 10 March 1944, at the age of seventy-eight.
Best remembered today for his The Lost Continent, he was also extremely popular at one time for his fanciful tales of Captain Kettle, a dashing Raffles of the Sea. Besides these he wrote historical novels, travelogues, political commentary and an autobiography, totalling roughly fifty novels and a large number of short stories.
He also wrote under the names C.J. Cutcliffe-Hyne and Weatherby Chesney.
Hyne died on 10 March 1944, at the age of seventy-eight.
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