ATLA – A Story of the Lost Island

Atla

Author	Ann Eliza Smith
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Harpers & Brothers
Publication date	1886
Media type	Print (Hardback)

Atla (1886) is a fantasy novel by Ann Eliza Smith. It is a tale about the discovery of the Atlantis civilization by the Phoenicians.

Plot

As the story opens, the fierce, barbaric empire of Atlantis is ruled by King Kron. His brother Thalok is high priest of the bloody state cult, which demands human sacrifices, hearts torn out in Aztec fashion. Kron’s wife has given birth to a daughter, who is called Astera and at this same time a beautiful blond woman is shipwrecked on the Atlantean coast. She dies after giving birth to a girl who grows up as the bosom companion to Astera. King Kron names the orphaned child Atla.

When the young women are about twenty years old, Prince Herekla of Cacara in Phoenicia invents the magnetic compass. Herekla derives the basic idea from Chinese merchants. King Kron recognizes the power of Phoenicia, and is willing to betroth his daughter to Herekla. Herekla comes to Atlantis to accept his bride. Love, however, does not honor contracts, for Herekla and Atla fall in love. Astera, in turn, falls in love with Zemar, the virtuous son of the vile, ruthless priest Thalok.

Thalok, who has long lusted for the throne and the gorgeous blond Atla, murders Kron, usurps the crown, and is about to start his persecutions. But as the four lovers flee Atlantis in various ways (agreeing to meet at the island of Surchi), Atlantis sinks beneath the sea. Thalok, in pursuit of the refugees, is killed by a poisonous serpent, the pet of an amorous sorceress-lover he had discarded.

The lovers now pair off. Zemar and Astera go to found a new Atlantis in the west, presumably Central America, while Herekla and Atla make their way to Phoenicia. As a Magian explains, when moral virtue is dead, physical changes take place, with catastrophe the result. This is why Atlantis sank.

Atla novel cover artwork