When I was young I read a book at my uncle’s house that I absolutely loved. It was about people from Mars who had colonized Earth – Atlantis specifically. Atlantis was in the Mediteranian. There was a dam across the Straight of Gibralter. A bad guy blew up the dam and flooded Atlantis. The surviving Martians went to high ground (Mt. Olympus). The earth people that survived told stories about them based loosely on the facts and that’s how they came up with the Greek gods. I loved the way the attributes that would become the gods’ claims to fame were used in the story. I lost the book a long time ago and mostly forgot about it. But every so often I would think of it whenever I would hear someone mention a Greek god.
The other day I decided to try to find it. I figured the odds of finding a pulp 60s science fiction paperback were pretty bad. But I put “book mars atlantis” into Google. The fourth listing was on Space.com. It was a list of the best science fiction about Mars. At the end was a description of the book I was looking for! The author said that he granted that it wasn’t a classic but he liked it so he was adding it. I was so excited!!!! It is called Lords of Atlantis by Wallace West.
I went to Amazon and it was out of print. But there were used copies available. I got it for $0.01. Yes, a penny! That’s the sign of a true classic. It actually cost $3.50 with the shipping but it is worth it. It came in the mail today. I’m putting aside all of my plans for a productive evening and reading my book. Hopefully, it will live up to what I remember.
