The Lost Continent by C.J. Cutliffe Hyne brings the ancient land of Atlantis back to life in living color. It tells of the height of civilization of the fabled city and also of the height of decadence.

The old King is dead and Atlantis is now ruled by the Empress Phorenice is the news that greets Deucalion, Viceroy of the Province of Yucatan. And now he has been replaced by another man and summoned to Atlantis by the Empress herself. From the beginning he has misgivings about the new ruler which are justified as soon as he reaches the city.

Once a prosperous and orderly city, Atlantis is now fast becoming a wretched warren of human degradation. People cry out in the filthy streets for food, bandits roam the streets preying on the unwary and temples are ignored and let to fall to ruin. The only people that seem to be prospering are the nobles and the merchants whose chief activity is fawning upon the Empress. When Deucalion meets Phorenice he finds that she is the direct opposite of himself. While he is simple in his tastes for clothing, she is gaudy preferring glittering jewels and bright expensive fabrics. He is a pious man and she has forsaken the church. He is a conqueror and she a usurper.

Deucalion finds that the Empress had a reason for summoning him. She needs a husband to completely secure her throne in Atlantis and she has chosen him. But she doesn't ask him so much as order him to be her husband through political maneuvering. However, he is already in love with another woman, a woman that Phorenice hates.

What follows is the tale of the ruination and destruction of the continent and also a timeless love story. I'd tell you more, but that would ruin the ending. This is one of the best Atlantis books I have ever read.