Science Fiction Book Review

The Ship from Atlantis

A sequel
Right off, I noticed this is a sequel to a story I haven't read. As far as I can piece together, a Roman centurion named Ventidius Varro was stationed in Britain during Arthurian times. He and Merlin set off for America and established a little empire there. Now, a generation later, Ventidius is sending his son Gwalchmai back across the sea to bring news to Rome about the new world.

Gwalchmai
Gwalchmai was born in America and has never seen Rome--and he never will. His ship falls into trouble. Somewhere in the Florida keys carnivorous fish people attack Gwalchmai's ship. Gwalchmai repels them with Merlin's magic, but in the process kills his entire crew as well as the fish people. Sickened and delirious, Gwalchmai drifts in and out of consciousness as his ship drifts out to sea.

The Fall of Atlantis
Adrift and becalmed in the Sargasso Sea, Gwalchmai abandons his ship and boards another vessel he finds drifting nearby. The strange metal ship is the Vimana. On board he finds and awakens Corenice, a woman made of a living metal called orichalcum.

Corenice recounts the history of the rise and fall of Atlantis, how Atlantis battled with alien invaders, how they dug into the bowels of the earth and released ancient evil beings to repel the invaders, and how this led to their own downfall. She explains that she transferred her consciousness into the artificial body of living metal just as Atlantis was flooded and destroyed, and has been drifting for thousands of years, waiting to be discovered and reawakened. Now with Gwalchmai's help, Corenice wishes to seek out and destroy the final remnant of a long-lost Atlantean penal colony. As long as this Atlantean penal colony remains, it is possible they may once again dig into the depths of the earth and release the ancient destructive horrors that dwell within the earth.

Vengeance
So together, Gwalchmai and Corenice locate the ancient Atlantean penal colony. Those living there have forgotten their true history, that they are descended from criminals and the demon-possessed. They imagine themselves to be noble. But in truth, they are cruel, sadistic, and wish nothing more than to recharge their ancient depleted Atlantean weapons and use them to conquer the earth.

Also, they are digging a mineshaft into the bowels of the earth, to release the ancient destructive horrors that dwell within.

So Gwalchmai, Corenice, and her ship Vimana destroy the ancient penal colony. The earth is saved. The end.

My verdict
I found parts of the story interesting, but overall not great. I did enjoy that H. Warner Munn used the word reck without -less. Nice.

Then he rose to his feet, skirted the pool, moving forward not recking where he trod, bemused with beauty. Something crunched and splintered dryly beneath his moccasined feet and looking down with no great surprise, for everything here was strange, he saw that he trod in a tangle of human bones.

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