The Fall of Atlantis

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Paperback, 1987

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Baen (1987), 512 pages

Description

"A wounded Atlantean prince, a deadly battle between Dark & Light and two sisters Deoris and Domaris whose lives are changed utterly by the magic involved. On one side stand the Priests of the White Robe, guardians of powerful natural forces which could threaten the world if misused. Ranged against them are the Black Robes, sorcerers who secretly practice their dark arts in the labyrinthine caves beneath the very Temple of Light itself"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member bookcrazed

Not great literature, just great fun. Any reincarnated Atlanteans out there? You'll love it!

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LibraryThing member heinous-eli

Both well-conceived and well-written, this book is somewhat melodramatic in places but serves the Avalon series well.

LibraryThing member rbtwinky

he premise of this book was terrible. It’s titled The Fall of Atlantis, but it doesn’t even take place on Atlantis. I was expecting a story of a world unlike any we have ever known and how they got carried away with their powers, causing their downfall. It was nothing like that. I definitely

think this is the worst MZB book I’ve read to date.
The characters and the story in the book were really lovely though. I enjoyed the mysticism of the magic system, and the relationship between the two sisters. I also found the sexual tension to be fascinating.

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LibraryThing member jshillingford

I truly enjoyed Bradley's "Firebrand" which took place during the Trojan War. Here she takes readers to the mythical Atlantis, but makes it come alive as real place. This time her protagonist is an Atlantean Prince caught up in a conflict between two sects of priests, the White and Black Robes. The

story is fast-paced with a richly developed setting and magic system. Great for fans of historical fiction and fantasy.

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LibraryThing member willowcove

One of the best books in the series.

LibraryThing member Carl_Alves

Although, The Fall of Atlantis has elements of fantasy incorporated into it, the novel is mostly just a romance pretending to be a fantasy. This is a tale of two sisters, Deoris and Domaris, who have taken very different paths, Deoris falling for a dying priest, and Domaris following a priest who

is pushing into mysterious dark areas of magic. Perhaps the reason I didn't care for this novel is that it is merely a romance novel, a genre I'm allergic to, or perhaps it was because the story just meanders and doesn't seem to go anywhere. This is a novel that could have been cut in half and not lose anything. The prose was fine, but the characters fell flat. Mostly there was nothing in this story that wowed me or made me want to sink my teeth into. It was an all together less than mediocre novel that I would avoid.
Carl Alves - author of Blood Street

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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C

This is actually a book combining what were two different novels, Web of Light, centered on Domaris, Web of Light, and the sequel about her sister Deoris, Web of Darkness. Reviews claim this forms the backstory for Bradley's Avalon series. Not really. When this book came out in 1983, there was no

mention or tie to Mists of Avalon within it, I only heard about such a tie when I saw reviews for The Fall of Atlantis. For that matter, the book that ties this in with her Avalon series wasn't even credited to MZB, but Diana Paxson. (And by the way despite the title this isn't set in Atlantis, but a supposedly even earlier civilization.)

So this book should stand on its own terms. And on its own terms, while I find it entertaining I don't think (or Avalon) it can light a candle next to MZB's Darkover books. Still, it does say something that I can still remember a book I first read in my teens decades later. I was particularly taken by the relationship between the sisters. I found Deoris, the "dark" one of the pair, by far the most interesting.

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LibraryThing member lucy3107

I just completed a re-read. Wow. So many details I missed on the first read through. Such an interesting, complexly woven tale. I'll have to read it again soon.

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