I read a lot last year. Book No. 51 was Mention My Name in Atlantis by John Jakes (Daw Books, 1972). Mr. Jakes' book is a kind of mock epic. The lead character and narrator is a Falstaffian figure called Hoptor the Vintner. His sometimes sidekick is Conax the Chimerical, king of a land of barbarians. Mention My Name in Atlantis is also a satire and a parody, including of the typical heroic fantasy hero and pulp writing in general. Here is an illustrative passage:
"Pox on your map-makers!" screamed Conax. "Can I help it if those feeble-eyed fops are ignorant? I'd invite them to visit, but the thin-blooded villains would surely freeze their privates the minute they crossed the borders of my noble northern nation!"
"He has florid rhetoric," observed General Pytho. "Rather like the purple phrasing of the tellers of adventure tales, who swap their narratives for a tenth of a zeb a word in the scroll mart." (p. 52)
The story is set in Atlantis and explains what happened to that now sunken continent. In addition to Atlantis, there are other Fortean subjects, namely ancient astronauts, alien abductions, and flying saucers, which are initially interpreted as omens of disaster. (Disaster comes.) All are made continuous with heroic fantasy, a development that seems sure to have irritated purists of both Forteana and Howardiana (if there is such a word). That seems fine to me.
The cover of Mention My Name in Atlantis is by H.J. Bruck (1921-1995), a German-born artist. Bruck included at least two Frazetta swipes in his composition:
Here are the originals:
Look closely. You'll find them. Look closer still and you may find more.
Original text copyright 2022 Terence E. Hanley
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