Author Description

In the dim past men had fled to Mars for refuge, but now the red planet was a dying world and the Martians returned to colonize and rule over the Titans — descendants of those who had stayed behind at the time of the now-legendary catastrophe. Teraf, prince of Hellas, was particularly struck by the changes Earth had wrought in Martians during the period of their rule. The rays of the earthly sun had burned their sensitive skin almost as black as those of Nubians, and to meet the stress of Terran gravitation, they had developed enormous muscles which sat poorly on their slender frames and gave them the deceitful appearance of strong men in a circus. The Afhas — those of mixed Martian and early parentage — apparently had absorbed the best traits of both. Like Teraf himself, all had blazing red hair and the slim grace of their Martian forebears, plus a better adaptation to their earthly conditions. But the rulers of the Titans, retained by their ancestral thrones, chafed under the benevolent progress of the Lords of Atlantis, looked back to a so-called “golden age,” and plotted rebellion. The leader of the rebels, spurring the barbarians on, was Plu Toh Ra, Pharoah of Egypt. Closer to home, Teraf's brother Refo, king of Hellas, had fallen in with the revolutionists. It didn't seem too important at first — even though the comet that had made Teraf's passage from Mars back to Earth difficult was regarded as an omen by the rebels. Zeus and his council could handle things. Martian power and radioactive weapons could easily bring the unruly to heel. Only Hephaestus reported the theft of orichalcum from the central power station, Bab-El — which meant that deadly bombs were available to hostile hands — and the supply of radioactives was low. They would be dependent upon replenishment from Mars. Then, suddenly and without warning, Plu Toh Ra struck at the tower of Bab-El and the power was cut off. Now the rulers of Atlan would be at the mercy of the barbarians eager for loot — and if they struck at the dam Heracles had built to hold back to the ever rising sea from the Mediterranean valley... Here is a thrilling novel of what might have been the basis of the Great Legends that have come down to us; of the "gods"; of Atlantis; of Zeus, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Jason, Medea — and of a mighty empire which was weighed in the balance and found wanting!