Author's Note: This story has a dedication chapter because it's one of my longest and most important works to date (as of now I have almost 20k words written and it's not even a tenth of the way done).

THE FALL OF ATLANTIS

By Nate Davis

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DEDICATION:

To J.R.R. Tolkien, who taught me to always look on the past with reverence, not derision. Thanks, Professor.

And to Erik Hesselberg, Bengt Danielsson, Knut Haugland, Torstien Raaby, Hermin Watzinger, and Thor Heyerdahl: The last of the freebooting North Men.

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"It is certainly striking that there is not a trace of gradual development in high civilizations which once stretched from Mexico to Peru. The deeper the archaeologists dig, the higher the culture, until a definite point is reached at which the old civilizations have clearly arisen without any foundation in the midst of primitive cultures."
—Thor Heyerdahl, Kon-Tiki: Six Men Cross the Pacific on a Raft

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us."
—King James Bible, Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots; this is its natural manure."
—Thomas Jefferson