Pleistocene – The Legend of Parakos is the debut novel by J.P Conrad and tells a story spanning millennia. It begins with the fall of Atlantis thousands of years ago and catches up with us in the 21^st Century. Pleistocene starts with an ending, the destruction of Atlantis. Conrad paints Atlantis as a hyper-advanced civilization, much more advanced than we are today. Conrad doesn’t take much time to explain their technology, but one thing soon becomes apparent. Like modern society, they have become overly dependent on a single power source.

Despite multiple warnings, the Atlanteans have doomed themselves to self-destruction through their own greed. We witness this destruction through the eyes of Avis, a 12-year-old boy whose uncle (and guardian) is one of the engineers working on the said power source. Through Avis, we are also introduced to the Elvanelans, another hyper-advanced people whose technology is more akin to magic. Just as we are becoming acquainted with Avis, the book jumps ahead 12 thousand years and introduces us to Keats, a scientist in the 21st Century. The rest of the book follows Keats’ race against time to avert the environmental destruction looming over the modern world. During his journey, we discover more and more connections between the modern-day crisis and what happened to Atlantis thousands of years ago.

Conrad is clearly an environmentalist at heart, and the whole novel reads as a warning of what happens when society fails to look after the environment. Conrad is successful in his goal; the book is bound to make you think. Keats is in a race against time to save the world, which is reflected in how Conrad writes.

The narrative is speedy, breathless almost. Conrad rarely slows down to explain what is going on before Keats (and the reader) are thrown headlong into the following dire situation. This fast-paced action effectively instills in the reader that this is a race against time with high stakes. There are a lot of jumps in perspective as the author ties the two time periods together in the beginning. The jumps allow the reader to make the connections between the modern-day destruction of resources and the downfall of Atlantis.

Letters From Atlantis: Pleistocene – The Legend of Parakos is an exciting read with interesting ideas. If you like a fast-paced adventure, enjoy science fiction or care about the environment, then this is worth a read.

Page: 346 | ISBN : 1637671555