Spanish novelist transplants Atlantis myth to modern day in new book

Fira, Greece, Mar 17 (EFE).- Spanish writer Javier Negrete explores people's fascination with natural disasters in "Atlantida" (Atlantis), a novel that transplants the tale of that mythical submerged civilization to the modern day.

"Disasters highlight our weakness and the power of the Earth and have a beauty that amazes us, even though they're destructive," Negrete said in presenting "Atlantida" on the Greek island of Santorini, site of what is believed to be the biggest volcanic eruption in human history.

That event occurred 3,500 years ago and destroyed an island on which, according to some theories explored in Negrete's novel, the mythical, highly sophisticated city of Atlantis described by Plato was located.

The eruption and an associated tsunami led to the collapse of the prosperous Minoan civilization on the island of Crete and transformed Santorini into one of the most geologically unique islands in the world, a "marvelous place" carved by the "Earth's fury," Negrete said in front of the caldera of what was once a massive volcano.

But "Atlantida" not only looks back at events 3,500 years ago. It also looks at what could happen in the near future, when the "children of the new Atlantis" are threatened by the simultaneous eruption of several super-volcanoes in different parts of the globe.

The novel explores the global threat that hovers over our modern-day advanced civilization, which "has feet of clay" and a fragility that the forces of nature can still expose, the 45-year-old author said.

A 600-page book written in the style of the disaster films that have fascinated Negrete since he was a child, the ancient Atlantis and the new become intertwined, forming a web that the protagonists will have to unravel to prevent a catastrophe from destroying humanity in the 21st century.

In an interview with Efe, Negrete stressed the importance of having "ordinary" characters dispersed over different parts of the world, such as Gabriel Espada, a cynical Madrileño who is down on his luck, or Joey Carrasco, the teenage son of Mexican immigrants living in Fresno, California.

They are part of a small group of people who foresee a global catastrophe and represent the only chance to prevent it.

"The reader will find pure adventure, with special effects like in the movies," the author said.

This latest novel, published by Spanish publisher Espasa, is not the first time that Negrete - a former Greek professor - has delved into the world of Greek mythology.

He did so in the novel "Señores del Olimpo" (Lords of Olympus), which won him the Minotaur Prize for science fiction in 2006, and in "La gran aventura de los griegos" (The Great Adventure of the Greeks), a non-fiction work published last year.

Negrete says he has no doubt that Atlantis had to have been located in present-day Santorini, but that the purpose of his work is not to prove a scientific theory but rather to tell a story.

"I'm a novelist, not a scientist, and I've written a work of fiction," the author said.