Atlantis Endgame

~ 7th Novel in the Time Traders Series by Andre Norton

(Series aka) Time Travel, Time War or Ross Murdock

Written with Sherwood Smith

atlantis.endgame.2004.pb.58415 5

 

Synopsis ~

Write-up from an old Amazon.com posting ~

Nobody knows exactly what happened to the fabled civilization of ancient Atlantis. Was Atlantis, the incredibly advanced society of legend, destroyed by some super-science device that ran out of control? Did a massive earthquake or volcanic eruption sink the island nation? Or is Atlantis merely a cosmic joke played by ancient historians on gullible theorists' millennia afterward? Time Patrol stalwart Ross Murdock and the others who protect Earth's history have discovered evidence that someone has tampered with events in ancient Atlantis. Our heroes’ journey back to the ancient world disguised as seagoing traders with goods to sell to the Atlanteans. They soon discover that other strangers are on Atlantis: The Baldies, aliens who have destroyed technological civilizations throughout the galaxy. The aliens are bent on changing our history to prevent the rise of technology, but exactly what are they trying to accomplish on the legendary island? As tremors of the volcano intensify and time runs out, will Ross, Gordon Ashe, and the other time travelers be able to stop the Baldies' plan?

 

Write-up from the back of Paperback edition ~

On the island of Crete - the reputed site of legendary Atlantis - the Time Patrol that guards Earth's history from potentially world-ending change has discovered evidence of time travel dating back to the time before Atlantis sank beneath the waves. Time Agents Ross Murdock and Gordon Ashe lead a team investigating why time travelers would be on the ancient ground. The time agents arrive on Crete to discover that Atlantis was real, a thriving, cosmopolitan society bustling with trade and commerce. Disguised as Egyptian traders, the time agents spot alien Baldies, enemies of human progress, who must be up to no good on the fabled island continent.

As a towering volcano rumbles, ever more violently, the time agents must solve the riddle of Atlantis's doom - and the Baldies' plot - before they're all destroyed by the impending cataclysm. But any mistake by the time agents could doom Earth's future. As Atlantis's destruction looms, the fate of Earth hangs in the balance.

 

Write-up from a fan ~

Gordon Ashe comes to Ross and Eveleen Murdock's apartment with disturbing news.  One of the Time Trader patrolmen, working undercover with archeologists excavating Thera, discovers a pair of gold earrings identical to those Eveleen commonly wears--a one-of-a-kind pair!  Obviously, there's been some kind of problem back in time, and Ross and Eveleen have to go back and investigate.  Of course, it's the Baldies--the long-term enemy of the Terran Time Trader organization.  In theory, the Baldies are trying to prevent the human race from achieving space travel before it is "mature enough" to do no damage to other races, other planets.  The Baldies are determined to prevent a higher civilization from developing, so they plan to activate the volcanoes that destroyed the Minoan Island of Thera. ~ SL

 

I have been told by reliable sources that this book was originally supposed to be written by Andre and Pauline Griffin, at the last moment the publisher pulled Pauline from the project and brought in Sherwood Smith. This aggravated Andre to no avail for Sherwood would not listen to her input about the story. When she received her copy of the book, she hid it out of site. When a friend of hers brought the title up in a conversation she directed them to remove this and the other three titles by Sherwood from her house. Upon her death she willed the copyrights to Sherwood because she hated all four books so much that she did not want her Estate associated with them. When you read them, it is evident that Andre had little to do with them for they do not fit her style. They are included because her name appears on the front cover. ~ JW     See article by Sherwood Smith: Andre Norton and Me

 

Reviews ~

Kirkus Reviews ~ Issue: Nov. 15th, 2002
Another yarn about the Time Traders (Echoes in Time, 1999, etc.), agents who defend the integrity of time against beings who would like to change the past—or the future. Archaeologists dig up a gold earring in the ruins of what was once Atlantis, the Greek island of Thera before its volcano spectacularly exploded in the 17th century BC. The earring not only bears a modern jeweler's mark, but also happens to belong to Time Agent Eveleen Riordan! What was she doing in the past when she lost the earring—and did she die there? Clearly, the Time Traders must investigate. With Russian help, Eveleen, her husband and fellow-agent Ross Murdock, their boss Gordon Ashe, and archaeologist Linnea Edel journey back two thousand years to Kalliste, as the island was then known. The volcano is just about ready to blow its top. Worse, Eveleen, Ross and company soon find evidence that the Baldies—mysterious aliens determined, for unknown reasons, to interfere in human affairs—are planning something. If the Baldies prevent the eruption, the future will change, and humanity won't develop space travel. Still more aliens show up: the Kayu, furry-faced sulfide-breathers, claim to be ancient enemies of the Baldies. Can the Time Agents figure out what's going on, and what to do about it, before the volcano explodes--or fails to?
Skimpy on plot, despite slathers of unconvincing local color and frequent gosh-wow what-ifs. 

 

Booklist Review ~ Dec. 15, 2002

The Time Patrol discovers that someone has tampered with events in ancient Atlantis, so it sends a team back, disguised as seafaring traders. Soon after it arrives, its members discover two sets of aliens on the scene. One is a familiar enemy, the Baldies, who are trying to mimic their success elsewhere by preventing the rise of technology on Earth; the other is a new alien race, whose habits provide some explanation, if not an excuse, for the conduct of the Baldies. Trying to salvage Earth’s future from the clutching hands of alien intervention in the past keeps the Time Patrol team hopping and will keep readers turning pages. At the end, the latter will laud the meeting of minds between Norton and Smith as well as their historical literacy—and await further volumes. Compact and briskly paced, the new Time Traders story proves that skillful writing can keep a concept launched half-a-century ago afloat today. — Roland Green

 

Review by Publishers Weekly ~ Dec. 02, 2002

Was the cataclysmic blast that blew the island of Atlantis (aka Thera) to bits a natural disaster, or was it something more sinister? In this latest fast-paced Time Traders adventure (Echoes in Time, etc.), SFWA Grandmaster Norton and Smith (Earth: Final Conflict—Augur's Teacher) take on the legend of Atlantis with a new twist—the blast had a bit of help from an alien species that our time-traveling heroes have encountered at least once before. The "Baldies," named for their complete lack of body hair, are a mysterious race of time travelers who appear to interfere in history to push humans toward some catastrophic future event—but what that event is and why the Baldies need to interfere is something the human time travelers have yet to discover. Dr. Gordon Ashe and friends are joined by a new companion, Linnea Edel, an archeologist who finds an anomalous piece of jewelry at a dig on the island of Thera and brings it to Gordon for examination. This piece of jewelry launches another harrowing time traveling trip—this time to ancient Greece. Norton lends her considerable skill and familiarity with time travel SF to this series, which poses some interesting questions about how humans view societies ancient, new and alien. There's plenty of adventure, a fair scattering of archeological trivia and some new twists on the alien-human relations that carry forward from the previous books.

 

Various reviews ~ For more info and other listings see Articles Over the Years

2003 by Mark Graham in Rockey Mountain News, January
2003 by N. M. Browne in Vector #228, March
2021 by Judith Tarr

 

Dedications and Acknowledgements ~

As always, my thanks to Dave Trowbridge, Tech Wizard of the Redwoods. Also, I would like to thank Diana L. Paxson, who furnished information on oracles of Ancient Greece. Thanks also to Noreen Doyle for data on Ancient Egypt and to Raila Stella Papadopoulou for help with Greek words.
—S. S.

 

Bibliography of English Editions ~

  • (2002) Published by TOR, HC, 0-312-85922-8, 978-0-312-85922-0, $23.95 US $33.95 Canadian, 253pg ~ cover by Julie Bell
  • (2004) Published by TOR, PB, 0-812-58415-5, 978-0-812-58415-8, $6.99 US $9.99 Canadian, 253pg ~ cover by Julie Bell
  • Time Traders III (2002) Published by SFBC, HC, 0-739-43103-X, 978-0-739-43103-0, # 54748, $12.99, 403pg ~ cover by Stephen Hickman ~ Omnibus containing Echoes in Time (1999) & Atlantis Endgame (2002)
  • (2015) Created by Audible Studios, Audible, length 7hrs & 22mins, $11.99 ~ narrated by Mark F. Smith
  • (2021) Published by The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency (Worldbuilders Press), DM, no ISBN, $2.99, 204pg ~ cover by Augusta Scarlett
  • (2021) Published by The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency (Worldbuilders Press), TP, 978-1-680-68193-2, $10.99, 258pg ~ cover by Augusta Scarlett

View the 2005 Russian contract ~ no publishing data at this time

View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://andre-norton.com/works-of-a-master/series-of-a-master/the-time-traders-series/328-atlantis-endgame#sigProId47f067aab0

 

 

Open menu