Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms: Sunken Continents, Vanished Cities, and the Kingdoms That History Misplaced

by Bob Curran, Ian Daniels (Illustrator)

There are places that turn up in literature or in film--mystical and legendary places whose names may be familiar but about which we know little. We nod knowingly at the reference, but are often left wondering about places such as Atlantis, the lost land overwhelmed by the sea, or El Dorado, the fabulous city that vanished somewhere in the South American jungles. Other names are more evocative--Mount Olympus, the Garden of Eden, the mystic Isle of Avalon, and Davy Jones' Locker.

But did such places actually exist and if so, where were they, and what really happened? What are the traditions and legends associated with them? In the fascinating new book, Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms, historian Dr. Bob Curran sets out to find the answers by journeying to the far-flung corners of the world and to the outer reaches of human imagination.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Mythology, Science Fiction Fantasy, Paranormal, World History, Historical

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2006

About the author

BOB CURRAN is an educational psychologist in Coleraine University. His interests are broad-ranging but are focused especially on history and story. He has written several books, including The Field Guide to Irish Fairies, The Wolfhound Guide to the Shamrock, Creatures of Celtic Myth, The Truth about the Leprechaun.

Reviews

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up after getting to the part where the author reports Brigadoon as an actual long-standing legend from the Scottish Highlands, then compares it to a similar German story that he attributes to the Brothers Grimm even though it was written after their deaths. An undergrad cribbing from Wikipedia would do better than this trash.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad when taken in small chunks, but any attempt to read it straight through is discouraging and frustrating.
It reads like a text book and nearly every chapter ends with some version of 'Is it real...? Who knows...?"

Not terrible, as I picked up some interesting bits I didn't know about Arthurian Legend and Ponce De Leon, but otherwise, you'd get the same reading pleasure from the wikipedia articles.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive, poorly edited, full of run-on sentences and fragments, and unfounded suppositions. At times, incredibly boring and contradictory. Only rating two stars because it gave me some topics that will be interesting to look up – from far better sources.

Illustrations are decent, but textual layout causes some letters to get lost in the design.

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book takes a look into some of the Lands of myth and legend and takes the time to see if there is any historical backing to their existence. The book is very well researched but reads a little dry in places. It is still a very informative read.

[Dallas · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like a series of wikipedia pages. Frankly, I got bored with it and skimmed through just to finish.

[Leigh-ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars to this book for introducing me to some things I didn't know about, like "Spirit Caveman" in Nevada, and "lost Viking ship" once spotted embedded in the side of a mountain near San Diego. It was great to learn about so many historical myths/unproven truths in one volume, but I would have graded this book with 4 or more stars if it had paid more attention to scholarship and less attention to being "sexy". I could have done without the sketches of half-dressed, perky-breasted young women that introduced every chapter, as I'm not a 12 year old boy (unicorns and various "monsters" won't do it for me, either). Why not use a real photograph of a real historical site or artifact, instead? I also would have loved if the author had used footnotes. There was a biography at the end of the book, but it was sorted alphabetically and it would have been more helpful if it had also been sorted by chapter.

I spotted some factual errors in this book (not the least of which was the author's claim that Cicero was a "poet"), and they did make me wonder how much of the book was accurate. I know this type of writing is about speculation and supposition, but it's still possible for it to based on sound research, and I'm not sure the author did that. The author is a "Dr." of something, but never clearly says what. I'd love a company like National Geographic to take this topic and write a book for those of us who love accurate history as much as we love a cool story.

[CC. Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my very favorite kinds of book--a book on myths, forgotten stories, whispered truths from the past.

In the book, Dr. Bob Curran writes about myths from every corner of the globe. While the title hints at Atlantis and other stories like it, Curran delves much more broadly and also writes about the forgotten lands and realms of America. This was probably my favorite part of the book. While I have read many books on Atlantis, El Dorado and other stories like that, I hadn't really read about, or even heard about, some of the stories and myths in the book from America. I loved the part that talked about the Welsh king and kingdom in Alabama, the lost tribes of the Meulungeons from Kentucky, and Native American stories. Curran spends a lot of time with the myths of American and it made for a nice change of pace from the usual books I read on this topic.

If you're looking for an in-depth read on topics like the Bermuda Triangle, etc., you'll need to look elsewhere. This book serves mostly as an introduction to myths and stories worldwide. For many of the chapters, I can honestly say I already knew of most of what was being discussed. This is a book for beginners and for those who, like me, can't resist gossips, hints, and legends. I have a whole page of new things and topics to read about. (The Devil of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky...who knew?)

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this book was really interesting. I picked it up to use as a reference in my writing.

It's broken down into four sections. I was seriously annoyed by the way section one (on mythical places) was written. Dr. Curran felt the need to connect mythological places to each other. Nearly every place he mentioned, he found a way to connect it to Greek mythology. He also connected the World Tree of Norse mythology and Christ's crucifixion (somehow implying that Christians believe Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead because... the heard of the Norse idea that Odin hung by his ankle from the world tree?

The other sections - where Curran didn't feel the need to make such connections - were much more interesting to me. I really just wanted to know what these places were supposed to be like. I did find some of the origins interesting. I just... it annoyed me that he felt like two cultures couldn't come up with similar ideas independently of each other.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished! Finally! For a book with such interesting content I found myself consistently bored. I wanted to enjoy myself but I found the book incredibly dry with only a few instances in between where I found my reading smooth sailing. The majority of the time it was hard going. I found myself slogging through the sentences with each individual word passing slowly by. I'm not so glad I read it but I'm glad I persevered and finished it. Even though it took me most of the year. The different worlds and stories associated with them were fascinating hopefully I can find another book more my tastes in a similar vein to this one.
Recommended? Perhaps as I said the subject matter was interesting it was just the writing that bogged me down. But then that's just me so someone else could likely have a different opinion.

[Symbol]

I wasn't crazy about the writing style here. Granted, I didn't give it much of a chance but, I have so many other books to read, I felt that my time would be better spent elsewhere.

I found the tone to be very whimsical. Maybe I should have expected this, given the title of the book. However, I was expecting more of a factual discussion of "lost lands" and fabled cities. Maybe I'll take another crack at it when I have more time...

[William Quest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well formatted and thoroughly researched work. Bob Currin has an amazing understanding of myths and legends; where they came from and their importance to humanity. It was a pleasure reading this well documented book and it's treasure trove of information.

This is the first author that I am actively following on Goodreads, and I am going to make a point of finding his other books.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readability 6. Rating 5. I have owned this one for a long time but just didn't get into it. Overall, just OK, with a rather formulaic approach, but he did do a nice job of outlining the tangled stories that lie behind some fantastic places. He doesn't come across as a true believer, but does allow that some of the tales might have at least some substance (such as the Welsh prince in America).

[Jill Holmberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting to read but I very much enjoyed it! This book brought up stories and myths I had not heard of and now am more interested in than ever! I liked how he included tales that were popular (such as Atlantis) and stories I hadn't heard (Kingdom of Prince Madoc).

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know how a book on such an interesting topic to me could so spectacularly fail to hold my interest, but I found this book unreadably dull. I almost always finish books that I start; no chance on this one.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this book. Too many stories were just a reiteration of stories I had already known. Not too many new ones. It was pretty basic and too cut and dry. This subject could have been a real eye-opener, but not in this book.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting introduction to an assortment of mythical lands divided into different categories. If any of them caught your particular fancy you would want to search out more in depth descriptions and primary sources, but as a survey across the full group it works very well.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but reads like an undergrad research paper in long form. I would have liked the same stories from a narration with more character, I think.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is a cool book studying the origins and controversies through time about mythological places. With neat illustrations too

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

//

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of typos and incorrect names, but interesting nonetheless.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found while searching IDM catalog

[John Ayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of depth, good bibliography and a good overview of various legends, assumptions and deductions about lost lands and forgotten realms.