The lost world is a

subgenre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a Category of being, category of literature, ...

of the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late-

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

adventure

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

and remains popular into the 21st century. The genre arose during an era when Westerners were discovering the remnants of lost civilizations around the world, such as the tombs of Egypt's

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

, the semi-mythical stronghold of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, the jungle-shrouded pyramids of the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

, and the cities and palaces of the empire of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

. Thus, real stories of archaeological finds by imperial adventurers succeeded in capturing the public's imagination. Between 1871 and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the number of published lost world narratives, set in every continent, increased significantly. The genre has similar themes to "mythical kingdoms", such as Atlantis and

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

History

King Solomon's Mines ''King Solomon's Mines'' (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the ...

'' (1885) by

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform ...

is sometimes considered the first lost world narrative. Haggard's novel shaped the form and influenced later lost world narratives, including

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's ''

The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in '' The Phantom Rickshaw and other Ee ...

'' (1888),

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

's ''

The Lost World The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

'' (1912),

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

' '' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1918),

A. Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, i ...

's ''

The Moon Pool ''The Moon Pool'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Abraham Merritt. It originally appeared as two short stories in ''All-Story Weekly'': "The Moon Pool" (1918) and its sequel, "Conquest of the Moon Pool" (1919). These were then reworked in ...

'' (1918), and H. P. Lovecraft's '' At the Mountains of Madness'' (1931). Earlier works, such as

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...

's '' Vril: The Power of the Coming Race'' (1871) and Samuel Butler's '' Erewhon'' (1872) use a similar plot as a vehicle for Swiftian social

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

rather than romantic adventure. Other early examples are

Simon Tyssot de Patot Simon Tyssot de Patot (1655–1738) was a French writer and poet during the Age of Enlightenment who penned two very important, seminal works in fantastic literature. Tyssot was born in London of French Huguenot parents. He was brought up in Roua ...

's ''Voyages et Aventures de Jacques Massé'' (1710), which includes a prehistoric fauna and flora, and

Robert Paltock Robert Paltock (1697– March 20, 1767) was an English novelist and attorney. His most famous work is ''The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man'' (1751). Biography The only son of Thomas Paltock of St James's, Westminster, Palt ...

's ''The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins'' (1751), an 18th-century imaginary voyage inspired by both

Defoe Defoe may refer to: People *Defoe (surname), most notably English author Daniel Defoe Places *Defoe, Webster County, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Other uses *Defoe (comics), a zombie story *Defoe Shipbuilding Company, a former shipy ...

and

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

, where a man named Peter Wilkins discovers a race of winged people on an isolated island surrounded by high cliffs as in Burroughs's

Caspak Caprona (also known as Caspak) is a fictional island in the literary universe of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Caspak Trilogy, including '' The Land That Time Forgot'', '' The People That Time Forgot'', and '' Out of Time's Abyss''. They were published as ...

. The 1820

Hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

novel '' Symzonia'' has also been cited as the first of the lost world form, and

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's ''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...

'' (1864) and ''

The Village in the Treetops ''The Village in the Treetops'' (french: Le Village aérien, lit. ''The Aerial Village'') is a 1901 novel by French author Jules Verne. The book, one of Verne's ''Voyages extraordinaires The ''Voyages extraordinaires'' (; ) is a Collection ( ...

'' (1901) popularized the theme of surviving pockets of prehistoric species.

J.-H. Rosny aîné J.-H. Rosny aîné was the pseudonym of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (17 February 1856 – 11 February 1940), a French author of Belgian origin who is considered one of the founding figures of modern science fiction. Born in Brussels in 1856, he w ...

would later publish ''The Amazing Journey of Hareton Ironcastle'' (1922), a novel where an expedition in the heart of Africa discovers a mysterious area with an ecosystem from another world, with alien flora and fauna.

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's ''

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'' (1838) is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the ''Grampus' ...

'' (1838) has certain lost world elements towards the end of the tale. James Hilton's ''

Lost Horizon ''Lost Horizon'' is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. The book was turned into a film, also called ''Lost Horizon'', in 1937 by director Frank Capra. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamaser ...

'' (1933) enjoyed popular success in using the genre as a takeoff for popular philosophy and social comment. It introduced the name

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ge ...

, a

meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

for the idealization of the lost world as a

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

. Similar books where the inhabitants of the lost world are seen as superior to the outsiders, are Joseph O'Neill's ''Land under England'' (1935) and

Douglas Valder Duff Douglas Valder Duff DSC (1901, Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina – 23 September 1978, Dorchester, England) was a British merchant seaman, Royal Navy officer, police officer, and author of over 100 books, including memoirs and books for children. ...

's ''Jack Harding’s Quest'' (1939). Hergé also explores the theme in his

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

comics ''

The Seven Crystal Balls ''The Seven Crystal Balls'' (french: link=no, Les Sept Boules de Cristal) is the thirteenth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was serialised daily in ', Belgium's leading francoph ...

'' and ''

Prisoners of the Sun ''Prisoners of the Sun'' (french: link=no, Le Temple du Soleil) is the fourteenth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was serialised weekly in the newly established ''Tintin'' mag ...

'' (1944–48). Here the protagonists encounter an unknown Inca kingdom in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Contemporary examples

Contemporary American novelist

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

invokes this tradition in his novel ''

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

'' (1980), which involves a quest for King Solomon's mines, fabled to be in a lost African city called Zinj. During the 1990s,

James Gurney James Gurney (born June 14, 1958) is an American artist and author known for his illustrated book series ''Dinotopia'', which is presented in the form of a 19th-century explorer's journal from an island utopia cohabited by humans and dinosaurs. ...

published a series of juvenile novels about a lost island called Dinotopia, in which humans live alongside living dinosaurs. In video games, it is most notably present in the ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...

'' and ''

Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who travel across the wo ...

'' franchises. The

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

action cartoon ''

Space Ghost Space Ghost (Tad Ghostal) is a fictional superhero created by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 1960s for TV network CBS. He was designed by Alex Toth. In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his teen sidekicks, Jan and Jace, ...

'' features a segment "Dino Boy in the Lost Valley", about a young boy named Todd who survives a plane crash and lands in a hidden prehistoric valley in South America. In another

cartoon ''

Valley of the Dinosaurs ''Valley of the Dinosaurs'' is an American animated television series produced by the Australian studios of Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on CBS from September 7 to December 21, 1974, and in syndication from 1977 to 1983. The series, ab ...

'' science professor John Butler and his family - wife Kim, teenage daughter Katie, young son Greg, and dog Digger - are on a rafting trip along the Amazon River in an uncharted river canyon when they are suddenly swept through a cavern and caught in a whirlpool. Upon resurfacing, they find themselves in a mysterious realm where humans coexist with various prehistoric creatures, including dinosaurs. The Butlers meet and befriend a clan of Neanderthal cavepeople. In movies, the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise makes use of similar concepts. Also comics make use of the idea, such as the

Savage Land The Savage Land is a hidden prehistoric land appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is a tropical preserve hidden in Antarctica. It has appeared in many story arcs in ''Uncanny X-Men'' as well as other related books. Pu ...

in Marvel Comics and Themyscira in DC comics.

Geographic settings

Early lost world novels were typically set in parts of the world as yet unexplored by Europeans. Favorite locations were the interior of Africa (many of Haggard's novels, Burroughs'

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

novels) or inland South America (Doyle's ''

'', Merritt's ''

The Face in the Abyss ''The Face in the Abyss'' is a fantasy novel by American writer A. Merritt. It is composed of a novelette with the same title and its sequel, "The Snake Mother". It was first published in its complete form in 1931 by Horace Liveright. The novele ...

''), as well as Central Asia (Kipling's ''

'', Haggard's '' Ayesha, the Return of She'', Merritt's ''

The Metal Monster ''The Metal Monster'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Abraham Merritt. It was first serialized in ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' in 1920 and features the return of Dr. Goodwin who first appeared in ''The Moon Pool''.Lost Horizon ''Lost Horizon'' is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. The book was turned into a film, also called ''Lost Horizon'', in 1937 by director Frank Capra. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamaser ...

'') and Australia (

James Francis Hogan James Francis Hogan MP (29 December 1855 – 9 November 1924) was an Irish history professor at University College Cork, author and Member of Parliament for Mid Tipperary between 1893 and 1900. Biography Born in County Tipperary in 1855, to Ro ...

's ''The Lost Explorer'' and ''Eureka'' by Owen Hall (pseudonym of New Zealand politician

Hugh Lusk Hugh Hart Lusk (1837 – 8 September 1926) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Auckland Region in New Zealand. A barrister and solicitor, he represented the Franklin electorate from 18 January 1876 to 16 April 1878, when he resi ...

)). Later writers favored Antarctica, especially as a refuge for prehistoric species. Burroughs' '' The Land That Time Forgot'' and its sequels were set on the island of

Caprona ''Abantis'' is an Afrotropical genus of skipper butterflies. They are also known as the paradise skippers. Their imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of g ...

(a.k.a. Caspak) in the Southern Ocean. In

Edison Marshall Edison Tesla Marshall (August 28, 1894 – October 29, 1967) was an American short story writer and novelist. Life Marshall was born on August 28, 1894 in Rensselaer, Indiana. He grew up in Medford, Oregon, and attended the University of Oregon f ...

's '' Dian of the Lost Land'' (1935),

Cro-Magnons Early European modern humans (EEMH), or Cro-Magnons, were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from Western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They ...

Neanderthals Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...

, and

mammoths A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

survive in the "Moss Country", a sheltered warm corner of the continent.

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series ...

's novel ''The Man Who Missed the War'' (1945) also deals with a warm and hidden area on the continent, where there live humans such as the descendants of Atlantis."Sex, Jingoism & Black Magic: The Weird Fiction of Dennis Wheatley"
Jessica Amanda Salmonson. ©2000. Violet Books (violetbooks.com). In

Jeremy Robinson Jeremy Robinson (born October 22, 1974), also known as Jeremy Bishop, Jeremiah Knight, and other pen names, is an author of sixty novels and novellas. He is known for mixing elements of science, history, and mythology. Many of his novels have b ...

's '' Antarktos Rising'' (2007), dinosaurs and

Nephilim The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong. The word ''Nephilim'' is loosely translated as ''giants'' in some translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in others. ...

emerge as the icecap melts.

Mat Johnson Mat Johnson (born August 19, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American fiction writer who works in both prose and the comics format. In 2007, he was named the first USA James Baldwin Fellow by United States Artists. Life and career John ...

's '' Pym'' (2011) describes giant white hominids living in ice caves. Ian Cameron's '' The Mountains at the Bottom of the World'' (1972) has a relict population of

Paranthropus ''Paranthropus'' is a genus of extinct hominin which contains two widely accepted species: ''Paranthropus robustus, P. robustus'' and ''P. boisei''. However, the validity of ''Paranthropus'' is contested, and it is sometimes considered to be sy ...

living not quite in Antarctica, but in the southern Chilean Andes. ''Crusoe Warburton'' (1954), by Victor Wallace Germains, describes an island in the far South Atlantic, with a lost, pre-gunpowder empire. According to Allienne Becker, there was a logical evolution from the lost world subgenre to the

planetary romance Planetary romance is a subgenre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place ag ...

genre: "When there were no longer any unexplored corners of our earth, the Lost Worlds Romance turned to space." Brian Stableford makes a related point about Lost Worlds: "The motif has gradually fallen into disuse by virtue of increasing geographical knowledge; these days lost lands have to be very well hidden indeed or displaced beyond some kind of magical or dimensional boundary. Such displacement ..so transforms their significance that they are better thought of as Secondary Worlds or Otherworlds."Stableford, Brian (1997). "Lost Lands and Continents". ''

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott R ...

''. Online at Science Fiction Encyclopedia (sf-encyclopedia.uk). Retrieved 2019-03-11.
In two linked entries by editor

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

, the encyclopedia distinguishes "Otherworld" from its subclass "Secondary World", and also from the settings of Supernatural Fiction and Planetary Romance, and from related concepts. Below is a list of classic lost world titles drawn fro
''Lost Worlds: The Ultimate Anthology''
Titles were selected from drawn from '' 333: A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel'',

Jessica Amanda Salmonson Jessica Amanda Salmonson (born January 6, 1950John Clute and John Grant,Salmonson, Jessica Amanda, in ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', pp. 832–833, Orbit, London / St Martin’s Press, New York (1997).) is an American author and editor of fant ...

's Lost Race checklist and

E. F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

's '' Science-fiction, the Early Years''.

Lost worlds in Africa

*''

'' by

*'' Allan Quatermain'' by

*'' She: A History of Adventure'' by

*''A Rip Van Winkle of the Kalahari'' by

Frederick Carruthers Cornell Frederick Carruthers Cornell OBE (6 May 1867 – 6 March 1921) was an English soldier, geologist, prospector and author born in Devon, England, and educated at the Bedford School. Cornell is best known for his war time activities during the M ...

*''The Great White Queen: A Tale of Treasure and Treason'' by

William Le Queux William Tufnell Le Queux ( , ; 2 July 1864 – 13 October 1927) was an Anglo-French journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat (honorary consul for San Marino), a traveller (in Europe, the Balkans and North Africa), a flying buff who officiat ...

*'' By the Gods Beloved'' (also known as ''

The Gates of Kamt ''By The Gods Beloved'', first published in the UK in 1905, was released under the title ''The Gates of Kamt'' in the US. The novel is in the tradition of Rider Haggard's 1887 ''She'', and concerns a lost race of ancient Egyptians. In her au ...

'') by Baroness Orczy *''Wings of Danger'' by Arthur A. Nelson *''

The Lost World (1992 film) } ''The Lost World'' is a 1992 film, based on the 1912 novel '' The Lost World'' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The movie is set in Africa rather than the book's setting of South America, and the character of Lord John Roxton has been replaced with a ...

Lost worlds in North America

*''

The Aztec Treasure House ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' by

Thomas A. Janvier Thomas Allibone Janvier (July 16, 1849 – June 18, 1913) was an American story-writer and historian, born in Philadelphia of Provençal descent. Early life and marriage Janvier received a public school education, then worked in Philadelphi ...

*'' Fruit of the Desert'' by Richard Hayes Barry *''

The Haunted Mesa ''The Haunted Mesa'' is a 1987 science fiction novel by American writer Louis L'Amour, set in the Southwestern United States, American Southwest amidst the ruins of the Ancestral Puebloans, Anasazi. Plot summary Mike Raglan, a middle-aged man w ...

'' by

Louis L'Amour Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his work "frontier stories"); however, he also wrote hi ...

Lost worlds in Central America

*''Phantom City: A Volcanic Romance'' by

William Westall William Westall (12 October 1781 – 22 January 1850) was a British landscape artist best known as one of the first artists to work in Australia. Early life Westall was born in Hertford and grew up in London, mostly Sydenham and Hampstead. ...

*''The Lost Canyon of the Toltecs'' by Charles Sumner Seeley *''The Bridge of Light'' by A. Hyatt Verrill

Lost worlds in South America

*''

The Country of the Blind "The Country of the Blind" is a short story by English writer H. G. Wells. It was first published in the April 1904 issue of ''The Strand Magazine'' and included in a 1911 collection of Wells's short stories, ''The Country of the Blind and Ot ...

'' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

'' by

*''The Web of the Sun'' by

T. S. Stribling Thomas Sigismund Stribling (March 4, 1881 – July 8, 1965) was notable as an American writer who published under the name T. S. Stribling. Although he passed the bar and practiced law for a few years, he quickly began to focus on writing. First k ...

*''Immortal Athalia'' by Harry F. Haley *''Prisoners of the Sun'' by Hergé *''

Lost in the Andes! "Lost in the Andes!" is a Donald Duck story written by Carl Barks and published in Dell Comics' ''Four Color Comics'' #223 in April 1949. Donald and his nephews go to South America to find the mythical chickens that lay square eggs (actually, th ...

'' by

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck ...

, 1948, Donald Duck and his nephews get to know square eggs.

Lost worlds in Asia

*''

'' by

*''The Mountain Kingdom: A Narrative of Adventure'' by David Lawson Johnstone *''Om: The Secret of Abhor Valley'' by

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

*''

'' by James Hilton *''The Valley of Eyes Unseen'' by Gilbert Henry Collins *''Harilek: A Romance of Modern Central Asia'' by Ganpat (

Louis Gompertz Martin Louis Alan Gompertz (February 23, 1886 – September 29, 1951) was a British soldier and writer, born in India, also known by the pseudonym of 'Ganpat', which was the nearest his Indian troops could get to pronouncing 'Gompertz'. Ganpat i ...

) *''Fields of Sleep'' by

E. C. Vivian Evelyn Charles Henry Vivian ( – ) was the pseudonym of Charles Henry Cannell, a British editor and writer of Fantasy fiction, fantasy and Supernatural fiction, supernatural, Detective fiction, detective novels and stories. Biography Prior to ...

*''The Purple Sapphire'' by

John Taine Eric Temple Bell (7 February 1883 – 21 December 1960) was a Scottish-born mathematician and science fiction writer who lived in the United States for most of his life. He published non-fiction using his given name and fiction as John Tai ...

*''The Metal Monster'' by

Lost worlds in Europe and the Middle East

*''No-Man’s-Land'' by John Buchan *''The Knight of the Silver Star'' by Percy James Brebner *''

The Nameless City "The Nameless City" is a short horror story written by American writer H. P. Lovecraft in January 1921 and first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal ''The Wolverine''. It is often considered the first story set in ...

'' by '' H.P. Lovecraft''

Lost worlds in Australia

*''The Lost Explorer'' by

*''Marooned on Australia'' by Ernest Favenc *''Eureka'' by

Owen Hall Owen Hall (10 April 1853 – 9 April 1907) was the principal pen name of the Irish-born theatre writer, racing correspondent, theatre critic and solicitor, James "Jimmy" Davis, when writing for the stage. After his successive careers in law ...

Lost worlds at the Poles

*''Beyond The Great South Wall'' by Frank Savile *''The Ke Whonkus People: A Story of the North Pole Country'' by John O. Greene *'' The Land That Time Forgot'' by

*'' The Lost Ones'' by Ian Cameron *'' At the Mountains of Madness'' by H.P.Lovecraft. *''Polaris of the Snows'' by Charles B. Stilson *''

The Smoky God ''The Smoky God, or A Voyage Journey to the Inner Earth'' is a book presented as a true account written by Willis George Emerson in 1908, which describes the adventures of Olaf Jansen, a Norwegian sailor who sailed with his father through an entra ...

'' by

Willis George Emerson Willis George Emerson (1856–1918) was an American novelist, Chicago newspaperman, lawyer, politician, and promoter, who formed the North American Copper Company in Wyoming. He founded the town of Encampment, Wyoming. Biography Willis George ...

*''

A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder ''A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder'' is the most popular book by the Canadian writer James De Mille. It was serialized posthumously and anonymously in ''Harper's Weekly'', and published in book form by Harper and Brothers of New ...

'' by

James De Mille James De Mille (23 August 1833 – 28 January 1880) was a professor at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and an early Canadian novelist who published numerous works of popular fiction from the late 1860s through the 1870s. Life De Mille w ...

Hollow Earth

*'' At the Earth's Core'' by

*''

The Coming Race ''The Coming Race'' is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published anonymously in 1871. It has also been published as ''Vril, the Power of the Coming Race''. Some readers have believed the account of a superior subterranean master race and th ...

'' by

*''Under the Auroras: A Marvelous Tale of the Interior World'' by William Jenkins Shaw *''

'' by

*''

Dwellers in the Mirage ''Dwellers in the Mirage'' is a fantasy novel by American writer A. Merritt. It was first published in book form in 1932 by Horace Liveright. The novel was originally serialized in six parts in the magazine '' Argosy'' beginning with the January ...

'' by

*'' Zanthodon'' by

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

*''

'' by

References

La Gazette des Français du Paraguay, ''Le Monde Perdu, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - El Mundo Perdido, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'' bilingual French Spanish, Numéro 9, Année 1, Asuncion 2013.

External links

Jessica Amanda Salmonson's checklist of lost-world/lost-race books.

* ttp://www.rohpress.com/masterworks_lost_worlds.html Lost Worlds: The Ultimate Anthology. A collection of 33 classic tales
"Lost Worlds"
at ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'' – with linked entries on "Lost Races" and related themes
"Lost Lands and Continents"
an
"Lost Races"
entries in ''

'' (1997) {{Fantasy fiction Adventure fiction Science fiction themes Speculative fiction Fantasy genres

History

Contemporary examples

Geographic settings

Lost worlds in Africa

Lost worlds in North America

Lost worlds in Central America

Lost worlds in South America

Lost worlds in Asia

Lost worlds in Europe and the Middle East

Lost worlds in Australia

Lost worlds at the Poles

Hollow Earth

See also

References

External links