The Atlan Series by Jane Gaskell
The Atlan Series is a narrative set in prehistoric South America, centering on Cija, a hereditary goddess who is confined in a castle tower for the first seventeen years of her life due to a prophecy predicting her nation's downfall. Initially believing she is the last of her kind, Cija's world is turned upside down when she encounters Zerd, a half-man, half-serpent who has conquered her homeland. Her mother instructs her to make Zerd fall in love with her and then kill him to fulfill the prophecy, leading Cija into a series of challenging adventures, including escapes, hardships, and complex relationships.
Throughout the series, themes of identity, struggle, and the quest for autonomy are prevalent, as Cija navigates her tumultuous destiny, ultimately marrying Zerd and becoming the empress of Atlan. The narrative further explores her relationships, including the birth of her children and her conflicting loyalties. The story continues with her daughter, Seka, who experiences her own trials, leading to a climactic journey that culminates in the destruction of Atlan. Together, Cija, Zerd, and Seka seek a fresh start, symbolizing the resilience of their characters amid chaos and tragedy.
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Subject Terms
The Atlan Series
First published:The Serpent (1963; published in two volumes as The Serpent, 1975, and The Dragon, 1975), Atlan (1965), The City (1966), and Some Summer Lands (1977)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—high fantasy
Time of work: Prehistory
Locale: South America and the continent of Atlan (Atlantis)
The Plot
Cija pronounced Key-a), hereditary goddess of a small realm in prehistoric South America, spends the first seventeen years of her life confined to an abandoned castle tower because it has been prophesied that she will bring about the downfall of her nation. The people of her country have been told that she died shortly after birth. Meanwhile, she has been taught that men no longer exist, so when she first encounters Zerd—the half-man, half-serpent to whom her fate is intimately tied—snooping around her tower, she thinks he is an extremely ugly, and insolent, woman. She is shocked when she learns not only that men exist but also that Zerd has conquered her nation and she is to be handed over to him as a hostage. In addition, her mother tells Cija that she must overturn her birth-prophesy by getting Zerd to fall in love with her, then killing him.
Cija fails in her attempt, escapes from Zerd’s entourage, and begins a wide variety of adventures. She is raped more than once, tills fields, works as a cook, and becomes the mistress of a hostage-turned-soldier named Smahill. When Zerd finds her, she flees, in the process discovering that he produces poisonous venom. Cija stows away on a riverboat. Upon being discovered, she is taken to live in the court of a religious government. There she learns that Smahill is her half-brother. Eventually, she finds the way to Atlan, immediately before Zerd invades. She marries Zerd and becomes empress of Atlan.
The marriage soon proves to be loveless. In Atlan, Cija gives birth to a boy, Nal, who is Smahill’s son, though Zerd does not know this. Zerd’s first wife, Sedili, shows up. Zerd sends Cija and Nal to safety, but the accompanying troops are attacked, and Cija is forced into servitude. Zerd rescues her, and she gives birth to Seka, his daughter. After other exploits, including an encounter with a mad scientist who has created an “ectogene” from body parts, the native emperor of Atlan attacks. Cija escapes to the mainland with Seka, whom terror has driven speechless. Nal has disappeared.
At the start of The City, Cija is sold into slavery and prostitution in a city ruled by religious dictators. She soon escapes and discovers that this city belongs to her mother’s realm. The high priest is her father. She visits the tower, now fallen into disrepair, in which she had been held as a child. She is captured by her father’s troops. Because she is proof that he broke his vows of celibacy, he plans to kill her, but she is rescued by Smahill.
A herd of wild apes takes her prisoner and fattens her up with the intent of eating her. One ape, Ung-g, becomes her lover. They fall in love, but their idyllic forest life ends when the high priest’s troops kill Ung-g and recapture Cija. Smahill tells Cija that he will rescue her if she will abandon Seka and become his lover. Cija refuses, but before the high priests cut her throat, her mother’s troops rescue her. Her mother wants Cija to become reconciled to Zerd. Cija is pregnant with Ung-g’s child, however, and does not know if Zerd will want her back.
Some Summer Lands is narrated by Seka, who loyally stands by her mother through kidnapping and forced abortion by Smahill, capture by Sedili, marriage to a cruel farmer in a town run by a warrior-turned-prophet, life with Zerd’s serpent family, and various other adventures that lead to a return to Atlan. Seka regains her voice. Cija, Seka, and their traveling companion, Juzd (a priest of Atlan), all experience mystic visions. Atlan then destroys itself rather than be conquered. Zerd, Cija, and Seka turn their backs on what was Atlan, seeking a new land for themselves.