Atlantida

by Pierre Benoît

"Atlantida" by Pierre Benoit is a fantasy novel published in 1919. Set in the French Algerian Sahara in 1896, the story follows two officers investigating missing comrades. They are captured and brought before Queen Antinea, a descendant of Atlantis's rulers, who keeps her lovers preserved in wall niches—currently fifty-three of one hundred twenty. As one officer falls under her spell and commits murder, the tale explores obsession, betrayal, and survival in a desert kingdom ruled by an immortal queen.