The principal characters of Letters from Atlantis are Roy and Ram. Roy is the main character, a scientific re searcher who has had his mind sent into the distant past in order to view Atlantis through the eyes of a member of the Athilan royal family. He tells the story through a series of letters to Lora, another time traveler living in the mind of a provincial governor far to the northeast of the Athilan home island. Consequently, his values and emotions dominate the narrative; everything is shaped by what he thinks is worth telling.

Ram is the heir to the throne of Athilan. He is in his late teens and has already gone through two important rituals in which he begins the bonding with his father that will someday result in his being merged with the personalities of all the kings who have gone before. The kings...