Hmm... is the 'ancient connection to Atlantis' thing overdone...

... as a plot reveal?

Working on a YA novel that would probably qualify as Magical Realism as far as setting goes, with two competing ancient conspiracies running around trying to either tap into or suppress a vaguely magical, indetectable-to-modern-science energy ('anima') that appears to be both quasi-sentient and hostile to humans.

Bearing in mind that this is all backstory, I was thinking that the two conspiracies could be the leftovers of a war between Atlantis and Mu, which were sunk as a result of those energies being used in the war. The thought was that Atlantis built its hyper-advanced civilization using the anima to power their various widgets, as did Mu, but Mu twigged to the whole 'the anima wants to sterilize the planet' thing. The Atlanteans told them to go screw themselves, triggering the war, since the Muvians didn't particularly wish to be on a planet that was exploding.

Long story short, Mu lost the war, but triggered a last-ditch superweapon that sank both Atlantis and Mu, rather than risk losing the entire planet. The people that founded the two competing secret organizations- the Stonekeep Watch and the no-name-as-yet opposing force were from Mu and Atlantis respectively, the Stonekeep Watch trying to keep both the anima and knowledge of it suppressed, and the Opfor trying to gather it and use it to restore humanity to the glories of lost Atlantis (although that's going to be a very, very lategame reveal).

So, as the initial question asks; is the whole 'ancient connection to Atlantis/whatever lost continent' thing overdone?

If you can make it work, you can make it work. It's not inherently overdone. However, it brings no value inherently, so if your writing is bad, connecting things to Atlantis won't make it better. If your writing's good, and connecting things to Atlantis fits in and pulls everything up, then yes, do it, no doubt.

I haven't heard of too many stories involving Atlantis, so I do not feel it's overdone.

Tropes are tools, of course. It's possible to do well, so long as you aren't throwing it in there 'just because'.

My work actually gets a bit Mythology Kitchen Sink with this; Atlantis was the civilization destroyed by the Great Flood.

Huh. Okay, then. I was just wondering because Atlantis seems a bit... generic go-to... for magical realism things, at least to me. It does fit the overall tone of the story, though, what with the catastrophic end of Atlantis and whatnot. Heh. Leaves a sequel series with Hyperborea and Thule, or maybe Lemuria, open, too.

Atlantis is a go-to because it has a veneer of legitimacy, like UF Os or ghosts or whatever...no one can prove these things don't or didn't exist, so there will always be that uncertainty in the back of a reader's mind. When done well, an author can get a reader to wonder "could this stuff actually have happened?" It's the same appeal as that "based on a true story" bullshit; it's the veneer of plausibility.

So in general yes; the concept has been abused to the point where the basic trope is crying in the shower and begging the brutes to stop already. But the trope still has room for a legitimate relationship, to torture a really questionable metaphor.

Simply put, it would depend on how the matter was handled...there's a lot of room for cliche but there is also a lot of room for a legitimately good story.

those mythological stockpile can never be overdone. just done bad. if you think you can pull it off without making it a groan inducing Narm fest. go ahead. though personally, haven't seen this reveal much so don't really know how it can be done badly.