The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake Series: The Atlas #1
Published by Tor Books on 31 January 2020
Genres: Fantasy
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.
Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications.
When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.
Most of them.
Obviously, I have seen all the hype for The Atlas Six. I no longer let hype suck me in nowadays as I’ve been burnt before, but nevertheless I was curious about reading this one. I don’t read much dark academia as it’s really not my genre, and I don’t understand the enthusiasm for it (unless it’s boarding school vibes, in which case YES).
I flew through the beginning of The Atlas Six, even though one could argue that the start of the book is the most boring. You follow Atlas as he goes around collecting the main characters to introduce them to this mysterious society, and it’s all very monotonous and repetitive. That said, I liked getting to know the characters in advance, even though it was done in the least subtle way possible.
I read the first two hundred pages or so in good time. Then the book started to drag in the middle because nothing of note was happening. The characters spent a lot of time talking to one another, theorising about their powers, but at the same time other characters were completely absent. Nico and Reina, for example, were often conveniently off-page sparring because the author didn’t want them in a scene.Read more: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake | Book Review
I didn’t like any of the ships – or potential ships – that were going on, apart from perhaps Libby and Nico. But even with their bickering, I really do see the two of them as friends more than anything else. I didn’t care for the relationships between anyone.
I have a bit of a gripe with how Parisa, the only confirmed bisexual main character, was portrayed. I have noticed that in a lot of media that bisexual woman are often shown to be cheaters or overly sexual. Parisa in this book uses this to her advantage, yes, but it still felt like a stereotype and was very disappointing.
All that said, I did enjoy my time with The Atlas Six, and I was intrigued by the ending. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out later this month, and it’ll be particularly interesting to see how Blake’s writing has evolved since writing this first book.
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