The Atlas Six
Author: Olivie Blake
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 373
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 373
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Six extraordinary magicians.
Five changes to win.
One secret society.
Welcome to the Alexandrian Society.
When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited – to fill five places.
Contenders Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona are inseparable enemies, cosmologists who can control matter with their minds. Parisa Kamali is a telepath who sees the mind’s deepest secrets. Reina Mori is a naturalist who can perceive and understand the flow of life itself. And Callum Nova is an empath who can manipulate the desires of others. Finally, there’s Tristan Caine, whose powers mystify even himself.
Following recruitment by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they travel to the Society’s London headquarters. Here, each must study and innovate within esoteric subject areas. And if they can prove themselves over the course of a year, they’ll survive. Most of them.
Five changes to win.
One secret society.
Welcome to the Alexandrian Society.
When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited – to fill five places.
Contenders Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona are inseparable enemies, cosmologists who can control matter with their minds. Parisa Kamali is a telepath who sees the mind’s deepest secrets. Reina Mori is a naturalist who can perceive and understand the flow of life itself. And Callum Nova is an empath who can manipulate the desires of others. Finally, there’s Tristan Caine, whose powers mystify even himself.
Following recruitment by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they travel to the Society’s London headquarters. Here, each must study and innovate within esoteric subject areas. And if they can prove themselves over the course of a year, they’ll survive. Most of them.
My thoughts:
The writing style of this just screams dark academia – really quite pretentious while also being presented as if completely normal, because of course to these characters, it is.
Readers witness the main characters being ambitious, learning about their magic, and all the way through maintaining an understandable level of wariness that wasn’t dropped for a second.
I love a character driven story, and this is certainly that. The Atlas Six follows six magical people, but perhaps the best part about this book is that they’re such well-written characters. Each of the Six have a unique magical ability that sets them apart from other medians and they enter the society knowing that only five of them will make it to initiation. Knowing one of them must be eliminated before the end of the year, distrust blossoms, but they must work together if they want to succeed.
The premise was immediately alluring to me, promising a blend of dark academia and fantasy, but the author has taken this to a new level by inventing a remarkable new magical system explored through the lens of philosophy and morality.
Pacing of the narrative differs throughout, making for an engaging read especially towards the end. There is a suitably dark undercurrent within the story, keeping readers guessing from start to finish.
I enjoyed Blake’s writing and found her execution unexpectedly gripping. The book managed to feel intense even when very little was happening plot-wise, and the allure of the Alexandrian society was undeniable. From start to finish, Blake keeps readers intrigued by weaving complicated relationships between characters and throwing in some action and plot twists to build up this magical and sophisticated world.
I must admit the book and universe have so much promise, yet The Atlas Six seems to somehow lack a little in plot. It is interesting, but not particularly complex or coherent, which is why I can only give a four-star rating. It is also why I don’t feel the book works particularly well as a standalone, something I find a little disappointing. It is clearly the introductory novel to a longer series yet to come, but I personally always love it when the first part in a collection can be enjoyed just as much as an individual novel and I’m not sure Olivie Blake has achieved that here. However, I’m hopeful that what is left unsaid in this book will surely be answered in the inevitable sequels which I look forward to reading.
Overall, this was an engaging and very involved read that introduces a new perspective to the fantasy genre. It establishes an exciting world and complex cast of characters whose stories are just beginning. A solid start to this new series and a character led, suspenseful mystery that will have you questioning your opinions right to the end.
Overall reaction: