The atlas six

Olivie Blake

Book - 2022

"The much-acclaimed BookTok sensation, Olivie Blake's The Atlas Six--now newly revised and edited with additional content. The tag #theatlassix has millions of views on TikTok. A dark academic debut fantasy with an established cult following that reads like THE SECRET HISTORY meets THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY. The first in an explosive trilogy 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 initiatio...n. 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."--

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Subjects
Genres
Fantasy fiction
Paranormal fiction
Published
New York : Tor 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Olivie Blake (author)
Edition
First Tor Hardcover edition
Item Description
"A Tom Doherty Associates book"
Physical Description
375 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781250854513
9781250854544
9781529095234
9781529095258
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Blake's dark academic fantasy, self-published in 2020 and already an online sensation, is poised for a splashy print debut. The Great Library of Alexandria burned, but its knowledge was not lost. Magical caretakers have secretly shepherded and guarded this ever-expanding archive of the world's knowledge through the centuries. Every 10 years, 6 initiates compete for 5 spots in the Society, which confers wealth, power, and global influence. This first in a trilogy follows 6 such medeians, each with a speciality, from explosive firepower to subtle manipulations of emotions, as they compete to be one of the fabled 5, discovering dark truths about the Society along the way. The 6 alternate narrating, diving deep into their flaws, desires, and impressions of one other. The story has dramatic revelations and sinister twists aplenty, but the pacing is uneven, sometimes given to ponderous, though fascinating, reflections on the nature of reality, which the characters are immersed in discovering. Ultimately, though, this is a highly entertaining, clever, and imaginative debut with 6 captivating characters. An internet phenomenon deserving of its fanbase.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This melodramatic, series-opening magical school tale from Blake (The Answer You Are Looking for Is Yes) eschews action adventure for more cerebral, emotional beats. It begins as six young medeians, the most magically adept members of the populace, are initiated into the Alexandrian Society, the secretive body that alone has access to the reborn Library of Alexandria and all mystical knowledge therein. Each initiate has a skill set: Libby Rhodes and Nicolás Ferrer de Varona, long-standing rivals from their college days, are both physicists, practitioners of elemental magic; Reina Mori is a naturalist; Parisa Kamali is a powerful telepath while Callum Nova is her equal as an empath; and Tristan Caine has the power to see through illusions. Over the course of one year, they study in the Society's mansion headquarters, learning more about magic and each other, all while knowing that at the end, they must choose to eliminate one of their number. Little happens for much of the book outside of the shifting social interactions of these privileged and often smug or neurotic characters. It's not until the final twist that things pick up, a villain is revealed, and the stakes are set for the rest of the series. Die-hard lovers of the dark academia aesthetic will enjoy this, but others likely won't have the patience. (Mar.)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Dangerous intrigues and deadly secrets swirl around six ambitious young magicians competing for entry into a secret society. In a world very much like our own, except that a certain percentage of humanity is born with magical powers, six extraordinarily gifted people in their 20s are invited to train for membership in the Alexandrian Society, which has carefully and somewhat surreptitiously preserved centuries of priceless knowledge since the (apparent) burning of the Library of Alexandria. At the end of one year, five of the six will be initiated into the Society, and the reader won't be surprised to learn that the sixth person isn't allowed to quietly return home. As the year advances, the candidates explore the limits of their unique powers and shift their alliances, facing threats and manipulations from both within and outside of their circle. For most of its length, the book appears to be a well-written but not especially revolutionary latecomer to the post--Harry Potter collection of novels featuring a darker and more cynical approach to magical education; these books include Sarah Gailey's Magic for Liars, Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's Vita Nostra, and Lev Grossman's Magicians series. Blake also offers a significant dash of the older subgenre of students joining a mystical cult requiring a sacrifice, as in Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon and Robert Silverberg's The Book of Skulls. The character-building is intense and intriguing--such an interior deep dive is practically de rigueur for a story of this type, which depends on self-discovery--but the plot doesn't seem to be going anywhere surprising. Then, the book's climax devastatingly reveals that Blake was holding her cards close to the vest all along, delicately hinting at a wider plot which only opens up fully--or almost fully--at the end, when it shoves the reader off a cliff to wait for the next book. A well-constructed prelude to what promises to be an interesting series. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.