The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Six (The Atlas, #1)

by Olivie Blake

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.

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4.5 of 5 stars

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So while I am not on BookTok, I have picked up on all of the hype surrounding The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. Naturally, it made me curious to see if it would live up to all that hype. When Tor Books picked it up, I knew that something was going on with this book and added it to my TBR. And so here we are!

There are many secret societies in this world where magic exists. One of them is known as The Alexandrian Society, and they are tasked with protecting magical knowledge from all over the world. This includes the knowledge that most of humanity thought long lost. Every decade new initiates are brought into the fold to help protect this knowledge.

The latest six consists of Libby Rhodes and Nicolas Ferrer de Varona, both of whom can control matter; Reina Mori, a naturalist with a gift like no other; Parisa Kamali, a mind reader with a trick up her sleeve; Tristan Caine, an illusionist who can see through illusions; and Callum Nova, an empath with the ability to influence emotions. There's only one catch to their initiation: only five of them will make it in.

“The problem with knowledge, is its inexhaustible craving. the more of it you have, the less you feel you know”

Have you ever been both excited and nervous to start a book that has incredible hype? On the one hand, I wanted to read The Atlas Six, as it sounded amazing. On the other, I was so afraid that the hype would build me up for a fall, and thus I was almost dreaded picking it up.

As it turns out, I needn't have worried. I ended up adoring The Atlas Six and every little detail the author was willing to send my way. Though I am curious to know if it changed at all after being purchased and edited by Tor – can anyone enlighten me?

As I mentioned above, there are six main characters in The Atlas Six. I imagine every reader will end up having their favorites, as I did. I also think that the writer, Olivie Blake, had her own favorites. Some characters got more screen time than others and are arguably more connected and essential to the plot. All of which becomes more clear as time goes on. Personally, that makes sense to me. But I can see how it would be a bit disappointing, too, since all six were initially billed as being equally extraordinary. The top six, so to speak.

“Really, there was nothing more dangerous than a woman who knew her own worth.”

To me, The Atlas Six had very strong vibes similar to The Gilded Wolves. In this case, a group of unlikely allies (sort of, in this case) worked together, using their abilities to fill in a different piece of the puzzle. Sound familiar? It also had A Deadly Education vibes, though with a twist. The Atlas Six aren't students, though they deal with magical knowledge and its study.

It took me a little while to get into The Atlas Six, so if you find yourself uncertain in the beginning, keep reading! Once all of the character introductions are complete, the plot will start picking up more and more. For me, I think it all synced up once I understood each of the six without having to stop and think about who they were.

Long story short: I put off reading The Atlas Six for a bit because I dreaded the thought of it disappointing me. When I finally sat down to read it, I fell in love. Ultimately, I read this nearly five hundred-page book in one night because I got that hooked. Now I'm just sitting here waiting for the sequel (The Atlas Paradox).

Thanks to Tor Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

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Reading updates

  • 22 February, 2022: Started reading
  • 22 February, 2022: on page 0 out of 384 0%
  • 22 February, 2022: Finished reading
  • 22 February, 2022: Reviewed