TL;DR: An intelligent urban fantasy with intrigue, The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake is an amazing multiple POV story that left me wanting more.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Every ten years, six people with magical abilities are recruited to join the Alexandrian Society. At the end of the first year, one recruit will be eliminated. What comes next is betrayal, alliances, and power grabs, and not just among the recruits.
I was worried I wouldn’t like this, since it’s popular on TikTok and I don’t seem to have the same taste in books like the readers there do. However, this book did not disappoint and I can honestly say for the first time in a long time, I can’t wait to read the next book. For those reasons and more, I give it 5 stars.
The Plot
Magicians live among the normal human population and attend universities that help them hone their skills. There are different varieties of power sets. Every ten years, the powerful and secretive Alexandrian Society chooses six recruits to train and study. At the end of the first year, one recruit will be eliminated.
Six uniquely and powerful people are chosen to study at the Alexandrian library. Nico and Libby, physical magicians, Reina, a naturalist, Parisa, a telepath, Tristan, whose power set isn’t as well defined, and Callum, an empath, come together to form the next class.
What happens next is betrayal, seduction, and alliances as secrets and lies are the currency they wield. Who will survive the first year? And who will come out on top?
What I liked & liked less
I loved this book. It tackles deep topics and themes, while also being a deeply character-driven story. There are multiple POVs, so we get to see each of the recruits, plus a few of the secondary characters’, thoughts and feelings as they progress.
Each character is unique. No one voice is muted or blended with the others and the motivations that drive them are also unique. While I didn’t like Callum, it wasn’t because he was poorly written. On the contrary, I just didn’t like who he was in the book.
The other characters were interesting, their world views different and the actions they took because of their issues made sense.
The topics they explore were deep, thought-provoking, and worked well in the plot as it progressed. I also liked that they all shifted from where they started to where they got to by the end of the book.
The world building was interesting and unique and the magical abilities were not your normal magic fare. I liked the history of the library as well. The external conflict – other groups who felt the Alexandrians had too much power and should share the knowledge of the library – was a standard trope, but it was done well.
What I didn’t like was that I wasn’t entirely sure about one of the plot points. It felt as if it wasn’t as clearly marked as all the rest. To be frank, I was a bit lost. I can’t divulge more than that without sharing spoilers, so I’ll just leave it at that.
I also found some of what wasn’t discussed between the characters (small and big things) to be a bit convenient toward the plot points, but not so much so that it bothered me.
There is sex in the book, but not so much that it bothered me. It was also fairly short in description, which made it easier for me to read than to skip.
To Sum Up (Too Late!)
The Atlas Six is an intelligent urban fantasy tale with multiple POVs. It was interesting and created a strong connection with the characters because of the POVs. I liked the political intrigue, although there was one point that went right over my head. For all that and because I am going to read the next book in the series, I gave it 5 Stars.
About the Author(s)
Olivie Blake is the pseudonym of Alexene Farol Follmuth, a lover and writer of stories, many of which involve the fantastic, the paranormal, or the supernatural, but not always. More often, her works revolve around what it means to be human (or not), and the endlessly interesting complexities of life and love.
Olivie has penned several indie SFF projects, including the webtoon Clara and the Devil with illustrator Little Chmura and the viral Atlas series. As Follmuth, her young adult rom-com My Mechanical Romance releases May 2022.
Olivie lives in Los Angeles with her husband and new baby, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.
Originally published on Feedium. This fills in the Urban Fantasy square on my Fantasy Bingo 2022 card.