A Review of Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six (Tor, 2022)

Posted by: lsobiesk

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Written by Stephen Hong Sohn

Edited by Lizzy Sobiesk

I actually waited to read Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six (Tor, 2022) after Blake had finished the entire Atlas trilogy. I will admit that I have become a little bit tired of reading the first in an installment only to forget what had happened while waiting for the next iteration to come out. Such is not the case now with Blake, and I review The Atlas Six, which has become a bestseller since its publication. This novel follows in the tradition of what has been termed the dark academy fantasy genre. The clearest analogues by Asian American authors that I can think of offhand are R.F. Kuang’s Babel, Kuang’s Poppy War trilogy, and M.L. Wang’s Blood over Bright Haven. Fonda Lee’s Jade trilogy I would say also has some of the dark academy fantasy components to it as well. Key to the dark academy fantasy genre is that the training specific characters undergo involves magical abilities. Second, the dark academy fantasy genre obviously has a dark element to it. That is, there is something dystopian or unethical either about the academy itself or the ways in which the characters will ultimately go on to use their magical powers (after having been trained). In Blake’s novel, there are six initiates who are invited to join a magical society. Their contact is none other than a mysterious fellow named Atlas Blake (hence the trilogy’s name). The number of initiates alongside Atlas’s name is the foundation of the book’s title. Each of the six have been chosen for their exceptional abilities in a magical discipline. There’s Libby Rhodes and Nico Varona, who are both gifted in their ability to wield particular physical elements. Reiko Mori is a powerful naturalist, with unique connections to the environment and plant life. Parisa Kamali is an incredible telepath; Tristan Caine is a skilled illusionist; and Callum Nova is a talented empath, who has the ability to manipulate other people’s emotions. All the six are told is that they must spend a year training and studying at a specific, private location, with the acknowledgment that, eventually, one of the six will be eliminated from the group. Thus, only five will be allowed to join.

The reason why the six are even interested is that the magical society offers them the chance to harness and to enhance their powers, while giving them access to a world-class archive that will only increase their knowledge. The problem is that they do not know exactly how one of them will be eliminated, and now is the time where I need to provide my requisite spoiler warning. Please turn away unless you want to find out exactly what the initiates discover. They all eventually realize that the sixth person is eliminated via their death. The manner of death might be through homicide (in the sense that five conspire against one to kill the sixth) or it might be a sacrifice (where a single individual decides to give up their life voluntarily). Whatever the case, a death seems destined to occur in some form or another. Given the incredible power the society offers, most of the six seem to rationalize that this type of elimination is fine. This area is the one that I found the hardest to deal with as a reader, as I didn’t find many of the characters to be remotely sympathetic. Indeed, this aspect was perhaps my biggest block to reading the book. The plot, its conceits, the various issues connected with the society, were all compellingly presented, but the characters themselves and their psychic interiorities I often found unsavory. Admittedly, Blake does imbue all the major characters with complexity, which is ultimately why I will continue on with this series, but it remains to be seen whether or not these characters will have developmental arcs in which they might actually realize that their pursuits of magical power might not be the best thing for them. I will likely have to reveal how this novel ends at some point early on in the review for the next book, but suffice it to say, someone is eliminated but just not in the way anyone expects. For this kind of surprise conclusion, I applaud Blake for lining up her representational chess pieces with such mastery. An A+ for the magical worldbuilding as well!

Buy the Book Here

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