The Atlas Six

#1 in series

by Olivie Blake
Andy Ingalls

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The much-acclaimed BookTok sensation from Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six is now newly revised, edited with additional content, and available on audio for the first time.

The tag #theatlassix already 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 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.
Most of them.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

Creators
Series

Atlas
Publisher

Macmillan Audio

Edition: Unabridged
Release date

March 1, 2022
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
  - ISBN: 9781250860460
  - File size: 460658 KB
  - Duration: 15:59:42
Languages
- English
Reviews
- Publisher's Weekly
  
  January 31, 2022
  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.
- AudioFile Magazine
  
  This audiobook includes newly revised and expanded material that is fully realized by a talented ensemble of narrators, including Steve West (Callum Nova), Caitlin Kelly (Libby Rhodes), and David Monteith (Tristan Caine). Six exceptional individuals are recruited by the enigmatic Atlas Blakely to join the Alexandrian Society, an exclusive, powerful organization focused on arcane and esoteric knowledge. Hearing the prospective initiates from alternating points of view as the competition unfolds between the candidates adds layers and nuance to their tenuous alliances. Over the course of a year, the group endures challenges from outside forces and the mysteries within the society itself. Keen characterizations illuminate their choices and relationships. Tantalizing narrative threads at the end will create anticipation for the sequel. J.R.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
- Library Journal
  
  June 1, 2022
  Blake's dark fantasy, first self-published in 2020, achieved viral fame through millions of TikTok views and is now available in audio. This book, the first in a planned trilogy, follows six medeians, magicians with powers ranging from telepathy to the ability to manipulate nature, who are selected to join the Alexandrian Society. The Society is a secret body that safeguards the treasures of the Great Library of Alexandria and serves as a stunningly powerful magical think tank. Eight narrators--James Patrick Cronin, Siho Ellsmore, Munirih Grace, Andy Ingalls, Caitlin Kelly, Damian Lynch, David Monteith, and Steve West--give voice to the characters as they learn that only five of their original six members will make it to initiation. The brutal choice of whom to eliminate is theirs to make. The audio version may be challenging for listeners, for while the narrators provide solid performances, their sheer number, combined with different characterizations and interpretations, increases the complexity of the already sprawling story. Additionally, inconsistencies in volume and sound quality may be distracting for some. VERDICT While steadfast fantasy lovers will be eager for the next installation in this series, others may wish that worldbuilding and action better matched the hype.--Sarah Hashimoto
  
  Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
- Good Reading Magazine
  
  With a secret society of magical academics and a competition that pits ruthlessly ambitious candidates against each other, The Atlas Six is a literary masterpiece that left me questioning the very nature of humanity. Typically one to shy away from the fantasy genre, I was drawn to the complex morally grey characters, and their interactions, which certainly did not disappoint. Through alternating perspectives the intricate thoughts and motives of each character is slowly revealed, yet there is much left uncovered leaving the truth questionable. Telling a group of six young adults that only five of them will be initiated into the Alexandrian society, securing them a life of infinite wealth, power and prestige, is sure to have chaos ensue. Especially when that group of six is comprised of inseparable enemies capable of controlling matter, a seductive manipulator with the ability to read minds, an enigmatic naturalist, a pretentious empath with no remorse, and a truthseer unable to grasp the true extent of his power. The character dynamics are enticing enough but the intricately crafted sentences, dark academia aesthetic and elaborate plot left me reeling. Her control of language in its exploration of morality and humanity is nothing short of intoxicating. The Atlas Six has only one flaw, and that is that it ended. I suppose this is a blessing in disguise, because I don’t think I would’ve ever been able to put it down otherwise. Reviewed by Luna Pandiella-McLeod ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alexene Farol Follmuth, also known under the pen name Olivie Blake, is 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 the collective experience, what it means to be human (or not), and the endlessly interesting complexities of life and love. Alexene tripped and fell into writing after abandoning her long-premeditated track for Optimum Life Achievement while attending law school, and now focuses primarily on the craft and occasional headache of creating fiction. Under her Olivie byline, New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling The Atlas Six released 2022, followed by its sequel The Atlas Paradox and the re-release of her viral literary romance Alone With You in the Ether. She has also been published as well as the writer for the graphic series' Clara and the Devil' and a variety of other adult SFF books. As Alexene, she is the author of YA romance. Alexene lives and works in Los Angeles with her husband and goblin prince/toddler, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull. Visit Olivie Blake's website
- BookPage
  
  Every 10 years, the secretive Alexandrian Society, inheritors of the lost knowledge from its namesake library, recruits six of the most powerful young magic users, or medeians, to join their ranks. The half-dozen potential initiates are brought to the Society’s headquarters, where they study and learn from the greatest compendium of magical knowledge that has ever existed. This year, Caretaker Atlas Blakely has selected a sextet of particularly ambitious young medeians: three physical mediums, who specialize in manipulating external forces and energies for purposes as varied as deflecting bullets and obtaining midnight snacks; and three nascent masters of the mental, emotional and perceptual magics of reading minds and concealing acne. But these newest residents are confronted with even darker secrets than the arcane knowledge they all covet, for they are the linchpins in a conspiracy that could either save the world or utterly destroy it. For a book with such a melodramatic premise (think “Big Brother,” but half the cast can read their companions’ minds and the other half can conjure actual black holes), Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six is curiously matter-of-fact, dispensing with on-page relationship drama and coasting through tense fight scenes with brevity. Likewise, instead of providing flowing backstory, Blake communicates personalities through lighthearted conversations and depicts the world outside the Library’s magically warded walls entirely through the scars it left on her protagonists. The Atlas Six is stingy with its exposition, with the lengthiest passages being debates between characters on topics such as the nature of time and the conservation of magical energy. But in Blake’s hands, these tracts are engaging and often very, very funny. This duality—an extremely pulpy plot married with smart and nimble writing—is the core of The Atlas Six’s appeal. This macabre romp of a magical reality show nevertheless revolves around one weighty question: Is there knowledge that should not be shared? Blake draws heavily on the structures and practices of academia, which in our world is in the midst of a push for greater transparency and democratization of knowledge. Analyzing the costs and benefits of advanced technology or abilities has been central to speculative fiction since its inception. That Blake is using academia as a vehicle for it, adding her agile and cutting voice to the likes of Neal Stephenson and Cixin Liu, feels particularly relevant to the present moment. And if she happens to suggest some legitimately wholesome uses for small wormholes along the way, all the better.