The Atlas Six

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.

February 1, 2022
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.

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April 15, 2022
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.

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