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A review by incipientdreamer
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
2.0
2.5 stars
Tedious and mediocre.
It feels like this book was mismarketed, I went into it expecting cool magic systems and dark academia but got something else entirely. Lots of talking and exposition but no plot. The characters were annoying at first but I did find some of them interesting later on. The writing is dense and rambly. It feels like reading a novel from the 18th century. I have had friends complain they can't read Austen or Dickens because of the style of writing used in the classics. Well, The Atlas Six seems to be in the same class. And this is not a compliment. The book comes off as pretentious and unnecessarily obtuse. The magic system is too complicated and I didn't understand much about it, despite entire chapters devoted to arguments and discussions.
When I first read reviews for The Atlas Six, I saw some readers complaining that the scientific and philosophical discussions were too boring and hard to understand. Being a physicist, and a general Revnclaw, I love books with pages and pages devoted to scientific queries. However this book was so clunky and difficult, I found myself rereading passages and entire scenes would pass over my head without understanding anything.
Tediously long pages of characters' stream of consciousness, the likes of which I haven't encountered since Woolf. The characters don't sound like a bunch of millennials, rather they sound like they came out of a Victor Hugo novel. I guess the fault ultimately lies on the editor, as this book could have been trimmed. I'm surprised because Tor rarely ever has this issue with its books.
The so-called plot twists were easily predictable. I liked Nico and Reina the most out of the first. Callum and Parisa's chapters gave me a headache because I really could not understand wtf was going on. But eventually, I got used to Callum's bits and it was fun to see what went in his mind. Tristan and Libby were the two most boring characters imaginable. The romance felt forced and I didn't understand the point of any of it.
In summary, absolutely fuck-all happened in this book. Idk why it's so popular, it isn't at all an easy-to-read story. The comparison with Ninth House and Deadly Education is so off idk who came up with it. I might pick up The Atlas Paradox because I am curious as to what happens next, but I also might just save myself the headache and read the summary once it comes out.
Tedious and mediocre.
It feels like this book was mismarketed, I went into it expecting cool magic systems and dark academia but got something else entirely. Lots of talking and exposition but no plot. The characters were annoying at first but I did find some of them interesting later on. The writing is dense and rambly. It feels like reading a novel from the 18th century. I have had friends complain they can't read Austen or Dickens because of the style of writing used in the classics. Well, The Atlas Six seems to be in the same class. And this is not a compliment. The book comes off as pretentious and unnecessarily obtuse. The magic system is too complicated and I didn't understand much about it, despite entire chapters devoted to arguments and discussions.
When I first read reviews for The Atlas Six, I saw some readers complaining that the scientific and philosophical discussions were too boring and hard to understand. Being a physicist, and a general Revnclaw, I love books with pages and pages devoted to scientific queries. However this book was so clunky and difficult, I found myself rereading passages and entire scenes would pass over my head without understanding anything.
Tediously long pages of characters' stream of consciousness, the likes of which I haven't encountered since Woolf. The characters don't sound like a bunch of millennials, rather they sound like they came out of a Victor Hugo novel. I guess the fault ultimately lies on the editor, as this book could have been trimmed. I'm surprised because Tor rarely ever has this issue with its books.
The so-called plot twists were easily predictable. I liked Nico and Reina the most out of the first. Callum and Parisa's chapters gave me a headache because I really could not understand wtf was going on. But eventually, I got used to Callum's bits and it was fun to see what went in his mind. Tristan and Libby were the two most boring characters imaginable. The romance felt forced and I didn't understand the point of any of it.
In summary, absolutely fuck-all happened in this book. Idk why it's so popular, it isn't at all an easy-to-read story. The comparison with Ninth House and Deadly Education is so off idk who came up with it. I might pick up The Atlas Paradox because I am curious as to what happens next, but I also might just save myself the headache and read the summary once it comes out.