Beware of the man who faces you unarmed. If in his eyes you are not the target, then you can be sure you are the weapon
Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, is a 4.5 star read for me this year. The pace is incredible and
we are straight away taken towards the characters with a very seamless transition between both character and world building. The magic system and powers are appropriately described.
I have tried my best to put forward a spoiler-free review because I truly wish you would give this book a chance and gain the first hand experience of reading it.
Characters And Perceptions about them
Nico De Varona, along with being powerful he is charming, sarcastic and doesn’t want to lose to anyone, especially Libby. He places a lot of regard for the friendships and relations that involve Gideon and Libby. He wishes to be a hero and sometimes
his focus helps him to become one too but there are times where he falls short and Libby comes for help.
Speaking of Libby, she is my least favorite. Her personality is tiresome, the author wrote a line that sums up Libby’s character graph to the absolute, the line was “ It was in Libby’s personal moral code to fret pointlessly about things she couldn’t control”.
Libby and Nico present are a part of the classic enemies but dependent on each other trope and as much as Nico tries to keep the conversation between them fun and light hearted, Libby makes it difficult to interpret herself. One thing i liked about them is their focus and control over their own powers whether it is because of the competition they hold against each other or just the fact that they are that good of physicists, whatever it might be it works for them at the time of battles and absolute needs.
“It is an alliance, Rhodes, I promise. I meant what I said.”
“So, if you need any help….?”
“You,” Nico assured her quickly. “I’ll come to you.”
“And if I need anything?”
“Me,” He confirmed, relieved to be able to offer something. “I’ve got you Rhodes. From here on, I swear.”
Callum Nova is poetically truthful. In the beginning you would feel indifferent or maybe even angry towards the way Callum presents his thoughts but by the end his perceptions about life, the other characters and powers are much worthy to highlight. He is one of my favorite characters and is really beautifully written.
Being feared was a bit like anise, like absinthe. A strange and arousing flavor. Being admired was golden, maple-sweet. Being despised was a woodsy, sulfuric aroma, smoke in his nostrils; something to choke on when done properly. being envied was tart, a citrusy tang like green apple. Being desired was Callum's favorite. that was smoky too, in a sense, but more sultry, cloaked and perfumed in precisely what it was.
Parisa Kamali, a telepath, keeps you wondering whether she is vulnerable or absolutely detached but there's one thing that she is definitely not and that is Destructible. There is a sequence between Parisa and Callum, that is so beautifully written which gives a tiny insight
into how Parisa's life has been until now. The way that whole sequence flows through words, you wish to help Parisa in the whole ordeal that she has gone through but she holds herself strong and that's when you realize that she is not to be messed with.
Tristan and Reina
I apologize profusely but they are my least favorite, because may be I expected much more excellence from the both of them. Reina is portrayed so undemonstrative, at the beginning of her introduction it feels fun but later on it becomes a little redundant. Tristan on the other hand, had the most intriguing power as an illusionist yet to be explored by him, Atlas and the readers. but while trying to be righteous, he fails to come across as strong character and as a stronger median. Libby still has lesser self esteem than Tristan but her control over her own powers while in battle or otherwise is much better than that of Tristan.
I really hope next book changes my perception about both Reina and Tristan because they have the potential.
Special mentions:
Ezra’s Interlude
The way he explains power and starvation is something very integral to think about. In the beginning he looked and behaved the most mundane and while reaching the end, there was a turn over in his character graph. Somewhere in the middle you might wonder as well why is Ezra necessary for conversation with the other characters but later on his contribution in the garb of the interlude he presents makes his presence worth a wonder.
“Being magic is even worse, Your body doesn’t want to die, It has too much inside it. So you want more powerfully. You starve more quickly. Your capacity to have nothing is abysmal, cataclysmic. There isn’t a median on earth capable of themselves down to ordinariness, much less to dust.”
World Building
The Alexandrian Society is illustrated through descriptive words that do not feel jarring, you would want to know more, more about the Society, the Forum and the Archives that are so integral that you are as entangled as the characters.