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A review by vimes_48
The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book should be the opening couple of chapters in the next book.
The Atlas Six opens - as so many trilogies do - with a compelling concept and a competent setup. Stuff happens, plot develops at a reasonable clip and we get a cliffhanger.
However, after that inevitable cliffhanger, we are left with this - hundreds of pages of… nothing. Our heroes do… nothing. For a year. We get to sit through a year’s worth of tangentially-related conversations between characters who have all fallen out for reasons that are not really explained and then the whole thing is wrapped up in the last couple of chapters. Cliffhanger resolved, the initiates submit their year of research - which is barely mentioned and we have no idea what conclusions they’ve drawn. Hopefully none of this research is leaned on as a deus ex in the third act. That would be poor form indeed.
This is all undoubtedly sold as “character development”, but I don’t really feel like I’m any better connected with the motivations or backgrounds of the characters than I was after book 1. I strongly suspect you could skip this book entirely, read book 3 and fill in the gaps.
The Atlas Six opens - as so many trilogies do - with a compelling concept and a competent setup. Stuff happens, plot develops at a reasonable clip and we get a cliffhanger.
However, after that inevitable cliffhanger, we are left with this - hundreds of pages of… nothing. Our heroes do… nothing. For a year. We get to sit through a year’s worth of tangentially-related conversations between characters who have all fallen out for reasons that are not really explained and then the whole thing is wrapped up in the last couple of chapters. Cliffhanger resolved, the initiates submit their year of research - which is barely mentioned and we have no idea what conclusions they’ve drawn. Hopefully none of this research is leaned on as a deus ex in the third act. That would be poor form indeed.
This is all undoubtedly sold as “character development”, but I don’t really feel like I’m any better connected with the motivations or backgrounds of the characters than I was after book 1. I strongly suspect you could skip this book entirely, read book 3 and fill in the gaps.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Kidnapping