The Atlas Paradox

By: Olivie Blake

Narrated by: Alexandra Palting, Andy Ingalls, Caitlin Kelly, Damian Lynch, Daniel Henning, David Monteith, James Patrick Cronin, Munirih Grace, Siho Ellsmore, Steve West

Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The Atlas Paradox is the long-awaited sequel to Olivie Blake's New York Times bestselling dark academic sensation The Atlas Six—guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal, and chaos.

Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.

Five are now members of the Society.

Two paths lay before them.

All must pick a side.

Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way.

"The Atlas Six introduced six of the most devious, talented, and flawed characters to ever find themselves in a magical library, and then sets them against one another in a series of stunning betrayals and reversals. As much a delicious contest of wit, will, and passion as it is of magic...half mystery, half puzzle, and wholly a delight."—New York Times bestselling author Holly Black

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2022 Olivie Blake (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2022, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year

Decent Story, Maddening Performance

The story is good, if a little slow, but the voice actress playing Parrisa is maddening. Half of what she says is a whisper or right on the edge of it. It's like she thinks whispering is sexy, and it's the only way she can deliver the lines. Barely audible without cranking the volume. Every chapter she voices is a chore to get through.

More gripping than the last

Where The Atlas Six dragged on, The Atlas Paradox continued to excite. I'm glad I continued the series!

Riveting

I enjoyed the multiple POVs and how everything tied together. Overall, I feel this set up things for the next book. I'm looking forward to the conclusion. I have theories and I want to see if I'm right.

Narration was hit or miss

Most of the narrators were fine, but Parisa’s narrator was insufferable. She was trying to sound deep and sexy but was just groveling. And soooo slow. Just spit it out already. I sped up those parts just to get through them. There was also a male narrator in book 1 that made Libby sound like a 10 year old, which was annoying, but I honestly can’t remember which one now. Overall I enjoyed the story.

Love love love

I feel like I haven’t seen as many people love this series as much as I do. It’s a new all time favorite. The characters are amazingly complex and diverse and flawed. I love them. The story is unique and I’ve never read anything like it. The magic system is unlike anything I’ve seen before, and it is so entertaining to learn more about it as the books continue. I love the romances, the mystery, the dramatic irony.

The audiobooks are superb. The narrators have such unique voices for these characters, and they also capture the other characters so well during their own narrated parts.

The writing is fantastic. The themes and topics addressed are so complex. I love this series and I can’t wait for more. Especially after that ending!

Great writing but lacking action

Okay, I love these characters, the world, and the overall feel of this book! I was extremely excited to read this after reading the first book. The audio book was a fantastic experience due to all the characters having their own unique voice actor. One of my favorites! However, the story itself felt like it took a long time building up to just barely move the story forward from the first book. Even with that, I fully plan on finishing the trilogy! Just know that the book doesn’t seem as action packed as the first, but is still good!

Needs sound editing between narrators.

Really liked the first book but honestly it takes a dive in the second in the plot and writing. All the voice actors are pretty good in their roles but a couple stand out as being too quiet in their respective chapters; adjusting the volume between each narrator became a chore.

Enjoyable but you really have to concentrate

Good story that drags on a bit and can be somewhat confusing at times with different voices interpreting the characters in different ways (such as a physicist being portrayed as dumb). It's a good story though.

I wanted to be impressed.

I feel the story drags in places. Hoping the next book wraps up this story. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep reading these.

Like 9 Insufferable People and Nico de Varona

Much the same as the first book. Little happens for the vast majority and the plot seems lost, then she wraps it up in the last 25%. Still enjoyable, just oddly paced. There are huge gaps where things happen off-screen and we're only told about them later.

Everybody continues to be extremely insufferable, except Nico (and Gideon, I guess). It's a little hard to get engaged at times when everybody is so Godawful All the Damn Time. Of the original 6 + 2 in the first book (the Atlas Six plus Atlas himself and Dalton), it's really only Nico (and occasionally Libby) that I felt any meager degree of sympathy for. The rest are terrible, terrible, terrible people.

As for the performance, it's...mostly fine. Nico, Libby, and Tristan's performers are good. Callum is mediocre. Reina and Ezra aren't great (Reina mostly for the Plant-Speak). Gideon is terrible. Parisa is absolutely unlistenable. I found myself physically wincing every time I heard the "Parisa" chapter announcement. Once I said, out loud, "Ah sh*t, here we go again." She delivers it in this hypersexualized breathy sort of way that is nails on the chalkboard of my soul. It's awful. It's especially terrible when she has to also do Atlas' voice as well.

One final note: Atlas Six had the different character POV chapters selectable from the chapter menu. This book does not. It, instead, has only the multi-hour Parts (Part I, Part II, etc.) to choose from. This made trying to revisit an earlier section a near impossibility. Zero stars for layout.

tl;dr slightly less good than the original.