Tor wins TikTok hit trilogy by Blake in seven-way auction

Tor has won a seven-way auction for TikTok hit The Atlas Six, a fantasy trilogy by Olivie Blake.

Publishing director Bella Pagan acquired UK and Commonwealth rights with audio from Tor US.

Book one, The Atlas Six, is described as “The Secret History, but with magic”. The synopsis explains: “The story opens when six of the world's best young magicians are offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, headquartered in London. Its magicians are caretakers of lost knowledge from antiquity's greatest civilizations. And those who earn a place will secure a lifetime of wealth, power and prestige. We meet six incredibly different and uniquely talented individuals who have a year to fight to earn their place. If they really are the best of the best, they will make it. All except one. Only five will walk away.”

Blake self-published her first tale of magicians vying to join a secret society in early 2020 and its popularity has soared on TikTok, with more than 11 million mentions of the hashtag #TheAtlasSix and its variations. 

The Atlas Six is now available for purchase in e-book, via Tor Books, using the author’s original text. A newly revised and edited version with new illustrations will be available in e-book, hardback and audio in March 2022. The next book will follow in autumn 2022, with the final instalment due in spring 2023. 

Blake, a pseudonym for Alexene Farol Follmuth, said: “The Atlas Six is a book about knowledge, power, and the lengths people will go to have both. I am beyond excited to be working with Bella in the UK and Tor internationally to bring this trilogy to new and existing readers.” 

Pagan commented: “A book this brilliant doesn’t come along every day, every year, every decade… Olivie has stolen my bookish heart with The Atlas Six. I can’t wait for its amazing protagonists, compelling plot twists and compulsive prose to steal yours too.”