Olivie Blake in conversation with Catriona Ward

Novelist and screenwriter and writer of stories about the paranormal and supernatural Olivie Blake talks about her bestselling Atlas Complex trilogy and its conclusion, The Atlas Complex.

The first in the trilogy, The Atlas Six, was a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestseller. It centres around the Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilisations of antiquity, and six talented young magicians. In The Atlas Complex, an explosive return to the library leaves six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment. Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

‘The Atlas Six introduces six of the most devious, talented, and flawed characters to ever find themselves in a magical library. . . This book is half mystery, half puzzle, and wholly a delight’ Holly Black

Olivie Blake is the pseudonym of Alexene Farol Follmuth. Amazon has bought the television rights to the Atlas Six series. She is also a writer of graphic novels including Clara and the Devil and Enter the Alpha Universe, and author under her real name of a young adult rom-com My Mechanical Romance. here she talks to Catriona Ward, three-time winner of the August Derleth Award for best horror novel. Looking Glass Sound is her latest novel.

Part of the festival’s programme of American literature and culture.