As a fan of Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six, I was genuinely excited to dive into her latest novel, Gifted & Talented. Blake’s signature blend of speculative fiction and emotional depth is back—but this time, it’s wrapped in a chaotic technomantic family drama that’s as ambitious as it is unconventional.
The story centres on three gifted siblings—Meredith, Arthur, and Eilidh—who are forced to confront their powers, past traumas, and each other after the death of their father, Thayer Wren, a legendary technomancer and founder of Wrenfare Magitech. Each sibling is uniquely brilliant and deeply flawed: Meredith is a neuromancer mogul with a questionable mental health app, Arthur is a congressman with unstable electrokinetic powers, and Eilidh harbours a parasitic entity with apocalyptic potential
Blake doesn’t offer a traditional fantasy arc. Instead, she delivers a tangled, emotionally charged narrative that explores inherited trauma, late capitalism, and the cost of being exceptional. It’s messy, biting, and often brilliant—but also hard to stay focused on. While the prose is sharp and the themes are compelling, I found myself drifting. The book didn’t quite grab me the way The Atlas Six did.
Fans of genre-bending speculative fiction might find echoes of Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko or The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith, books that also challenge narrative conventions and delve into the metaphysical.
If you’re in the mood for something ambitious and emotionally layered, Gifted & Talented is worth a try. Just be prepared for a ride that’s more cerebral than gripping.
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