Filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing

 So, it took me pretty much a month to slog through The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake, which should be a warning sign. 

I hesitate to post this picture, but this narrowed down a bit has been my experience with this trilogy. 

 Because frankly, after spending the last book getting Libby back to the future via a fusion explosion, we spend most of this book watching the Six.... do absolutely nothing. I mean, Reina is running around trying to fix modern politics with Callum; Tristan, Nico, and Libby are at the manor trying to open up a door into parallel realities (or at least discussing it quite a bit); and Parisa is basicially busy trying to take over rival societies...

That's it. That's the plot. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. They spend 2/3 of the book talking about their goals, and realizing that none of them can accomplish them on their own, and facing down the reality that the archives still want a sacrifice. Eventually, they do open a door to alternate realities, but by that point, I'd long ago checked out of the narrative, mostly reading for the sake of completion. There are really out of place filler moments going on as well, including a chapter of Book Club discussion questions, and a later chapter when Tristan and Callum meet in person again, where we get 10 pages of different variations on how that could have worked out. 

I mean, if the author's point is that everything is arbitrary, she succeeded in that theme, but lord, this really was like reading a tale filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing,.