Gifted & Talented
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- USD 14.99
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- USD 14.99
Publisher Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.
Where there’s a will, there’s a war.
Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.
Or at least, so they like to think.
Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You're welcome! If only her father's fortune wasn't her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.
Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he's losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.
Eilidh, once the world's most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she'd been his favorite all along.
On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top?
Also by Olivie Blake
The Atlas Six
The Atlas Paradox
The Atlas Complex
Alone with You in the Ether
One for My Enemy
Masters of Death
Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal
As Alexene Farol Follmuth
Twelfth Knight
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Olivie Blake paints a bitingly funny, sighingly sad, and endearingly odd portrait of an extraordinary, but dysfunctional, family. On one level, the three Wren siblings are like nobody you’ve ever met; their dad is legendary tech giant Thayer Wren, and they each possess magical abilities. At the same time, unpopular congressman Arthur, biotech pretender Meredith, and ballerina-turned-unremarkable-businesswoman Eilidh are relatable in their struggle to keep their failures and insecurities under wraps. But their dad has died, and somebody has to replace him as head of Wrenfare Magitech—so a complicated reckoning, both personal and professional, is at hand. Blake’s sharp wit skewers the sorry state of modern capitalism and corporate culture, toxic family dynamics, and more. It’s a full plate even before adding magical realism (the Wrens’ unpredictable powers affect electricity, the mind, and the very state of the world). Blake’s approach is as unconventional as the story—an unreliable narrator breaks the fourth wall like crazy, the writing style purposely shifts drastically at various points, and Blake delights in twisting the complex narrative into challenging shapes. It’s a dizzying ride bound to leave you breathless and satisfied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Succession gets the dark fantasy treatment in this riveting standalone from bestseller Blake (The Atlas Six). Thayer Wren, longtime CEO of Wrenfare Magitech, has died, and his three children vie for control of his magically backed empire. Each also deals with their own individual struggles. Meredith, the oldest and the owner of her own "magitech" company, fears being exposed by her journalist boyfriend for committing corporate fraud. Middle child Arthur, a congressman, is on the brink of divorce and faces public mockery for his floundering political career. Finally, there's Eilidh, the magnate's youngest but most beloved daughter, who's devastated after her promising ballet career is cut short by an injury. Before their father's spirit can rest, the three must settle their differences. Blake keeps the vaguely delineated magic in the backseat, there to provide atmosphere, not to move the plot along. Instead, the focus is on the siblings' complex relationships with their deceased father, their friends, their partners, and society. Though hardcore fantasy readers may be disappointed, it's just the kind of deliciously toxic interpersonal miasma that Blake's fans have come to expect.
