REVIEW: The Will of the Many

By Denise @ Life With No Plot on October 10, 2024 • ( 1 )

About the Book

Title: The Will of the Many

Author: James Islington

Series: The Hierarchy #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 620

Edition Read: Hardcover

Dates Read: September 1-30, 2024

Blurb: The Catenan Republic – the Hierarchy – may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus – what they call Will – to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.

Review

This book took me forever to read, and not just because I was trying to read at pace with a book club. This book is DENSE! There is so much packed into it (and the type on the page was absolutely tiny, but that’s a whole other convo) that it just takes a while to completely absorb it all.

Let me start with the things I loved about this book. I really loved that it was based on the Roman Empire and culture. This felt very fresh, as I hadn’t read one like that before. I really appreciated how they wove that culture in with the magic system in this book, called “Will.” The Hierarchy is based on a pyramid structure, where the lowest on the pyramid (the Octavii) cede part of their Will to the next people up in status (the Septimus), who then cede part of their Will to the next status, and so forth. It makes for a system that benefits the very few and powerful and makes it incredibly difficult for anyone trying to revolt against it. I also really liked our main character. Vis is incredibly strong and a survivor to the core. He is willing to go to just about any lengths to avoid ceding his Will, including agreeing to infiltrate the Academy to find out the truth behind his adoptive father’s brother’s death.

The Academy was also fun to read about. I always love a good boarding school story and this one was of epic proportions (literally). The best part of it was that everything is so competitive and hierarchal (as to be expected) that it is incredibly difficult to know who to trust. People who are friendly may not be your friends, and people who you hate at first may become your most trusted allies. Everything feels ambiguous and I loved that.

There were a few things that bothered me. First off, this book just throws you right off the deep end into the story. There is very little exposition at first, and very little explanation about how this world works. Because of this, it took me a really long time to sink into this story – I had no idea what was really going on. There are a few things that I still don’t quite understand, including the ending. The ending was just . . . bizarre. I’m not entirely sure what I read there, but I’m sure it will be made clear in the next book. And yes, there is a next book, expected to be published in 2025. I have no idea how long this series is, but given that this book was quite long, I’m assuming the next one will be as well. I will definitely read it, just to find out what the heck happened at the end of this one. Because whoa!

GoodReads rating: 4 stars