The Will of the Many: Hierarchy, Book 1
Featuring a reversible book cover with the original hardcover art design.
At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.
AUDI. VIDE. TACE.
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.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *The Will of the Many* offers fast-paced, clever fantasy with strong politics, an unusual magic system, and richly drawn characters. Many ...
I was pulled in to this one by the hype. And for maybe the first 100, 150 pages, I was skeptical: found it "good, not great."
But, wow. Once this thing gets going, it is relentless. And it completely pulled me in and won me over.
Vis is a fascinating main character and narrator. I've seen some flippant dismissals of his character as a Mary Sue, but that is so reductive: this is a complex, complicated, conflicted young man who is wracked with doubt and feels trapped by circumstance. I found him more and more compelling as the story went on.
If I have a complaint, it's that the side characters are occasionally a bit shallow. Everybody is keeping so many secrets that it can be hard to get a read on who they actually are, as people, beyond "full of machinations". But then, as the story is first person, you ARE seeing them all through Vis's eyes: and some of them really break through and make a lasting impression.
The setting is very cool, and only gets cooler as more and more is revealed throughout the story.
Incredibly fun read and I am so happy that I had the sequel to dive right into (and if that sequel is as good as this one, I suspect I'm going to be despondent when I get to the end of it and don't have the NEXT book waiting for me!)
...but there's a big ol' "but" that I feel is important to add here, and that is the significant dive in quality of the sequel. I am a little more hesitant to recommend this first book given that the second one, in my view, wildly fails to not only sustain the momentum set by the end of this novel, but borderline squanders it. I'm invested enough to watch for the third one, but real mixed bag here in the first two books.
