The Will of the Many

When a book captures the hearts and minds of readers across social media platforms and gets dubbed as their "Roman Empire," it is hard not to be curious. While I do not steer clear of books with overwhelming hype, I do go into them with a fair amount of skepticism. I am glad I gave this book a chance! James Islington's The Will of the Many deserves the attention it's receiving.

If you are a Pierce Brown's Red Rising series fan, you'll feel right at home here. This book weaves the gripping story of power, responsibility, sacrifice, and the resilience of the human spirit against oppressive systems extremely well in a richly imagined world.

Islington's characters are richly developed, and the pacing is honestly perfect, making this book hard to put down. I understand why people call it their "Roman Empire." While it hasn't dethroned my current Roman Empire, it certainly is a contender for the top.

If you like epic fantasy with heart, grit, and a touch of revolutionary spirit, this book is for you. Now to wait patiently for May 2025 for the second installment of this series. TICK TOCK JAMES!!!!

I’ve rarely seen a novel that tackles meritocracy and populism at once; the two superficially seem opposed, but Islington points out the underlying foundation that unites them.

While the novel is ostensibly a dark-academia-esque school/political intrigue novel wrapped in a high fantasy Roman Empire bow, this theme is ever present. Vis is our main POV for exploring the world and theme. He’s a bit swaggering, and slightly unreliable in the sense that he exaggerates his confidence and underreports his ‘temper,’ to put it mildly, denying anger that every onlooker sees clearly. While Vis has a remarkably convenient arsenal of skills, sometimes stretching disbelief, he has two major points in his favor: it’s fun to read a hyper-competent protagonist who has to think outside the box to win; and his constant comparisons to his lost homeland of Suus gives him a sympathetic and palpable sense of history. Vis initially begins the novel interested in self-preservation, but as the story continues and he is confronted with rival factions clamoring to reach the pinnacle of power in the Hierarchy, he has to cling to this past and the moral lessons he learned then to maintain his sense of self.

The largest line that Vis will not cross is the use of Will, the lifeforce-seeping vampiric magic that powers the Hierarchy. Will is ceded in a pyramidal structure, and theoretically anyone of any background can climb their way up the ranks. This seemingly meritocratic but exploitative system is, to no one’s surprise, corrupted by nepotism and obvious classism. The Hierarchy, like any government, has its flaws, and they are clear to citizens of every level of the pyramids; however, the promise of ascent—greed, as one character puts it—continues to propagate the system. There is no popular revolution because the popular consciousness has chosen to believe the meritocratic promise. In this sense, the Hierarchy might be seen as a critique of capitalism; I’m sure most readers may take it that way. In my mind, though, it is the pyramidal and quota-based structure that makes it particularly malevolent. Capitalism is theoretically not a zero-sum game, whereas the Hierarchy absolutely is; Vis experiences this first hand as the school ranking system is modeled after Will pyramids, and in order to climb to a higher class, he learns he must displace another student. Thus, to overthrow the system, does one start at the top, or at the bottom, with the people who prop it up? The low-level citizens of the Hierarchy are the “will of the many” that keeps the empire running.

Thematic examination aside, the book is simply fun to read. Vis is a fun enough POV, but there are plenty of interesting side characters that flesh him and each other out; Vis reassesses his opinion of his classmates and instructors multiple times throughout the novel, and

Lanistia and Aequa

in particular were fascinating changes to see. The prose is also suitably atmospheric (and the Latin pretty spot-on!); while I tried to avoid comparing this to Islington’s previous work in

Licanius, his prose has improved remarkably, and it’s noticeable right away. The pacing is more character-based than plot-based, but did not feel slow. The denouement has left some open threads for the next book, and a bit of a cliffhanger, but the initial arc of the Academy is wrapped up satisfyingly for a first entry.

People who dislike school settings will not enjoy this one, but those hesitant to forage into fantasy ought to give it a try — the fantastical elements do result in the pulp fiction fights that the genre expects, but they also serve a literary function as scaffolding for the world. It’s a little light on fully exploring the theme, but as I expect further deconstruction in the sequels, I’m excited to see the promises of this setting unfold. (Plus, that ending!)

This was... phenomenal. It's rare for a book of this length to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole thing, but this one managed it. The twists and turns of the story had

just enough breathing room between them to keep me engaged but not overwhelmed.

The world-building of the book is very well done, and it never feels like the author is infodumping on you. You can easily infer the meaning of world-specific terms from the context, but there's also a glossary at the end of the book (as I've discovered after finishing it LOL)

Similarly, I wish I knew beforehand that the book has a pronunciation guide at the end of it, because my internal narrator butchered a lot of names.

Also, I'm now reading the author's previous series (which I almost never do) because I really liked his writing.

Hmmm in the beginning I thought this would be a 5-star read. Full review to come.

Gutting. Loved it.

This was fantastic. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while, and I'll be reading the second as soon as it's out. It was nothing like the tightly-plotted books I've tended towards lately, but it was a wild ride! The book might have been long but I couldn't put it down.

I've heard

The Will of the Many spoken of as a new fantasy series on par with

The Stormlight Archive,

The Kingkiller Chronicles, and other big names in the genre, and while I wouldn't call it a new favorite, this book undoubtedly deserves the recognition it has received. For one thing, Islington took the plot much farther than I expected from the first book in a series — every time I thought we'd reached a point where other authors might've halted the story, I'd look down to see 50% or more still to go. That was both a positive and a negative (I got a bit burnt out from the book at times), but it was never enough to induce me to put down — or even pause — my reading journey.

Vis (or Diago) was a great protagonist — intelligent, driven, surprisingly kind, and realistically flawed. I don't usually enjoy following royalty in books, however, Vis is so far removed from his heritage in the story that it never became an issue for me, and honestly, if he decided to switch it up and attempt to regain his kingdom in a future book, I wouldn't be mad!

The worldbuilding and magic systems are fascinating, and the repercussions and power dynamics are all so fully fleshed out in this first book that it excites me to see where Islington will take us in the next book. I'm so mad that I have to wait for the sequel with how the finale of this story went, but I have faith that it will be just as much of a rollercoaster ride as this was.

RIP Callidus. You were an invaluable friend to Vis, and I'm sad that we won't see you grow and develop in future books.