With elaborate worldbuilding reminiscent of Guy Gavriel Kay or Paolo Bacigalupi’s In Navola, James Islington draws on the history of the Roman Republic’s golden age to create his high-fantasy world of Caten. There, the lower classes must sacrifice part of their life force, their ‘Will’, to power the strength, both physical and magical, of the upper class. This Will accumulates as it moves up through the leadership of the three estates of Caten: Military, Governance and Religion.

In this Book 1 of ‘The Hierarchy’ series, we meet Vis, a dispossessed prince living by his fists among the lower classes. On his near 18th birthday, he must cede his Will, and despairs of the day. His rescue comes in the surprising form of Magnus Quintus Ulciscor Telimus, a noble who enlists Vis to unearth the truth about the death of his brother and a dangerous weapon lurking in nearby ruins at the Academy. Vis becomes a student/spy there, in one of the few places in Caten where the use of Will is forbidden. If he rises high enough through the ranks, he can avoid surrendering Will entirely. If this weren’t narrative enough, Vis is soon contacted by Rebels against Caten to be a double agent.

In The Will of the Many plots and counterplots multiply, until you finish breathlessly and check for the next volume’s release date (Nov 2025). In it, I hope that the perfidy of many women characters will resolve satisfyingly, as the repeated conceit of femme fatale weakened the story for me.

The Will of the Many, with its interesting protagonist and page-turning reading experience, will delight high fantasy fans.

Reviewed by Wendy Waring

Read a book review of

The Strength of the Few (book 2) by James Islington

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Islington was born and raised in southern Victoria, Australia. His influences growing up were the stories of Raymond E. Feist and Robert Jordan, but it wasn’t until later, when he read Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series – followed soon after by Patrick Rothfuss’ Name of the Wind – that he was finally inspired to sit down and write something of his own.

He now lives with his wife and two children on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

Visit the author’s website.