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MY ⭐️ RATING: 5/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
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.
MY REVIEW
Nothing makes me happier than handing out another 5 star review, this makes number 12 on the year, which may seem like a lot, but I’ve been very selective on what to read this year. With that many 5 stars, The Will of the Many could easily be my favorite of all of them. I mean I’m always a sucker for blending genres, and history is always my favorite to get blended, so when I heard that this was similar to Red Rising in how the world and history is based around Greco-Roman world and history, I knew I was in for a treat, but I did not expect to love it as much as I did. I am new to Islington, and I may just have to go back and read Licanius very soon. I do think that there will be some that may (WRONGLY) throw this in the YA category the way they throw Red Rising in to that incorrect category, and I’m just here to say, that it’s not YA.
Why do I bring up the YA, because some will use its first person present POV, a cast of young characters, and a magical school similar to Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence and Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss as a way to mischaracterize the story. I do love that Islington separated the story into 3 different parts, first being an introduction to the main character and a bit of his training, the second part is where the story really gets going when he gets into the academy, and the final part, the explosive finish, reminded me a bit of the Spartans Agōge. But the epilogue… that left me absolutely flabbergasted. This story was filled with mysteries and twists that revealed themselves at perfect times throughout the story rather than doing it at the end, which made things more interesting.
“That’s the power of the Hierarchy-we do, because there is no standing apart. You fight the tyranny of the many, or you are one of them.”
Islington really created a cast of great characters, starting with the MC, Vis, who I really liked from the get go, he just had that same type of persona that Darrow of Red Rising and Nona of Book of the Ancestors have, the further the story went on, the more I liked him. Though there’s not a lot of development with the other characters, I feel like it was done purposefully for future twists and revelations, I still liked several of them like Eidhin, Callidus, Emissa, and several others that I think will end up playing a major part in future installments of the series. Not to mention the mysterious wolf-like creatures, the alupi, I have a theory about them, but will keep that to myself to keep from spoiling things.
Euan Morton’s narration was phenomenal, I am definitely adding him to a list of narrators that deserve A LOT more recognition! The story was already fantastic, but Morton sucked me in even more with the voices of the characters and as well as the emotions he evoked when needed. Truly a remarkable job! There’s still so much to learn about what’s actually going on with this story, because it is very complex compared to how it first appears. Things are not as they seem and my mind is going wild! Truly though, the only negative I have is that the surface was only scratched on what Will is, and judging by other things, this may very well have been purposefully done as more can be revealed as the story progresses, rather than just dump it all out. I would have preferred to learn more, but I also really love the mysteriousness of everything.
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