Book Stats
- Book 1 of the Hierarchy series
- Publication Date: 05/23/23
- Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
- Format: ebook
- Pages: 640
- Chapters: 74
- Narrator POV: 1st person from Vis’s POV
Book Rating
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5
Spice: 🌶️/ 5
Summary & Review
If you enjoyed the Red Rising series, you should 100% give this series a try. It gives extremely similar vibes, but with more magical/fantasy elements vs sci-fi elements.
I absolutely love this book and the way James Islington writes. I was immediately captivated and drawn into the story. In fact, the moment I finished this book, I immediately started diving into the second one, The Strength of the Few!
In the Will of the Many, we follow Vis, once the prince of Suus, who barely escaped with his life, and now a lowly orphan who works at a prison and partakes in underground fights to earn extra coin. He has few goals in life: to remain hidden from his enemies and to avoid ceding his Will. With the coin he’s earning, he hopes to one day run away and hide from the hierarchy.
But of course, things never turn out the way our main character’s plan, right? So it’s no surprise that a high level hierarchy member, Magnus Quintus Ulciscor Telimus (quite the mouthful, I know) shows up and decides to adopt Vis. Ulciscor has his own goals – primarily to uncover what happened to his brother, who attended the prestigious Catenan Academy. It was said that after an incident where his brother, Caeror, had unintentionally caused an injury to his lover, he couldn’t handle the guilt and threw himself over a cliff. However, Ulciscor disagrees and believes the Academy’s principalis, Veridius, is responsible. But he needs proof or a reason to investigate the Academy.
This is where Vis comes in. A bright, young fella he can send in to the Academy to gather some valuable information and report back to Ulciscor.
But the Academy is a deadly and competitive place. The class system is unique, ranging from class 7 to class 3, with class 7 being the largest and lowest level and class 3 being the smallest and most elite level. Every class level gets more difficult and the competition becomes more fierce. Vis’s goal is to work his way up to class 3 so he can participate in the Iudicium, the Academy’s final challenge to determine the elite students’ placement, with the highest place and honor being the Domitor.
And of course the deadly competitive Academy isn’t enough of a challenge for dear Vis. Oh no. He also has to navigate his new family dynamics, friendships where he has to maintain his fake background despite feeling guilty about lying to his friends, and he has to deal with the Anguis – a rebellious group who happen to know his true identity and wants to use him for their own gain.
This book is so wonderfully written – there’s so much mystery and suspense and intense situations. Vis is thrust into a world he’s unfamiliar with and is forced to try to succeed in order to please the numerous people who are relying on him and/or threatening him for his help.
This author does a fantastic job creating his characters, making them real and interesting. I had several I hoped would be knocked down a peg and several I wanted to see succeed. Then there were betrayals and deaths and just so many different situations that brought out the feels and emotions. Phenomenal storytelling and writing, Islington. I’m so excited to continue this series! 🖤
My favorites of this series so far have been Callidus and Eidhin. I love seeing their friendships with Vis and each other.
I gave this 1 chili pepper because there was on-page kissing mentioned and according to our rating scale, this would be 1 pepper’s worth of spice.
Some of my favorite humorous quotes:
“But I think there may be a way we can work this out, to both our benefits. So let’s start again. Without the lies, this time.”
“Alright,” I lie.
“What if I can’t find anything? Or I get caught?”
“Look harder, and don’t.”
“Have you noticed he has a weird smell all the time? Like he bathes in perfume, but it’s still not quite enough to cover his odour.”
“Yes. Yes! It’s awful, isn’t it. Like a noblewoman who’s been dead for a few days.”
“He’s planning to run the Labyrinth with Emissa,” supplies Callidus helpfully.
“Ah. Run the Labyrinth. I see,” says Eidhin, nodding slowly, saying the phrase as if trying out a new euphemism.
Callidus half chokes a laugh as I roll my eyes.
There are also some quotes that hit deep:
“Silence is a statement, Diago. Inaction picks a side. And when those lead to personal benefit, they are complicity.”
“Death is only meaningless if it does not change us, Vis.”
*** there is another I would include, except that it’s a spoiler. It’s in regard to a character death *** So yeah, IYKYK. 😭
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