“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.” – Goodreads

Wow wow wow. Oh my goodness. I am writing this only a day after finishing the book and I haven’t had enough time to recover! Let me tell you, this book sucked me in. It was definitely flawed, but it’s been a while since I’ve been able to really fall into a good high fantasy novel. My only regret is that I still haven’t got the next book! If you love immersive fantasy worlds, compelling, extremely competent characters, and YA vibes, content and writing style with adult consequences and political intrigue, you are sure to love The Will Of The Many.

This book was LONG but somehow the pace and plot kept up the whole time. Vis’ story is full of action and twists at every turn. Islington does such a good job at holding the reader’s attention even in moments and montages that seem like they should be boring. It helps that Vis has a great voice as the POV character. You can tell that the author really planned out every moment and has an air-tight plan for the series.

For once, and author succeeded in bringing new life to the “magical school” trope. Vis attends the preeminent school for the best of the best noble children – but not merely as a student. He is acting as a spy and carrying out the wishes of not only himself, but two other parties. This was one of my favorite parts of the book: Vis is so tangled in an insane amount of lies – every single person in the book only knows certain parts of his story, and he has to constantly, carefully keep track of who knows what. It brought an element of suspense to almost every conversation. It was so fun watching Vis fight the system, train, build relationships, uncover secrets, etc.

And the worldbuilding! Ahhh, the worldbuilding! The story takes place in a society modeled after Rome – one with all the power of their people concentrated in its highest ranking nobles through a system called “Will,” where citizens “cede” to people higher than them in the pyramid. Vis himself is a young man hiding from the Hierarchy after having escaped a bloody takeover of the island he used to be a prince over. Through Vis’ exploits, The Will Of The Many explores questions of who truly has power, what revolution looks like, and is it worth it to destroy the system if you also destroy everyone in it?

The writing style here was so refreshing. Listen, I enjoy the slight-purple-leaning prose of Brandon Sanderson and R.F. Kuang, but it can make reading their books pretty intense sometimes – an experience compounded by the complex worldbuilding involved in their fantasy works. Islington, however, built up an incredibly interesting fantasy with relatively simple language and an easy-to-follow plot. Vis’ voice felt consistent and unique. I did feel like he reused a lot of words and phrases in descriptive moments, but otherwise the style immersed me in the story. Islington brought so many deep themes into his work that it felt like reading art. I was so sad when it ended!

Vis is just awesome. Straight up awesome. I can get annoyed at characters who are good at everything as much as the next girl, but Vis balances it out with real flaws and a background and character that explained his proficiency well. Though he does have a small measure of pride (mostly in his heritage and identity – which he must keep hidden), he is also admirably teachable and willing to learn. His motivation to train hard and learn harder is amazing to see – he didn’t just get to where he was by being amazing. Everything he has, he earned. I find it extremely compelling to find a character with an indomitable spirit like that. He is understandably filled with anger and struggles to control it, but he also is constantly working toward self improvement and has many moments where he manages to hold back. Despite his superior talents and skills, he still feels relatable. He really made the story.

The other characters in the book (I feel like I can’t take about many specifically without spoiling things) also add a lot and feel so real. There’s a lot of questioning of motivations as Vis navigates protecting his identity, so the other characters feel rich and complex. The reader gets a really good look at each character and their personalities and drives, with the fair observations of a main character who has a reason to hate most of them but can also see their good sides.

That is one of the amazing things about Vis – despite his anger and sadness for what happened in his past, he doesn’t let it stop him from valuing human life and seeing the best in people. Though the rebels of the Hierarchy want to burn the whole system to the ground, Vis maintains his convictions to protect the vulnerable and forgive.

5 stars. Like I said before, the book is flawed, but writing this review right now I can’t even remember what they are. Vis was awesome, the worldbuilding was awesome, the story was awesome, the cliffhanger and twists were awesome… it was just an awesome book. If you love Rome, fantasy, science fiction, awesome main characters, magic schools, espionage, action, and thoughtful writing, you’ll love The Will Of The Many. I’m struggling to even review it properly because I loved it so much.