The Will of The Many

Review

I stumbled across The Will of the Many around Christmas 2023, while lining up my TBR for 2024. It made the list, but when the new year started, I dove headfirst into the Red Rising saga, becoming instantly hooked and obsessed (more details on that to come). In my quest to consume everything Red Rising, I kept seeing people recommend The Will of the Many as a follow-up. After finishing the sixth book in Red Rising, I decided to take a small break before starting The Will of the Many. However, that "small break" grew and grew—I had a book hangover. How could any story possibly live up to the lofty expectations set by Red Rising? Finally, I decided, “I’m just going to force myself to read.” I read The Mercy of Gods and enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. After that, I thought, I might as well give that “Will” book a chance. And boy, am I glad I did. This book might have just replaced The Poppy War as my favorite fantasy novel. If you’re like me and coming from Red Rising, you’ll notice a lot of similarities. Both feature a Roman-inspired world, the use of “Razors,” and the protagonist’s climb through a caste system at a prestigious school to overthrow a tyrannical government that killed their family. The first two-thirds share very similar story beats. But The Will of the Many is far from being just a fantasy version of Red Rising—there are more than enough unique plotlines, and as the story develops, it diverges in fascinating ways. The story revolves around Vis, an orphan who escaped his homeland after the Hierarchy killed his royal family. The Hierarchy is the ruling government of Caten, which utilizes a caste system and magic to power their world. Catenan society is divided into eight classes: Octavus, Septimus, Sextus, Quintus, Quartus, Tertius, Dimidus, and Princeps. At the bottom are the Octavus, who give half of their life force (i.e., will, get it?!) to higher-ranked Septimus without receiving any will from others. People ranked Septimus and above both draw will from those ranked below and cede will to those ranked above. A Septimus, for example, draws will from eight Octavus and cedes half of their will to a higher-ranked Sextus. This pattern continues up to the Princeps, who draw will from two Dimidus without ceding any will. In other words, each class is exponentially more powerful than the last. Vis, the former prince of a recently conquered country, escaped the Catenan execution of his family and now lives in an orphanage, fights in an underground betting ring, and works at a nearby prison. His goal is to earn enough money to avoid ceding his will to anyone. He hides his true identity, fearing he will be killed if anyone in Catenan discovers it. Without giving away too much for those who want to read it, the story features political tensions between the three Catenan branches of government—Military, Religion, and Governance—as well as a threat from a freedom fighter group called the Anguis. Interpersonal tensions also run high between families and individuals, regardless of factional alliance. Long story short, Vis is thrust into the middle of it all, forced to survive and thrive while keeping his identity secret. As the book progressed, I found myself wanting more and more. I wanted more lore, more about every side character introduced throughout the novel. I found myself rooting for a character, only to root against them a few chapters later. Every time I thought I knew where the story was heading, I was proven wrong. The Will of the Many by James Islington gripped me in a way that few books ever have and could easily become my favorite fantasy series, depending on how the rest of it turns out. I highly recommend this book to anyone into fantasy or sci-fi, especially fans of Red Rising. I give The Will of the Many 4.75 stars.