Recently finished reading The Will of the Many by James Islington. Overall, I think it was a fun read – I got through it pretty quickly, finished it in a few days. The plot definitely keeps you captivated enough to keep going until you finish. But, as with all books, there are bound to be aspects you like and dislike. Here are some of my thoughts:
Pros:
-I really liked the ancient Roman fantasy setting. I'm sure there are many here who are well-versed in Roman history and could point out flaws with Islington's interpretation – but for better or for worse, I do not possess that knowledge, so I enjoyed it well enough, lol. I found it quite immersive and easy to envision.
-Plot is well-planned. The mysteries connect together at an appropriate pace, and things are revealed at the right moments.
-Conceptually, the magic system is very interesting. Upon learning the basics of how it works, you can immediately understand what it means that the Hierarchy is built upon such power inequality.
-Vis is not the average revenge-seeker, despite his family having been killed by Caten. He's not someone that wants to kill, but he's hardly a pacifist, either. I think there's something refreshing and realistic about a protagonist who is unsure about how to achieve his goals – from the beginning, his plan was simply to buy time just to understand the Empire and to rebuild a stable life before approaching anything close to revenge.
Cons:
-Probably the biggest con is in-depth character writing and motivations. Not to sound overly harsh – it's just that some characters didn't feel fleshed out, and some didn't convince me.
-Emissa is meant to be the love interest, but I struggled to think of her as a person at all. I couldn't name one substantial thing about her. You might argue that this is the point, given the twist at the end, and you might add on top of that that she only seems perfect due to Vis' perspective. Logically, I can see that… it's just that my impression through Vis was that she's apparently funny/friendly/smart, but we didn't see much to support that in the way of actions. I would also want to see this supported in-text in later books – the problem with these sorts of analyses is that the author isn't always thinking the same, lol. This is just an intuitive guess, but clearly Emissa does have feelings for Vis as she's torn up about what she did, which makes me wary that we're supposed to be supporting this relationship and the ensuing drama will be about whether Vis can forgive her. Not that I particularly care about where the romance in this series will end up, but comparatively, even Aequa is much more fleshed out and her up-and-down, suspicion-heavy relationship with Vis is more interesting to follow.
-Not sure I'm convinced by Ulciscor in the latter part of the book. In the beginning parts, Ulciscor had some respect for Vis, to the point that he was angry about the scars on Vis' back and seemed a bit proud of some of his endeavours. Later, he threatens Vis to advance classes, and to run the labyrinth no matter the cost. These felt like regularly-scheduled plot reminders that Vis needed to move forward or else he'd end up in a Sapper, but honestly I wasn't even convinced the first time Ulciscor mentioned it. He came across as someone trying to close a deal with unfortunate consequences, rather than a person who threatens. I don't necessarily want him to act like a real father to Vis, but I liked the idea of Vis and Ulciscor forming a bond, as this would layer on top of Vis' identity deception (including with his wife). That being said, I acknowledge that the direction taken might become interesting – perhaps this will provide contrast between Ulciscor and Veridius moving forward, where Veridius was actually the one to be trusted and Ulciscor was exactly who Veridius said he was.
-Some of the minor characters had interesting motivations but weren't fully explored. For example, I thought Iro's revealed reason for disliking Vis (not saving his sister at the naumachia) could provide more commentary on the illogical nature of grief making you take your anger out on the wrong people, but he was mostly just relegated to being one of the bullies. I initially thought Belli was interesting in a mysterious way, but the fact that she ended up being someone who threatened Callidus for a full year was pretty shocking. I know it's mentioned once, but I think it could have been built up better to show that she was power-hungry. Indol could be more interesting (and probably will be later on), but in this book he was just Emissa's sidekick who made remarks now and then.
-Vis is a little too good at everything. Again, you can logically say that he was a prince and trained on everything, but at certain points you have to roll your eyes at the convenience. I did like having a competent protagonist, and obviously he is smart, but the story didn't allow him to fail much. Two times he "failed" were during Labyrinth runs (with Eidhin in Class Six, then Aequa in Class Four) – but even these have explanations, given Eidhin's lack of communication and Iro's distractions. I also couldn't emotionally connect with him much, despite the fact that we got into his head a couple of times.
Neutral:
There is some level of predictability. Maybe I just picked up on the way certain phrases are written, but I ended up guessing quite a few of the later plot points. This isn't necessarily bad, since it does mean things have been set up logically.
-Emissa being that weirdly nice throughout to a random Class Seven orphan (along with being there with the water when Vis first reaches the Academy) is such a huge cause for suspicion that you're almost relieved when you end up right.
-The first time the Cataclysm was mentioned (by Ulciscor, I think?), he mentions that the cause is unknown – immediately, you know that prevention of the next Cataclysm will become the major plot point for the series (though tbf I believed that Religion might be pushing for it, and Ulciscor + Vis would have to try to prevent it, which may end up being the opposite).
-The book mentions Callidus' father as extremely important and the person who discovered strange deaths at the Academy – I was suspicious throughout and was sure we'd meet him since the book made sure to make him sound somewhat reasonable (and we know Vis can't go to Jatiere for the story to continue), but after Callidus died, it became immediately clear Vis would work for the Censor.
-Most of all, I felt Caeror was alive as soon as we understood Luceum/Ubiteum was a place (which was uncovered as early as the first ruins). The fact that he "committed suicide" and there was notably no body at the mausoleum was enough, especially on top of learning that he was apparently smart enough to be a Princeps. I was also surprisingly right about Luceum/Ubiteum; I did think it would lead to a parallel world due to the use of the word "Synchronization" (back at the first ruins) – I thought Caeror was trapped in an alternate universe, set Pre-Cataclysm. Kind of close to how it ended up.
-Going against the grain for the last point: Sedotia as Relucia genuinely shocked me. I know it had been built-up that his wife was busy and avoidant, but I thought that would just cause some weird familial conflict. Crazy twist.
Weirdly, even though I usually am interested in magic school setups, I thought the beginning 30% of the story (prior to the Academy) was much more compelling to read than the latter 70%. I think this is at least partly because I (initially) thought Ulciscor was more interesting than most of the students, and the students never quite delivered.
Overall, I do think it's worth reading. Although there are some areas that I think could be better, I will want to read the next book.
by prolixotic