Reviews with content warning for Slavery - The Will of the Many

"Nervousness means there's a fear to be faced ahead, Diago. The man who is never nervous, never does anything hard. The man who is never nervous, never grows."

For starters, the worldbuilding hooked me immediately. The Roman-inspired setting and cultures, and the soft magic system were very captivating and everything took off from there.

I also think Vis is a great protagonist and he's easy to root for. He's been wronged by the Hierarchy and for most of the book, he's juggling both his hidden identity and the new role he receives. This creates for some very dynamic dialogue and high stakes quite early on in the book which is maintained for the entirety of the story. And Vis isn't overly dramatic with his narration which is relieving to read for a first person present tense POV. But he does have his other flaws. Also, there are some other great characters too. I loved Eidhin and Callidus

(I'm empty)

of course. Ulciscor and Lanistia were interesting. Some of the other academy students were fun to be around too. The side characters don't necessarily have the same depth as Vis, but I do think they're serviceable and I trust they will become even better as the series progresses. There's already signs of that in a few characters.

"The power to protect is the highest of responsibilities...When a man is given it, his duty is not only to the people he thinks are worthy."

The plot was truly exceptional too. It's probably my favorite part about this book. There's a magic school, plenty of scheming and misleading, lots of betrayal, and layers of different rivalries and factions opposed against one another. It's very entertaining and keeps you engaged. There's signs of something even larger at stake too, especially with the ending of this book. And speaking of the ending.....that was crazy.

Really enjoyed this. I'm glad it lived up to the hype. Might even bump to 5 stars later. And I was also pleasantly surprised with Islington's writing. As I mentioned before, the dialogue was fantastic and really shines, but the prose overall is very nice and readable. I'll probably try to read Islington's Licanius Trilogy sooner rather than later. But I really need the sequel to this book ASAP.

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nkem_ani's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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zoeelora's review against another edition

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Too long for how little fun I was having while reading it.

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a critical 5 stars from me.

The positives: thank you, a Roman-inspired fantasy! I have no idea why there aren't a million epic fantasy door stoppers with Roman-flavored fantasy worlds, and this book makes great use of this current. I really enjoyed how our protagonist is constantly struggling against a tide of different conspiracies, political maneuvering, and thorny social situations tangled tightly together with no breathing room, despite the length of this book. I am surprised with how graceful it was able to juggle all these plot points, and knowing this isn't the author's first epic fantasy series gives me hope he can keep the delicate dance going all the way to the end. While it was never bad before that point, the story really comes into its own and starts blooming once Vis makes friends and has other non-hostile characters to bounce off of. I had to keep reading because I wanted to see how the puzzle pieces in play would slot together, and literally the last 5 pages of this book took my breath away

Yet... I think every epic fantasy book I've read so far this year has the same damn protagonist: talented, prideful teen boy with an anger management issue. It's so boring! I cannot believe Vis was able to keep his head down for the three and a half years between the fall of his country and the start of the book. He is hot headed to a fault and his actions constantly undercut the praise I kept hearing about how this book has "an actually intelligent protagonist who knows how to scheme."

And I can't help but notice the only meaningful resistance to the Oppressive Government is a bunch of terrorists who love slaughtering unarmed civilians, including children, because "everyone is complicit! (◡‿◡)". Can't help but notice the number of times the handful of female characters screw over our protagonist compared to the male ones.

But the mysteries this book set up intrigue me, despite the reservations I have about some of the tropes at play, it's not enough that I cannot in all consciousness stop myself from giving it 5 stars. I'm going to keep reading.

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iono's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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I found myself struggling to get through THE WILL OF THE MANY, and I ultimately did not finish reading it. I enjoy doorstoppers and I like long books, the length is not the issue. I can like a slow burn story when I have an idea of what the slow burn is building to, but while I mostly understand why Ulciscor is doing what he's doing, I don't understand what Vis (the protagonist) is doing or what his goals are.

The character's background is conveyed mostly through his thoughts, and at first I thought it was going to be gradually revealed in bits and pieces. Having made it a quarter of the way through the book before stopping, it doesn't really seem like more is forthcoming (at least not in time for it to feel meaningful).

The Will system is interesting, it's well-described and has some fascinating implications for the world. I appreciate how the exploitative nature of this power is combined with a colonialist empire. It's a synergy between the political and magical in a way that makes sense as to why things are as bad as they are for almost everyone in the system, with the magic and the exploitation feeding into each other in a horrible self-reinforcing loop.

Ultimately the pace was slow enough that it broke any sense of momentum that I had while reading, and I'm just not interested in finishing it.

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