Laith
Book Club for Feb (I am aware it's March) ________
This wasn't perfect, but I liked it, I found the premise interesting, the characters plausible and well written, and I am probably going to read the next installment. The book is a hybrid of epic adventure and dark academia, wrapped in a Roman toga; to over simplify it, this is a planet bound Red Rising #1 with the government from the Hunger Games.
The story is told first person from the perspective of Vis, a foreign prince orphaned after the conquest of his home country by the Catenan Republic. Narrowly escaping death beside the rest of his family two years prior, Vis is living in hiding within a Catenan orphanage. Vis is trapped under hierarchy rule, in a country where the poor and working class citizens "cede" their literal willpower and mental focus up the pyramid, strengthening those above with supernatural strength and abilities. Unwilling to cede his strength to the people who killed his family, Vis endures ceaseless abuse and torture from his caretakers during the day, and toils away his nights as a guard for the prison or by fighting in the arena. One night he unwittingly draws the attention of Ulciscor, a dodgy but high ranking man in the hierarchy who is coincidentally seeking to adopt a young man of Vis's caliber. Forced into helping Ulciscor, Vis is tasked with infiltrating the most prestigious university in the country, expected to excel and seeking the truth behind the death of Ulciscor's younger brother.
The general premise of this book is fairly YA, you'd be forgiven for assuming it's going to be close to the Hunger Games or possibly something a little more adult but generally accessible like Fourth Wing. I am going to disabuse anyone of that notion, the "dark" part of this book manifests itself in some pretty extreme violence and gore. These moments are some of the most impactful and best written parts of the book, so I'm going to try not to spoil them, suffice to say that we're talking highly detailed rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.
As you can tell there's a lot going on, it's the first book in a series and there is a giant foundation to lay. Unfortunately, I think that's the biggest problem with the book; Will of the Many is far busier than most first entry books (and those are already fairly busy). I got lost somewhere between the child gladiators and the exam prep, and I feel very strongly that this should have been split across two books. The bulk of the story, the academy component, only begins after Vis's introduction, nearly 30% of the way through the book. It's a bifurcation that really calls into question the school setting, especially because unlike in other academia books, our MC has already learned the bulk of what the college had to offer before he ever sets foot inside. It's a lot of setup with not a lot of immediate pay off, and it means that the story skates by mainly on its premise and the good dialog/character work.
Speaking of dialogue and characters, I was a little thrown by the maturity of Vis's narration initially, his thoughts are way too complete for a 17-year-old. But as the narrative began to resolve, I saw purposeful gaps and cracks in his veneer that revealed a lot of his youth and humanity. There are really well crafted moments that show us the terrified and traumatized boy within Vis, and how those experiences assert themselves within his personality. Islington has really capitalized on the transparency of the first-person perspective to deliver a character with breathtaking fidelity. That luster naturally extends to the friends Vis makes at school, particularly his male cadre of Callidus and Eidhin as well as Emissa, our presumptive love interest.
I was surprised that I didn't love this book, it seemed like it checked all the right boxes, but it just never clicked. I kept getting the sense that I was reading something one-dimensional, made needlessly overcomplicated in an attempt to imitate depth. There's so much set up of this world and its government, yet I felt robbed when it wasn't used for anything. I mean, here's a 700-page book on a society literally organized into pyramids, is it crazy to expect a little bit on how, maybe, that's a bit like what we've got going on over here? Why not make Vis apply for a FAFSA or something, show me the bureaucracy at work! Don't give me the Latin script of Agent Cody Banks 3: Cody goes to College. Maybe it was saved for the next book, or maybe that's where they'll introduce a multiverse so we can sell the IP to Disney or Amazon.
I liked it, but I don't get the hype from the 5-star reviews. This is a competent, well executed, but over busy and bloated book 1 of a series. For every moment I found myself enjoying this book, there was another where I was slogging through the poorly paced middle or lost in yet another development occurring behind the scenes. This book keeps you asking questions but never offers enough answers, instead promising an exciting resolution to your query one or two books down the line. I think that generally most people will like this, especially people who love other fantasy first-person perspective books/series like ACOTAR or the Dresden Files.
Book Club for Feb (I am aware it's March) ________
This wasn't perfect, but I liked it, I found the premise interesting, the characters plausible and well written, and I am probably going to read the next installment. The book is a hybrid of epic adventure and dark academia, wrapped in a Roman toga; to over simplify it, this is a planet bound Red Rising #1 with the government from the Hunger Games.
The story is told first person from the perspective of Vis, a foreign prince orphaned after the conquest of his home country by the Catenan Republic. Narrowly escaping death beside the rest of his family two years prior, Vis is living in hiding within a Catenan orphanage. Vis is trapped under hierarchy rule, in a country where the poor and working class citizens "cede" their literal willpower and mental focus up the pyramid, strengthening those above with supernatural strength and abilities. Unwilling to cede his strength to the people who killed his family, Vis endures ceaseless abuse and torture from his caretakers during the day, and toils away his nights as a guard for the prison or by fighting in the arena. One night he unwittingly draws the attention of Ulciscor, a dodgy but high ranking man in the hierarchy who is coincidentally seeking to adopt a young man of Vis's caliber. Forced into helping Ulciscor, Vis is tasked with infiltrating the most prestigious university in the country, expected to excel and seeking the truth behind the death of Ulciscor's younger brother.
The general premise of this book is fairly YA, you'd be forgiven for assuming it's going to be close to the Hunger Games or possibly something a little more adult but generally accessible like Fourth Wing. I am going to disabuse anyone of that notion, the "dark" part of this book manifests itself in some pretty extreme violence and gore. These moments are some of the most impactful and best written parts of the book, so I'm going to try not to spoil them, suffice to say that we're talking highly detailed rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.
As you can tell there's a lot going on, it's the first book in a series and there is a giant foundation to lay. Unfortunately, I think that's the biggest problem with the book; Will of the Many is far busier than most first entry books (and those are already fairly busy). I got lost somewhere between the child gladiators and the exam prep, and I feel very strongly that this should have been split across two books. The bulk of the story, the academy component, only begins after Vis's introduction, nearly 30% of the way through the book. It's a bifurcation that really calls into question the school setting, especially because unlike in other academia books, our MC has already learned the bulk of what the college had to offer before he ever sets foot inside. It's a lot of setup with not a lot of immediate pay off, and it means that the story skates by mainly on its premise and the good dialog/character work.
Speaking of dialogue and characters, I was a little thrown by the maturity of Vis's narration initially, his thoughts are way too complete for a 17-year-old. But as the narrative began to resolve, I saw purposeful gaps and cracks in his veneer that revealed a lot of his youth and humanity. There are really well crafted moments that show us the terrified and traumatized boy within Vis, and how those experiences assert themselves within his personality. Islington has really capitalized on the transparency of the first-person perspective to deliver a character with breathtaking fidelity. That luster naturally extends to the friends Vis makes at school, particularly his male cadre of Callidus and Eidhin as well as Emissa, our presumptive love interest.
I was surprised that I didn't love this book, it seemed like it checked all the right boxes, but it just never clicked. I kept getting the sense that I was reading something one-dimensional, made needlessly overcomplicated in an attempt to imitate depth. There's so much set up of this world and its government, yet I felt robbed when it wasn't used for anything. I mean, here's a 700-page book on a society literally organized into pyramids, is it crazy to expect a little bit on how, maybe, that's a bit like what we've got going on over here? Why not make Vis apply for a FAFSA or something, show me the bureaucracy at work! Don't give me the Latin script of Agent Cody Banks 3: Cody goes to College. Maybe it was saved for the next book, or maybe that's where they'll introduce a multiverse so we can sell the IP to Disney or Amazon.
I liked it, but I don't get the hype from the 5-star reviews. This is a competent, well executed, but over busy and bloated book 1 of a series. For every moment I found myself enjoying this book, there was another where I was slogging through the poorly paced middle or lost in yet another development occurring behind the scenes. This book keeps you asking questions but never offers enough answers, instead promising an exciting resolution to your query one or two books down the line. I think that generally most people will like this, especially people who love other fantasy first-person perspective books/series like ACOTAR or the Dresden Files.