The Will of the Many (Volume 1) (Hierarchy)

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We do. We wash them twice a day, as best we can. But they can’t control their bowels in the Sappers.” I smooth the anger from my own voice, but can’t help adding, “Catenan regulations are to wash them twice a week.” Even better news is that from this point, the work should become a lot less variable in nature: there’s a lot less figuring out how to make things fit together, and a lot more actual writing. I’m still inclined to say that my previous target of August is ambitious, and that the end of the year feels a lot more realistic as a submission estimate. Plus, with the launch of The Will of the Many (May 23!) coming up fast, there will be other things vying for my attention over the next couple of months...

I am thoroughly impressed with every aspect of this book, would heartily recommend it to fans of fantasy for certain, but also for everyone else. I have over 200 books in my collection, and this one will probably be reread every time the next book comes out. As a character gains in power and influence and stakes shift from personal to collective, the story's emotional impact on me paradoxically declines. Transcendence of one's limiting circumstances is good for the character but not for the reader (at least, this reader), if that makes sense.The down side of this is really only that ‘longer’ means ‘more time to complete’. As well as the extra initial writing, it’s effectively adding more work than expected to every editing pass I do from here on out. Editing itself is also shaping up to be a more significant process than I’d hoped – no major story beats need to change, but there’s a lot of fine-tuning to do. That’s mostly come about because I’m introducing a new world for this book, as opposed to working within the already heavily defined one of Licanius.

At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally best-selling author of the Licanius Trilogy James Islington. I set about resetting the winch, then somewhat tentatively adjust Nateo’s positioning on the Sapper using the almost-taut chains, ensuring he’s lying as comfortably as possible again. I don’t blame him for his actions. I straighten, eyes fixed on the flaccid, bony man suspended above the slab in front of me. I’ve only seen prisoners being released a few times; the managing Septimus is always in charge of end-of-sentence procedures, and other reasons for waking a captive are rare.At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this "brilliant and gut-churning masterpiece" (Library Journal, starred review) by the internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

Never seen a Sapper before?” It takes all I have not to show satisfaction at the towering man’s horror. Offer’s still there, Vis,” says Hrolf, watching me. His eyes are suddenly sad, though he tries to hide it. “I don’t mind changing our terms if you want to stay, help awhile longer.” A few months.” Not a lie, even if it’s not what Hospius is really asking. I’m not about to let on how long I’ve really been exposed to the Sappers.On the more subjective side of things, I’m very happy with where everything’s at currently. It’s been challenging writing a story set in a new world—a big adjustment after writing Licanius for so long—but things have started to feel like they’ve really come together over the past month or so.

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. It becomes apparent rather fast that while The Catenan Republic reigns supreme in the world, as there is nothing less to conquer, the Senate's factions (Religion, Military and Governance) naturally fall to political infighting and factions are waging proxy wars and espionage against each other. The man in east cell one is around Hospius’s age, but the similarities end there. Fair skin is deathly pale in his nakedness, almost grey. Body thin and frail, cheeks hollow, blond hair long and matted. A wheezing rasp to his breathing. Steel manacles encircle his wrists and ankles, joined by dangling chains to a winch fixed above him. His blue eyes are open but filmy, unfocused as he lies atop the mirror-polished white slab, which is near horizontal but angles just barely down toward us. Toward the thin gutter that runs along the front of all the cells, where the worst of the prisoners’ waste can be easily washed away.

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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. Hospius rubs the dark surface of his shaven pate. It’s a moment of doubt—I’m sure I see it in the motion—but when he looks across at me, his face is hard. “I came here for answers. Do what you have to.” Although the book itself was a masterpiece imo, I worry about where the Hierarchy trilogy is headed, based on the conclusion of a major arc and certain events at the end of the WOTM (you'll know which, if you've read it). Specifically, I worry that these events hint at a change in scope, setting, and direction. He’s quiet. A bit aloof, really. Doesn’t like to talk about himself. Why?” There’s no suspicion, just curiosity. The end of The Will of the Many sets up so many exciting directions for the series, for both heroes and villains, and I am definitely on board for wherever Islington takes me next.