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The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)

James Islington

Start date: February 1, 2025

Finish date: February 28, 2025

Discussion: The Will of the Many

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The Will of the Many

TWotM: My Love/Hate relationship with Polymath Protagonists
By Paul · 9 posts · 85 views

last updated Feb 28, 2025 04:19AM

TWotM: February 2025 Pick - The Will of the Many by James Islington
By Rob , Roberator · 14 posts · 136 views

last updated Feb 22, 2025 07:58AM

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What Members Thought

May 01, 2025 Jen rated it liked it

I think I would have rated it higher, if it didn't seem to get interesting until page 300. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 22, 2024 Melani rated it liked it

Shelves: epic-fantasy, challenge_tbr

I liked this. It was very readable and fun. I think if the sequel was out now, I'd pick it up but because it isn't out for several months who knows. I'm not sure the book is memorable enough to survive the six month waiting period, if that makes sense. Good enough in the moment, not really lasting.

I'm not sure if I found the metaphor of the book SUPER OBVIOUS and therefore annoying, or just very on point. I waffled between the two feelings quite a bit. The magic in the book, Will, is so very obv I liked this. It was very readable and fun. I think if the sequel was out now, I'd pick it up but because it isn't out for several months who knows. I'm not sure the book is memorable enough to survive the six month waiting period, if that makes sense. Good enough in the moment, not really lasting.

I'm not sure if I found the metaphor of the book SUPER OBVIOUS and therefore annoying, or just very on point. I waffled between the two feelings quite a bit. The magic in the book, Will, is so very obviously a commentary on modern capitolism and how it saps the life from the poor to the benefit of the wealthy, but because this was only half of the story there's no resolution and so I'm not quite sure how I feel about the message of the book. I'm also worried that the Randian tendencies of fantasy (where the world can only be saved by the special protagonist) kind of undermines this metaphor, because one of the tennents of Ayn Rand is that special people deserve to be better off, because they're special and workers just have to support them, and it feels like the book is criticising that, but it also has the super smart protagonist who is good at all the things and naturally rises to the top. So I'm curious about the concluion. However, whether I'll still be curious in six months? Who knows.

One thing I find amusing. I was iffy at the start so I went and read one star reviews here to see if I could keep going. And uh... HOW the magic works isn't even close to the point of this book. People complaining that Islington isn't sciencing his magic are missing the point. How it works doesn't matter to what he is doing in this story, and that is totally fine. Sometimes I bang my head against the RPGing of fantasy and just want to scream a little. There are some book where it does matter how the magic works, and others where it doesn't, and it very much depends on what the author is using the magic for. And in this book, where magic is a pretty obvious metaphor, the how it works is just.... not important. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2024 Brenda marked it as did-not-finish

Shelves: edelweiss

I'm marking this as dnf for now. I may try again in the future, but I'm currently almost 20% in and I'm super bored. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2023 Basia rated it it was amazing

I came across this book while browsing Goodreads awards 2023 nominees and the score it had made me curious enough to start reading it. Once I picked it up I could not put it down. For 3 days I read wherever I could, in the car, tram, even on the elevator. Had I finished it earlier I would have changed my vote for Fantasy book of the year. Excellent world building, vivid characters and the story is really amazing. Highly recommend and can't wait for next book. ...more

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