Welcome to a somewhat mysterious review about a somewhat mysterious book. I would hazard a guess that most of you have heard of the incredible breakout success, The Will of the Many by James Islington. If you haven’t, great news, you have a justifiably popular book awaiting you with a number of cool stuff–check out our review here. But, for many of you who have been waiting for today (the release day of The Strength of the Few, book two of the Hierarchy), I am here to give you the good word. And the good word is that it’s good.
Avoiding all spoilers, many readers have been chomping at the bit to find out what happens next after the absolutely wild cliffhanger ending of The Will of the Many. Islington’s earlier Licanius trilogy was a series that was clearly built as one larger book and story in mind, and each piece of the saga fit together like an intricate puzzle that formed an awe-inspiring vista when read all together. Given that track record, I was very much expecting Strength to be a departure from book one and a revelation of the somewhat secret/foreshadowed themes of the larger story. I am happy to report that my wishes came true, and Strength is a much weirder and more captivating chapter in this series.
The plot of The Strength of the Few is engrossing, but talking about what makes it cool is a spoiler to almost anyone who hasn’t already read the book. Looking at what I can talk about, one of the book’s greatest strengths is the curious themes that it explores. Context is a significant factor, particularly in how the local forces around us shape who we are. Strength pulls at the meat of what parts of a person’s identity are made from the happenstance of their surroundings and which parts are integral to who they are as a person. There is a lot to unpack here, so much so that I don’t know if every new branch of this narrative tree gets its due time in the sun. There were a few themes that I loved, but wanted to go deeper than Strength allowed.
The physical narrative structure of the story is awesome, and we get to see it play out through a kaleidoscopic stage, the likes of which I haven’t encountered so far. I suspect the narrative style of this book is going to have the fantasy community talking for months, rightly so. It feels like a clever evolution of the style of book one, innovating the methods of Strength to keep up with the changing messages and ideas.
On the other hand, some will likely be disappointed in The Strength of the Few, given its departure in style and focus from book one. This is no longer a classic chosen one magical school story, though it retains the trappings in interesting ways. Instead, we find ourselves handling a heavier beast with a lot more moving parts that takes some time to get going. One of the best parts of Will was its very fast pace, jumping from one pivotal scene to another through Vis’s eyes. The Strength of the Few is a much slower book, and pacing can actually be a problem in some instances. It also splits us from a single POV to a trio of POVs, which can make you feel like you are reading three books at once.
The end result is an enigmatic book that raises more questions than it answers and only cements my certainty that for this story, you need the full picture. For those who read The Will of the Many and found it fun but hoped it would have more depth, The Strength of the Few is the trench you have been waiting for. Although I feel it is a less perfectly presented book than the first entry, it heralds bigger things to come, and I am even more excited to get book three than I was for Strength’s release.
Rating: The Strength of the Few – 9.5/10
-Andrew
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