The Strength of the Few
-
-
4.5 • 70 Ratings
-
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
This highly anticipated sequel to The Will of the Many—one of 2023’s most lauded and bestselling fantasy novels—follows Vis as he grapples with a dangerous secret that could unravel history across alternate dimensions.
Book two of the Hierarchy quartet.
OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM
The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. Still hail me as Catenicus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am.
But with all that has happened—with what I fear is coming—I am not sure it matters anymore.
I am no longer one. I won the Iudicium, and lost everything—and now, impossibly, the ancient device beyond the Labyrinth has replicated me across three separate worlds. A different version of myself in each of Obiteum, Luceum, and Res. Three different bodies, three different lives. I have to hide; fight; play politics. I have to train; trust; lie. I have to kill; heal; prove myself again, and again, and again.
I am loved, and hated, and entirely alone.
Above all, though, I need to find answers before it’s too late. To understand the nature of what has happened to me, and why.
I need to find a way to stop the coming Cataclysm, because if all I have learned is true, I may be the only one who can.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
You’ll need a scorecard to keep up with this epic sequel to The Will of the Many, in which the disguised prince calling himself Vis Telimus simultaneously encounters challenges in three different worlds. An ancient device has split Vis into three selves, each of whom finds himself on a different version of his world. He must successfully negotiate political complexities and physical threats in each location, endangering his secret royal identity as well as his strongly held sense of autonomy. He has previously refused to join the hierarchical magical system, where he must either cede part of his Will to social superiors or accept the Will of others to make himself more physically and magically powerful. But if he doesn’t make some compromises, he risks all three worlds in a devastation known as the Cataclysm. What would you sacrifice in order to save those you care about? This richly textured historical fantasy, which draws on Roman, Egyptian, and Celtic cultures, will have you pondering a triple version of this conundrum.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Returning to a richly drawn fantasy world in which the elite wield a magical force called Will tithed from people in lower castes, bestseller Islington's brilliant middle volume of his Hierarchy trilogy clears the high bar set by the first installment. Following the events of The Will of the Many, Vis, a student at the academy designed to develop the Hierarchy's next leaders, has been replicated twice. Now versions of him exist in three separate worlds—Obiteum, Luceum, and his home world, Res—all of which face the impending threat of the Cataclysm, an extinction-level event. Due to this three-way split, Vis may be the only person able to avert the devastation, as prophesied in an ancient text, though he has doubts that he has been told the whole historical truth. Evocative prose and nuanced ruminations on the nature of power and sacrifice enhance Islington's complex multiverse worldbuilding. Readers will be on the edge of their seats—and impatient to learn how Islington pulls off the saga's conclusion.
