The Strenght of the Few – Spoiler free review
A Worthy Sequel to a masterpiece?
James Islington
2025
№ 2 in the Hierachy Series
If Will of the Many blew your mind, then The Strength of the Few will probably break it, in a good way. In this Strenght of the Few – spoiler free review we’ll talk about about who’s it for, what I thought about it, and whether or not you should read it.
What is The Hiearchy series?
The first two books in the Hierarchy series by James Islington are Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few. The first book came out a few years ago, and the second was released this November and was one probably of the most anticipated books of 2025. The story is set in a Roman-inspired world and it is a complex, high-fantasy series with lots of layers.
The Will of the Many – a very unique high fantasy
One of the main things about this series is how the society is almost like a caste system that is directly tied to the magic. There is a magical life force called Will. You can cede it in others or use it to strenghten yourself or objects, but you can’t just give it to anyone. There is a strict structure in the hierarchy.
There are different levels of magicians in pyramid-like orders, and they cede Will to each other. The higher up you are, the more power and status you have.
How the series start
In Will of the Many we follow the our main character Vis, who starts at the very bottom of the hierachy. He is adopted by a rich man higher up in the hierarchy and is forced to train at the magical academy, and become one of the best students and also act as his adoptive father’s spy.
Reading The Strenght of the Few & First reactions
I read Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few back to back because I knew the second one was coming and I wouldn’t be able to wait. And this sequel really didn’t disappoint.
Already in the first book you can tell how much thought is behind the story. It has trials, laryes of politics and social structures, and wraps up in a really intense ending that makes you want to jump straight into the next one. When you start the second book you just want to know what happens next.
I thought this series is a masterpiece. The magic system, the world, the action is really unique and keeps you reading. But, I’m a very character-focused reader, though. In the first book I sometimes wished the friendships and relationships were a bit stronger emotionally. But that’s my only small complaint.
In The Strength of the Few, I felt like that part improved and hit harder. I cared more about the characters, and I also enjoyed reading it a bit more, since I already knew how the magic and the world worked and could focus more on the plot.
What Makes The Strenght of the Few stand out as a sequel
The tone in this book is quite different from Will of the Many. In the first one, we spend a lot of time at the academy and it’s a lot of focus on Vis training. In The Strenght of the Few things turn a lot darker. The book is also written in a very ambitious and unique way, where we follow events though different timelines. I won’t spoil it here, but you can read more about my thoughts on it in the section down below. It’s really like nothing I have ever read before and it was such a wild reading experience.
I think James Islington has done such impressive job with this structure and I’m amazed that he could pull it of. We get deeper into the world, learn more about the mysteries, get some answers from the first book, but of course a lot of new questions appear as well.
Characther development and how the story unfolds
I think Vis journey through this book is even more interesting than in the first one. He begins as an angry and frustrated teenager and is pushed into situations that force him to make really tough choices. He also have to chose even more carefully who he can trust and what’s worth fighting for.
A Few Minor Critiques
There honestly aren’t many things I think would make this book much better. But I did have to google a bit after finishing it, just to check that I had understood certain parts correctly. It is complicated at times and raises a lot of questions for the next book. And, since there are a lot of politics going in on the Hierarchy, the roman names of the senators were a bit confusing since they are quite similar. I hade to use the glossary a lot just to remember which senator was which at the end.
There is also one thing near the end that I won’t spoil here. I think I liked it, but it also made some earlier events feel a bit less impactful. You can read it down below in the section with spoilers and see if you’re thinking about the same thing.
Who is this series for?
If you have already read Will of the Many, then yes, absolutely pick this one up and see where the story goes. It is really unlike most fantasy I’ve read.
If you haven’t started the series yet, but like high fantasy with an academy setting, political systems and darker tones in the sequel, then I really think you should give it a try. If you are not used to fantasy or want something lighter, this might not be the best first step into the genre. But if you like books you can really dig into, I highly recommend it.
WTCH THE VIDEO
This is where my Strenght of the Few – Spoiler free review ends, but if you want to know more about my thoughts, click on each section below. I won’t spoil too much, but a little more details and my thoughts.
DEEPER THOUGHS OF STRENGHT OF THE FEW (WITH SPOILERS)
Like I said, The Strenght of the Few is one of the most ambitious and complicated books I’ve ever read. I’m so impressed that James Islington took this route with the second book, because it can’t have been easy to write.
I really think it’s interesting to follow Vis in the different worlds. I thought it made the book more interesting as well, because when I thought one world was a bit slow, the other parts were more interesting and vice versa. But you really have to stay sharp while reading it, since it’s so complex. And I’m honestly thankful for the little symbols at the beginning of the chapters so you could easy know where you were in the story.
One thing I thought about, was that I would be so much more freaked out and also interested in what my copies in the other worlds were doing, if I knew I had been split into three versions of myself. At least in the beginning, before you got used to the thought. But I think Vis didn’t really think that much about it which felt a little unnatural.
I also liked that Vis relationships with the other characters were deeper in the main world. I know he had his friends in the first book but since he kept so much to himself, he felt quite lonely. I enjoyed reading this book more, and how he confided more in people around him. That made me care more for them. And Aqueas death made me cry so much. I thought maybe they would fall in love or end up togheter. But maybe she’ll be back as an iunctus too (I hope not).
I didn’t really like the timeline of his friendships in the other worlds though. It felt a bit rushed to me, especially how fast he connected to the warband. But the original friends from the school and his relationship to Ulcisor and Listinia felt more important.
I also enjoyed to read Vis internal battle with starting to use Will, and how his feelings about that changed during the book.
The darker tone and the iuncti was something I’m not really sure if I like. I thought it was interesting, and I liked reading about when he was in Obetium, but at the same time, necromancy isn’t really my favorite trope. But over all – an amazing reading experience and I can’t wait for the third book!
THE ENDING & THEORIES (WITH SPOILERS)
The ending was also really intriguing and I can’t wait for The Justice of One.
As I understood it, the iuncti army that Vis woke up on Res, included both his family and also Callius. And in one way, I liked to see them reunited, but that also took away some of the impact of their deaths. That’s one of the problems with raising the dead in books, if you ask me. Because if everyone can return, then their death isn’t that important in one way. So I thought it was interesting it but I’m not sure if it would have been more impactful without it.
And I aslo understood it as Vis made a terrible mistake when he killed Ka in Duat. That Caeror in that world was misleading him all the way, and was maybe working with the Concurrence and Ka was stopping it in some way. I read online that some think that Vis is now going to take Ka’s place, but we’ll see about that. And I have also seen theories that Caeror in one of the worlds is a controlled iunctus himself, but I’m not sure what I think about that either.
But I’m pretty sure that there’s some important connection between the Aurora Columna and the Cataclysms, and we’ll probably know more about that later on as well. Please comment down below what you think!
MY EXPECTTIONS FOR BK 3: THE JUSTICE OF ONE
I can’t wait to read Justice of One when it’s released. I want to see more of what Vis does in all of the worlds, especially in Res with the iuncti army but also what happens with everything in Obetium.
He will probably have to face Caeror at some point, and I’m really curious to see Ostius real part in everything. And also, could Veridius be mislead as well or is he working with the Concurrence? Either way, I think it will be so much fun to read.
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