Between the prose style and the tropiness, this book sits nicely between YA and adult fantasy. Fans of either genre will feel right at home here. The young protagonists, magical school, and first-person present narration will appeal to YA fans, while the complex magic system, critiques of colonialism/power, and the political maneuvering will keep fans of adult fantasy interested. I’m not sure if I have read a book that so seamlessly draws in both audiences without alienating one or the other at some point! On the positives, I much prefer the prose in Will of the Many. Its also been stuffed with political intrigue and there are a few neat ideas (will sappers). I can. A little.” Nateo’s voice is like nails scraped weakly across stone. He uses the dead language too, though with far more comfort than the man here to see him. “How long?” His gaze roves, as if seeking the answer somewhere other than Hospius. 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.

On that front - we’re looking at a Spring (US) 2023 release. That’s... a long way away, I know. It’s primarily for marketing / scheduling reasons, which honestly I don't mind, because I’m excited about this series and want to make sure it has the best launch possible. But on a practical level I’m also quietly pleased, as I’ll be writing The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy #2) in the interim – which means there should be And as far as that’s concerned, things are largely going well: I’m about 110,000 words in, and it’s going quite smoothly. The aim is to complete this draft by the end of September (i.e. by next update), which would then give me a couple of months to fine tune, polish and submit the third and final draft for December.The voice for this series will be Euan Morton, a fantastic narrator who's also an experienced stage actor (he's currently on Broadway playing King George in the musical Hamilton). I couldn't be happier with this casting - after listening to a lot of candidates, he was far and away my first choice. At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

I know I'll get asked this a lot, so for those wondering: I did chat with the good folks at Audible about potentially getting Michael Kramer, who did such a brilliant job with Licanius, on board. However this series is stylistically different - it's written from the first-person perspective of a seventeen year old - and we eventually came to the conclusion that Michael's voice, as great as it is, simply wasn't the right fit for that sort of role.) Stop.” I snap out the word in panic, then hold up a contrite hand immediately as Hospius freezes. “My apologies, Sextus, no disrespect intended. It’s just dangerous to get too close. It takes days to prepare a prisoner for a Sapper. Touching it could kill you. And everyone ceding to you.”I expect there will be one final update for The Will of the Many around Christmas, when editing should, fingers crossed, be complete. After that, I’ll start switching my progress reports to The Strength of the Few! Progress on the first draft of The Will of the Many is moving along reasonably well, with the word count up to 140k. The final word count will probably be closer to 200k now, so there’s still some way to go. Second and third (major) drafts should be progressively easier to complete, and I’m hoping to avoid the need for a fourth altogether. But Foundryside’s Sancia is intimately, viscerally enmeshed in the magic of scriving, and she works with researchers and artisans that have dedicated their life to understanding its secrets. Even when the old rules start to break down, Sancia and her crew aren’t far behind in understanding, or at least theorizing, how it works. Vis is far removed from the specifics of Will—he’s never wielded it, and Islington glosses over the more technical aspects of his education, like the discussion in class of “how Casual and sub-Harmonic imbuing can be combined to reduce the amount of Will needed to operate complex machinery.” There are unsettling, gripping scenes where we can see a deeper power at work… but, at least in this first book, we don’t move much closer to understanding it. Hospius is silent next to me, no indication whether he is affected by the wretchedness of our surrounds. I want to watch him more closely—something still feels not quite right about him, his presence here, this entire night—but my desire to avoid notice is stronger. Regardless of whether he is all he claims to be, if he spots my suspicion, it will only draw attention. While (as always) this timeline’s subject to change, it feels realistic – barring unforeseen circumstances, I think I can keep to it. So hopefully in September’s update, I won’t be too far from the finish line!

It's early days and so the audiobook length isn't known just yet, but the print book's word count is roughly on par with that of An Echo of Things to Come, which turned out to be a touch over 26 hours in audio. I'd expect something similar for The Will of the Many. This magical energy, the Will, is not only a cool magic system to explore, but it has social and thematic resonance as well. Islington’s magic system is a condemnation of both his fictional Hierarchy and the world that we live into today. While the people in the Hierarchy are deprived of their magical energies, in our world people are deprived of their money, health, and happiness to those at the top of the social hierarchy; those that take and never give. I always love when magic systems are thought out in this way. I am always down for a magic system that is cool just because it’s cool, but when a magic system is so nicely integrated into the book’s setting and theme like The Will is, it makes it all the better. At the elite Catenan Academy, where students are prepared as the future leaders of the Hierarchy empire, the curriculum reveals a layered set of mysteries which turn murderous in this new fantasy by bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington. The side characters fill out the novel... they are interesting and you actually care about them and feel their weight as individuals.

Recent Comments

Not sure. They were talking in some other language.” I deposit the fetched supplies onto their shelf, then flop into my seat. I KNOW I’M ALWAYS TELLING you to think before you act,” says the craggy-faced man slouching across the board from me, “but for the game to progress, Vis, you do actually have to move a gods-damned stone.” Nateo’s head lolls as he gazes blearily at Hospius. He runs his tongue over his lips. Then he slowly, painfully nods.