what i loved about the will of the many was how there was finally a clever protagonist. someone who takes all things into consideration and when smth is too dangerous, instead of being like "i'm the main character, nothing's gonna happen to me so i'm just gonna go do this thing and succeed," he just leaves because it's not worth the risk and comes back better prepared. i was also pleasantly surprised by how certain characters were portrayed (A BIT OF A SPOILER) - like veridius who is described as the principal at the academy and so you probably imagine him as this middle-aged/old dude who holds lots of power and will be a nuisance (at least i did) but instead you get this young charismatic guy who gets on well with the students and has you questioning whether he's actually as bad as you were told. also the setting being inspired by ancient rome is just a great bonus to it all.
I loved how Vis gave zero fucks in the chess-like game against that one girl and the duel where he busted the guy for cheating. Eidhin also subverted expectations when you thought he was gonna be the Neville long bottom bully of the story but ends but befriending Vis, I loved their friendship
You can’t tell that best moment in this book was not when Belli offered Vis the chance to remove a piece from the board to make it easier for him but he ends up removing one of his own pieces. Like bro… what a guy. Seems like something Darrow would do and I love it.
I started to reread right away and the opening chapter he is playing a game of whatever this game is called with the other prison guard. I had totally forgotten.
This book was fantastic. Even my wife liked it and she usually sticks to Sarah J. Maas type books. Part 3 was god tier level stuff when Vis goes back "home."
It’s been MONTHS since I read it. Yet hearing you guys talk about specific scenes brought me right back to the feels I had reading it as though I’d just read it yesterday. This book was insane in the best way possible.
20:45 absolutely my fav scene. Chapter XLV, I read the last few pages multiple times, total badass scene. And he didn't say he is moving to next class to the shitty professor, he just said "It seems you need to check the equpment again" He didnt need to say he won or is moving to next class, everyone just silently knew and accepted that.
Been waiting for this one!! I also read The Licanius Trilogy years back and thought it was really underrated. But by the first chapter alone I have never seen such a dramatic improvement in a writers ability to prose, dialogue, style, etc. such a great book!
So glad you guys finally reviewed this one! I can't wait for the second book 🙂 SPOILERS: Quick note about characters: Islington’s dialogue is sparingly used. But when he does use it it’s very well done. The scene where Vis and Eidhin are making fun of the teacher had me laughing out loud, and did more to develop their friendship than any of the other descriptions. My opinion with the Gary Stu thing is that the book is told in first person, so of course Vis is going to get out of any issues that arise. The question is how. The fact is that Vis is not actually better than everyone at everything. There are characters who are more intelligent, or at least better educated (Indol, Emissa). And Belli is better at him in running the maze and about equal to him at the chess game. He’s not particularly good at getting people to like him (as established in class 7, 6, and 5) because political maneuvering is not something he enjoys even though he’s trained at it. He only starts being successful at it in the upper classes when the classmates themselves are also prioritizing politicking. The thing that he consistently does is not overextend his hand. No one had seen him play chess, so no one knew he was good at it. But we as an audience know he’s good because it was literally on the first page. And the fact that he speaks Eidhin’s language is not surprising because it’s established from chapter one that his family prioritized knowing languages so that you could read ancient texts without Hierarchy biases. All of that said I do wish that they used the side characters’ expertise more to solve the issues. I’m hoping that becomes more prevalent in the second book when he is (I assume) going to have to do more politics maneuvering.
Rich and I both agree he leans more gary stuff but definitely not using that term in a negative way, at least for me, because it didnt detract. I like your point tho!
35:32 - Haven’t finished the video and maybe I’m the one misremembering, but I swear that they mentioned Vis’ skill at Swordplay & Foundation significantly earlier in the book and not just at the moment he needed to be good at it.
They did. We learn about the foundation skill basically right at the state when he's playing against the man he worked with. And we learn about his sword skill when he's practicing again lanistia
I didn't realize that Islington published another book until I saw a clip of you promoting it on my feed, so thanks for that!. If you want to know how to pronounce the names, on his site he has a whole glossary of location and people names with how he wants them pronounced.
I listened to the audiobook so I haven't seen the glossery, but based on how people are spelling the names here in the comments, it seems like he's using Greek pronunciations. Which I like
Love your videos. Can you guys pls do a top 10 favorite books or something similar. If you talked 2-3 minutes about every book. Woud be a really fun watch.
Enjoy the content guys! Richard one complaint is that your worldbuilding criticisms are usually that if the book wasnt a history textbook spelling everything out, then it wasnt world building. Suggestions and implications and mysteries are part of worldbuilding imo. Sometimes i feel that you only rate worldbuilding highly if it comes at the detriment of plot and characters because the book didnt spend all its page real estate in world description
Not sure I have the same critique because I haven't watched enough of their videos. But I really liked the fact that Islington didn't info dump. It treats the reader as intelligent and let's them figure it out over the course of the book. It annoys me when books explain too much or characters have conversations that are too simplistic just for the reader's benefit.
Curious what Richard thinks on this - ill have to bring this up to see if he agrees with the criticism! (Also thanks for watching and not criticising me, austin, fragile ego)
Fairly new to your channel started tuning in a couple weeks ago for your opinions on The First Law trilogy. I really appreciate your opinions and can say this has bumped The Will of The Many up on my TBR. The energy in this video really sells this book is on a different tier. Can’t wait to start thank you both.
I think this novel is the perfect segway for king killer fans. It shares many of the same tropes with a school setting, climbing the ladder of a hierarchy of sorts. Imo the prose of Name of the wind didn't wow me as it did many others, so I don't think fans will be disappointed with the prose by Islington (which is heavily improved since the licanius trilogy). I think the characters are way more plentiful and interesting than the king killer though, the side characters both in the school, and in other factions have lots of great dynamics with the main character, as well as a whole lot of political intrigue with the overall world. What I do think both books share is a bit of an "OP" main character, who imo are both a bit of blank slates. But imo Vis in Will of the Many is a little bit more interesting and at least has better dynamics than Kvothe. I actually thought Kvothe was at his most interesting in the recount chapters. I do think both books have a bit of a "down" segment to them. I really really disliked the dragon hunting section of name of the wind, it took way too long, wasn't really exciting and just went on for too long. I think with Will of the Many, during the climax, there was a long section where Vis is doing another mission to uncover a secret, it gets a bit jumbled there for me and the revelation takes a bit of time to get going. I think with the Will of the Many tho that part has a bigger role in the 2nd book, where as the dragon hunting in Name of the wind was just a bit of time dragging that doesn't necessarily drive the story forward.
I’ve had this saved in my watch later, and have been listening to this on my runs and hikes since you guys uploaded this. Aside from the butchering of the names, you guys are spot on! Funny enough. I’ve adopted your ratting metric and this was mine: a 4.25 😂 Emotional Impact: 4.5 Thought Provoking: 3.5 Characters: 4.5 Plot: 4.25 World Building: 4.75 Prose: 4
Literally finished the book today! Really enjoyed it, the final scene with Calidous (if you know, you know) really got me shook. So many unanswered questions, glad it shouldn’t be too long a wait for book 2 :)
This entire video just had me wanting to pump my fists in the air because of Austin's unbridled enthusiasm lol. HECK YES, I needed the sequel like yesterday!! And I think it's going to be 4 books, which I am super happy about because the more the better 🤩
Stopped after the spoiler free. I'm currently reading the first Licanus book and you guys have convinced me to try this one out too. I super duper appreciate that you guys told us it just follows the one character perspective. I wish that sort of info was easier to find about a book, along with whether or not it's dual timeline.
Seeing this drop while in the middle of the book made me so happy to know I’ll have something to watch about it after finishing. Islington’s other stuff definitely is moving up on the TBR
Great vids, boys. Seems like we are all in the same boat on this one: give me a great story and I’ll be flexible on many other issues. Give me a reason to trust an author, and I’ll hang on through even self-perceived lulls or bad points.
I’ve read hundreds of books and have never read any fantasy, I was blessed to have this as my first in the genre. I loved this book! I’m so excited for the next installments and am now looking for others to try!
Just for clarification on Gary Stew or Mary Sue. The important part is that they have all these skills out of no where without any training on the page and or screen. They are just magically the best ever at everything.
I couldn't get into Red Rising, but THIS book??? I was completely obsessed!! Waiting for the sequel has been so painful, but it'll be worth the wait for sure.
Perfect timing! I finished this book last night after starting it on Friday. I went into this book expecting some similarities to Red Rising. Immediately after reaching Ch 1 I knew I was going to love the book. Red Rising-ish plot with Warbreaker-ish magic system? Count me IN. I was glued to the book the entire time. I would have given it a perfect 5/5 but there were was 1 scene/interaction that almost felt forced, and a couple of scenes that felt repetitive. Still enjoyable, but those took me out just a tad. Solid 4.5/5
Given how excited Austin is about both this book and Red Rising, and especially given how he's generally OK with the Mary Sue aspects of Vis's personality, I'd be really interested to see how he feels about Name of the Wind.
Finished this book last night. WOW!! It was fantastic!! Having only Vis’s POV was a great idea. With how every single person is out for themselves, or at least it seems this way, you never know what the others are plotting. Now I don’t know what to read next. I could use some help deciding from the following: Elantris Warbreaker Shadows of Self The Sunlit Man The Blade Itself Heaven Breaker IT Any suggestions, and yes I have read the Stormlight Archive including Dawnshard and Edgedancer.
haven’t watched this all yet but interested to hear your guys’ thoughts! personally I wasn’t a huge fan, or at least I wasn’t for the first like 50% of the book lol. I think where it really failed for me was the characters; I didn’t really care for anyone and so much of their progression seemed to happen off page? I also think it could’ve done with some more editing, but book 2 could be really great based on that ending. I think this was like a 3.5 for me
I'm the same way with this book. I almost DNF'd it, but pushed through. I thought the world building, magic system, and characters were all dull. I just couldn't find a personal connection with any of them and the whole book felt like it was just about the students running the labryinth over and over again. I loved the beginning where Vis was exploring things and uncovering secrets, but then that vibe just stopped dead in it's tracks. I couldn't stand this book to be blunt lol but that's what makes reading great. We all enjoy different things :)
@@Gooby12337 I almost dnf’d too but kept going because everyone was raving about it 😅 definitely agree with you. especially since characters are so important for me in a story; I’m honestly surprised to see people praise that aspect of the book lol. but you’re right, different strokes for different folks!
I've been just as excited as Austin about this book lol. I got Red Rising vibes from it in terms of the writing it just felt really good, dying waiting for the next one. (I wrote this comment before Richard mentioned it also being similar to Red Rising glad we got the same vibes from it lol.)
I'm pretty sure James islington mentioned that vis is based on kvothe from name of the wind. It was interesting to hear how your opinion on the 2 characters were similar.
Saw your video. Had this book on my TBR. Watched up until the spoiler section. Read the book. Came back and watched the rest of the video. I’m so glad I did cause I loved this book. Kinda annoyed I have to wait until 2025 to get my answers to that cliffhanger of an ending but damn. ‘‘Twas worth it 😅❤
I'm 2 thirds of the way through the book and Literally look up if you guys had done a review on it yesterday!!! It's soo good so far! Can't wait to finish the book
Excellent book! I initially borrowed it from the library, finished it and immediately ordered a copy because I want this book on my shelves and I’m definitely carrying on with it as soon as book 2 is out. I read The Shadow of What Was Lost yesterday and I really enjoyed it and I’m upset that it’ll take a week for the next book to get to my library for me 😭😂 Also boo Levy (I say with love)
Also if you don’t like name of the wind I’d recommend the first binding. People criticise it for being too like NOTW but I found it veered away. I adore it (and didn’t like NOTW)
The first book of the licanius trilogy is not rough, i think the second one is the roughest. I loved the series but i feel it should have been more books.
Cutting out before spoilers. But nice to see such high regards for this book. I'm looking forward to getting to this. Wow Austin, 4.5☆? It must be golden
Best book I read last year, I'm so excited to read it again before the next one comes out! Spoilery part of the comment: I absolutely love stories where a character has a secret that could be the end of them if someone found out so they can't really trust anyone. And that is the whole book! And most of the characters! And that secret makes the protagonist the underdog to the whole oppressive system (who doesn't root for the underdog)! I was really at the edge of my seat the whole time reading this book because this whole card house of secrets that is the plot was build so precariously that it could crumble at any moment and I wanted to know how the characters would make sure it didn't. As an added bonus I got a lot of really smart characters, which are typically the ones that end up as my favourites. And I absolutely agree, the plotting that went into this book was insanely good! I also really like your theories about where the second book will go after that epilogue, they make a lot of sense and would make for an amazing story. If I remember correctly (its been a few months), when I finished the book I got the feeling that maybe one of the alternate Vis' might go down a darker route and have a character change for the worse since he got pushed into these directions a few times already in book one (again, if I remember correctly). I am really excited to find out where the story will go from here.
Yaaaaaas! I loved this book. All hype for me. Definitely Red Rising vibes, but also a better book one since he's a more experienced author than Pierce Brown was when he wrote RR.
Mike from Mike's book review interviewed James, and he asked him the biggest question we all had... It's Islington, like island. 🤣 And I agree Richard, Austin would be super pumped reading Rage of Dragons!
I’m not the finishing the book until the sequel comes out, so I can just go right into the next one. I hate cliffhangers (I spoiled the ending for myself, but I do that with most books/movies anyways. It doesn’t really bother me personally).
One of my favorite books last year, and maybe in a long time. My wife and mom also read it and loved it. It seems to reach a large audience. Although - if I had one complaint, the print in the actual physical book is so tiny. What is this, a book for ants?? Come on James.
I’m hoping that in one of those alternate universes that callidus is alive 😭😭😭.. I don’t like that he died without knowing about his best friend being a freaking prince
Last two times he got stoked like this was Red Rising & Stormlight Archive.... and those are both two of the best underdog feel good series I've gotten sucked into. Not that wheel of time 🧀🧀🧀🧀
Yes I have been waiting for this one ! I didn't love it as much as some people it was a 4 stars for me but still, great great book !! If you liked some of the thematics here : the survivor of a fallen kingdom, the critic of democracy etc. you should read The Aurelian Cycle ! It's a complete trilogy with great themes and... it has dragons ! It is categorised as YA, and the first half of the first book reads a bit like that but overall it really doesn't take the expected YA tropes and I've seen youtube reviewers who are used to reading only Adult fantasy LOVING this series !
Now this is a review I’ve been waiting for…. Before watching: curious to see how Austin reacts to a better Red Rising book 1. (The rest of RR is obviously goated, but book 1 vs will of the many is just not close)
@@2ToRamble in defense of pierce, his book 1 is like half the length of WotM and James also had an entire trilogy of experience. Plus I’m pretty sure islington credits RR as a source of inspo.
I feel like this does more than book 1 of Red Rising, but isn't executed as well. They are both roughly 4/5 for me, but for different reasons. I'd call TWOTM a 3.75 and RR is a solid 4.
I just read the first three books in Red Rising because everyone kept comparing them and I loved this one so much... and I understand why people are making the comparison because they both have the 17 year old from the "lower class" integrating into an elite school. But when you're comparing book one to book one they weren't really in the same category for me. Part of it happens to take place at a school, but that's not really integral to the story as a whole in The Will of the Many. This is definitely more of a political intrigue book. And despite the fact that magic system is not well described it's very clear that the magic system makes the economics of the world go round. Which makes the morality questions of technological advances vs subjugation of the populus all the more interesting. Exploring the politics and letting the world build naturally in a way that wasn't just info dumping were my favorite parts. Red Rising, especially book one, doesn't have that level of intricacy. And since everyone was comparing them I went into it expecting political intrigue and so it was a let down for me. Maybe books 4-6 have more of it but even if they do it took 3 books to get there. This one did all of it in book one, and book 2 is set up to expand passed what we've already seen.
I wasn't a big fan of Licanius either - to be honest, I don't even remember much of it. But I really liked The Will of the Many, I think it's a big step up. I'd give it a try!
I haven't read this one yet, but just realize that Licanious was first released 10 years ago and was his debut...so a couple of good reasons to give him a second chance at this point...especially since everyone seems to love it. : )
Just finished the book and I didn't love it. It felt like with every character and scenario their only purpose was to progress the plot. I also found Vis super unlikeable with how mary sue he was.
@@2ToRamble I loved the Red Rising series which I'd say mirrors Will of the Many in a lot of ways. Best thing I've read this year was probably Artificial Wisdom. Also really enjoying The First Law series of books. I'm currently on Red Country.
I haven’t read it (so I’m obviously not going to watch past the spoiler-free part) but I’m not convinced. Mike’s Book Reviews said it was just “good” not 5/5 and also not like Red Rising. I’ll see if I can make space on the schedule for it, but I’m not too hopeful
Loved this book. The ending was so good. The audiobook just as amazing. Vis is a little bit of Gary Stu and too good at everything but he’s interesting which matters. 4.25/5 for me. Honestly, least favorite part, the tiny ass font size!
The book was really good while reading it but once you finished it and look back to see what makes this book good, you find out that this book is nothing special. I only read it because a lot of people who loved red rising recommended this but it's nothing like red rising. I'll still read the next book though.
You guys are way to stingy with your reviews... In my world there's at least a couple of books in every genre That deserve a five-star rating..... This was my favorite fantasy book released in 2023 and it's not particularly close. Not sure how you can dock this book a half star.... This book is insanely good... Like the way of king's good... It needs to be five stars... It's not fair to over nitpick it like that. Sure Sanderson is better at creative world building like place... Setting.... But Islington has his own strengths... 5 out of five stars. I'm not a fan of breaking down reviews into different categories and adding up the numbers afterwards.... You have to judge the entire thing based on how good the book was out of five stars... Books get five-star ratings for different reasons. It's not just a some of its parts
Our overall rating is separate from the categories and not a sum of the other scores, we just use those categories to talk about different aspects - I (austin) loved the book, it looks like you mightve loved it more which is ok!
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
what i loved about the will of the many was how there was finally a clever protagonist. someone who takes all things into consideration and when smth is too dangerous, instead of being like "i'm the main character, nothing's gonna happen to me so i'm just gonna go do this thing and succeed," he just leaves because it's not worth the risk and comes back better prepared. i was also pleasantly surprised by how certain characters were portrayed (A BIT OF A SPOILER) - like veridius who is described as the principal at the academy and so you probably imagine him as this middle-aged/old dude who holds lots of power and will be a nuisance (at least i did) but instead you get this young charismatic guy who gets on well with the students and has you questioning whether he's actually as bad as you were told.
also the setting being inspired by ancient rome is just a great bonus to it all.
I loved how Vis gave zero fucks in the chess-like game against that one girl and the duel where he busted the guy for cheating. Eidhin also subverted expectations when you thought he was gonna be the Neville long bottom bully of the story but ends but befriending Vis, I loved their friendship
You can’t tell that best moment in this book was not when Belli offered Vis the chance to remove a piece from the board to make it easier for him but he ends up removing one of his own pieces. Like bro… what a guy. Seems like something Darrow would do and I love it.
The chess match was one of my fav scenes. Badass and cathartic. Chapter 20 is the highlight of the book for me though, what a chapter
I started to reread right away and the opening chapter he is playing a game of whatever this game is called with the other prison guard. I had totally forgotten.
i like seeing Austin excited, it’s been a while
This book is a masterpiece, I still haven’t stopped recommending it to anyone who will listen
This book was fantastic. Even my wife liked it and she usually sticks to Sarah J. Maas type books. Part 3 was god tier level stuff when Vis goes back "home."
Great scenes all around
It’s been MONTHS since I read it. Yet hearing you guys talk about specific scenes brought me right back to the feels I had reading it as though I’d just read it yesterday.
This book was insane in the best way possible.
👊👊
20:45 absolutely my fav scene. Chapter XLV, I read the last few pages multiple times, total badass scene. And he didn't say he is moving to next class to the shitty professor, he just said "It seems you need to check the equpment again" He didnt need to say he won or is moving to next class, everyone just silently knew and accepted that.
100%
Been waiting for this one!!
I also read The Licanius Trilogy years back and thought it was really underrated. But by the first chapter alone I have never seen such a dramatic improvement in a writers ability to prose, dialogue, style, etc. such a great book!
So glad you guys finally reviewed this one! I can't wait for the second book 🙂
SPOILERS:
Quick note about characters: Islington’s dialogue is sparingly used. But when he does use it it’s very well done. The scene where Vis and Eidhin are making fun of the teacher had me laughing out loud, and did more to develop their friendship than any of the other descriptions.
My opinion with the Gary Stu thing is that the book is told in first person, so of course Vis is going to get out of any issues that arise. The question is how. The fact is that Vis is not actually better than everyone at everything. There are characters who are more intelligent, or at least better educated (Indol, Emissa). And Belli is better at him in running the maze and about equal to him at the chess game. He’s not particularly good at getting people to like him (as established in class 7, 6, and 5) because political maneuvering is not something he enjoys even though he’s trained at it. He only starts being successful at it in the upper classes when the classmates themselves are also prioritizing politicking.
The thing that he consistently does is not overextend his hand. No one had seen him play chess, so no one knew he was good at it. But we as an audience know he’s good because it was literally on the first page. And the fact that he speaks Eidhin’s language is not surprising because it’s established from chapter one that his family prioritized knowing languages so that you could read ancient texts without Hierarchy biases.
All of that said I do wish that they used the side characters’ expertise more to solve the issues. I’m hoping that becomes more prevalent in the second book when he is (I assume) going to have to do more politics maneuvering.
Rich and I both agree he leans more gary stuff but definitely not using that term in a negative way, at least for me, because it didnt detract. I like your point tho!
35:32 - Haven’t finished the video and maybe I’m the one misremembering, but I swear that they mentioned Vis’ skill at Swordplay & Foundation significantly earlier in the book and not just at the moment he needed to be good at it.
I (believe) they did?
They did. We learn about the foundation skill basically right at the state when he's playing against the man he worked with.
And we learn about his sword skill when he's practicing again lanistia
Finished it today, absolutely blown away. All the best aspects of Red Rising and Hunger Games with none of the weaknesses
Its amazing but dont diss my Red rising like that 😂
I've read it one year ago and I still think about it. One of my favorite books
I didn't realize that Islington published another book until I saw a clip of you promoting it on my feed, so thanks for that!. If you want to know how to pronounce the names, on his site he has a whole glossary of location and people names with how he wants them pronounced.
I listened to the audiobook so I haven't seen the glossery, but based on how people are spelling the names here in the comments, it seems like he's using Greek pronunciations. Which I like
Love your videos. Can you guys pls do a top 10 favorite books or something similar. If you talked 2-3 minutes about every book. Woud be a really fun watch.
Maybe we can do an update at the end of each year like other Booktubers do of our top 10!
@@2ToRamble That woud be awesome. The Will of the many went to number 1 of my tbt after watching the spoiler free section. Love from Sweden🇸🇪
Enjoy the content guys!
Richard one complaint is that your worldbuilding criticisms are usually that if the book wasnt a history textbook spelling everything out, then it wasnt world building. Suggestions and implications and mysteries are part of worldbuilding imo. Sometimes i feel that you only rate worldbuilding highly if it comes at the detriment of plot and characters because the book didnt spend all its page real estate in world description
Not sure I have the same critique because I haven't watched enough of their videos. But I really liked the fact that Islington didn't info dump. It treats the reader as intelligent and let's them figure it out over the course of the book. It annoys me when books explain too much or characters have conversations that are too simplistic just for the reader's benefit.
Curious what Richard thinks on this - ill have to bring this up to see if he agrees with the criticism! (Also thanks for watching and not criticising me, austin, fragile ego)
I wish I enjoyed this as much as you guys! I liked it and will definitely continue the series. Love seeing the excitement!
😁
Fairly new to your channel started tuning in a couple weeks ago for your opinions on The First Law trilogy. I really appreciate your opinions and can say this has bumped The Will of The Many up on my TBR. The energy in this video really sells this book is on a different tier. Can’t wait to start thank you both.
🙏
I think this novel is the perfect segway for king killer fans. It shares many of the same tropes with a school setting, climbing the ladder of a hierarchy of sorts. Imo the prose of Name of the wind didn't wow me as it did many others, so I don't think fans will be disappointed with the prose by Islington (which is heavily improved since the licanius trilogy). I think the characters are way more plentiful and interesting than the king killer though, the side characters both in the school, and in other factions have lots of great dynamics with the main character, as well as a whole lot of political intrigue with the overall world.
What I do think both books share is a bit of an "OP" main character, who imo are both a bit of blank slates. But imo Vis in Will of the Many is a little bit more interesting and at least has better dynamics than Kvothe. I actually thought Kvothe was at his most interesting in the recount chapters.
I do think both books have a bit of a "down" segment to them. I really really disliked the dragon hunting section of name of the wind, it took way too long, wasn't really exciting and just went on for too long. I think with Will of the Many, during the climax, there was a long section where Vis is doing another mission to uncover a secret, it gets a bit jumbled there for me and the revelation takes a bit of time to get going. I think with the Will of the Many tho that part has a bigger role in the 2nd book, where as the dragon hunting in Name of the wind was just a bit of time dragging that doesn't necessarily drive the story forward.
The will of the many, the strength of the few, the power of one.
I’ve had this saved in my watch later, and have been listening to this on my runs and hikes since you guys uploaded this.
Aside from the butchering of the names, you guys are spot on!
Funny enough. I’ve adopted your ratting metric and this was mine: a 4.25 😂
Emotional Impact: 4.5
Thought Provoking: 3.5
Characters: 4.5
Plot: 4.25
World Building: 4.75
Prose: 4
Great score!
The will of the many is THE Roman Empire book. Read it twice and loved it more each time
Literally finished the book today! Really enjoyed it, the final scene with Calidous (if you know, you know) really got me shook. So many unanswered questions, glad it shouldn’t be too long a wait for book 2 :)
This entire video just had me wanting to pump my fists in the air because of Austin's unbridled enthusiasm lol. HECK YES, I needed the sequel like yesterday!! And I think it's going to be 4 books, which I am super happy about because the more the better 🤩
Stopped after the spoiler free. I'm currently reading the first Licanus book and you guys have convinced me to try this one out too.
I super duper appreciate that you guys told us it just follows the one character perspective. I wish that sort of info was easier to find about a book, along with whether or not it's dual timeline.
We will make sure to include that info more in our reviews!
Seeing this drop while in the middle of the book made me so happy to know I’ll have something to watch about it after finishing. Islington’s other stuff definitely is moving up on the TBR
🙏
Great vids, boys. Seems like we are all in the same boat on this one: give me a great story and I’ll be flexible on many other issues. Give me a reason to trust an author, and I’ll hang on through even self-perceived lulls or bad points.
I’ve read hundreds of books and have never read any fantasy, I was blessed to have this as my first in the genre. I loved this book! I’m so excited for the next installments and am now looking for others to try!
Welcome to the genre! What a great book to start with - rly glad you loved it
Just for clarification on Gary Stew or Mary Sue. The important part is that they have all these skills out of no where without any training on the page and or screen. They are just magically the best ever at everything.
I loooove this book and so enjoyed hearing you talk about it
Fantastic book - thank you for listening!
I couldn't get into Red Rising, but THIS book??? I was completely obsessed!! Waiting for the sequel has been so painful, but it'll be worth the wait for sure.
Long time subscriber, first time commenter - You guys are what reignited my spark for reading!
Thanks so much for watching our stuff! What a conpliment - glad youre back into reading
Top 3 reads from me that I read last year, along with Empire of the Vampire and Legends & Lattes
Perfect timing! I finished this book last night after starting it on Friday. I went into this book expecting some similarities to Red Rising. Immediately after reaching Ch 1 I knew I was going to love the book. Red Rising-ish plot with Warbreaker-ish magic system? Count me IN. I was glued to the book the entire time. I would have given it a perfect 5/5 but there were was 1 scene/interaction that almost felt forced, and a couple of scenes that felt repetitive. Still enjoyable, but those took me out just a tad. Solid 4.5/5
I remmeber i made comment about this book back in October im so happy that yall made vid on this
So happy about this review, was waiting for this one!
Given how excited Austin is about both this book and Red Rising, and especially given how he's generally OK with the Mary Sue aspects of Vis's personality, I'd be really interested to see how he feels about Name of the Wind.
Finished this book last night. WOW!! It was fantastic!! Having only Vis’s POV was a great idea. With how every single person is out for themselves, or at least it seems this way, you never know what the others are plotting.
Now I don’t know what to read next. I could use some help deciding from the following:
Elantris
Warbreaker
Shadows of Self
The Sunlit Man
The Blade Itself
Heaven Breaker
IT
Any suggestions, and yes I have read the Stormlight Archive including Dawnshard and Edgedancer.
I (Austin) equally love Warbreaker and Will of the Many! I think you’d really enjoy since it seems we’re similar kind of readers
@@2ToRamble sounds like that is my next book then. As I always say, the more Brando Sando, the better! Thanks!
haven’t watched this all yet but interested to hear your guys’ thoughts! personally I wasn’t a huge fan, or at least I wasn’t for the first like 50% of the book lol. I think where it really failed for me was the characters; I didn’t really care for anyone and so much of their progression seemed to happen off page?
I also think it could’ve done with some more editing, but book 2 could be really great based on that ending. I think this was like a 3.5 for me
Fair - seems like youll still give book 2 a shot?
@@2ToRamble yeah i’ll definitely give it a shot! I’d be interested to see where the story goes
I'm the same way with this book. I almost DNF'd it, but pushed through. I thought the world building, magic system, and characters were all dull. I just couldn't find a personal connection with any of them and the whole book felt like it was just about the students running the labryinth over and over again. I loved the beginning where Vis was exploring things and uncovering secrets, but then that vibe just stopped dead in it's tracks. I couldn't stand this book to be blunt lol but that's what makes reading great. We all enjoy different things :)
@@Gooby12337 I almost dnf’d too but kept going because everyone was raving about it 😅 definitely agree with you. especially since characters are so important for me in a story; I’m honestly surprised to see people praise that aspect of the book lol. but you’re right, different strokes for different folks!
Towards the end of it now and REALLLLLLY enjoying it
God I want to reread this book now. I read it during a trying time and I was just obsessed after I passed page 200.
I've been just as excited as Austin about this book lol. I got Red Rising vibes from it in terms of the writing it just felt really good, dying waiting for the next one. (I wrote this comment before Richard mentioned it also being similar to Red Rising glad we got the same vibes from it lol.)
I'm pretty sure James islington mentioned that vis is based on kvothe from name of the wind. It was interesting to hear how your opinion on the 2 characters were similar.
Wow! This is moving up my TBR.
🙏
its amazing, i'm waiting for the next one just as much as i'm waiting for the last red rising book
Went and picked up the book. You guys have me very excited.
Lets gooo!
Loved this book!! Just finished it last week. Second book please❤
Saw your video. Had this book on my TBR. Watched up until the spoiler section. Read the book. Came back and watched the rest of the video. I’m so glad I did cause I loved this book. Kinda annoyed I have to wait until 2025 to get my answers to that cliffhanger of an ending but damn. ‘‘Twas worth it 😅❤
Sorry for making you wait, that’s the biggest negative about this book 😭
I loved the audiobook. I'm really looking forward to book 2
i read this book in january back-to-back and am still insane about it
I'm 2 thirds of the way through the book and Literally look up if you guys had done a review on it yesterday!!! It's soo good so far! Can't wait to finish the book
Great timing!!
@@2ToRamble I'm going to finish the book today and then geek out about it while watching you guys do the same haha
Excellent book! I initially borrowed it from the library, finished it and immediately ordered a copy because I want this book on my shelves and I’m definitely carrying on with it as soon as book 2 is out.
I read The Shadow of What Was Lost yesterday and I really enjoyed it and I’m upset that it’ll take a week for the next book to get to my library for me 😭😂
Also boo Levy (I say with love)
Poor Levy lol
Also if you don’t like name of the wind I’d recommend the first binding. People criticise it for being too like NOTW but I found it veered away. I adore it (and didn’t like NOTW)
The first book of the licanius trilogy is not rough, i think the second one is the roughest. I loved the series but i feel it should have been more books.
Oh, I’ve been waiting for this one
Want to read this but got to do Licanius first :)
Cutting out before spoilers. But nice to see such high regards for this book. I'm looking forward to getting to this. Wow Austin, 4.5☆? It must be golden
Loved it! Hope you give it a try and let us know what you think
1:07:25 is the prose similar to Brandon Sanderson?
Not super similar, mainly the difference of first vs third person narration
The main thing this book taught me was to wait until a series is completed before starting. The wait for the second book is agonizing.
Lol very true
Have yal played the red rising board game?? I just got it, would be cool to play it on stream lol
We havent but do own it!
Best book I read last year, I'm so excited to read it again before the next one comes out!
Spoilery part of the comment:
I absolutely love stories where a character has a secret that could be the end of them if someone found out so they can't really trust anyone. And that is the whole book! And most of the characters! And that secret makes the protagonist the underdog to the whole oppressive system (who doesn't root for the underdog)! I was really at the edge of my seat the whole time reading this book because this whole card house of secrets that is the plot was build so precariously that it could crumble at any moment and I wanted to know how the characters would make sure it didn't. As an added bonus I got a lot of really smart characters, which are typically the ones that end up as my favourites.
And I absolutely agree, the plotting that went into this book was insanely good!
I also really like your theories about where the second book will go after that epilogue, they make a lot of sense and would make for an amazing story. If I remember correctly (its been a few months), when I finished the book I got the feeling that maybe one of the alternate Vis' might go down a darker route and have a character change for the worse since he got pushed into these directions a few times already in book one (again, if I remember correctly).
I am really excited to find out where the story will go from here.
Oh yes - the tension of “i cant be found out is awesome - another one of my (austin) favorite books does that 😁
@@2ToRamble ooh, which one? I probably should add it to my tbr list if I haven't read it yet!
@@seeschwalbe golden son :D
@@seeschwalbe Golden Son :D
Yaaaaaas! I loved this book. All hype for me. Definitely Red Rising vibes, but also a better book one since he's a more experienced author than Pierce Brown was when he wrote RR.
Mike from Mike's book review interviewed James, and he asked him the biggest question we all had... It's Islington, like island. 🤣 And I agree Richard, Austin would be super pumped reading Rage of Dragons!
I love how character is the longest portion like it was for the book club.. and mainly about Vis being a Gary Stu xD
Had to do it 😂
Can somebody help me,
Is there any difference in the UK version to the US one? Its the only one available at my area. 😢
It should be the same! Just different covers/marketing is usuallly how it differs
@ thank you so much!
Is it possible to listen to the patreon discussion about this book after you sign up? Was it recorded?
It was and is on our patreon
I literally just finished this last night, and was like "what the fuuuuuuuuuuuu". Can only agree on this book getting me out of my reading slump.
Right???
You had me at "fantasy version of red rising,", I am starting today lol
I haven’t had this serious post-book depression since finishing Mistborn, which Austin NEEDS to read btw
I am as we speak 🤓
The epilogue was where it’s at. The epilogue is why I understand people have this book 5 stars.
Soso good
I’m not the finishing the book until the sequel comes out, so I can just go right into the next one. I hate cliffhangers (I spoiled the ending for myself, but I do that with most books/movies anyways. It doesn’t really bother me personally).
Psychopath behavior…
Part one draggggged for me and then the rest of the book was an easy 5/5. Don’t give up!!!
One of my favorite books last year, and maybe in a long time. My wife and mom also read it and loved it. It seems to reach a large audience. Although - if I had one complaint, the print in the actual physical book is so tiny. What is this, a book for ants?? Come on James.
To be fair, in an interview he says he was surprised by how small the font was too. Apparently it has something to do with the cost of paper going up.
@@Emily-vk8gw didnt know that! Figured it was around hitting a shorter overall page count to sell. But cost makes more sense.
Oh dang we didnt know that!
Never thought I would see Austin cheat on Peirce Brown so hard.
Dont worry, Pierce doesnt have to know
If it weren’t for Lonesome Dove and Pillars of the Earth this would be my favorite book I’ve read this year
Why did you change from rating out of 10 to the 5 stars rating?
We released an episode (#126) explaining in depth the changes to the 5 star scale!
Ok CONVINCED ME TO BUY!
🤝🤝
I’m hoping that in one of those alternate universes that callidus is alive 😭😭😭.. I don’t like that he died without knowing about his best friend being a freaking prince
Is this book anything better and any books in the stormlight series?
Personally (austin here) not better than Stormlight first 3 books. I would say it’s better than Rhythm of War
Have you guys read the prequels:
The Will of the One, and The Will of the Two?
Has Austin read Name of the Wind?
Yes - we reviewed it on the channel, episode #172
I really liked this book too! That end though! Mind blown 🤯
...😎 4.75 for me.
📚🥰📖
🤝
8:21 it’s going to be 4 books in this series not 3
This is right, thank you for the correction!
Last two times he got stoked like this was Red Rising & Stormlight Archive.... and those are both two of the best underdog feel good series I've gotten sucked into. Not that wheel of time 🧀🧀🧀🧀
Exactly 😂
Yes I have been waiting for this one ! I didn't love it as much as some people it was a 4 stars for me but still, great great book !! If you liked some of the thematics here : the survivor of a fallen kingdom, the critic of democracy etc. you should read The Aurelian Cycle ! It's a complete trilogy with great themes and... it has dragons ! It is categorised as YA, and the first half of the first book reads a bit like that but overall it really doesn't take the expected YA tropes and I've seen youtube reviewers who are used to reading only Adult fantasy LOVING this series !
I recommend Aurelian Cycle any chance I can. It’s such a great trilogy.
@@SImba87719 It IS !!!!
Just waiting for yall to start the suneater series.
We reviewed book 1, just havent reviewed book 2 yet
Now this is a review I’ve been waiting for…. Before watching: curious to see how Austin reacts to a better Red Rising book 1. (The rest of RR is obviously goated, but book 1 vs will of the many is just not close)
I thought red rising book 1 was better 😭 or at least it did better at grabbing my attention
It’s close but RR is just one of my favorites!
@@2ToRamble in defense of pierce, his book 1 is like half the length of WotM and James also had an entire trilogy of experience. Plus I’m pretty sure islington credits RR as a source of inspo.
I feel like this does more than book 1 of Red Rising, but isn't executed as well. They are both roughly 4/5 for me, but for different reasons. I'd call TWOTM a 3.75 and RR is a solid 4.
I just read the first three books in Red Rising because everyone kept comparing them and I loved this one so much... and I understand why people are making the comparison because they both have the 17 year old from the "lower class" integrating into an elite school. But when you're comparing book one to book one they weren't really in the same category for me. Part of it happens to take place at a school, but that's not really integral to the story as a whole in The Will of the Many.
This is definitely more of a political intrigue book. And despite the fact that magic system is not well described it's very clear that the magic system makes the economics of the world go round. Which makes the morality questions of technological advances vs subjugation of the populus all the more interesting. Exploring the politics and letting the world build naturally in a way that wasn't just info dumping were my favorite parts.
Red Rising, especially book one, doesn't have that level of intricacy. And since everyone was comparing them I went into it expecting political intrigue and so it was a let down for me. Maybe books 4-6 have more of it but even if they do it took 3 books to get there. This one did all of it in book one, and book 2 is set up to expand passed what we've already seen.
Good morning
Morning!
I tried reading Rage of Dragons, but couldn’t get into it.
Everybodys highly reccomending this book...but... i hated Lycanius. Pretty scared to read another one by him
I wasn't a big fan of Licanius either - to be honest, I don't even remember much of it. But I really liked The Will of the Many, I think it's a big step up. I'd give it a try!
I haven't read this one yet, but just realize that Licanious was first released 10 years ago and was his debut...so a couple of good reasons to give him a second chance at this point...especially since everyone seems to love it. : )
Austin Please read Rage of Dragons!!!!!
I didn’t care for the first book of the Licanius trilogy, so that put me off from reading this one. Now that I’ve got time I’ll have to check it out.
Look, I thought this book was fine. But it really shouldn't be compared to Red Rising. Red Rising series is next level.
Bro I literally thought I was the only one who didn’t fall in love with this book! Glad to see a new member of the club
Just finished the book and I didn't love it. It felt like with every character and scenario their only purpose was to progress the plot. I also found Vis super unlikeable with how mary sue he was.
Ahh fair enough, what are books more up your alley? Anything similar to Will of the Many?
@@2ToRamble I loved the Red Rising series which I'd say mirrors Will of the Many in a lot of ways. Best thing I've read this year was probably Artificial Wisdom. Also really enjoying The First Law series of books. I'm currently on Red Country.
Goats 🐐
These names are not the same as the one from the audio book lol
The one I’ve waited for
I haven’t read it (so I’m obviously not going to watch past the spoiler-free part) but I’m not convinced. Mike’s Book Reviews said it was just “good” not 5/5 and also not like Red Rising. I’ll see if I can make space on the schedule for it, but I’m not too hopeful
Let us know if you ever get to it!
You should read one piece!
Loved this book. The ending was so good. The audiobook just as amazing. Vis is a little bit of Gary Stu and too good at everything but he’s interesting which matters. 4.25/5 for me. Honestly, least favorite part, the tiny ass font size!
The book was really good while reading it but once you finished it and look back to see what makes this book good, you find out that this book is nothing special. I only read it because a lot of people who loved red rising recommended this but it's nothing like red rising. I'll still read the next book though.
Glad youll still read on!
You guys are way to stingy with your reviews... In my world there's at least a couple of books in every genre That deserve a five-star rating..... This was my favorite fantasy book released in 2023 and it's not particularly close.
Not sure how you can dock this book a half star.... This book is insanely good... Like the way of king's good... It needs to be five stars... It's not fair to over nitpick it like that. Sure Sanderson is better at creative world building like place... Setting.... But Islington has his own strengths... 5 out of five stars. I'm not a fan of breaking down reviews into different categories and adding up the numbers afterwards.... You have to judge the entire thing based on how good the book was out of five stars... Books get five-star ratings for different reasons. It's not just a some of its parts
Our overall rating is separate from the categories and not a sum of the other scores, we just use those categories to talk about different aspects - I (austin) loved the book, it looks like you mightve loved it more which is ok!