4.0
The Strength of the Few
ByPublisher 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.
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.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Strength of the Few Reviews
4.0
“I can’t believe what I just read! Three stories, three separate stories in one book! This was a phenomenal read and a great start for 2026! The last 100 pages killed me, like they do in every fantasy book. But, there wasn’t a slow part to this book. One story ended with my jaw on the floor to then be in a different story with my jaw still on the floor. I cannot wait for book 3!”
“yeah ok. sure. sure sure sure sure. i’m unwell.”
“Islington knows how to write a cliffhanger for sure 🫠. Not thrilled to have to wait a year for the next book. This is exactly why I don't read incomplete series! But, I'll be waiting with bated breath because this story is truly unique, and I felt all the feels, and I have to know how it ends.”
BelievableChange and growLikeableMemorableMinor characters stand outMultilayeredRelatableStrong relationshipsAddictiveClever plottingGripping/excitingSuspensefulTwistyUnpredictableImmersive world-buildingSetting fits the storyVivid descriptionsDescriptiveEasy to readStraightforwardDeathGriefMurderViolence
About James Islington
James Islington is the bestselling author of The Will of the Many (the first novel in the Hierarchy series), as well as the Licanius Trilogy (beginning with The Shadow of What Was Lost). He has sold more than two million books, and his work has been translated into seventeen different languages. He lives on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, with his wife and two children.
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