New Series, Who Dis?

***Spoilers for Part I: Chapters I-XXIV of The Will of the Many***

Starting a new fantasy series is like visiting a new city. I’m familiar with the foundational elements (that’s a building, here’s our protagonist, yay! there’s a map, and so on), but everything feels a bit foreign (wait, where is the biblioteque?). There are a lot of new names, settings, technologies, and governmental structures flying around, and as a reader, it’s a delicate dance between trying to absorb what’s going on while also moving forward with faith that it will all click into place in time.

(Likewise, I am trying to get my bearings as a blogger here, striving to discuss what’s happening while not recapping every little detail or explaining who each character is. Please bear with me as I get my sea legs on this new adventure. It’s all part of the process, baby.)

So that’s where I find myself, having completed Part I of The Will of the Many. There’s a lot of setup and world-building taking place, but I’ve been impressed with James Islington’s ability to feed us information amid a fast-moving plot. He’s great at introducing concepts and then gradually layering in more details to build our understanding without overwhelming us.

We meet Vis, our hidden-in-plain-sight orphan prince from a conquered land, doing his best to blend in among the enemy. He’s scraping by and biding time until he can get his revenge. I’m immediately in on Vis. Perhaps stepping out of Realm of the Elderlings for this side quest has me preconditioned to root for a young male narrator with the odds stacked against him, but I’ve found him quite likable so far. He’s clearly exceptional without being overpowered.

I was pretty much sold when, upon finding out he is about to fight a higher-station (and thus stronger Will-powered) opponent in the nighttime fight club he participates in to raise funds (revenge ain’t cheap, folks!), his strategy is to strip butt naked. This is the sort of unhinged action I am looking for in my main character: determination and drive; strength and speed; quick thinking and cunning; and a willingness to go to any lengths to get the job done. This is someone I can get behind!

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