The Will of the Many

Ancient Roman politics, dark academia, and epic fantasy coalesce in this brilliant and gut-churning masterpiece from Islington (The Light of All That Falls). The 17-year-old orphan Vis Solum conceals his past from an Empire that is built upon the will of others. He desperately clings to his own will in a world where the weak always cede—a world of greed, backward deals, and oppressive pyramids of influence. When he unwittingly catches the eye of a Quintus with dubious motivations, he’s dragged right into the thick of it, where his enemies close in on every side. Vis has to unravel a mystery that is so multilayered that it’s impossible to anticipate what’s coming next, and he can trust no one. Suffocating tension pervades the entirety of Vis’s darkly exhilarating first-person narrative. The threat of exposure constantly hangs over his head, but he is a slippery and defiant hero who chokes on his rage and scrambles for control over his own life, which is repeatedly imperiled by the machinations of his enemies.