Book Review: The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy, #2) by James Islington
ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art by Jaime Jones
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Hierarchy (Book #2)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fantasy
Pages: 736 pages (Hardcover edition)
Word Count: 240,000 words
Published: 11th Novermber 2025 by Saga Press
We’re not at the end of 2025 yet, but I believe The Strength of the Few by James Islington has secured the best fantasy book of the year award. This is the finest sequel I’ve read since Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson and The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu.
“The power to protect is the highest responsibility.”
I am fortunate that a fantasy author as good as James Islington is still distributing the strength of his storytelling to the pages for us to read. I’ve been a fan of Islington since The Licanius Trilogy, and when I finished reading The Will of the Many in March 2023, I had a gut feeling The Hierarchy series will top over his first series in overall quality. This prediction has become a reality. Since the release of The Will of the Many, the popularity and critical acclaim of the novel have escalated gradually, and there is no sign of it stopping anytime soon. Everything is well-deserved. Once The Strength of the Few is officially published, that fame and success would be unstoppable.
“Words sound the same coming from the honest and the deceiving, the informed and the deceived. They matter—never think otherwise—but most of the time, people need to be shown a truth before they will truly believe it.”
It has been ten months since I had a new 5-stars rating for a new fantasy book I read. I am pleased to say, the curse has been broken. The Strength of the Few is utterly brilliant and ambitious in every possible way. Before you continue reading this review, if you haven’t read The Will of the Many, make sure to fix that negligence first. Trust me. Just do it. Epic fantasy readers should count themselves blessed to read a magnum opus as incredible as The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few in their lifetime. If you still need some convincing, you can continue reading. This review is entirely spoiler-free. I have selected my words carefully to ensure those who have or haven’t read The Will of the Many will be able to read this review without getting spoiled. At least, I hope so.
“You have to make them believe, my dear boy, whenever they see you step out onto that stage. Because it is faith that makes us cheer, and a triumph forgotten is no different to defeat.”
Due to the nature of the novel as a sequel, I have refrained from most character names to avoid spoilers. Besides Vis, the two new POV characters—I will use their alias in this review—and world-building elements, no other names from the books will be mentioned here. I can, however, start this review by telling you that The Strength of the Few continues immediately from where the previous book left off. Yes, after those mindblowing epilogue chapters. As I said in my brief first impression, the first six chapters of The Strength of the Few have already topped every single epic fantasy book I read this year. Groundbreaking revelations and questions were consecutively delivered to the readers from the beginning to the end. And the heavy repercussions of the end of The Will of the Many laid the groundwork for the entire narrative in this sequel. This is a book that dives deeply into the themes of adulthood, grief, choices, justice, freedom, ambition, revenge, life, and death. There are a lot of things to unravel and explore in this novel, and Islington made the right call—as expected—by conveying the narrative from the perspective of three characters rather than one like The Will of the Many did. All three are told in a first-person present-tense narration. Omne trium perfectum. Everything in three is perfect.
“It is unpleasant, but this is the world you and I live in, now. Men must be bought or compelled, rather than relied upon to do the right thing.”
It goes without saying that Vis’s storyline will most likely be the majority of readers’ favorite. All three POV characters were amazing in their own way, but the continuation of Vis’s story from the first book is special. Seeing his development as a main character was an absorbing reading experience. The friendship he has nurtured with his friends and companions, no matter how few, acts as a strong moral compass when wrath and vengeance cloud his path. There have been many iconic central characters in the fantasy genre. Characters that the fans of the genre will instantly recall whenever they’re asked, “who’s your favorite characters in the fantasy and science fiction genre?” Names like Aragorn, Frodo, Samwise Gamgee, Kaladin Stormblessed, Vin, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Darrow of Lykos, Logen Ninefinger, Sand dan Glokta, Fitz Chivalry, and the list goes on will be uttered. I have no doubt that after readers read The Strength of the Few and the rest of the series, Vis Telimus will earn the same level of fame and prestige. He WILL become one of the most iconic characters in the genre. This isn’t even an opinion. Watch this become the truth in a few years from now.
“A society cannot make a man a monster, Diago. But it can give him the excuse to become one.”
Like it or not, fantasy readers will remember Vis. In The Strength of the Few, he went through brutality and ordeal even worse than what he had faced before in The Will of the Many. The world and society he’s in steadily grow more violent, bloody, and unfair. Seeing Vis navigate the extreme turmoils and carnage in his life was one of the most engaging and immersive reading experiences I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I cannot help but applaud Islington for everything that he achieved with this character in the first two books of the series. It was staggeringly clever. And I am confident many readers will love reading his POV chapters.
“Fear is a lack of control… And I am tired of being afraid. I want to be able to see justice in the world again.”
The high level of cunning in writing and world-building are replicated to the other two POV characters as well. The POV name Siamun and Deaglan are introduced for the first time in The Strength of the Few, but if you have finished The Will of the Many, you will know who they are. The Strength of the Few, in fact, starts with Siamun as the first POV chapter. And Islington did not spend any moment for fillers. Introductions, answers, and questions about Will, Ka, Concurrence, gleaners, the Cataclysms, and many more I cannot mention due to spoilers, arised quickly. Honestly, it was genius.
“Rule a man, and he will do whatever you can imagine. Befriend him, and he will do more.”
This did not come as a surprise for me. I knew this would happen. Many readers who loved The Will of the Many slept on The Licanius Trilogy, but if you have read the series, too, you will know Islington ramped up the complexity, tension, and development of his series with each subsequent sequel. This is what he did and succeded marvelously again in The Strength of the Few. Siamun’s storyline was incredibly fascinating and linked to Vis’s story. While it is a new setting per se, readers will have a blast learning about the darkness and mazes of history and mystery Islington has crafted here. Make sure to prepare some free time before you start reading The Strength of the Few. You’re going to need it. Ante Omnia Amari. Before all else, be armed.
“The oldest argument for doing something wrong is that everyone is doing it. To dismantle what they have built would have required the agreement of every man who had spent his life building it… It would have required them to give up all they have striven their entire lives to gain. And they would have needed to do it, largely, for the benefit of those at whose expense it originally came.”
Finally, we have Deaglan. This is a relatively tricky one. Deaglan, unlike Vis and Siamun, will feel the most disjointed out of the three POV chapters. Vis and Siamun POV chapters have a super-connected storyline and world-building. Deaglan, for the majority of the novel, felt like a spin-off (This is, obviously, not the case) inserted into The Strength of the Few, especially because all of the new characters and terminologies that were introduced in Deaglan’s story. And then the names and world-building are Irish and Celtic-inspired rather than Roman. Islington has always been an architect storyteller, in my view. He plans things ahead. There are good reasons why Deaglan’s story was structured this way. To name one. Without the development laid in the first two acts, the theme of starting over, adulthood, and regret would not have such a powerful impact on Act III of The Strength of the Few. I strongly recommend having trust and patience with the narrative here. Islington will make sure your patience is immensely rewarded. Tuae electiones fis. Your choices are yours.
“Poor luck? No. Poor luck is being the Octavus who sees the truth of the Hierarchy. It is being the farmer, or soldier, or merchant who comprehends the absurd power of those above them, but has no way of convincing them to act. It is being those of us who know these great and terrible dangers are coming and cannot do anything about them. Poor luck? Poor luck is being powerless… Poor luck is being without choice. So many of us are aware of these currents, but are able only to drown in them. Millions upon millions of people have poor luck. But you are not one of them.”
Also, while there were understandable grievances about the cover change of the series, I disagree with the opinion stating that the new cover art doesn’t match the content of the books. One of the arguments given during The Will of the Many new cover reveal was that the new cover art (illustrated by Jaime Jones) made the book look like it’s a science fantasy or science fiction novel rather than a historical fantasy novel. I am so confused by this argument. It IS a science fantasy novel. The cover art should demonstrate that. There’s a pattern in traditional publishing right now to make the cover art of a fantasy novel not look like a fantasy novel. I dislike this. Cover changes aside, I do think the new cover art of The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few matches the content and themes of the books far better than the previous cover art did. And if there was any doubt that the Hierarchy is a science fantasy series, that notion will be cleared by reading the three POV characters’ story in The Strength of the Few. If I were asked to give a comparison to what the series feels like, it felt like I was reading Dark (my favorite sci-fi TV show of all time) in epic science fantasy novel format.
“The Hierarchy is a monster that has to feed to survive. And inevitably, once it has eaten everything else, all that is left to consume is itself.”
Before I end this review, regardless of which POV chapters were your favorite, Islington reserved the greatest of his storytelling for the final Act of the novel: Act III. Act III of The Strength of the Few was a masterclass exhibition of how to end a sequel in such an explosive, emotional, and breathtaking way. The last Act of The Will of the Many was intense and emotional. The Strength of the Few managed to enhance that further. It plunged the characters into a state of absolute chaos and unstoppable torrents of mayhem. It was violent, brutal, devastating, and unputdownable. I read the entirety of Act III in a non-stop four-hour reading sprint. I cannot recall the last time I accomplished something like this with my reading. In two books, it felt like I had read a four-book fantasy series. Islington has achieved and progressed what most fantasy authors require in three or more books to fulfill. His storytelling in the Hierarchy series is fleshed out and superbly tuned with efficiency and effectiveness. Filled with layers upon layers of intricacies and depths, the scenes of a vivid red river of blood and destroyed stones will engrave themselves in the reader’s mind. Mors omnia vincit. Death conquers all. Every word and page of Act III was nothing short of phenomenal. Simple as that.
“People value only one thing now, and it is the same thing they have always valued. What is it they say, again? The needs of the many will always be loud… But in the end, it is only the strength of the few that matters.”
The Will of the Many was the best fantasy book of the year for me in 2023. It was one of the best books I read that year, together with Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio and Light Bringer by Pierce Brown. The Strength of the Few will copy that triumph this year. The Strength of the Few is a magnificent, ambitious, and riveting masterpiece. This is effortlessly the best fantasy book of 2025. With the available two books, it is safe to brand The Hierarchy series as James Islington’s magnum opus. It is a future classic fantasy series in the making. Islington has crafted a truly exceptional tale with this series. We are witnessing a new hallmark for the fantasy genre in motion. I am now feeling sorrowful that I have to wait for the next books in the series. If I am not mistaken, we are only halfway through the series. I did a reread of The Will of the Many before reading The Strength of the Few. When the third book of the Hierarchy is near, I know I will do the same thing again. Until then, I will live with the pain of waiting for the next book, and be grateful I get to read The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few early.
Hail, James Islington.
“DEATH, EIDHIN ONCE INSISTED WHILE EXPLAINING THE ddram cyfraith to what we can see. Without it we would drift, overwhelmed, nothing to orient , is our most important horizon. It matters because we need an end ourselves against. Without it, we would never be able to focus on what is truly important: that which is in front of us. “
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The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
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