Hierarchy Archives - Novel Notions

Book Review: The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy, #2) by James Islington

August 13, 2025 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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.”

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Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

January 27, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2023)

Between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023, I read 80 books + 177 manga/manhwa volumes (76.8k pages).

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read this year.

Rereads aren’t included.
One book per series.
The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time this year. Non-2023 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Honorable mentions are for two best novellas and two short stories I read this year. Without further ado, here are the top 15 (or 19) books I’ve read this year! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …

Book Review: The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1) by James Islington

March 27, 2023 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review.

The Will of the Many by James Islington

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Hierarchy (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fantasy

Pages: 640 pages (Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 240,000 words

Published: 23rd May 2023 by Saga Press

This is not an exaggeration. The Will of the Many by James Islington is the best fantasy book with a magical school trope I’ve ever read since The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

“The power to protect is the highest of responsibilities… When a man is given it, his duty is not only to the people he thinks are worthy.”

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