The Strength of the Few

Vis Telimus has won the Iudicium and lost everything that mattered, and the ancient device beyond the Labyrinth has fractured him across three separate worlds, each version of him living a different life while sharing a consciousness that must make sense of what happened and prevent the coming Cataclysm. James Islington's long-anticipated sequel to The Will of the Many expands the scope of the Hierarchy's mysteries while keeping the emotional core focused on what it costs a person to be split between obligations they cannot reconcile.

Euan Morton's narration gives the novel's complex structure its necessary clarity, distinguishing between the three parallel versions of Vis through subtle tonal shifts that never become confusing. His authority with the series' invented language and political hierarchies is complete, and his handling of the novel's emotional escalation in the later chapters justifies the considerable runtime. At just over thirty-one hours, The Strength of the Few is an ambitious and satisfying second volume.