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

4.5/5 stars. I have seen a great deal of divisiveness about this second entry in the Hierarchy series, and I do not really understand the negative sentiments. It has been a year or so since I read The Will of the Many, which I thought was one of the best books I read last year. It was certainly the biggest surprise for me because it was the first book I had read by Islington. For this new installment, I enjoyed all three of the POVs, although there were times in each of them when I experienced lulls and was looking forward to getting back to the other storyline; however, as a whole, I thought the author did a wonderful job with each point of view and revealed a little more information about the history of the world that was unique to that person’s events so that as the reader, we get a fuller picture of the past and the present than either of the three main characters of the story.

I will be intrigued to see where Islington takes the story in each of the three realms, and with each of our main characters - Res (Vis), Obiteum (Siamun), and Luceum (Deaghlan). I will also be interested to see the outcomes of the final confrontations that we were witnessing as the book ended. I just hope we do not have to wait too long! I read somewhere that Islington was going to expand this series from his planned trilogy to a four-book series. I will also be interested to see how he plans out the events from this point forward. Will we continue to follow the three POVs in both books or will the last book return to the single point of view? Just like with the first book, this story introduced more questions than it gave us answers.

James Islington writes succinct prose that continues to expand this world with imagery and history. His characters are not always as fleshed out as I would like, but he does do a complete deep dive into the MCs throughout this book. We get the internal monologue of the characters as the story is unfolding. I really appreciate the first-person, present tense narrative structure most of the time, and it works particularly well with this story.

I look forward to continuing this series in the future, and I highly recommend everyone try it. The story is unique and has some sci-fi elements, or at least steampunk-type elements, at times. The Romanesque setting is also a pleasant change from typical medieval settings in fantasy. The MC seems a bit over-powered at times, but he is still an intriguing character whom the reader wants to see be successful. I have also enjoyed the political aspects of the story and look forward to seeing that further developed in the coming book(s).

 

Prose 5

Story 4

Characters 4

Entertainment 5

Audiobook 4

Overall 4.5/5 stars.