Will of the Many

I picked this up half price in Waterstones, idly flicked through the first few pages and then I was hooked and finished the whole thing inside a week! The cover is an interesting design, on the surface quite restrained and very different from the rest of the genre which make it stand out on the Fantasy table. The story itself is quite complex but compelling. I like the world building mechanic – we are in a Roman-empire like milieu in which lower orders can “gift” some of their will to their superiors in a triangle hierarchy (hence the name of the series). The mechanism isn’t explained as such, other than reference to a previous fallen civilization. Our hero is an 18 year old, born a prince but disenfranchised by the hierarchy and very much down on his luck. His ongoing adventures are both exciting and cleverly constructed around a host of interlocking obligations and alliances. What started as a simple grudge / revenge story rapidly becomes much more complex and interesting. This is…