Going in, I was expecting to like this but I don’t think I realized how much and how well it would hit themes that I generally tend to enjoy in fiction. Layers upon layers of intrigue and deceptions? A competitive academic setting? A detailed and intricately thought out magic/power system that is very logic based but doesn’t expect me to do the math behind it to get the gist?
In some ways, the easiest comparison might be Red Rising but that’s also lazy and only captures a part of the layers occurring here – it’s more that if you like Red Rising, you have to pick this up. Vis, an orphan working at a prison and making extra money by fighting, is recruited by a powerful senator to attend the school that trains the future leaders of their society and discover the secrets that the school is hiding.
This is a very hierarchical society (which is why those outside it have tended to refer to it as the Hierarchy) so upward movement is strictly controlled; people are structured into pyramid group with each layer of ranking having fewer people and receiving power or Will from those below while giving it to those above them (there’s a table at the beginning of the book for those that are very interested in the math). Beyond the pyramids, those in power are either part of Military, Religion or Governance. As a conquering society, Military has long held a large amount of sway but with no neighbors left to conquer, there could be shifts coming in the political power.
Vis goes along and lets himself be adopted because he knows he has been living on borrowed time, and succeeding at the academy could help him. Little does his recruiter and new “father” know that Vis has his own secrets about his past. Additionally, there is one rebel group active in the Hierarchy – while Vis declines their recruitment efforts, questioning their violent methods and the actual intended outcomes of their rebellion, they also have blackmail material on him so he is not entirely free of their manipulations.
And in the middle of all this is the school and the mysterious ruins that Vis needs to investigate – is it a weapon that will help Religion gain the upper hand over Military? While at the school, Vis makes friends with the outcasts, ignoring the ever important rankings and structure that drive even the school.
While Islington ends up packing quite a lot into this one, it was also a complete page turner and he kept the various plot-lines easy to follow and organized. I can’t wait till November when the next one comes out! I wasn’t expecting where it ended up at all but it’s going to broaden the world even more, and it will be fascinating to see where this series goes.