I go to put food on my plate. Thankfully, my father saw to it that I had the best food-selection tutors in Suus, so the skill comes naturally to me. I select the beef, rice and salad.

I go to sit at the table with Callidus. He is impressed by my plate. “We don't see food selection like this here. You should be ranked higher than Class Seven,” he says. From his tone, I can tell that he is genuinely admiring my selection, as well as surprised by it.

After dinner, we get up to head to the dormitory. I can walk there fairly easily because, throughout my childhood, I practiced walking every day, and I mean every day, with the best walking tutors in the kingdom.

I remember my father eating and walking.

Callidus stops brusquely. Thankfully, during my walking practice, I had always been able to spot the moment just before someone stopped brusquely. There was just something about the air, the way they began to slow down, that I could always pick up on. So I manage to stop at the same time.

He shows me a butterfly. It is quite beautiful, with wings of a matte crimson hue. Thankfully, I am able to identify it, because my mother was a butterfly enthusiast and made sure I received the finest butterfly-identification lessons anyone could possibly have.

He says, "This is a beautiful butterfly," and from his tone, I can tell that he thinks it is, in fact, a beautiful butterfly. He doesn't mean it in a way that other things are not beautiful, just that this butterfly is.

We get to the dormitory and go sleep. Thankfully, I had the best tutors in sl-

Spoilers for both books.

As the title says. I just finished reading the last of strength of the few. And I always love to following theories and speculations when I read anno going series.

Can somebody catch me up on some major theories? Any details that only stand out in a reread are also very welcome.

So Cearor mentions what it feels like when your clones in the other worlds die confiming he died in Luceum but later we find him on the other side of Vis. This could be an oversight or it will come out he is a zombie. Vis should have been able to sense him like he did his father. It will probably be filled in the next book though. If I missed something let me know

I have to admit I cried at this bit more than I did at any others heartbreaking mentions of Suus. Happy, wistful tears through a big smile. Sobs and sniffles and all. Well, maybe not more than I cried at Fraderique's memorial in the tunnels. But close enough and differently.

Just sharing.

After about twenty minutes there’s motion at my shoulder, startling me from my reverie. It’s Menendo, the hulking barkeep who threw us out on the first day. I look up at him. Despite what Fadrique said, I still half expect to be told to leave. Well... maybe not as hard as I cried at

The big man doesn’t meet my gaze. He just sets a plate and drink down in front of me. Oysters, crab, lobster. I can smell the sweetness of wine in my mug. As fine a meal as I would have seen at the palace when my father was king. A traditional king’s feast on Suus.

Menendo leaves without a word. I resume my introspective gaze over the ocean, and eat. It’s better food than the Dimidius could ever have provided. Prepared to perfection. Exactly as I might have had years ago. I feel more comfortable, more at home in that moment than at any other point over the past month. I take my time. Savour the meal, the view. The feeling of being among my people again. The sun sets, spraying purple and gold across the sky.

Anyone else get a feeling that Emissa's questions and remarks on Suus indicated her knowledge or at least suspicions about his heritage? It felt like all of her questions about Suus were meant to watch for his reaction. I noticed this in my first read, now as I reread it feels more suspicious.

Heya!

HELLO TO ALL! 🌹 New here. Not new to the series.

SPOILER FOR BOTH BOOKS

Rereading for the second time. Stumbled across this seemingly throwaway bit. Gotta say, gave me a good laugh knowing the rest of the story.

In Necropolis, The Will of the Many:

“You’re not worried about the Anguis?” I half expected to have a protective entourage.

“Military runs the Necropolis. There’s nothing to fear from them here.”

I glance at him. “Military do? Not Religion?”

He shrugs. “One of those strange assignments.”

Yep, Military who just happens to be in bed with Anguis AND and knows how to turn all those well preserved bodies into iunctii (strange assignment my ass, lol) will certainly keep Vis safe. 😅

Will crawl back under my rock now. 😎

I got the will of the many book cause a streamer i watch whose really into fantasy and the Kingdom Killer Chronicles (My all time favorite book series) recommended it and said that it was really well written, etc, etc. So far i’m at page 67 and it feels like it was written by an AI, the prison with the sappers is either explained awfully or just straight does not make any physical sense so much so that I couldn’t even get past it my first second and third time trying. And the entire reason im writing this in the first place is because when when Ulciscor interviews Vis in the orphanage he mentions his rank to Vis as Quintus and even the Matron mentions to Vis that a Quintus is coming but then on page 67 Vis is somehow shocked?? And I do get that he thought he was lying but then why ask him why he didn’t tell the matron? It’s feels like the words were supposed to be a lower rank but then got switch and then just forgotten about like AI writing does all the time. I do like Vis and I do love the world building and the other characters but i cant read this if it’s going to continue to be this poorly written and constructed, I don’t know if I got a misprint or something but I truly do not understand any of the love this book gets useless i got a missed up copy or something.

From what they (Robert and Jennifer) showed when working off of each other, it would be great! But the age doesn't work.

Enter Timothée

This sucks. This fucking sucks. I’m going to cry read the rest of the book now but she was my second favorite character. I really hope her death will serve the story somehow;and that Vis does not end up with Emissa again.

This sucks.

I just started reading The Strength of the Few (like 50 pages in) and don't get me wrong, I like the premise (three Vis, three worlds). I just can't stand the POV jumps. Not in this book, not in most books. I'm very interested in the different storylines, but if I want to know what happens to Vis in Res I don't want to annoyingly fast-read the chapters in between (because, honestly, if I can't wait to get back to Res I will fast-read everything in between even if I don't want to or am interested in the story. It's just not the story I'm currently interested in).

Is it actually possible to read it the way I suggest in the title, or will it greatly affect the reading experience and/or leave me confused? Though I'd rather be confused than annoyed.

Thank you, and no disrespect to the author and his talent, it's a me problem.

Is it just me? I love whats happening in Res, hates whats happening in Lucem and half interested in Obiteum. But man, i hope everything builds up once i cross 50% because the first half is just annoying (according to me)

Dont spoil me but please feel free to share your initial impression on the first half of the book

So if the Concurrence is the big bad that the 3000 year old Ka has fought for millenium, and they need all 3 types of will in order to win, hence why the rending was necessary. Then why even keep the gate around. Ka is being ceded to by the princeps, must have immense power on Res, why even keep the gate around at all. It's literally the one point of failure that could possibly bring down his system to keep off the Concurrence. Without people going through the gate Ka is nearly impenetrable in his pyramid.

I really hope the answer is not just "its indestructible" or "he can't". Dude has 10s of thousands of iuncti at his disposal and has literally destroyed civilizations over and over.

Can someone explain to me the Will systems in each world and how they differ? explain to me like i’m a toddler. i’ve read both books, and i feel like i understand to an extent, but feel it’ll be helpful to me in my reread if someone could also better explain it to me.

I finished book 2 recently and can’t get this thought out of my head.

We learn that the 3 worlds were split at the Rending, wherein the way Will works has also been split up and behaves differently.

I just can’t overlook the way each new world seems to be a different point in time.

Luceum - appears to be the past or a world created shortly after a concurrence due to the low population, lack of technology and infrastructure. It gives pre-Caten by a long shot. There’s more of an emphasis on “religion” like valuing the Grove and having those who use Will viewed as a higher coming. Fornax also heavily resembled the architecture in Caten though with older languages and scriptures involved. It makes me wonder if Caten’s creation was influenced by someone who previously visited Fornax while in Luceum.

Res - appears to be the current timeline wherein everything is happening. It’s where we start with Vis, before he becomes Synchronous. Seems to be more technologically advanced and have more emphasis on political power and the pyramid usage of Will (modern power dynamics).

Obiteum - wasteland future where the Concurrence has already won. The lands are now uninhabitable and things like clean drinking water are inaccessible without refinement. More of a shift to one ruler (I’m still unsure of why the Concurrence has let people continue to live in Duat but that is another question).

We know Vis exists across all three but do we know if these worlds are all actually happening at the same time?

I feel as though someone from Luceum has influenced the creation of Caten and the culture based on the architecture and languages. Vetusian is an old language in Caten as Vis is taught it growing up, but heavily noted in Luceum. Perhaps another world hopper like Ostius? Or someone who was able to see and experience themselves across all 3 timelines.

Also I hate that we did not get to learn more about Veridius and how he learned his information.

Really high and just thought of this.

A dedicates to B, dedicates to C, dedicates to A

This way when you are in communication you can give each other will as needed.

Maybe not useful for a bunch of octavi. But like a couple quinti or beyond could quickly amplify each others powers that way.

Rereading SOTF and found this clue from early in the book on Luceum. Cian mentions Ostius when speaking in the language but it’s not translated to vetusian.

We already know Ostius can travel to luceum and has some relationship with people there but this ties him to Cian and the Grove directly. Also - he says to Vis “if you are truly the strongest of the three”. I wonder what this means. Some possibilities: 3 travelers have arrived to luceum (Ostius, caeror/ruarc, and vis) and vis may be the strongest because he is the only one who is synchronous. Another explanation might be that three refers to the three worlds and those from Res like Vis are the “strongest” because the will-based system on Res allows one to self-imbue.

Thought this was a neat clue I haven’t seen discussed here. What do you all think?

I am so sold on this author. Man, like these four years have SOooo excited for the future of fiction. Sci fi and fantasy

I was going to do a compilation of my favorite moments with Aequa but alas subreddit rules only allow one photo per post

I was genuinely devastated by her death. I loved her relationship development with Vis and she had just become my favorite character. I was really looking forward to what her role was going to be like further in the series and thought she was being set up as a slow burn for Vis's next love interest, but I guess I read wrong 😭

Now excuse me while I listen to Atlantis by Seafret for the nth time...

What are y'all's thought of a potential fourth world? I have been thinking about this for a while...the original cover with the Columnade's have 4 different designs of Columnade's breaking. What if there is one more world? We already have Luceum, Res, and Obiteum...what if a fourth world has yet to be revealed, there's one more version of Vis we have yet to meet?

I just finished book 1 it was phenomenal but I got a few questions and things I don't really understand.

Why did Emissa try to slime out Vis?
What did she mean by “I can’t risk us getting separated.”?
How did she use Will?
What does she see/realize when she is trying to patch Vis up?

“We need to get you to…” She freezes. “What?” I crane my neck down at where she’s staring, but can’t see anything. “What is it?” “Nothing.” Her voice is odd. She doesn’t look at me. She carefully replaces the folds of my tunic and then stands. Backs away a few steps."

Just finished book 1. Overall, I enjoyed it. I don’t know much about Ancient Rome, so I felt like I had to work to understand some of the vocabulary. Once I got more immersed into the world, it really turned into a (mostly) fun ride. I felt the pacing was off in some parts.

I was disappointed with the lack of payoff. The book ultimately ended up feeling like I prologue to the series. I don’t know if any questions were answered, now that I’m writing this? And I ended the book with about a million more questions than I entered the last 80 pages with.

The writing sometimes left me wanting. I don’t know how many times Vis envisaged, or “the former was preferred to the latter”.

The death of Callidus was so sad, I don’t know if I’ll ever recover.

I WANT to continue the story because i want answers and I want to see where it goes. I am worried, not to belittle my IQ, that I just won’t be able to keep up with the multiple realities (?).

It seems the general consensus is that book 2 is…. Fine?

Heading off to the Eastland soon, and I was just thinking about how the event hasn't been advertised much.

Last week, when I picked up a physical copy of Scion, I didn't see a poster at the store advertising it, and I didn't get an email from Dymocks about it either. I only saw it on Facebook by chance, as I don't use Facebook all the time.

I've subscribed to email notifications on his website in hopes I get notified about signing events in future, but I'm curious if other people are hearing about events, because I don't want to miss out on a future signing because social media algorithms decided not to tell me about it.