The Hierarchy Books in Order

The Hierarchy is an epic fantasy series set in the Catenan Republic, a powerful state built around a simple and unsettling idea: people can surrender their Will to those above them. Will is not just a symbol of loyalty. It is a person's strength, focus, and drive, and the system lets the powerful gather more of it as they climb. That arrangement shapes nearly every part of life, from social rank to education and military power.

The main character is Vis Telimus, a young man living under an assumed identity. He enters the Catenan Academy, the Republic's elite school, and tells the people around him exactly what they expect to hear. But Vis has not come to fit in. He has a murder to investigate, secrets to uncover, and his own reasons for resisting the empire that destroyed his family.

He has to win without letting anyone know who he really is.

Much of the first book, The Will of the Many, takes place inside the Academy. That gives the series an intense school setting, but this is not a quiet campus story. Vis faces harsh tests, rival students, uneasy friendships, and teachers or officials whose goals are not always clear. Advancement brings status, but it also makes him more visible, which is the last thing a fugitive needs.

Outside the school, the Republic is full of old tensions. Its political structure depends on obedience and extraction, while its history holds gaps that powerful people would rather leave untouched. Vis's investigation gradually points toward ancient ruins, hidden technology, and questions about the Cataclysm that reshaped the world long before his time.

The second book, The Strength of the Few, follows the consequences of those discoveries. Vis is forced to deal with secrets that reach across alternate versions of reality, while still trying to stay alive, make alliances, and understand what role he may have in preventing another disaster. The scope broadens, but the pressure stays personal: Vis has to decide whom he can trust when every choice could be used against him.

Expect fast-moving action, academy rivalries, political maneuvering, and mysteries that open into a much larger story. Start with The Will of the Many. It introduces the rules of Will, the Catenan Republic, and the careful, stubborn protagonist at the center of the series.