Together We Rise

When the Fist Is Stronger Than the Pen

I started it with genuine curiosity. A grimdark fantasy set during a single day of revolution, seven different points of view, an AI-generated soundtrack for each chapter. Richie Billing isn't afraid to experiment, and that deserves recognition.

Together We Rise tells the story of the fall of Pietalos, a fantasy city-state strangled by corruption and exploitation. Through the eyes of a healer, a worker, a drug dealer, an orphan, a soldier, a general, and the revolutionary leader, we follow the hours that transform a workers' protest into a total overthrow of power.

The Good

The book has effective moments. Mal's chapter — the girl who works for drug dealers and spies for the revolution — has genuine emotional power. The orphan moving through the burning streets, too young for all of this but too smart not to understand what's happening, is the book's most successful character. Kishto, the soldier who betrays his corrupt colleagues, also offers a credible redemption arc.

The pacing holds well in the first half: the relay effect between POVs creates urgency, and seeing the revolt from different angles is engaging.

The Problem

In the second half, the repetitiveness of physical confrontations and the predictability of the outcome weigh down the narrative.

Where the book struggles most is in subtlety. The political allegory is so transparent that the fantasy becomes almost decorative. Pietalos could be any 19th-century industrial city; the Dakyra — a malevolent race that infiltrates power — arrive late and feel like a forced addition to justify the fantasy setting and a potential sequel. The author's note, which explicitly connects the story to Trump's election, confirms what the reader suspected: the book is first and foremost a message, then a story.

Not that there's anything wrong with writing politically engaged fiction. But the best examples of the genre — I'm thinking of The Poppy War, of The Fifth Season — work because the story comes before the message. Here, the characters are social archetypes before they're people: the angry worker, the pure orphan, the repentant soldier. You recognize them, but you don't get attached to them.

If you're looking for a short, openly political fantasy with a choral structure that tells a revolution in real time, Together We Rise does its job. Don't expect moral nuances or deep worldbuilding, but expect sincere passion and an author who believes in the power of narrative as a tool for change.

Recommended for readers of r/fantasy looking for "low magic grimdark with social themes." Comparable to A Tale of Two Cities for choral structure, Best Served Cold for grimdark with personal vendetta, and The Poppy War for revolution fantasy with a political agenda.