The Hexologists, Josiah Bancroft
The Hexologists, Josiah Bancroft
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

The Hexologists

Author: Josiah Bancroft

Narrator: Sarah Slimani

Unabridged: 13 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Orbit

Published: 09/26/2023


Synopsis

The first book in a wildly inventive and mesmerizing new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve them: The Hexologists. “Bancroft is a magician.” — Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe

“Fantastic! The Hexologists fizzes eloquently with wit and elegance, but also has marvelous worldbuilding and an excellent plot - and a central pair of characters who I quite simply love. A cocktail of a book made with the very best champagne.” — Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.
 
But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.
 
Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks.

"Bancroft is a wonder as ever! The Hexologists was a joyous delight on every page— buoyantly inventive, witty, poignant, gripping, and deeply satisfying." — Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe

“Josiah Bancroft’s imagination will astound you. One of the most inventive fantasy authors out there.” — Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga 

“Bancroft has returned to the page in force, deploying his crystal prose and razored wit around a tale that mixes whimsy and threat in equal measure. He's a gift to the genre." — Mark Lawrence, author of The Book That Wouldn't Burn

About Josiah Bancroft

Josiah Bancroft is the author of five novels, a collection of short fiction, and numerous poems. His books have been translated into eight languages. Before settling down to write fantasy full time, he was a college instructor, rock musician and aspiring comic book artist. When he's not writing, he enjoys strumming a variety of stringed instruments, drawing with a growing cache of imperfect pens, and cooking without a recipe. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Sharon, their daughter, Maddie, and their two rabbits, Mabel and Chaplin.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mark on February 05, 2024

Published TODAY! I took a shamefully long time to finish this book, but I'm a criminally slow reader - this is my 4th book THIS YEAR :o Look at my ARC! Bancroft is known for his prose, especially among those who have a deep love for good writing rather than just good stories. He captures the same Di......more

Goodreads review by jessica on July 12, 2023

JBs ‘books of babel’ series is so criminally underrated and i have a feeling this series will fly under most readers radars as well. this book hits the ground running. it starts off immediately with a case for the hexologists to solve and the pacing never really lets up as the couple investigate whi......more

Goodreads review by Allen on May 08, 2023

A really, really delightful read. Bancroft's writing is at his best here, a perfect blend of 10 dollar words and yeoman's prose. Our protagonists--a very happily married couple--are relatable and complex. The mystery is really fun and twisty-turny. I loved exploring the Victorianesque world and the......more

Goodreads review by On the Same Page on September 24, 2023

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Where do I even start. Based on other books I've read that follow a similar structure (a couple solves mysteries together in an SFF setting), I was fairly optimistic going into this. It's my first novel by the author, a......more

Goodreads review by The Speculative Shelf on August 02, 2023

How does Josiah Bancroft fare once he leaves the comfortable confines of the Tower of Babel? Pretty well, in fact! Bancroft leans into the charming voice and delightful prose that brought The Books of Babel to life in order to kickstart this delightful new series. Bancroft effortlessly establishes t......more


Quotes

"Bancroft is a wonder as ever! The Hexologists was a joyous delight on every page--buoyantly inventive, witty, poignant, gripping, and deeply satisfying."—Madeline Miller, New York Times Bestselling author of Circe

“Bancroft has returned to the page in force, deploying his crystal prose and razored wit around a tale that mixes whimsy and threat in equal measure. He's a gift to the genre and we should support his work.”—Mark Lawrence, author of The Book That Wouldn’t Burn

"It's rare to find a modern book that feels like a timeless classic. I'm wildly in love with this book."—Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising on Senlin Ascends

“Josiah Bancroft’s imagination will astound you. One of the most inventive fantasy authors out there.” —Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga

“Fantastic! The Hexologists fizzes eloquently with wit and elegance, but also has marvelous worldbuilding and an excellent plot - and a central pair of characters who I quite simply love. A cocktail of a book made with the very best champagne.”—Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library

"The Hod King is a compelling and original novel; the "Books of Babel" are something you hope to see perhaps once a decade - future classics, which may be remembered long after the series concludes."—Los Angeles Times on The Hod King

"Senlin Ascends is one of the best reads I've had in ages . . . I was dragged in and didn't escape until I'd finished two or three days later."
Mark Lawrence, author of Prince of Thorns on Senlin Ascends

"Deeply compelling . . . A classic in the making."—B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

"Wonderfully unique and superbly well written. I loved every page."—Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld on Senlin Ascends

"Senlin is a man worth rooting for, and his strengthening resolve and character is as marvelous and sprawling as the tower he climbs."—The Washington Post on Senlin Ascends