The Hexologists is Josiah Bancroft's first venture into a new series after completing his tremendously thrilling steampunk-fantasy series that is The Books of Babel. I'll jump into it here and say it is no surprise that I found myself enthralled in Bancroft's fifth novel. 

Bancroft's prose and narrative flow have yet to disappoint me. He paints a picture as well as anyone in the craft. Excellence. 

Iz and Warren take center stage in this quirky mystery. There are a multitude of supporting characters that round out the world of The Hexologists rather well. The motivations, humor, and nuance to each character were splendidly put to page here. 

Narratively, Bancroft kept me guessing for quite some time. Even when I may have had a correct hunch early in the story, he would misdirect my assumptions until he wanted each clue revealed. The cheeky moments paired well with the serious subject matter and thematic tones.

The world building in this story is where I run into a bit of a conundrum. I think it's perfectly well and good, but I've seen the heights Bancroft can reach with his prior books and definitely don't think the same level was achieved here. That being said, I understand this is more character and mystery oriented compared to The Books of Babel. Perhaps I'm selfish for wanting it all. 

All in all, this was a strong start to a new series that I look forward to reading for years to come. Bancroft is a must read for me and I have nothing but praise for him as a wordsmith and storyteller. 

Pick up The Hexologists if you haven't already.

Thanks to Netgalley again for this arc (despite my late review).

Another excellent new series come to me from Orbit. I have to admit they are my absolute favorite publisher right now.

This series is very imaginative and interesting. The mystery at the heart of the book is intriguing and the characters are excellent. But it’s funny the thing I came away with most after reading this book was the relationship between the hexologists themselves. I absolutely adored Wilby. He is such a wonderful person and the love he has for his wife is so sweet and he supports her and her magical talents. So many times a story will pull me in, but if the characters and their relationships are not strong then there is nothing to keep me. This book is an example of good characterization. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series.

Today I am excited to present one of the best romances I have read in a while that is out here masquerading as a fantasy mystery thriller. The Hexologists is the first book in the latest series by Josiah Bancroft, of Tower of Babel fame. It stars a duo of mature protagonists, husband and wife, who work as hexologists solving paranormal magical crimes around where they live. Though this story has a ton of mystery elements and a world chock full of amazing sights to see, the real shining star is the wonderful relationship Isolde and Warren Wilby share.

Isolde (Iz) Wilby is a world-renowned hexologist. The daughter of a famous explorer and a brilliant librarian, she is a master of one of the four magical schools—hexology. Though it is considered the weakest school by some, it calls to artists like Iz. Plus, as wizards and necromancers have been hunted to extinction, and alchemists seem to all be capitalist robber barons, it definitely is the most appealing magic to me. Iz lives a relatively quiet life with her adoring bear of a husband Warren, occasionally venturing out as a Sherlock/Watson-esque duo to solve mysteries people bring them. But, when a representative of the crown shows up at their doorstep and asks them to look into why the king keeps trying to bake himself into a cake, the Wilbys find themselves reluctantly drawn into the affairs of the court and must navigate the baggage that comes with it.

Where to start with The Hexologists? Bancroft rose to fame off of his initially self-published Tower of Babel, which unsurprisingly meant that a portion of his debut quartet felt a bit unpolished. The Hexologists in many ways feels like the result of his enormous growth as an author and access to editors from page one. The polish on this story is enormous compared to his previous work and the entire thing tics like an elegant clock. Yet, none of this polish has come at the cost of what makes Bancroft’s writing so compelling and imaginative. This book is still filled to the brim with whimsy and creativity; each page feels stuffed full of wonder. Though the book is only about 300 pages long, it has the heft of a much larger story because there is nothing but meat on its bones.

Throughout the story, the Wilbys encounter a truly staggering number of strange, bewildering, and terrifying obstacles. And for each, using their ingenuity and a magical bag of tools, they are able to step over every single one. Though the magic system is very soft and hand-wavey, it never feels haphazard. There is incredible foreshadowing throughout the book and every single item Bancroft introduces feels like a stitch in a larger wonderful tapestry. Unconstrained by rules, The Hexologists is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Every 10-page chapter has a new weird creature, magical item, or strange world feature to uncover and the vibe perfectly fits the themes of magical detective work that make up the backbone of the story. But, for all its success in the ways I traditionally assess a book, it is hard to put a number on how much I love the romantic relationship between this couple.

Iz is a quiet, cold, introspective, brilliant scientist who is obsessed with the mysteries of the world and the cogs that turn reality. She is a prodigy of several fields who bends the universe to her whims and always feels like the leader in control of every room she walks into. Warren is a burly, affable, trusting, warm, extrovert who makes fast friends with every single person he meets. Multiple times in this story Warren extricates himself from dangerous situations by just becoming genuine friends with his antagonists, the fantasy of those of us who hate conflict. Separate, these two individuals are titanic characters who won over my heart immediately. Together, they are a power couple that I have rarely read the likes of in the genre. It is simply a good time to be around them and watch them interact. Everything they do makes me just smile at my wife and want to go buy her flowers. It is so, so, nice to have an established couple in fantasy who love one another. And when your protagonists are a joy to be around it becomes incredibly hard to not be invested in the story always.

Every page of The Hexologists is bursting with fun, novelty, and romance. It is a book that is just a joy to read from the moment you start it til the second you close the back cover. It makes a great triumph in Bancroft as a writer as well as a reminder that he got popular for a reason. Absolutely highly recommend this book, I can’t wait for the sequel.

Rating: The Hexologists – 10/10
-Andrew

A rating note, I fully well know that normally a 3.5 would round up to a 4 star for me, but I honestly almost DNF'd this book every time I picked it up because I was not a fan of the writing style. I cannot give a book 4 stars when I know it was almost a DNF.

It was the characters and the plot that carried this book for me. I am not a fan of the overly verbose historical type writing. I end up spending so much time trying to figure out the intricacies of what's being said that I actually miss the plot so there were a lot of things about the worldbuilding that I missed but I loved what I did get. I mean, there's a dragon in her handbag for God's sake. What's not to love?

I know this is going to run as a series but I think this will be the only installment for me. I looooved the Wilby's, they were one of my all-time favorite couples in literature, but the writing. She's not for me.

I just finished "The Hexologists" by Josiah Bancroft, and wow, it's a new favorite! This book blends magic, humor, and mystery in the most delightful way. Following Iz and Warren Wilby, magical detectives and a wonderfully in-love married couple, was a joy. Their witty banter and deep affection for each other added so much heart to the story.

The best part? A dragon that loves food as much as I do! Bancroft's world is filled with intriguing mysteries, but it's the characters that truly make this book shine. The ending wrapped things up nicely but still left me eager for more. If you love a good fantasy with a mix of laughter, love, and a little bit of dragon, "The Hexologists" is perfect.

A fun read - I'd recommend for fans of the Veronica Speedwell series who also fantasy readers. I am and I had a great time with this one! There's a lot of deft world building, and the author has given themselves plenty of room to move around in. There are at least 3 to 5 different story threads that I would love to read more of, except the one with Iz's missing father - the "we think he's dead, but maybe he's not?" plot is a little overdone to my mind. Perhaps the hexes are a little convenient as a story tool, but we've got three (at least) magic systems going on here so a little deus ex hex can be forgiven. A recommend for sure!

The Hexologists is the story of Isolde and Warren Wilby. They are paranormal investigators in a world where magic exists in several forms, some of which are rarer than others, and some of which have more or less gone extinct. They are tasked by the Royal Family to investigate some claims that the King miiiiiiight have a bastard out there, which could really complicate things when it comes to succession.

I really enjoyed this novel. I thought it was really well written and it was really hard to put down. It wasn't hard to imagine myself in the setting, watching things unfold. I enjoyed the way that the story unfolded and the mystery came to light. It's honestly probably a pretty sure bet that I'm going to enjoy anything that Josiah Bancroft writes. I just really dig this sort of old-timey steampunky era with magic vibe this piece sets forth. I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series quite a lot!

This was so incredibly bizarre but in the best way possible. I absolutely loved the character development and depth and found the characters to be quite relatable. I also really enjoyed reading the character interactions. Definitely a favorite of 2023.

The initial premise of the Wilbies, who are all for helping the everyday person, reluctantly helping out the Royals investigate nefarious plans, was what caught my eye but Bancroft under-delivered. I thoroughly enjoy world building but Bancroft went overboard waxing lyrical in his descriptions that I found myself skipping pages. When we finally get to the action, which ultimately was easy to figure out in the end, we were already in the last quarter of the book. I enjoyed his quirky MCs but they still fell a little flat - I could have used more of their backstory but that could be what comes up in the next books.

This is my first Bancroft book and I really really wanted to like this book since people speak so highly of his Books of Babel series. I’m not sure I’ll continue with The Hexologists series but will still give the Babel one a try.

This book was everything I didn't know I needed. It's one part Sherlock Holmes, one part Fantastic Beasts, one part Dickens, and 100% delightful. Married detectives Isolde "Iz" and Warren "War" Wilby solve crimes both big and small using magic -- hexegy, to be precise, something a little like the glyph magic of The Owl House. When the king's royal secretary comes to their door with a mystery of a man claiming to be the king's son and the king going mad as a result, Iz and War are reluctant to take the case, but quickly find themselves embroiled in a deadly search for the truth.

I am not as much a mystery fan as I am a fantasy fan, but the mystery was full of twists, turns, and tons of action, which I really enjoyed. But the standout for me was Bancroft's worldbuilding and his command of language. Both are exquisite! He masterfully evokes a faux-industrial revolution world, complete with magical factories that generate energy from a hell-like dimension and gravediggers that guard against the (literal) specters of the past. Toss in an inventive variety of magical creatures, sorcerers, magical battles, and more, and I was hooked from the first page. The fact that the language literally feels straight out of a Dickens or an Oscar Wilde, including all the subtle wit, had me going "I'm sold."

The other standout is the chemistry between Iz and War. It's electric and delightful, and I love the way that they remain such a devoted married pair the whole time, which is refreshing! It felt very cozy. This was honestly the perfect October read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Orbit Books, and Josiah Bancroft for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review! I eagerly anticipate the next installment!

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review!

Iz and Warren Willby are the foundation characters for what is sure to be a series of daffy whodunnits begun by this first installment, The Hexologists.

At times this rather zany adventure feels akin to a cozy mystery with fan service-y touches (Who DOESN’T want a magical bag that holds anything and everything you collect in your magical travels, even if it does house a somewhat murderous dragon who you must appease lest he consume you?) and at other times it meanders so that you’re unsure what mystery this married couple is actually supposed to be solving. There are moments of chilling “oh, there’s something bigger at play here” (a flock of birds talking as one?!) that will set up future installments in this mystery series.

At times, I found myself reluctant to pick up this book, and I’m not sure that I can pinpoint why. The couple’s connection is often reduced to a pithy double entendre followed by a fade-to-black (this happened four or five times…), and while clever, I didn’t find it overall super endearing or compelling. I’ll be interested in future installments, but felt lukewarm about this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I can honestly say that I have never read anything quite like this book. There were a few elements that reminded me of a cozy fantasy like the dynamic between the husband and wife, the dragon Felivox, and the portalmanteau. But, there was also violence and politics. I thought the author excelled in making a unique story.

The relationship between the Wilby's was refreshing and lovely in that I don't read a lot of books where the couple is established. Most of the books I've been reading lately have included the couple getting together as a central part of the plot. So, I liked getting that aspect of their lives together and just the little domestic tasks like cooking for the dragon and fixing the house up after it gets destroyed. However, the very obvious flip of traditional gender roles felt too overdone and corny.

As for the mystery, I don't think it was memorable. I wasn't engaged or interested in figuring it out. There were several characters introduced that didn't make an impact.

Despite having a few elements that did work for me, the writing style did not. I didn't find myself actively wanting to read this and it felt like something I just wanted to finish. The language often felt out of place and it felt like the author would just throw in big words for the hell of it and they weren't necessary. It reminded me of writing essays in high school and picking up a thesaurus to make the writing sound more grown up. It took me away from the story and made reading this book feel like homework instead of an escape. Overall, I would give this 2.5 stars.

A really, really delightful read. Bancroft's writing is at his best here. Thank to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc

Reliably excellent prose, a joy to read, vintage Bancroft. The character leads were solid, and their strengths and flaws played off each other well. A substantial amount of humor mixed with moments of awfulness made this a fun read.

My biggest hangup with the story is how incredibly long it took me to read it. This is not a lengthy novel, and I'm used to taking my time with Bancroft's prose, but this took me far too long to get through. Not exactly sure why, as it was enjoyable, but it didn't provoke me to keep reading deep into the night.

While I enjoyed The Books of Babel quite a bit more, this is still a worthwhile read, with some clever concepts and memorable characters that have me looking forward to the next volume.

Josiah Bancroft exploded onto the fantasy literature scene with his Books of Babel, and following a hit series up with something new can be a fraught experience, both for the author and the reader. Thankfully, we needn't have worried about The Hexologists, the start of a new series by Bancroft that promises whodunnits in a magical steampunk-Victorian setting with a compelling new pair of protagonists. It's not a perfect book, but it promises good things to come.

Isolde Ann Always Wilby had the misfortune of being named by a noted explorer with a penchant for puns and a magical librarian/historian, but she's definitely a chip off the old block. Wilby is a hexologist, a devotee of sigil magic that is effectively one branch of a dying magical tree; she uses her skill in hexes to act as a detective-for-hire along with her husband Warren, a former military man and non-practitioner who, in his words, "mostly just carries [her] bag."

When the King's advisor comes to their door and says that the regent expressed to be "baked into a pie," it begins a new case that involves an ever widening mystery that involves a missing ring, a bottomless bag of holding, a flock of talking starlings, and an epicurean dragon who loves gastronomy (and only sometimes eats people). There's palace intrigue, side-trips to different realms, and more side characters than you can shake a wand at.

And that's part of the problem -- the characters are many and at times I found myself having to consult the dramatis personii at the back of the book to remember who was who, sometimes taking away from what would otherwise be an important plot reveal. There's an attempt to flesh out the magic system, which involves various specialized branches that are largely separate from one another and focused on different aspects and mechanics, but despite being a fantasy novel the magic feels largely secondary to the plot.

In fact, the central mystery proves to be somewhat disappointingly mundane -- one suspects that the case at the heart of The Hexologists could be taken out and written capably as a "muggle" mystery novel. This gives The Hexologists something of a pacing problem and at times I felt as though more attention could be paid to better meshing the case into the world instead of applying the fantasy elements as a veneer over the top.

That said, the book is a delightful page turner. As with the Books of Babel, one of the joys of this book is Bancroft's prose. Full of witticisms and rejoinders, the text is a joy to read, and a special highlight is the relationship of the married couple, Iz and War. The two are complete opposites -- Iz cold and calculating, Warren gregarious and self-effacing. They shouldn't work as a couple, but their weaknesses correspond exactly to the others' strength such that as a pair they come across less as a Sherlock and Watson and more two halves of a whole. You get the sense as the mystery unfolds that neither could crack this case without the help of the other one. Their riposting banter is never cruel and always loving, and frequently descends into the titillating, erotic style of two people emphatically in love, even after years together. It's funny, and captivating, and sweet. It also sets the stage for many more Wilby mysteries to come, hopefully with some further development as the series progresses.

The end result is a pleasing read, though not one that knocked my socks off. That's okay. It's still an enjoyable romp. The husband-wife investigation team is a trope, but this particular one is a quite successful one and I'd like to see where the Wilbys go next. Fans who are missing Senlin and Marya will find quite a lot to like about Iz and War.

The Hexologists was an enjoyable read that really shows off Josiah Bancroft’s writing chops and his penchant for whimsical quirkiness. If that sounds like your cup of tea, along with detectives that are a married couple, then I would definitely recommend giving this a try! More thoughts in my goodreads review!

I love, love, love Josiah Bancroft. His writing style is so wonderfully dry and witty, with Dickensian prose that is charming rather than stuffy, and his characters are lovable and nuanced. The Hexologists felt like a magical Sherlock Holmes whodunnit. The analytical and blunt (but still loveable) Isobel and the warm and charming Warren reminded me of Sherlock and John Watson. What I also appreciated about these characters is that they are a middle-aged married couple, a type of characterization we don't see often in the Fantasy genre.

The book started off with plenty of action, and stayed well-paced throughout. I loved the multiple twists at the end. Josiah Bancroft is an autobuy author for me and I will have to purchase this one for my physical collection.

A whimsical fantasy world where our husband and wife team solve mysteries.
Iz is smart and blunt, Warren is literally everyone’s new best friend.
And these two get caught up unraveling clues while avoiding being smashed, eaten, haunted, and creeped out by birds.

I can’t wait to continue on and see where the story takes these two

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2.5/5 stars

This was....disappointing. The concept was super cool and there were parts that were clever (love the portal bag and dragon!). However, the execution did not live up to my expectations. It was overwritten to the extreme, often confusing and jumpy, and the characters themselves felt largely flat. The worst part: the author took every opportunity to mention (either directly or in a sideways manner) the main characters' sex life. I have no problem with smut (there wasn't any) or reference of sex - but it was so frequent and out of place it just came off as cringey and uncomfortable.

I am super disappointed in this one and I will not be reading more of this series or author.

Thanks to Orbit for the copy of this book!

I'm a sucker for a cute cover, hexes, and overcoming adversity, so this book seemed like an instant win. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with Josiah Bancroft's sesquipedalian writing. Not a lot happened, Josiah seems like a smart dude, and this one wasn't for me.