DNF'd, couldn’t get past the first chapter

I was immediately drawn to the premise: myths, divine creatures, and especially the idea of a fox deity, which I’ve always found fascinating across cultures. The blurb promised something rich and layered, but from the very beginning, I struggled to stay afloat. The first chapter throws a barrage of unfamiliar names, lore, and terminology at the reader without much grounding. I couldn’t tell if the references were fictional or drawn from real myths and honestly, the writing didn’t make me want to dig deeper to find out. It felt dense and inaccessible, and I found myself re-reading sentences without gaining clarity.

This one wasn’t for me, but perhaps readers already familiar with the mythological influences, or those who enjoy being thrown into complex worldbuilding without a gentle entry point, might have better luck.

I really struggled with this one. The characters are the focal point of the story, and I found it very difficult to care about any of them, but particularly the protagonist. I tried a few times and never got into it; I found her super immature and annoying, and possibly more frustrating was that in those instances when she acted her age, others treated her as a child, which really just made me dislike the entire cast.

This was a lovely surprise.

Nesi is an acolyte in need of a patron God, and out of ninety-nine Pillars of Heaven, she’s already been rejected by ninety-six.
On a whim, she chooses the Fox, the mischievous, trickster among the deities. Her audition test is wild - she must go back 300 years in time and be the spark of revolution for a community that has been subjugated by control and fear.
Will Nesi be able to deliver?

This a novella that I think will resonate a lot with a younger audience, and it explores themes of self acceptance, exploration of self, resilience and mental health. Myth and adventure are blended well together, and I really enjoyed the overall product

The only thing I did not like much was that we have some very short stories placed within the novella, almost as interludes. They were actually nice, a "Tales/Parables of the Fox" sort of stories, but in a book this short, they disconnected me from the plot .

Thank you to NetGalley and to Tachyon Publications for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn't actually planning to request another ARC so soon after finishing my post-holidays backlog, but the cover of this book was too good for me to ignore. I'm so glad I got the chance to read this! I think it's been one of my favorite books I've read so far this year.

The story was original and fun. The characters were spare, but well-utilized. The familiar archetype of the trickster was delightful. I enjoyed the decision to alternate chapters between the main story and trickster myths of the world. I thought that was a creative way to give the reader some worldbuilding and context without weighing the story down with exposition.

My only complaint is that I wish it was longer in some ways. I think at 192 pages it's actually a really solid length for the story being told, but I just wonder how the character development might have been impacted by a little more space for them to breath. Nesi was great, but I felt like we didn't really get to see her growth as fully as we could have.

I'm looking forward to the official publication of this one in September, and will be keeping an eye out for any other Martin Cahill works moving forward. I think he'll be one to watch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Tachyon Publications, Martin Cahill, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

While NetGalley doesn't allow half stars, Audition for the Fox is a clear 3.5 debut. Strong narrative really begins about 15% in and took me awhile to warm up. Then all in. Both Fox and Nesi experienced character growth and solid arcs.

Through the eyes of an audience listening to a fable, readers are invited to a robust world. I do think this would have benefited from about another 40.pages or magic directory. There's a lot of clever time jumps and standard fantasy tropes.

Not a bad debut. Definitely willing to read more from the author. Audition for the Fox is a relevant novella in currently upturned nations.

What a charming novella! I loved Nesi’s story and how her character developed across her audition – being thrown back in time and being tasked with helping stage a famous rebellion in her country’s history is no mean feat. The tone of the story was serious, but also had a lot of humour and heart to it. I loved how this story appeared to be inspired by a mixture Asian mythology and Aesop’s fables, with animals having specific attributes or professions that they were in charge of and the fables that were interspersed between chapters, ‘The Fox and the Turtle’ and ‘The Fox and the Stallion’, telling tales of how T’sidaan tricked his siblings, often to teach them a meaningful lesson. And in a way, Nesi’s audition comes across as another fable, a lesson that the Fox wants her to learn in order to become their acolyte. T’sidaan also gave me strong Reynard the Fox vibes as well, although a slightly friendlier version. The world-building and all the different pillars seemed amazing – obviously with ninety-nine pillars, there are not all included in the story, but if the author ever wanted to do a sequel or longer novel (which he hints in the afterword he might) I would absolutely love to read more adventures set in this world. And the illustrations were absolutely stunning!

I struggled a bit to connect with this story but may need to return to it another time! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I was drawn in by the cover and premise, and this novella really delivered. Nesi’s story was compelling and well paced, and provided a very thoughtful view on history and hostile occupation.

The fox was a real highlight of the story, and I very much enjoyed the worldbuilding of the pillars and their role in the story. The addition of in-world mythology told in a very personal way also enhanced the themes of the main story, and the importance of these stories to the characters.

All round, highly recommend this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon for the eARC.

Audition for the Fox is a standout novella. The intricate balance between mythic storytelling and a deeply grounded exploration of resistance and identity. I especially appreciated your point about the Fox being a symbol not just of trickery, but of subversive wisdom — how cunning, when wielded with purpose, can become a revolutionary force. That nuance is one of the things that lingered with me long after reading.

The structure, too — with its interwoven fables — felt like a kind of storytelling within storytelling, like oral history filtered through divine mischief. It gives the world a living texture, as if the stories themselves are part of the rebellion. And Nesi’s journey, with all its emotional stakes, was a compelling lens through which to explore the cost and courage of defiance.

"Start thinking of how small a cog you are and how big the machine is and nothing will work."


Audition for the Fox is a tale of humility in many forms; a mortal descendant of gods that has never passed a test, and the gods who are forever being humbled by the Fox, local ego-checker. Nesi, our flop demi(quadri?)god time travels to a wartime labor camp in what could be her last attempt to prove herself to a god, and schemes are hatched to fuel an uprising that history is waiting for.

For a novella, I did not expect the world-building for the pantheon of gods to be this good, it was very fascinating to read about them in both the main story and the vignettes in between chapters. Loved the structure too, I think it was a great decision to have records of oral storytelling about the gods in between the events of the main story, really packs a lot of insights into the characters and the world as a whole even with a small page count. Little bits of wisdom are also interspersed within the narrative, giving it a very folktale vibe. The way it was written makes it feel like the beginning of many adventures, and I could definitely see this as a series, or in an anthology of loosely connected tales.

Despite the grim setting (and certain events…), the tone of the book never gets too dark, focusing more on the light at the end of the tunnel and the journey towards that. Due to its length, there wasn't much space to delineate the past and the present, since the book spend most of its time in the past and the few times we see the present, it's in a temple- which is, well, a temple- one of the institutions most immune to the ravages of time. The light bits of humor was also middle-grade leaning, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the story.

A thought-provoking tale with the right blend of whimsy and gravitas.

Thank you to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nesi is God-touched, a human born with divine powers, which means in order to be free to leave the temple she must be sworn as a dedicant to one of their world’s ninety-nine gods, called Pillars. After failing 96 auditions, her options are running thin. She decides to try her luck auditioning for the Fox, the mercurial Pillar of trickery and mischief, and finds herself thrown into a dangerous situation where she needs to think on her feet to escape, set certain events into motion, and impress the Pillar to earn her freedom.

I highly enjoyed this little book! There’s a lot of humor here and a fantastic message that is strongly referenced throughout the story. The world-building is about as solid as it needed to be and Nesi herself is as fleshed-out a main character as necessary. I loved the little peeks into the other 98 Pillars and their stories woven throughout. The only gripe I have is some modern malapropisms that I wish were rephrased since they tended to take me out of the story a bit. I’d love to see another novella set in this same world, maybe another Pillar or continuing adventures of Nesi and the Fox. Here hoping this book does well so we can get more!

Brilliantly written and charmingly witty, this fantasy is an absolute must-read for any lovers of mischief and trickery! Thank you to NetGalley and to Tachyon Publications for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 ⭐

Nesi must find a god willing to accept her as an acolyte—or risk being confined to her temple for the rest of her life. Out of ninety-nine Pillars of Heaven, she’s already been rejected by ninety-six. Only three remain: the Lion of War, the Serpent of Assassination, and the Fox of Trickery.

She chooses the Fox without hesitation—even though the stories she knows paint him as a mocking, mischievous god. So of course, his idea of an audition is to throw her 300 years into the past—right into the heart of the Zemin occupation. What else would you expect from the god of tricks?

This is the story of an underestimated girl searching for freedom, and of a Fox god operating in the shadow of his more dominant siblings—two characters who have more in common than they realize.

I absolutely loved this novella. I was especially drawn to the fragmented narration: a section from Nesi’s POV is immediately followed by a myth or tale. There’s something soft in the chaos she lives through, and something beautiful in the Fox’s mischief. The story blends fictional folklore with moral undertones, yet it’s clearly written for an adult audience.

The Fox quickly became a favorite—charming, clever, and perhaps the most humble of all the gods.

My only real struggle was with some of the language. Certain invented words—especially the gods’ names—made parts of the story harder to follow. Combined with the fable-like storytelling and occasional shifts in narration, it added a layer of complexity. That said, it’s also what makes this novella so unique and stylistically rich. I’m torn on that point, but I see its purpose.

Overall, this is a strong debut—clever, well-constructed, and filled with layers of meaning that reflect the real world. A genuinely enjoyable read.

I came for the cover and stayed for an engrossing, unique and well done Novella!
The pacing was great, and the world felt fleshed out. I will definitely be recommending this to friends!

The premise was what originally drew me in (I find that trickster anything is always a hit), and this novella did not disappoint! The world was so rich and full of life, particularly the pantheon and its workings. I adore the idea of there being 99 gods (well, technically 100), all animals with different domains, that young demi-gods can audition to—especially as a university student on the trying search for internships who has experienced more than one disappointment (I feel you Nesi!) My favourite parts were probably the interlude chapters that explored short stories of the gods. It immediately made me think of Jean de La Fontaine’s fables and as such had such a nostalgic feel for me (being French). Apart from the worldbuilding, I found the story in itself to be something close to a warm hug, especially in our, to put it lightly, trying times. Resistance can be found everywhere, in the smallest of acts and stories. There were moments during the novella when the plot lost me a little and I wished we could have dove deeper into certain elements, however the charming characters, beautiful world, and inherent fairy-tale-like whimsy of the book made this such an enjoyable read. Thank you Martin Cahill, Tachyon Publications, and Netgalley for trusting me with an advanced reader copy of the book!

More!!! I need more… this book was spectacularly refreshing, entertaining, and inspiring. I would read an entire series where these main characters and even the rest of the pillars go on adventures and share their stories. I laughed, I teared up, I couldn’t stop reading. In these times, this book is a perfect distraction. I will be absolutely buying a physical copy to add to my collection and telling everyone to read this!

Audition for the Fox, by Martin Cahill, is reminiscent of the fables I grew up reading. This novella is quick, entertaining, and, maybe to some, thought-provoking. I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

Was this a perfect book? No. Was it an absolute riot? Hell yes. I haven't had this much fun reading a book in a while. If I had to sum this up in a few words it would be: whimsy, charm, and heart. Despite it being a novella, the world-building was expansive, and the characterization of these myriad gods only further bolstered the world they made. We have a nervous, insecure protagonist who has a heart big enough to tackle colonizers and spark a rebellion, and we have a cunning fox god whose heart is even bigger. These characters absolutely made this book for me, but what really solidified this as a 5 star was the theme of story-telling. I LOVE themes of story-telling so I am absolutely biased, but this whole novella reads as a fable and, like I said, that really just heightened the whimsy of it all.

The pacing felt a little clunky at parts, sure, and I wish our side characters were given just a little more time to be fleshed out, but really, I had a wonderful time reading this story, and I think the themes it explores are especially relevant today. I'm going to miss these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!!

"Monsters prefer the dark; facing the light of day can reveal so much more than an unhandsome face."

This book has one of the most unique concepts I have read about in recent memory. The idea of traversing through time for the chance of an apprenticeship is an implacable setup.

While I really enjoyed the story when things got going, it did have a rough beginning. The novella starts off so jarringly that I thought I had missed something while I was reading. It felt particularly lacking in the ease of getting into the narrative. The story is also broken into parts separated by tales, which I would call fables, but I digress. I think this concept fits well with the themes and over-arching narrative; it felt like an odd pacing decision that broke the flow of the story. It also felt like most of the fables only existed to tell the Tale between the Fox and the Wolf—which was gut-wrenching. However, I felt like it could have flowed better.

I think that the characters all felt interesting, but there was only so much depth that could be explored in such a short period of time. The bison blood was an interesting choice.


Much of the story occurs off of the page and resolves without the readers bearing witness. This can work in some contexts, but it feels a little dissatisfactory in some instances.

Overall, decently enjoyable.

This short novella is written in an interesting 'oral tradition' style, which unfortunately means it often tends to telling not showing. Characters will announce their motivations and appear in the story exactly where they are needed without much justification for their feelings or allegiances. That said, the world is interesting and the basic premise of a trickster god trying to start a revolution is compelling. I would have liked more world building, as I wasn't sure if I was in a medieval world or the 1940s, but then again there's only so much that can be done in a novella!