The Hexologists

By: Josiah Bancroft

Narrated by: Sarah Slimani

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

©2023 Josiah Bancroft (P)2023 Orbit

Critic reviews

"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

Interesting Story but nothing special

Good book just not my favorite type of fantasy. I did enjoy it though. Narration was average.

Fun Adventure

Sherlock Holmes with Magic. love the strong female character that can still be loving and gracious to her husband l.

Excellent Narration

I'd already read the book but I do love British accents and so I got this too. The story comes to life and the narrator does a good job.

A good story hindered by over description

This is a good story with interesting characters and an exciting magic system/economy that unfortunately are hard to fully follow due to the over use of descriptive language. If you can read while you listen it helps tremendously but if not then you may get lost on what's going on in the scene. 3 out of 5.

Didn’t really like it; printed or Kindle version would be better

First of all, in this audiobook, the cast of characters is not presented before the story. It’s actually chapter 33, but should be listened to first if you like to keep track of characters that way. It helps to know who’s related to whom. Audible should offer a PDF of the lists and maps (which are in the printed book) once the book is purchased.

Second, I wish a different narrator had been chosen. I couldn’t tell the speakers apart based just on her voice, even if a man and woman were having the conversation. There were some non-human characters that I didn’t like the voices of either.

Lastly, The Hexologists was not AWESOME like the Senlin Ascends series, so I was a little disappointed. I can’t wait to read An Empyreal Retinue.

Loved it

Great world that is brimming with imagination. The characters and prose are excellent as per usual.

A fun listen

This was a good book and fun to listen to. would be a good movie.

Underwhelming but well crafted.

Bancroft is a gifted writer so he’s likely getting reviewed on a curve considering the splendor of The Books of Babel. This is a perfectly fine book, and sadly nothing more.

The narrator was unremarkable and would not have been my choice for this type of work, it was occasionally hard to discern characters.

I have a doubt this series will catch on and honestly hope Bancroft writes in a different universe next.

Sleeper hit

Looking forward to exploring another fantastical world as this series continues. This was fun listen.

Enjoyable

This is a good story and has some really likable main characters. I look forward to the next book!