Book Review: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Series: Book 1 of The Hexologists
Publisher: Orbit (September 26, 2023)
Length: 386 pages
Author Information: Website
I confess, I wasn’t a huge fan of Josiah Bancroft’s first series, The Books of Babel, but as soon as I read the few pages of The Hexologists, I just knew it was going to be a very different book and one that is more to my liking. After all, it’s not every day you get to read a story about a king who wants to be baked into a cake.
For married couple Isolde “Iz” and Warren “War” Wilby, however, it’s just another typical day on the job for them as magical investigators. After questioning the royal secretary on the king’s apparent madness (he was even about to climb into the oven), our protagonists learn that the monarch is being blackmailed with a devastating, decades-old secret that can throw the line of succession into question and alter the destiny of the kingdom. Despite having no love for the nobility, Iz reluctantly agrees to look into the case by examining the piece of evidence that started it all—a letter written by someone claiming to be the king’s bastard son, stamped with a royal signet ring that supposedly went missing years ago—not to mention, rampaging golem attacks tend to have a way of forcing a decision.
Thus begins an adventurous and sometimes meandering journey through a steampunkish Victorianesque world with Iz and War as they pry into every nook and cranny in search of evidence. Often, these bold undertakings lead our hexologists to discover much more than they bargained for, from resentful old chums from magic school to an epicurious dragon who lives in an enchanted carpet bag. Bolstered by their love for each other and their commitment to helping people, this dynamic husband-and-wife duo never hesitates to dive headfirst into danger to solve even the darkest and most perplexing cases.
As much as I ended up enjoying this novel, I have to say, the first few chapters weren’t easy. While I was hooked on the premise from the start, the writing style did take some time to get used to. No doubt inspired by the setting, stylistically the prose came across vaguely Victorian in that it exhibited a sense of formality that can be felt in both the narrative and dialogue. Occasionally, these long, overly ornate sentences would just jump out at me because they were so awkwardly dense and clunky. It didn’t help either that the early plot was all over the place, making it easy to lose track of what the Wilbys were even supposed to investigate.
Of course, all of this is also my way of complimenting Bancroft, who has managed to capture the setting’s tone so perfectly. Fortunately, too, I found my footing after a few chapters and the rest of the novel went more smoothly. I was able to start connecting to the characters, appreciating their individual quirks and charms. One thing I absolutely loved about The Hexologists is that it features a married couple as its main protagonists, and hence, what romance you see in the story will be very different than what you’d normally get in other books of this type. For one, it’s on the lighter side, but when those little moments of devotion between Iz and War do show up, they’re tender, sweet, and beautiful.
From silly puns to situational irony, there’s also a lot of humor, which starts coming through in spades once the story establishes a solid foundation. The characters’ antics definitely got a few smiles out of me as well. Mystery and action-adventure elements combine to send the plot deeper and deeper into territory both strange and wondrous, and my early doubts eventually gave way to fascination and excitement.
To conclude, while The Hexologists had a somewhat shaky start with occasional moments of disorientation, it ultimately evolved into an engaging narrative of intrigue and daring. With its rich setting and clever wit, I would recommend this novel for readers who enjoy stories that weave together the charm of detective mysteries with paranormal magic. That said, for me it’s Iz and Warren Wilby who totally stole the show. They are simply the most wonderful and endearing pair of protagonists I’ve ever met, and I hope we’ll get to see more in this series starring these two soon!
The BiblioSanctum 
what´s the difference with Babel? seems like style and setting are similar?
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Babel was too strange for me, the premise was overall too abstract to wrap my head around and as a result I didn’t enjoy it all that much. I found the Hexologists way easier to follow as it was a more traditional mystery plot.
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Oh.
My.
Goodness.
You are such a cake’ist. You’re at least the second reviewer who has started their review with their anti-bakeintoacake philosophy and I’m getting *&^%$ tired of it. If a man wants to get baked into a cake, let him!
😉
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Okay, a man can do whatever he wants, as long as I don’t have to eat it! 😀
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Thank you. We at the United Humanity for Cake Baking appreciate your liberality
😀
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The mixed reviews about Bancroft’s Babel series had kept me away from it, but since I’m reading only positive comments about this new work I will have to rethink my approach… Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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For what it’s worth, I enjoyed this so much more than Babel. I think it’s a safer entry point for sure 🙂
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I may pick this up later before book two comes out, I just couldn’t fit it in. I’m glad it worked for you!
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There’s always time for catch-up at the end of the year 🙂
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I really liked this, but as you said, it took me a little while to get accustomed to the style and dialogue – once I was on board though it felt perfectly natural. Just an initial shock to get over.
Lynn 😀
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I agree with your description of initial shock. I was like, CAN WE PLEASE JUST GET BACK TO THE CASE?! 😛
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Interesting. He does weird well
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Thankfully this wasn’t TOO weird!
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It’s always nice when an author you weren’t that keen on previously surprises with something more enjoyable. Very glad to see this one worked for you, and that it had such a memorable pair of main characters.
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Definitely, and I’m glad to see Bancroft is a versatile enough writer to switch gears.
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I like the sound of this.
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This sounds really wild. when I read that sentence about the king wanting to be in a cake I had to read it again! 🙂 I love the idea of married protagonists too… you don’t really see that much, now that I think of it.
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Haha, yes, what a way to start a book! And you are right, we don’t see too many books featuring married couple. The books I read typically feature romance between single people hooking up, so this is very refreshing.
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Ok, you got me curious about this one. Thanks for the warning about the prose. I take it as a warning because such writing style often turns me off, so it’s helpful knowing in advance.
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You’re welcome! I know it helped me when I read about the prose in another review. I knew if I could just push through, things will get better 🙂
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