Welcome friend! I have discovered a new fantasy series that I love! Josiah Bancroft’s latest, The Hexologists has a married couple as the protagonists in a steampunk world with a highly nuanced and imaginative magic system. Here is what the first book is about:
The Hexologists
Josiah Bancroft
Goodreads | The Hexologists #1
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 The Hexologists.
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.
Content notes include Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, War, sexual assault
The Hexologists – Review
The Hexologists is one of my favorite fantasy novels. I loved the protagonists, the world, the magic system, the plot and the writing and I am hoping that I will be able to do each of these aspects justice. Let’s begin.
A Dynamic Duo Izy & War
How often do you read Fantasy books centred around a married couple? Iz and Warren Wilby offered me a nuanced portrayal of partners, making a living in a magical world. The book begins with a visit from the secretary to the king. He wants their help to investigate a potential threat of usurpation. There is mystery, political tension, and magical exploration through masterful storytelling.
The first encounter with the secretary sets the stage for these adorable characters and more is revealed about them as individuals and a couple as the story progresses. Izy’s reluctance to work for the monarchy is evident.
Her penchant for naming her eight identical coats added a charming touch. In my family, the women are obsessed with shoes. I love Izy’s obsession with coats while making sure that they are functional and relatable for the dangerous profession that she is in.
The way the protagonists remind each other of their responsibilities is endearing. For example, Izy “had been studiously ignoring [a pile of letters] for weeks even as her husband found increasingly inconvenient locations to place her looming obligations.” (page 11)
Add in ample humor, an elaborate system of magic, a steampunk setting with alchemists and extinct wizards, and you have this amazing book.
A World of Hexes, Extinct Wizards, and Deals with Devils
There are many mysteries in The Hexologists. Izy’s father disappeared some years ago, leaving a bag of all his collected treasures. “The bag’s inauspicious exterior concealed a portal that led to an apparently boundless storehouse. That vault was filled to the rafters with the magical artifacts and charmed relics that Professor Silas Wilby, Iz’s father, had collected over the course of his life. The physical location of that depot was a secret that Professor Wilby had taken with him to his untimely grave. (pg 14)” A lot of things come out of that bag in the course of the story, some bigger than you would think.
The Hexologists presents a well thought out and intricate system of magic that adds depth to the world and the plot. Hexes are considered the weakest ways of using magic due to their precarious and precise nature and I love that they are the magic that Izy excels at. Her proficiency in hexes challenges the conventional notions about the strength of magical practices.
The city has a distinct steampunk ambience, fueled by the technology of alchemists. It is so well written and vivid that I was transported there and was happy to stay. The central library where Izzy’s mother works is one of my favorite places to visit. I love what it represents – an accumulation of wisdom, anything ever written can be found there. Izy and War use it to their advantage as they find a way to help the King.
The missions given to them by the secretary is not a straightforward one and it takes them all over the city, underwater and to terrifying other realms. The map in the book was very helpful in knowing where each place was relative to the others. There is a lot of historical context for how the world came to be and function this way. There is commentary on power struggles and how unrest only hurts the poor. As The Hexologists progressed, I got insight into both Izy and War’s past experiences that have gotten them to where they are. The exploration of political instability and its impact of different strata of society is well done through the stops around the city.
At one point, Izy is forced to make a deal with a magical entity so that she can gain information about what took place in a certain alley some decades back. There are some dark moments in this book which balance out very well with the humour.
Humor, Details, and Easter Eggs
Fantasy books that I read are rarely humorous and The Hexologists is phenomenal for keeping it light and entertaining. The vivid descriptions were great for understanding the world and story but it takes a toll on the brain to imagine so much – steampunk aesthetics, mythical creatures, sharp dialogue, and magical fights. I loved every minute though and was very happy with my reading experience.
The humor helps a lot. The ways in which the author presents little actions that let me imagine the characters in detail. I found favorites within the first 5 pages of the book. You can tell from the cover that War has an impressive mustache. Here is how the author builds this image further: “The secretary watched as Mr Wilby positioned a triangle of white bread under his copious mustache, then vanished it like a letter into a male slot” (page 2). Later on page 4, “Warren [had] sufficient time to post another sandwich.”
I laughed so much! Comparing eating to the act of posting a letter! Love it!
Izy and War have many signals for one another. Here is another favorite: “he inquired whether she would like some of either the lemon sponge or the spice cake, an inquiry that was conducted with a delicate rounding off his plentiful brows” (page 4) This sentence gives texture to the world and the meeting with the secretary is so well written that it was like I was there, which is exactly what I want from a book!
If you are looking for a nuanced and entertaining exploration of marriage and magic set against the complexities of a fantastic world, you need to give The Hexologists a try! It was a captivating read for me and I love the blend of mystery, humor and fantasy. Can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment of this book.
Many thanks to Orbit for the complimentary book for an honest review.
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