The Hexologists (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780316443302)

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

Author: Josiah Bancroft
ISBN-10: 0316443301
ISBN-13: 9780316443302
Publisher: Orbit
Language: English
Published: 09/26/2023
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/24/2023
Library Journal 08/01/2023 pg. 69
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2023
Booklist 08/01/2023 pg. 42
Shelf Awareness 09/29/2023