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The Hexologists

The Hexologists, Book 1

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The Hexologists

By: Josiah Bancroft
Narrated by: Sarah Slimani
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About this listen

From the acclaimed author of Senlin Ascends comes the first book in a wildly inventive fantasy series where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve them: 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 antiroyalist 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 whatever springs from the alleys, graves, and shadows next.

©2023 Josiah Bancroft (P)2023 Hachette Audio UK
Action & Adventure Fantasy Fiction Historical Mystery Paranormal City
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Critic reviews

'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, author of Circe

'Fantastic! The Hexologists fizzes eloquently with wit and elegance, but also has marvellous 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

'Josiah Bancroft's imagination will astound you. One of the most inventive fantasy authors out there' Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga

What listeners say about The Hexologists

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Engaging

After The Towers of Babel which is outstanding; the bar has been set high! The first book clearly doesn’t reach those heights but I was engaged and ultimately finished the book. The real gripes was the dragon with both narration and character being extremely annoying! And sometimes the over descriptive story line felt like a dickens novel!!! Some good stuff; the story twisted and turned like a twisty turny thing and fantasy ideas kept coming thick and fast. The story definitely starts slowly and it takes time and commitment to get through the first chapters but again that’s due to the legend that is Thomas Senlin! Will these new characters reach legend status, only time will tell but it is a good start!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable magical mystery

Lots of fun, good mystery, engaging, great narrator and a great twist at the end. Can’t wait for the next one

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Refreshing fantasy book

Liked the story and the audio performance will be reading/listening to the next one

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Wonderful magical world beautifully written

I was already a fan of Josiah Bancroft after reading his Books of Babel series, he creates such vivid, quirky and ridiculously enjoyable settings. The Hexologists is no different. This new world is even more delightful and appeals greatly to my love of magic against a gaslight fantasy backdrop. All the key characters are instantly likeable (or detestable) and are well developed. It is very funny in parts (dragon’s dialogue and the ‘bag’ antics spring to mind) but it’s also quite dark in places too. The world building is fantastic, you’ll never want to leave. Really loved this and had such a massive book hangover afterwards - has left me desperate for the next in the series. Will appeal to fans of Brandon Sandersons Wax & Wayne Mistborn era books. Highly recommend.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I was enthralled !

Love Josiah Bancroft - literary genius! Characters come to life with his unique style of story telling, use of language and sheer imagination.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Muddled story 😟

I was really enjoying the story and was going to give it 5 stars.

Then after the story ended the author added another 3 chapters , just to create a sequel. And these chapters messed up the mystery that had just been solved.

The author pulled a Marvel Studios on us. Why can’t you just tell one story instead of trying to setup a whole universe? I have no intention of buying another book when this one ended poorly 😡

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