Tag Archives: Josiah Bancroft

Fantasies to Believe In: A Tangle of Time, Love Bites, and Pantomime

3 Sep

Check out these three terrific fantasies coming out next week!

The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time
by Josiah Bancroft
A Tangle of Time is the second in Josiah Bancroft’s fantastic Hexologist series. Set in a steampunk world where technology is slowly overtaking magic and there is waning belief in practitioners of arts like Hexology, which is magic using different symbols, (each chapter has a different hex represented at the start). But when an artist dies suspiciously after reaching out to hexologist, Isolde, for help, it will be up to her and her husband to discover the answer to what is going on and who is behind the mysterious changes in their world. This story further explores the intriguing world they inhabit and adds new and clever characters as well as revisiting some old favorites. Isolde comes closer to understanding the mystery of her missing father. There are clever spins on classic fantasy tropes as well as new and original monsters that speculative fiction lovers will enjoy. If you are missing the clever, funny writing of Terry Pratchett check this one out.

Love Bites
by Cynthia St. Aubin
Love Bites is an urban fantasy set in our modern world where things like vampire and werewolves are things of myth and legend, that is what Hanna believes until she gets a new job as an assistant to a handsome and mysterious art gallery owner. Hanna is a recent divorce and though life has gotten her down in the romance and finance department, things seem to be looking up with two handsome men (her new boss and a cop) seemingly interested in her as well as the gallery providing a steady pay check. I enjoyed Hanna’s snarky worldview and the cute interactions between her and her cats who are more children than pets. This is not a subtle novel, this a fun, over the top romp. The ending has an exciting cliffhanger which leads in to the next book in the Tails from the Alpha Art Gallery Mystery Series, Love Sucks. which will be out on October 7.

Pantomime
L.R. Lam
Pantomime is the first in the Micah Grey series set in an alternate Victorian Scotland where mysterious remnants of past inhabitants are used by those currently living there, but not fully understood. Micah was born intersex and runs away and hides with a traveling circus in order to stop the surgery that his mother was going to force upon him to have him be more fully female. A strange ghost from the past at the circus whispers that there maybe others in hiding like him with long forgotten magical powers. This sweet, gentle coming of age story slowly unfolds with flash backs between Micah’s life with the circus and his previous life as a wealthy debutant. Although written as a Young Adult novel, it has appeals for adults as well.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Sensational Speculative Fiction Picks: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft and Starter Villain by John Scalzi

27 Sep

The Hexologists
by Josiah Bancroft
I loved The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft. The Hexologists has a lot to recommend with its mystery, magic, witty banter, clever characters, humor, and plenty of plot twists. The Hexologist of the title is Iz Wilby who along with her husband Warren, help solve clients besieged by a variety of supernatural conundrums. I especially appreciated the sweet romance between the happily married couple; Iz is a smart and independent woman whom Warren respects, but the novel depicts their relationship as partnership of equals and Warren is also shown as competent and compassionate. This adventure starts when they are approached about the current King wanting to be baked in to cake and a mandrake runs amok inside their home. There are plenty of plot twist and although some supernatural creatures are based on familiar fantasy favorites, there is a lot of originality in what Bancroft has created, my favorite of which is a dragon gourmand. Not only is Iz skilled in her use of hexes, patterns that she is able to create for magical purposes, but she also has inherited a bag dubbed the portalmanteau from her explorer father that leads to a variety of cursed objects that frequently come to the Wilbies’s aid when they need it the most. I am definitely hoping for more adventures with The Hexologists in the future. This novel is highly recommended to fantasy fans and general readers who love creative, funny fiction.

Starter Villain
by John Scalzi
I had very much enjoyed Scalzi’s novel The Kaiju Preservation Society, which I read with our Library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Discussion Group, so was excited to check out his latest work Starter Villain. There are a lot of similarities between the two with both starting out with a well meaning young adult who has failed to achieve the level of success they had hoped for and who gets swept up in a worldwide conspiracy in this case it is a league of super villains rather than monster preservationists. Both novels play with the typical clichés of the genre like a volcano lair, in the case of Starter Villain, and champion the proletariat over the larger conglomerates that have been increasingly common in our world. The ending felt a bit predictable, but if you enjoy referential geek humor and clever twists on genre conventions than this will charm you. Amongst the fun are also some interesting questions about what in today’s society truly makes a villain and how much of our lives are shaped by outside forces. Plus as the cover hints at there are genetically modified sentient cats as well as dolphins who are both hilarious.

I received an advance copy of The Hexologists and Starter Villian from Netgalley and the publisher in order to provide an honest review.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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