We're finally back with Isolde and Warren Wilby, hexologists or magical investigators to the real world. In this instalment an incredibly hot summer in Berbiton is proceeding as normal, an acquaintance has been found found murdered and the married duo step into her art studio to look for evidence, all a standard day for these two, until suddenly there is an enormous explosion and the story restarts from a few hours earlier with the Portalmanteau no longer operational and Isolde having no idea other than a sneaking sense of deja vu that anything is amiss. Such an excellent addition to the series, we get more history about both members of the team as well as more insight into how and why their relationship works. There are more glimpses of external characters including Isolde's mother, estranged wife of Silas Wilby and of course a very perplexing mystery using magic and hexology to get to the bottom of.

I really liked the first book in The Hexologists, a hybrid of mystery and gaslamp fantasy. Unfortunately I didn't like the second book as much. Bancroft's writing remains excellent and the world is fascinating and atmospheric. Furthermore the quirky character of War is still likeable and funny most of the times but..
The book's focus is all over the place. The mystery, which is at best serviceable, feels like an afterthought. The author spends too much time in details about the life of the life of the protagonists, so much so that it feels more like a cozy fantasy book (the first book had a much nicer balance IMO). That hurt the pacing for me and until the last 20% (when at last things pick up) I found it pretty slow The secondary characters are paper thin and ultimately forgetable. Also Iz the female protagonist, is not the most likeable character and I had a hard time caring for her troubles. As I mentioned above the mystery was just ok and a bit predictable.
On it's own it was an ok book to pass your time, but I think that there was potential in the first book for something much better.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Uk for providing me with an Arc.

The second installment in the Hexologists series. The story is loosely connected to the previous book, and revolves around Isolde and War's attempt to unravel a mystery surrounding an artist's death, which is made complicated by some errant and unexplained time discontinuities. Essentially, a take on time travel in the excellent and multi faceted universe created by the author in the previous book.

I really wanted to like the book. The worldbuilding continued to be mesmerising, and the innumerable additions to the dimensions first introduced in the previous book are enchanting. Through many diversions (more on this later) the author shows facets of this world that inspire passion to know more and delve deeper. His imagination is among the best I've ever read and the endless innovation is breathtaking. This, delivered in the habitually fast-paced way the author is famous for, was the highlight of the experience for me.

That being said, and despite really wanting to like the book, I struggled with it, even more than I did with the previous one. My main peeve is with the protagonists - they come across as rather shallow and petulant. In comparison to the author's work on Babel, the characters here seem to lack much depth and breadth. Their behaviour is infantile and more like a caricature than anything else. I would have wanted to see more character development, a more consistent internal logic to their decision making-driving, and more complexity and multidimensionality.

I also didn't much like the crime procedural aspect of the book (again, even less than the last one). While the mystery was interesting, the villain was more or less obvious from the moment they were introduced - there was something about the author's depiction of the individual in question that distanced him from the character and created a strong impression of something awry. Moreover, while the author is an incredibly talented storyteller and world-builder, he doesn't really shine when it pertains to systematic and algorithmic plot development. A good crime novel, in my view, needs to have method and structure that entice the reader to follow the clues and build their own hypotheses as to the events in question. Unfortunately, the book doesn't really do that. The investigation, if that's what it is, embarked upon by the protagonists is chaotic, unstructured, and lacks any semblance of relevance to the eventual unraveling of the mystery.

Finally, I found some plot discontinuities overly convenient. While not numerous, they were galling. The main one I really disliked was the last encounter between War and the villain, which really was never explained. I still don't understand why it had to be War, and this makes the entire unraveling of the mystery lose all credibility. Similarly, the choice of the villain's victims was also overly convenient and cruel, and never made clear.

I do recommend the book to fans of the author and lovers of speculative fiction. I, however, hope the author does a better job next time. The book is not bad, per se, but far inferior to the Babel books. It's baffling how this can happen - perhaps it's to do with editing, proofreading, or just patience. Either way, it saddens me to see such talent get diluted in books that clearly could have been written better.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of the book in return for an honest review.

A Tangle of Time is book 2 in the Hexologists series.
Isolde and Warren Wilby are the Hexologists, a husband and wife team who solve crimes involving magic.
The story starts when the couple are at the theatre. On their way to a dinner, Isolde wants to check in on a client, a famous artist who is being threatened. At the clients studio, there's no reply, so Isolde breaks in and finds they're too late.
The story goes back to the theatre where Isolde has a feeling of deja vu...
I enjoyed this, but when it got into the time-manipulation, I found my concentration wandering.
The ending was quite satisfying, and finished where I'm guessing book 3 will carry on.
These are a fun, witty read, and I'm glad that we got some more Felivox - the dragon who lives in a magic portmanteau.
Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing style was engaging and perfectly scratched my itch for thoughtful introspection. I found myself making lots of highlights: passages that resonated with me, with both beautiful and uncomfortable observations.

I read the first book in this series earlier this year and rated it 4 stars. This second instalment felt like a step up in terms of writing, pacing, plot, and overall polish. I thoroughly enjoyed the first three quarters of the story and would not change a thing.

The final section left me a little conflicted. While I thought it was well executed, it also left me feeling that much of what I had loved earlier was diminished by the way the story wrapped up. It was at once intriguing and frustrating, leaving me curious about how these choices will shape the series as it continues.

That said, I am very much looking forward to book three and to seeing whether the threads laid down earlier in this instalment will be picked back up, or whether they are left behind entirely.

The first instalment of The Hexologists was a very nice surprise. Josiah Bancroft has a very flourished writing and isn't afraid of using quite rare words to paint a fun and entertaning story, full of love and social commentary. The magic system, in a world with new technology, was interesting and felt quite fresh, even it drew from well known archetypes.
This second book follows it these footsteps, with a new kind of magic.

Time travel intrigue are difficult to pull off. Time is intricate and complex, so playing with it is always a risk.
As in the first book, the trength of the story lie in Isolde and Warren dichotomy, their different personnality that complete each other quite well. Seeing their relationship, very trusting and balanced, is a real pleasure.

The mystery plot was engaging, with a right amount of tension, a bit of meandering and clues about some background characters (like Silas).

Overall, a nice read, taking a bit of time to get through but delivering on its promises.

Extremely fun, witty, and addictive full of (ill) manners, mystery, and shenanigans.

Husband and wife Warren and Isolde Wilby have a strange relationship. First of all, they are complete opposites. Extroverted, caring, people-pleasing Warren and blunt, unconventional, introverted Isolde.
Not to mention, they have a friendly dragon in their bag who has become Warren’s cooking companion, his eager taster, and their unlikely friend.
Furthermore, they are city’s foremost investigators of the paranormal. A power couple if I have ever read one.

After a suicide of a prominent artist, Isolde feels guilty for not offering her assistance faster.
Not all is at it seems and strange feelings of Deja vu are putting Isolde off.

<b>”Splendor is uneven and convoluted and fleeting. Give me wrinkles! Give me puckers! Give me scars and errant hairs and any bit of evidence that one has not wasted their life swaddled up like an infant, waiting to be shifted from the crib to the casket. We weren’t meant to be preserved. We are flowers! We bud, we blossom, we wilt, and we die, and all of it has beauty. All of it!”
</b>
This was filled with strange random asides that would be annoying had it not been written cleverly by Bancroft’s clever hands.

This was filled with wit, insults, and love. I love how weak Warren and Isolde complement each other. How easily they have learnt to slot in to each others preferences.

My major gripe:
The last 20%. In fact, I wasn’t a huge fan of the overarching plot and was more there for the characters and their interactions. But the last 20%? Bancroft lost me there and didn’t regain me. I strongly disliked the plot device (one I have expressed my distaste for from the start of my reviewing).

Whilst the ending sets up for another instalment (which I will be reading) I felt really unsatisfied with this as a story if you consider only the plot and the point of the book.

Arc gifted by Orbit.