Josiah Bancroft

THE THIRD NOVEL IN THE HIGHLY ACCLAIMED BOOKS OF BABEL SERIES, SET IN A LABYRINTHINE WORLD OF MENACE AND WONDER. 'It is not merely a 5* book, it's a masterpiece' Mark Lawrence 'A vibrant, wholly original, and expertly crafted novel that transcends genre fantasy. It is an instant literary classic' Fantasy Book Review Thomas Senlin and his crew have been separated following the orders of the mysterious Sphinx. Meanwhile, the enslaved hods climb the Black Trail and whisper secrets in the dark. As Senlin and his crew are dragged ever further into the Tower's conspiracies, everything falls to one question: who is the Hod King? Praise for the series: 'Josiah Bancroft is a magician. His books are that rare alchemy: gracefully written, deliriously imaginative, action-packed, warm, witty and thought-provoking' Madeline Miller, author of Circe 'I'm wildly in love with this book' - Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising 'Brilliant' - Publishers Weekly 'I loved it' - Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names 'A universe of stars out of five' Superstar Drifter 'These books are absolutely incredible' - The Quill to Live 'Spectacular . . . fabulously gripping' - BookBag 'An impressive display of imagination and humour' - SciFiNow 'An engrossing, intoxicating delight' - Forbidden Planet

Book Three of the Books of Babel

The Hod King

"Fearing an uprising, the Sphinx sends Senlin to investigate a plot that has taken hold in the ringdom of Pelphia. Alone in the city, Senlin infiltrates a bloody arena where hods battle for the public's entertainment. But his investigation is quickly derailed by a gruesome crime and an unexpected reunion"--

Annwyn Jensen

I can’t remember when I actually started that’s as I stopped reading it at about 40%. It happens, okay? Anyway, it was great and now I need the next one.

Simon Harrison

This is the problem with amazing books, waiting for the next one. I can't believe the wonders of Senlin Ascends have been eclipsed by the thrills of The Hod King - not sure if I'll be able to cope with the final installment and having to do stuff that isn't reading it

Anastaciya

I cannot wait for the next book.
As hard as it was for me to get into the series, I think now it's one of my favourites.
Writing, humor, intrigue... all is amazing.

Ben Nathan

4.5 stars rounded down because it felt like an ending up until the last 5% or so. I think this series is inventive and wonderful and this deepened that. This feels like an adult version of Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom in the best way

Matthew Xu

Strong third entry in the series, albeit a book that feels slightly bogged down by a functional need to set-up the final novel in the Books of Babel. 

After the inventive worldbuilding and clear "leveling" in Senlin Ascends, and then the swashbuckling, rollercoaster plot of Arm of the Sphinx, The Hod King sort of feels like tapping the narrative brakes and adjusting the steering wheel before we entire the final stretch. That's not to say that the book is boring - there's an objectively great amount of character payoff and plot progression that still happens. However, because Bancroft structures the narrative as a multiple perspective re-living of the same 2-3 week period (à la Vantage Point or Bad Times at the Casino Royale), we simultaneously lose tension around some plot points *and* get an unsatisfactory amount of resolution on others. 

(view spoiler)[Again, there are some great moments here - our first look into the Black Trail, the reveals around the Hod King and the Sphinx's electric ocean, and the final battle around the State of Art all deliver page-turning, world-enhancing moments. At the same time, the long-awaited meeting between Senlin and Mayra doesn't quite pay off in the way that I wanted to, using post hoc realizations and the classic "whose baby is it!" twist to heighten emotional stakes without addressing some of the more interesting, deep questions about their relationship (weird age/power dynamic, loving the idea of a person vs. the actual person, tension between responsibility and freedom, etc.). The omission of Adam's arc and minimal content with the Sphinx were also a bit frustrating, but speak less to any authorial failing and more to the sheer quantity of interesting things going on in the series. (hide spoiler)]

It might be an unfair comparison to make, but the overall plotting in the Hod King just feels a little less interesting than its two predecessors. I think the biggest reasons for that different are in scope and resolution. 

On scope: Books 1 and 2 progressively expanded our understanding of the Tower, with an underlying current of conspiracy leading to some really excellent curtain-pulls and the sense that we were glimpsing only at a small fraction of an immense and living world. By centering the Hod King on only one ringdom, some of the promise in scale has started to feel artificial and hollow. I appreciate that both Senlin and the Sphinx acknowledge that Senlin might only be a single cog in a much larger wheel, but it's harder and harder to separate the clear significance of his team's actions on the whole Tower from the idea that this is just a tiny cross-section of that living world. The choice to pull back old characters like Tarrou and Goll back into the fold is fun and lends to some good thematic resonance, but the ambiguity in whether these are meant to be pure luck, in-book conspiracy, or just authorial cheekiness also makes the world feel a bit small. These aren't necessarily inherent problems either, but instead questions that arise from the other issue I had with this book: resolution.

On resolution: any book in a series will have some mix of "problems raised" and "problems solved", but the Hod King feels much more skewed towards the former than the latter, in a way that ultimately felt unsatisfying to me. Moreover, the plot points in the "problems solved" category feel a bit checklist-ey, with a lot of thematic or world payoff traded instead for some cool action scenes. I get why "set-up" books exist and can appreciate their value within a broader series; I think they're most successful when they trade that lack of external, world change for smaller character interactions, introspection, and development. However, because of some of the issues in scope outlined above, there wasn't much of that internal progression either, so the entire book just felt a little flat compared to its predecessors. 

All that said, neither of the problems outlined above are absolute, and I can absolutely see my perspective on this book changing once the series concludes in Book 4. Depending on how these various threads are resolved and questions about the world are answered, it may be equally likely to look back on this book with a sense of appreciation or disappointment. I'm most curious to see how explicitly Bancroft addresses the thematic underpinnings of the series. He did a great job bringing back questions around chaos and order, technology vs. humanity, and trust v. independence throughout this novel I'ma also glad that the series hasn't leaned into the "Senlin is the Christlike savior of humanity" direction hinted at in book 1. I don't expect clean answers or resolution here, but I'm mostly curious to see how he'll choose to resolve a lot of these competing forces.

Even if some of these criticisms and reflections are a bit pointed, I want to emphasize how much I did enjoy this book. Bancroft's writing is close to, if not the best, prose that I've read in recent fantasy. He combines sharp, witty self-awareness, vivid and unique descriptors / similes, and clippy, rhythmic internal dialogue with an economy of language that doesn't drag. His commitment to making something happen in every chapter, and to keeping chapters short, also reflects a good understanding of what makes things good to read. Even through some of the issues I had with overarching plotting, the pages here are overflowing with quotable lines and a desire to reflect on the human condition in a way that, shockingly, doesn't feel out of place in a fantasy novel. The pure strength of prose is enough to make me want to recommend this series to anyone who likes reading, and I'm very much looking forward to reading whatever Bancroft writes in the years to come.

Jack Harrison

nathan gonzalez

Ian P

Szabó Marianna

Modith D.

Anyaconda

Cheah Chu Yeow

Marc Pitty

THE THIRD NOVEL IN THE HIGHLY ACCLAIMED BOOKS OF BABEL SERIES, SET IN A LABYRINTHINE WORLD OF MENACE AND WONDER. 'It is not merely a 5* book, it's a masterpiece' Mark Lawrence 'A vibrant, wholly original, and expertly crafted novel that transcends genre fantasy. It is an instant literary classic' Fantasy Book Review On the orders of the mysterious Sphinx, Thomas Senlin and his crew are dragged ever further into the Tower's conspiracies. Meanwhile, the hods climb the Black Trail in darkness and whisper of their king. Praise for the series: 'One of my favourite books of all time' - Mark Lawrence, author of Prince of Thorns 'I'm wildly in love with this book' - Pierce Brown, author of Red Rising 'Brilliant' - Publishers Weekly 'I loved it' - Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names 'these books are absolutely incredible' - The Quill to Live 'Spectacular . . . fabulously gripping' - BookBag 'An impressive display of imagination and humour' - SciFiNow 'An engrossing, intoxicating delight' - Forbidden Planet

The Hod King Book Three of the Books of Babel

Reviews