Josiah Bancroft

In Senlin Ascends, Josiah Bancroft has crafted a familiar yet strange world, one that's both alluring and dangerous. Bancroft does a fantastic job of world-building each time we enter a new level of the Tower. In fact, the Tower itself is an incredible character. The further Senlin ascends, the more dangerous and lavish the levels become. The world-building, setting and atmosphere are the best parts of the book.

In addition, I thought the travelogue-style format was well executed. Senlin's journey up the Tower is fraught with peril, and Bancroft does a great job of conveying both the dangers and the wonders of the Tower through Senlin's eyes.

Finally, I loved the heart of this book. Senlin is an incredibly relatable character, and I appreciated seeing his growth throughout the story. Senlin changes in some way with each person he meets, and by the end of the book, he is very different from the man who began his journey up the Tower.

While I enjoyed many things about this book, I felt the plot sometimes meandered, and the verbose writing made my eyes glaze over at times.

Although it took me much longer to read than I would have liked, I enjoyed Senlin Ascends. This book lays an excellent foundation for what promises to be an epic series full of adventure, mystery, friendship, and heartbreak. If you're looking for an adventure story with a touch of philosophy, give Senlin Ascends a try.… (mer)

Bancroft's clear, intelligent (including time-appropriate vocabulary), and evocative prose marvelously "animates" (a la 'Frankenstein') the pseudo-Victorian and Dicksonian English setting of hexologist Isolde Wilby, captain of the newly minted Office of Ensorcelled Investigations. Isolde is an admirable female protagonist, dedicated to the law, who must contend both with the skepticism of her peers and the public, and the good-old-boy patriarchal condescension and unequal application of the law for political expediency of her superiors. Her loyal "Watson"-equivalent mundane (non-sorcerous) sidekick is the one bright spot in her otherwise untenable professional career. An enjoyable tale, albeit, I felt the ending was just a smidge off: (While we meet the the "villain" sufficiently early in the tale, his being a potential threat was not intimated -- at least for me -- to recognize him as one). All-in-all, however, an engaging introduction to the new novel "The Hexologists" published concurrently. As a free taste to entice one to purchase the main course, it succeeds -- for I did. 🙂… (mer)