This is a series about … well, series. I do so love stories that continue across volumes, in whatever form: linked short stories, novels, novellas, television, movies. I’ve already got a list of series I’ve recently read, re-read, watched, or re-watched that I plan to blog about. I might even, down the line, open myself up to letting other people suggest titles I should read/watch and then comment on.
Jordan L. Hawk’s most well-known series is likely their Lovecraftian Whyborne & Griffin series, which ended recently after 11 books and several novellas and short stories. W&G took place in something very close to our own world, where only a select few people know that magic and Elder Gods are real. In Hawk’s Spirits series, the existence of magic is a bit more widely known but still not commonplace. Of all Hawk’s historicals, the Hexworld series is the most removed from our world and definitely qualifies as alternate history.
In the 1890s New York City of the Hexworld books, there exists the Metropolitan Police, which handles every-day crime, and the Witch Police, which handles magic-based crimes. “Witches” here is an umbrella term for anyone who can wield magic, regardless of gender. But for a witch to reach their full potential, they must be bonded with a familiar. Familiars are shifters – people who can turn into a specific animal – and they are the conduits through which magic flows to witches. The bond, once forged, is difficult to break. While any witch and familiar can be bonded, the bond works best when the witch-familiar combo are meant for each other; a witch comes across “his” familiar, or vice-versa. The implication is that for most witch-familiar combos, it’s a working relationship, with the partners going home to their own lives when the work day is over. But the bonds can be romantic, and for the main characters in the books they pretty much always are. (Hawk’s hallmark is historical m/m paranormal romance with plenty of sex tossed in the mix.)
The general public (worldwide, not just in NYC) is aware of magic and in fact dependent on it. Shop-owners rely on hexes to keep thieves out of their stores, for instance. But they also distrust familiars. Prejudice runs deep, especially towards unbonded, or “feral,” familiars, who are often the first suspects when a magic-based crime has been committed. There are those among the Witch Police who would force-bond feral familiars, even though it’s illegal, and it’s a fair bet a portion of the general public feels the same. The prejudice rears its head in sometimes very subtle ways, but it’s always at least in the background of each book, and it’s not always easy to read.
Each book focuses on the beginning of a different witch-familiar pair. They usually come across each other in the course of investigating (or in one case, committing) a crime. Sometimes the familiar realize he’s found his witch first, sometimes the other way around. Romantic and sexual tensions increase as the investigation of whatever crime is at the center of the story goes on, and in the end the main pair of the book are not only bonded professionally, they’re paired romantically. Again, these are m/m paranormal romance from an author who believes in happy endings – so I’m not really spoiling anything major by telling you that out of four novels and two novellas, Hawk has yet to introduce us to a pair who don’t end up together. The romance/sexual side of the books is a bit more formulaic in that regard than either of Hawk’s other two historical series, but I don’t really mind. Knowledge that whatever romantic misunderstandings and trials the characters encounter will be overcome by the end of the book allows me to concentrate on the surprises and twists of the crime plots.
Those crimes range from murder to a feral-child-trafficking ring. The clues to each crime/mystery are laid out very well throughout each book, along with red herrings to keep the reader guessing. The crime introduced at the beginning of each book is resolved by the end, so each book is “one and done” in that regard. But there is an over-arching conspiracy our growing group of heroes becomes aware of that will need to be resolved before the series ends (and I do believe that as with the Whyborne and Griffin series, Hawk is working steadily towards that resolution and already has an end-point in mind).
Even though each book focuses on a different witch-familiar pairing, the main characters of previous books don’t disappear. Most of these pairs end up working for the NYC Witch Police, but not all. We get to see their romantic relationships continue beyond the end of the book they star in, as they provide support for the new focal pairing. Hawk is essentially building a large “found family” of characters who come together to support each other (and deal with that pesky over-arching conspiracy). This is something intrinsically recognizable to queer readers: building a family around yourself when your own family has let you down or abandoned you. It’s interesting to see this play out in a world where being a familiar, and especially a feral familiar, seems to be more disdained than being gay. (I’m not saying there’s no anti-gay sentiment in Hexworld, just that it seems less of a threat that anti-familiar sentiment.)
It should also be noted that at least as of book four, the short story/novellas “A Christmas Hex” and “Wild Wild Hex” do not tie into the main continuity but do give us a look at witch/familiar pairs outside of the NYC Witch Police. They are nice bits of world-expansion and are equally as romantic/erotic as the main books. (Also, full disclosure: I suggested the title for “Wild Wild Hex.” Yes, I was and am a fan of the Wild Wild West television series.
The alternate history worldbuilding is spot-on, the 1890s milieu perfect for the story Hawk is telling. The characters are endearing, interesting, aggravating, and, yes, sexy (in their varied ways). If you like alternate history m/m paranormal romance with a thriller/crime aspect, these books are for you.
The books in the Hexworld series are:
· “The 13th Hex” (prequel short story)
· Hexbreaker
· Hexmaker
· “A Christmas Hex” (short story)
· Hexslayer
· “Wild Wild Hex” (novella)
· Hexhunter