Description: "Nesi is desperate to earn the patronage of one of the Ninety-Nine Pillars of Heaven. As a child with godly blood in her, if she cannot earn a divine chaperone, she will never be allowed to leave her temple home. But with ninety-six failed auditions and few options left, Nesi makes a risky prayer to T'sidaan, the Fox of Tricks. In folk tales, the Fox is a lovable prankster. But despite their humor and charm, T'sidaan, and their audition, is no joke. They throw Nesi back in time three hundred years, when her homeland is occupied by the brutal Wolfhounds of Zemin. Now, Nesi must learn a trickster's guile to snatch a fortress from the disgraced and exiled 100th Pillar: The Wolf of the Hunt."--
Review Quotes: 2026 Crawford Award Shortlist
NPR 2025 Books We Love
Literary Hub's Most Anticipated SF/F/H Books for the Rest of 2025
Elle Magazine's Best Fantasy and Science-Fiction Books of 2025
--N. K. Jemisin, author of the Broken Earth series "A wondrous, time-traveling, shape-shifting fable that was just what I needed to read. Cahill has a trickster's gift for storytelling and a poet's sorcerous attunement to language."
--Karen Russell, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and author of The Antidote "Cahill combines his modern-day folktale with vividly imaginative worldbuilding."
--Los Angeles Book Review "A triumph, a candle-bright and timely pleasure lit up by gorgeous prose and an exuberant love for the world and for hope."
--Cassandra Khaw, author of The All-Consuming World [STARRED REVIEW] "DEBUT There are 99 Pillars of Heaven in the temple, and Nesi has petitioned 96 of these gods in hopes of finding a patron. When the avatar of the Fox of Tricks winks at her, she chooses not just a patron but a cause she thought was settled history. Her audition throws her back to her people's worst epoch, an era of subjugation and enslavement, whose overthrow gave them the backbone to rise. But history has to be fought for, and someone has to be the spark that incites that rebellion. It's up to Nesi, beaten, starved, broken, and out of her depth and her own time, to be that spark. If she doesn't succeed, she'll never be born, and history will be altered forever. This story considers the nature of courage, the course of history, and what it means to stand up and fight for a better future. It's also a marvelous and heartbreaking tale of a lone warrior for good who learns that she can't succeed alone but that making friends carries its own devastation. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers who enjoy a good time-travel story that explores all the paradoxes and anyone who loves Nghi Vo's "Singing Hills Cycle."
--Library Journal [STARRED REVIEW] "Written in the style of a folktale and interspersed with legends told by characters within the story, Audition for the Fox is an exquisite tribute to ordinary people who act because 'someone has to do something, and if [they're] not that someone, nothing will happen and nothing will get better.'"
--Shelf Awareness "Nimble, sly, and strange as the title character, Cahill has wrought a fine filigree of a tale--with a bold, uncompromising heart."
--Catherynne Valente, New York Times bestselling author of The Fairyland Series "Fox-fleet and brazen, merry and mischievous, haunted by mercies: Martin Cahill's Audition for the Fox has the trick of doling delight."
--C. S. E. Cooney, author of St. Death's Daughter "Tricksy, generous, timely--Audition for the Fox reminds us that we are the sum of the stories we tell ourselves...and stories can change."
--Premee Mohamed, author of The Butcher of the Forest "Rich world building, witty asides, and determined protagonists. The ending also leaves open the exciting possibility of more Nesi and Fox stories to come."
--Booklist "Come for the trickster god shenanigans, stay for the powerful themes of resistance. A time-bending adventure in a richly imagined world. This book keeps its full heart on display at all times."
--John Wiswell, Nebula Award-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In and Wearing the Lion "Timely and timeless, heartbreaking and inspiring. Hug the pages when you've reached the end. Then light a candle for the fox."
--Lyndsie Manusos, author of From These Dark Abodes "Filled with elegant yet thrilling prose, Audition for the Fox drops you headlong into a fascinating setting where the stakes ramp up until you're turning the pages with bated breath."
--Jordan Shiveley, author of Hot Singles In Your Area "Cahill writes with great warmth and heart, and--as in any good book with a fox in--sharply sly trickery set to the best of ends."
--Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians "Cahill makes his full-length fiction debut with this playful novella, featuring fox gods, time travel, humor, plucky main characters, and so much more. It promises to be an absolute joy."
--Literary Hub "Tricky, sharp, and unexpected, Audition for the Fox is a delight. I can't wait to see where Cahill takes us next!"
--Max Gladstone, co-author of the New York Times-bestseller This is How You Lose the Time War "With intricate and personal worldbuilding, Audition for the Fox juggles time travel, folklore, and resistance with a trickster's deftness. A delight to read!"
--Erin M. Evans, author of Empire of Exiles "Humor and heart...I would absolutely love to read more adventures set in this world."
--The Grimm Librarian Rating: A+ "Audition for the Fox is a marvelous contradiction."
--Reading Reality "Audition for the Fox is an enthralling tale of tricks, hope, mythology, and the human struggle to find one's path in life."
--The Paperback Pixie "With a richness to the worldbuilding and its approach to story, I highly enjoyed Fox and Nesi's story."
--Nerds of a Feather "What we have is given weight, and depth, and the space to breathe."
--Ancillary Review of Books "Audition for the Fox should delight lovers of fantasy and fable, particularly those who enjoy a good Trickster tale."
--Skiffy and Fanty