The Fox in Winter by Antonia Hodgson

The Eternal Path Turns Toward the Fox

The Fox in Winter is the second volume of Antonia Hodgson’s Eternal Path Trilogy, following The Raven Scholar and its deadly competition to choose a new emperor. The title points toward Cain, the fox scholar whose wit and sharp dialogue made him a standout in the first book.

After Neema’s Imperial Contest

The Raven Scholar centered on Neema, a young scholar trying to solve a killing while competing for the throne. That combination of murder investigation and political trial established an empire where scholarship, ambition, and survival are inseparable.

The sequel returns to that world rather than beginning a separate fantasy. Whatever new path opens, it carries the consequences of a contest in which finding a killer was bound up with deciding who should rule.

Cain May Finally Claim the Center

No full premise has been revealed, so Cain’s role remains an enticing possibility rather than a certainty. Still, placing the fox in the title makes it hard not to anticipate more from a character known for getting many of the first novel’s funniest and most memorable lines.

Orbit publishes The Fox in Winter on October 5, 2027. Readers have time to begin with The Raven Scholar—and to start wondering which animal scholar the Eternal Path will ask them to follow next.