The InCryptid Series, Part 2
by Seanan McGuire

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted July 17, 2025
Edits and Addenda on August 15, September 27, October 24, and November 6, 2025

Click here to read my thoughts on the first five books in this series, and on Seanan's name above to see links to other reviews.

Magic for Nothing / Tricks for Free / That Ain't Witchcraft / Imaginary Numbers / Calculated Risks

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Another series I'm behind on. Magic for Nothing, the sixth of Seanan's InCryptid novels, was published in 2017. The series started in 2012, but I didn't read the first five titles until last year. So far, fourteen have been published, with a fifteenth due next March, and for the third time they are a Best Series Hugo finalist this year. When I stopped reading her October Daye books after the first six, then started again earlier this year, I found out she considers the seventh book in that series a new beginning in Toby's story. Something similar happened with InCryptid after the fifth book. It concluded with Verity Price outing herself and her family on national TV, and challenging the Covenant of St. George to a confrontation of idealism. A war between the two groups is now anticipated, along with a major purge of cryptids in North America. The Price/Healy family had committed themselves to protecting innocent cryptids, while also learning about harmful species, and training to fight them. The Covenant, on the other hand, considered all cryptids to be harmful and unwanted, a blemish on the world which was supposed to be humanity's domain. They also felt any humans who protected cryptids were no better, thus their enemy.

This book features another first-person narrator, the fourth for the series so far, following Verity Price, her adoptive cousin Sarah, and her older brother Alex. Now it is Verity's younger sister Antimony, Annie for short, but she has used other names. The few brief times she had been mentioned in earlier books it seemed she resented being the youngest, thus the least respected and utilized member of the family of cryptozoologists. She was prone to quarrels with her siblings, and awkward confrontations with her parents. I'm not sure of the timelines, but they may be occuring at approximately the same time as the year they were published. Annie is an adult, I think somewhere between eighteen and twenty, perhaps a bit older. On several occasions Annie says she loves Verity, but doesn't think she will ever like her. Now Verity has thrown the whole family into a frenzy, having to anticipate the Covenant's retribution. The last thing Annie expected was for the rest of the family to decide she should be the one to infiltrate the Covenant in England in an attempt to learn their plans.

One thing that would make that easier is that Annie looks nothing like any other woman in her family, all the rest very similar in appearance. Using the alias of Timpani Brown, and taking a roundabout series of travel by bus, train, and plane, gets her to England. Her cover story is she wants to join the Covenant to avenge her family who had operated a carnival until all were killed by an invasive species of cryptid, Apraxis wasps. She says she had been away at college at that time, so she is the sole survivor of not only her family, but also anyone else associated with that carnival. Annie had previously trained with another carnival, perfecting skills on the trampoline, a little bit of trapeze work, as well as knife-throwing, but no high-wire or tightrope. She also plays on a roller derby team. The Covenant does take her into the fold, although she suspects it would take a long time for her to be fully trusted and accepted. Something that was a bit too serendipitous, her first field assignment was to be sent back to the States to investigate disappearances that were suspected to be connected to another traveling carnival in the Midwest.

That convenience of plot makes this my least favorite of the series so far. What are the odds of something so close to her supposed cover story happening that quickly, unless of course someone in the Covenant knew her true identity, and they were just stringing her along in order to get closer to the other Price family members. One of the operatives she trains with is the distant relative Margaret Healy, who was in the second book, but mind controlled by Sarah to forget contact with Verity. Unless they had been aware of who Timpani was, it didn't make sense they would give her a field assignment so soon, as well as letting her work at the carnival without supervision other than nightly call ins. If Margaret and another agent were observing her closely, they either were bad at their job, or again, stringing her along to see what she would do, how she might incriminate herself. Days go by, sometimes several weeks between chapters, with little to report, although Annie does eventually discover a dangerous cryptid, which she kills, then has to convince the Covenant the other members of the carnival knew nothing about it. The last thing she wants is for them to purge everyone, human or cryptid, but how can she stop them if that is their intent?

I won't identify how many cryptids she is working with, or their type, or their fates, and not much of anything else either. One of them may recur in a later book, but I won't search for that information. Some other very convenient things happen. Annie could have easily been killed, or captured, to be returned to England, but as it is she is on the run, on her own, not wanting to lead the Covenant back to her family. Even though this was my least favorite, I will continue with the series at some point, not sure when. I only know the title of the next book, but no details, not sure who the narrator will be next time, but because of the title I suspect it will be Antimony again. Stay tuned..

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Posted August 15, 2025
Antimony Timpani Price used the alias of Timpani Brown in the previous book when she infiltrated Covenant headquarters in England, but now she is on the run from them, and also keeping her whereabouts secret from her family, all of whom the Covenant is after. She is almost out of money when she reaches Florida. She hopes to land a job at Lowryland, the second largest theme park in the state, conceived before DisneyWorld, but not completed until later. Michael Lowry had been a contemporary of Walt Disney, creator of other films and characters. Annie is using an alternate alias, Melody West, which she had used throughout high school, where she had been on the cheerleading squad. Unbeknownst to her, one of her closest school friends, cheer squad leader Sophie Vargas, is at management level at Lowryland, so getting a job there is fast-tracked. Several weeks go by, "Melody" working in various capacities in different sections of the park. She lives in a company owned apartment complex, rooming with two cryptids. Megan is a Pliny's Gorgon, a hopeful doctor interning at the park's hospital. Fern is a sylph, a humanoid cryptid capable of controlling and changing her personal body density. Fern's most frequent job is as one of the park's "face characters," Princess Aspen from Lowry's 1989 masterpiece Goldtree and Silvertree. She is also a former associate of Annie's, having been on the Slasher Chicks roller derby team back in Portland. Even though she knows she is not supposed to, Fern frequently calls her Annie instead of Melody, thankfully only in private, so I guess that is the name she used for the team, plus she had picked up the nickname "Final Girl."

Something I did not mention about Annie in the previous review: even though she is completely human, she has a magical ability she thinks she inherited from her grandfather, the one who is missing in some alternate dimension, although it is possible he is dead. No one else in the family has the same magic, that she is aware of at least, plus she has kept it secret as much as possible, but needs help to either develop the ability or figure out how to rid herself of it. She can produce fire on her own, many times inadvertently, and depending on her mood. Fear or anxiety are the usual triggers. She fears that power if she cannot learn how to control it. If I'm not mistaken, the only one of her family that knows is her adoptive Aunt Mary, who happens to be dead but still around as a ghost. Mary had been with the family for generations, mainly as a babysitter, and she is particularly fond of Annie. Mary is also what is known as a "crossroads witch." Not the one who would make deals at the crossroads, more like an advocate for the petitioner, and mostly an advocate that a deal not be made at all. So Mary knows where Annie is, dropping in on her every week or so, but also in contact with someone else from the previous book which I did not identify then. I'll get to Sam later.

There are other magic users at Lowryland. Humans, not cryptids. They become aware of Annie's abilities and one of them approaches her to invite her into their cabal. Hint: if anyone ever tells you they are part of a cabal, it would be best to run the other way as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the need to understand her ability takes precedence, and Annie is deep into the cabal's instructions (aka manipulations) before she realizes the danger. One thing the cabal is doing is draining the luck from unsuspecting tourists and channeling it into more power for themselves. They don't seem to care even when their actions lead to accidents and death. Aunt Mary had just been keeping an eye on Annie, but when she realizes the danger she is in, that is when she brings Sam to Lowryland for support. Annie now has backup from Sam, Megan, Fern, as well as Cylia, another cryptid (a jink) roller derby player, drawn to Lowryland due to her luck sensing ability, of both the good and bad variety. The situation becomes very dire and perilous, so much that Annie is forced to implore Mary to take her to the crossroads to make a deal, for herself, and for Sam. The deal is made, Annie and her friends prevail, but there will be another cost Annie will have to pay sometime in the future. At the end, she, Sam, Fern, and Cylia are enroute to South Carolina. Asked why South Carolina, Cylia, whose car they are in, shrugs and says, "I have no idea, but it's on the way to Maine." I do think the next book also features Annie, but I don't know where she will be or what she will face then. I may get to That Ain't Witchcraft next month, but before that, a few comments on a bonus novella included with Tricks for Free.

I realize very few people read my reviews, both because I'm not a good reviewer, plus the site is not mobile friendly. Not sure if that will ever change. But for anyone who has read the InCryptid books, and my reviews, they may have been wondering why I have not yet mentioned a prominent cryptid species. The time has come where I can't avoid the Aeslin mice (Apodemus sapiens). Many of the other cryptids mentioned are from various legends from different cultures around the world, but the Aeslin mice are a unique Seanan McGuire creation. In appearance they are very similar to common, ordinary field mice, except they speak, and they like to fashion things they find into clothing, furniture, tools, and weapons. Most everyone who was ever aware of them think they are extinct, including the Covenant, but one colony had been a part of the Healy/Price family since their breakaway from the Covenant. Even they were unaware a family of mice were still in England, although they had remained hidden from the Covenant, since that group was intent on exterminating all cryptids, Aeslin included.

Aeslin are prone to religious fervor, worshipping the humans they chose as their gods and priestesses, and chronicling all their adventures. Aeslin mice never forget, and never fail to pass on their knowledge to their family, so that the history will endure. Verity had a few of them living with her in New York, and Alex had some with him in Ohio, and on his visit to Australia, while others remained at the family compound near Portland. I assume other family, both related and adoptive, have their share of Aeslin so all activity can be remembered. Annie took one with her to England, a female named Mindy, who volunteered since it was a great honor to serve, even though she knew it would be a perilous adventure, one from which she might not return. But if at all possible, even if Annie didn't survive, it was Mindy's job to witness everything, and hopefully return to Portland with her account. While at the Covenant compound, Mindy discovered the hidden Aeslin colony, and it was decided one of them would accompany Annie and Mindy back to the States so that the memories of that colony would not be forgotten. The one chosen was a male, whom Annie named Mork. Both Mindy and Mork witnessed all that occured at the carnival in the previous book, but Annie implored them to return to Portland with the news, while she ran from the Covenant and stayed as far away from her family as possible.

I think ""The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and also Mork" is only available in conjunction with Tricks for Free, the exception possibly being for Seanan's Patreon subscribers. It is set after the last chapter of Magic for Nothing and before its Epilogue. Annie had tasked Sam Taylor, a member of the carnival, with getting Mindy and Mork to the Minneapolis airport so they could get aboard a plane to Portland. The majority of this story is a first-"person" account, narrated by Mindy, with shorter sections in third-person about Sam, his grandmother Emily, who is the carnival owner, and a few others as they wait on insurance money from the fire that destroyed most of their property. Emily knows it was Annie that set the fire, is angry with her, and mad at Sam for trying to defend Annie's actions. Annie had planned it as a cover for the carnival people (and cryptids) to escape from the Covenant, as well as her own escape. Sam is now desperate to find out where she is so he can go to her to help.

Mindy tells us of her and Mork's journey through drainage pipes, and the backrooms of airport security, baggage handling, cafes, etc. They do their best to remain hidden, but one incident has them spotted after Mork is kicked by someone as he was jumping from a tram car. Mindy is able to rescue him, and they hide again, but eventually come to where they can see a Departure board, so they know which flight and gate they need to get to. They do meet someone, another cryptid, who surprisingly is not alarmed by them, and who agrees to help. For a price that is. I won't mention what that is for now, but maybe later if it comes up again. In between their adventure, Sam gets to know Mary the ghost, who pops in on him from time to time, but at least for the duration of this story it is before Mary is aware of the danger brewing at Lowryland. Mary knows Sam and Annie like each other a lot, even if they hadn't yet felt comfortable expressing serious intentions. Annie is the first human girl he has ever been close to, due to his cryptid nature. The fact that Annie accepts him as he is, not repelled by his cryptid form, means the world to Sam. He is a type of therianthrope, a shapeshifter. He is only half cryptid, his mother being human, his father a Furi, who can appear human but whose true nature is a monkey. Sam has to stay in his human form most of the time, shifting to his monkey self only when he is alone or around someone who already knows about him. That includes Annie, who has kissed him when he was monkey, and they have had sex, which he hopes his grandmother is not aware of. Once again I have tried to stay spoiler free, so even though Annie and Sam are together at the end of the seventh novel, I don't know how long that will last. I will try to read the next book soon..

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Posted September 27, 2025
All of the InCryptid books have started with a prologue written in third person. The one that opens this book is set near the Price compound in Oregon, and three years prior to the main action in the story to follow. Annie and Fern are tracking a malevolent unicorn. Then the novel begins in Ohio, not South Carolina as I expected based on the end of the previous book. Annie is still accompanied by Sam, Fern, and Cylia, and they do eventually end up in Maine, but apparently word had come to Annie about mysterious disappearances which may be connected to a Corn Blight problem in Ohio. That is not just a problem for corn, but a cryptid form of fungus that can attack humans too. Annie defeats it, then they wend their way to a house near New Gravesend, Maine, which Cylia had contracted to rent for several months while its owner was traveling around Europe. Annie makes several comments about the house, the town, and surrounding area reminding her of many Stephen King horror stories. I previously said the first of Annie's adventures was somewhat serendipitous, considering her cover story to infiltrate the Covenant was about her being the sole survivor of a carnival killed by cryptids, and then being assigned to go to a carnival to find and kill other cryptids. In her second adventure she went to the Lowryland theme park, where human magicians were stealing luck from unsuspecting park patrons, and another "coincidence" occurred when her jink friend Cylia showed up, her luck-sensing ability telling her she was needed there. Annie chose to go to the crossroads to bargain for her and Sam's lives, a request that was granted, but she had to give up her fire sorcery, and it was implied she would be required to grant another request from the crossroads some time in the future. That future came very quickly.

The first time Annie ventured out of the house to find out where Sam was, she got lost in the woods until she encountered a young man named James Smith, whose uncle is the owner of the rented house. He is another sorcerer, but of ice instead of fire, an ability he inherited from his mother, who had sadly passed away when he was a pre-teen. James is plagued with debilitating weakness every time he tries to leave New Gravesend, which is home to many individual crossroads. His friend Sally had gone to the crossroads to plead for James to be able to leave the town. The crossroads took Sally, but James was still not able to leave. He had been studying his mother's books on sorcery in order to plead for Sally's return, since the crossroads had reneged on her deal. Annie calls her dead Aunt Mary, a crossroads ghost, for help. Mary had always been unable to completely answer Annie's questions due to her own commitment to the crossroads, but she almost slips up and is about to reveal something, when Mary disappears and another crossroads ghost, Bethany, takes her place, and tells Annie it is time to fulfill her bargain. The crossroads wants her to kill James. Annie is not going to do that of course, but she has to make it seem like she will, but first she needs to get close to James, learn what he knows about the crossroads, hopefully to use that information to help the both of them. James' theory is that the power of the crossroads changed some 500 years in the past. Before, the crossroads were more benevolent, granting wishes and not asking much in return. The change caused the crossroads to be more harmful, especially if the petitioner worded their request the wrong way. James thought he could perform a spell to get him into the past, where he could figure out why the crossroads had changed, then reverse that, then he would be able to get Sally back.

Annie wants to help him, and they get closer to their goal when she finds a hidden part of the attic in his house, where James' mother had stashed her journals. Several things they have to overcome to continue include Bethany being a no nonsense crossroads ghost, not sympathetic like Mary, so the rented house has to be warded against ghost infiltration, which James helps to accomplish. Also, Leonard Cunningham, a Convenant operative had tracked Annie using a blood spell, although he is alone and keeping his activities secret from the rest of the Covenant. Annie knows he is the presumptive heir to be their leader, and he is intent on bringing Annie back into the fold, along with the rest of the Price/Healy family. Either that or kill them all. The reason he is hiding his activities from his superiors is he was aware of Annie's identity even before she left the Covenant compound in England to go to the carnival in Minnesota, and he allowed her to escape. He respects her skills but does not understand why she chooses to live among cryptids, to defend and help them rather than kill them as he thinks she should. He is arrogant enough to think he will eventually win her over, so we may see him again in the future, but for now he has lost his tracking spell, and has to let her go due to the agreement they had made for his help in defeating the evil crossroads and bringing that entity back to its original intent. James is able to leave New Gravesend now, and Annie wants him to be another addition to her family, so now all of them, Annie, Sam, Fern, Cylia, and James, are headed back to Oregon. The next novel features another of the adopted family, but before that, there is a bonus novella attached to this book, which I believe involves Alex again, so I will follow up with comments about it soon.

UPDATE: The bonus story included with That Ain't Witchcraft is a novella that switches the perspective back to Alex, back to Columbus, Ohio. There is no cover image for it as there was for the previous extra story about Mindy and Mork, but that was a fan created one I found on Seanan's website. "The Measure of a Monster" also involves adopted cousin Sarah, a Johrlac (telepathic cuckoo) who is still recovering from her ordeal in New York when she aided Verity in escaping the wrath of the Covenant. Several things tell me this overlaps in time with Annie in Maine. Alex is still with Shelby, newly engaged and recently returned from visiting her family in Australia. They have managed to persuade zoo officials to sync their days off, and both have slept late, hoping to have a lazy day. That is interrupted by a visit from Dee, Alex's assistant, a Pliny's Gorgon, who figured prominently in the third book, Half-Off Ragnarok. Someone has kidnapped several Gorgon children, as well as stealing some of their gestating eggs. Alex and Shelby follow Dee back to the Gorgon compound, where he meets Dee's daughter Megan, who had been one of Annie's roommates at Lowryland. She tells Alex that Annie was safe the last time she knew, but she does not know where she is now.

Megan thinks she might be responsible for the kidnappings, since she is sure she was spotted by men at a motel on her trip back from Florida…without her wig, snakes visible. That convinces Alex the people who took the children and eggs are human cryptid hunters, although probably not the Covenant. None of the Gorgons are happy with Alex's suggestion that he bring Sarah to the compound. She should be able to sense the thoughts of other humans present in the area. He is sure they are hiding in the dense woods nearby, waiting for a better time to get away, since the compound is heavily surveilled and warded, at least on the roads and highways. Reluctantly they agree to Sarah's presence. The title probably refers to how cryptids view other species. Everyone is fearful of Johrlacs, although Alex knows Sarah and her adoptive grandmother Angela are the exceptions to the rule. In their search through the woods, Alex is surprised that he receives a telepathic message from Sarah, something she had not been able to do up to that point in her recovery. Her skill also leads them to the kidnappers, and they rescue the Gorgon children. I won't tell you what happened to the kidnappers. It wasn't pleasant, but they didn't deserve pleasant. I only know the next novel centers on Sarah, so we will see how far along she is in her recovery. I have avoided searching for more info than that, but I hope to read her story next month..

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Posted October 24, 2025
Before getting into details about the novel, I will say a few things about the bonus novella attached to it, since its chronological order places it after the previous novel, and maybe even before the bonus story that was included with it. "Follow the Lady" is again narrated by Antimony, as she, Sam, James, Cylia, and Fern are traveling cross-country from Maine, to eventually make it back to the Price compound in Oregon. But first she wants to stop in Buckley Township, Michigan, which is home to the Healy/Price homestead, originally owned by her great-grandparents, Alexander and Enid Healy. Their daughter Alice had married Thomas Price, and their son Kevin and his wife Evelyn Ann Baker are the parents of Alexander, Verity, and Antimony. Thomas had made a deal at the crossroads, but whatever his request had been went awry, and he has been missing ever since, although Alice was convinced he was still alive. Alice has been mentioned several times, and appeared in the fifth novel, Chaos Choreography, assisting Verity during the "Dance or Die" mystery. Her inter-dimensional travel trying to find her husband is probably the reason she doesn't appear to age, in fact Antimony remarks here that she seems to be aging in reverse, now looking younger than her, when she is actually more than 50 years older. Alice is in Buckley when they arrive, another serendiptious circumstance, and Annie is able to tell her about how she had defeated the evil crossroads, and that she is sure Thomas is still alive, she just doesn't know where. That is all Alice needs to hear to plan yet another journey to find her husband, but before she leaves she bequeaths Annie the two Aeslin mice who had been with her. She says she needs to lighten her load for the travails ahead. So Antimoy is the "Lady" of the title, and the mice are the ones who will now follow her.

Imaginary Numbers starts with a prologue written in third-person. It is set about 20 years prior to the story that follows. The Price/Healy family tree has many branches, and quite a few of those branches are home to cryptids who have been adopted, or in at least one case cryptids who have adopted a human. Martin (a Revenant) and Angela (a Johrlac) Baker could not reproduce, but had adopted human Evelyn, who had married Kevin Price, and their children are Alex, Very, and Annie. The Bakers had also adopted Drew, who has been mentioned but has not appeared so far, and I can't recall if he was human, or if cryptid what type he may be. [EDIT: Drew is a bogeyman.] Johrlacs are known to humans as telepathic cuckoos, a cryptid species that leaves their young with human families, then when those children reach puberty they usually kill those parents. Angela is very different though, but I don't know the reason for the difference. She can transmit, but normally cannot receive the thoughts of others, although she learns she can if the signal is strong enough. In this case, she and Martin, along with Alex, Very, and Annie, are returning to Ohio from a trip to Lowryland, when Angela picks up a distressing plea for help, which she is sure is from a Johrlac child. She is right. The family that Sarah had been left with had died in an auto accident, so she is alone and afraid, and also unaware of her true nature at that time. Angela is able to direct Martin to drive to where they find Sarah, and she becomes another adopted child. Alex, Very, and Annie think of her as a cousin, although strictly speaking Sarah is sister to their mother, previously adopted by the Bakers, so Sarah is actually their aunt. She was 10 or younger when found and adopted, about the same age as Very, a few years older than Annie. Something I already knew, but didn't think about, but someone else mentions it. Sarah did not take the surname of Baker, but rather Zellaby. That is the last name of a character in John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos.

The novel proper begins after events in "Follow the Lady." Annie and her entourage have made it to Oregon, which we learn later after Sarah makes it there. Sarah is the main narrator, telling about her departure from Ohio, and her trip to Oregon, where she had encountered other Johrlac, one at each airport, but she doesn't think either have followed her. She is wrong about at least one of them. Once in Portland she goes to a warehouse where she thinks she will find Annie, since it is where her roller derby team practices. Artie is also there; Arthur James Harrington, another cousin. He and his sister are half human on their mother's side, half Lilu on their father's. Artie is an incubus, Elsie a succubus. Although nominally cousins, or aunt/nephew, Artie and Sarah are not related by blood. Everyone but the two of them are certain they love each other, but both have been fearful of revealing their feelings, convinced the other would not reciprocate. Sarah is a Johrlac, a cuckoo, probably not genetically compatible with either a human or Lilu, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be a romance if they could get over their reticence to reveal their feelings. We knew from the first book Sarah was good at math, taking university courses while in New York. Her adoptive mother Angela was similar, working as an accountant. This books gives us the reason for a Johrlac's math affinity. Previously it had been speculatated that Johrlacs might be from a different dimension, and we now know that dimension, Johrlar, gave them their species name. We also now know the ones on Earth had been expelled from Johrlar, although it is not clear the reasons why. Their whole existence is now the intent to breed a Queen who can complete the equations that will open up a portal to either return to Johrlar, or a new dimension, to leave Earth behind. Sarah's biological mother, Ingrid, believes Sarah is the Queen they have been waiting for.

Leaving the warehouse, Sarah rides with Artie in his Camaro, while Annie and others are in another vehicle. After just a few miles, on a lonely country road, a big truck comes out of nowhere to collide with the Camaro, which is driven off the road. Sarah is stunned but still conscious, but Artie is slumped over the wheel, non-responsive. She gets out of the car and back up to the road, but there is no sign of the other vehicle. Her phone barely has enough charge and signal to call Annie, and she and Sam come back for them. Back at the compound, Sarah, using her telepathic ability, goes into Artie's mindscape in an attempt to bring him back to consciousness. She does manage that, but in doing so has to dismantle the block set by the Johrlac she had seen at the Portland airport. Later that evening, Sarah gets a text message from an unknown source, which tells her to come outside, and to not tell anyone else, or others of her family will die. The one thing that has been impressed upon all of the Price/Healy/Baker/Harrington families, do whatever you have to do to keep the majority safe. It was the reason Annie went incognito to Florida after escaping the Covenant, so as not to lead them back to anyone else. Now Sarah does similar, going out of the house, even outside the walls and gates, where she meets a Johrlac named Mark. She follows him through the woods for several miles, where they meet up with others from his group, which includes Ingrid, but it is not until later Sarah learns Ingrid is her mother.

Something else about Johrlac. They are all genetically similar, so much so that all females look very much alike, other than as they age. All the males are the same. Pale skin, dark hair, very similar features. If this was ever filmed, one actress and actor would need to play multiple parts, with variation of wardrobe and makeup for aging. Using digital work, the same actress could play Sarah and her mother Ingrid, who is once again very much pregnant. To make a long story as short as possible, as it had happened in the second book, when Sarah took over the narration when Verity was incapacitated, there are several chapters here narrated by Artie, until they are able to rescue Sarah and return to the compound. Yet Sarah has now been influenced by the other Johrlac, and being obsessed with math she is busy working on the equations, even if she is unaware of what that portends. The family keeps growing, now that Annie has essentially adopted James as another brother, and she and Sam are a couple, even if they never have children, but since Sam's mother is human it seems they could reproduce if they wanted to. Now it is possible another Johrlac could be incorporated into the family, since Mark appears to be a turncoat to his group, and he is with Sarah, Artie, Annie, and James at book's end. Sarah was able to finish the equation, but we will need to wait for the next book to be certain of the outcome. They are apparently on another world, but I don't know if the other Johrlac are with them, still on Earth, or maybe they were sent to another dimension. I hope to read about that next month.

I continue to be impressed with Seanan's imagination, her ability to create interesting characters and scenarios. Imaginary Numbers is my favorite of the series so far, which I had previously said about the fourth book. The next will be Calculated Risks, the tenth novel, and the last I purchased a couple of years ago. As of next March there will be fifteen. I will want to continue, so will either buy others, or maybe get them from the library. As many other books as I already have, both print and e-books, I could probably devote the rest of my life reading nothing but Seanan McGuire. InCryptid is only one of twelve or thirteen other series she has written, more if you include her work under the pseudonyms Mira Grant and A. Deborah Baker. While I like some of the stories more than others, I have yet to read any that disappoint. After the tenth novel in this series I hope to read a short story collection in December, and there will be another Wayward Children story in January, which I have requested from the library. If you haven't read Seanan yet (or Mira, or A. Deborah) you are missing out on some great stories. Even if you don't care for one type, another will probably please you..

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Posted November 6, 2025
This novel picks up a short time after the conclusion of the previous one. Sarah is again the narrator. She had completed the Johrlac equations, did not die, but had lost consciousness. When she awakes she does not know where she is, but does know she is tied to a chair, with Annie, Artie, James, and Mark surrounding her, looking very mad and confused. When she had neared the end of the equation she realized she needed help, extra processing power, and Artie suggested she use the minds of the others if she felt that would work. Normally she would not extract or add any information to another person's mind without their consent, but in this case she saw no other recourse. She would regret her decision, but since she thought the equation was going to kill her, she felt it best that the others would be better off if she deleted memories of her from their minds. But she didn't die, so now has to face the wrath of people who have no idea who she is or why they are in an alternate dimension. For reasons she didn't know, Ingrid and the other Johrlacs had gathered on the campus of Iowa State University. Portions of the campus, including intact buildings had come with them to the new dimension, where the skies are orange, there are at least three suns, along with giant centipedes that can fly, or at least float. Gravity seems to be about the same as Earth, so they figure the centipedes have air sacs that help them float, since they do not have wings. Other creatures they see later do have wings, very similar to mantids, and there is a humanoid species that rides the mantids.

In addition to the huge insects, other things indicate human and cryptid capabilities are enhanced. Annie can now summon fire more easily, and can moderate it to just supply light rather than flame and heat. James' freezing capabilty is stronger too, and in once instance he almost freezes himself solid. Due to the multiple suns they don't know if this world ever has a true night, but it eventually does, although without major light sources like Earth cities, the stars provide sufficient light to see during the night hours. Sarah's telepathic ability seems to be enhanced too. She is able to understand and communicate with the humanoid species, as well as calling down one of the centipedes to help when some "zombie" Johrlacs attack. In addition to the mindless Johrlac, some humans and other cryptids that had been on the campus came with them through the void. The major obstacle preventing them working together to figure out solutions is nobody knows who Sarah is or why they should care about her. However, both Annie and Artie have a few Aeslin Mice with them, and at least one of them knows Sarah and her story. All of the Price/Healy/Baker/Harrington family have been told they must trust the mice and their knowledge, so at least Annie begins to warm up to Sarah. But not Artie, which is devastating to Sarah since they had only recently been able to profess their love for each other. The humanoids in this new place embrace Artie when they learn he is an incubus, because they have a history with another human/incubus who had come years before, and fathered many children.

In spite of the fact Sarah can communicate with the humanoids, they are upset when she aligns with another species, a predator they avoid as much as possible. Giant spiders. The one Sarah is able to subdue through her telepathic ability is probably a juvenile, smaller than others she saw. She names her spider Greg, and is able to tame it and direct its actions. The others had escaped the campus with the humanoids, riding on their mantids, when the huge spiders came, and Sarah was able to convince Greg to follow the humanoids to their home territiory, which resembled huge termite mounds. The previous incubus had been accompanied by other Johrlac, probably from Johrlar, not affiliated with the group that had been exiled to Earth. Sarah finds information about their math calculations, so she is willing to try her skills again to get them all back to Earth. Which she does, but that might have something to do with things that had previously seemed merely coincidental, but might have more to do with the Price/Healy family, going far back to a great, great ancestor, Frances Brown, who was probably less than fully human. I have not previously mentioned that most of the family had a natural immunity to the telepathy exhibited by Johrlacs, as well as a remarkable history of good luck, or at least an ease of taking advantage of coincidences. How else to explain landing on a world that had a history of another incubus, a world that had the information needed to get back to Earth? So, not just Seanan slipping in conveniences, but rather something inherent in the character's DNA. Other "convenient" things happen on their return to Earth. All of the returnees are quickly transported to New York, where the only cryptid-specific hospital is. Whatever Sarah did, perhaps mixed in with her new calculations, has restored everyone's memories of her, including Artie's love. Another surprise is that Greg came along too.

There is another bonus story included with this novel, but I have not read it yet. Another book I had on hold at the library was available, so as soon as I finish it I will read "Singing the Comic-Con Blues." That will conclude my examination of InCryptid for this year, since Calculated Risks is the last of what I have purchased. I do want to continue with the series at some point, but I don't know when that will happen. I plan to read one of Seanan's story collections for next month.

I was only able to find one image for "Singing the Comic-Con Blues" through a google search, but it was fan created, and didn't fit the reality of the story. Antimony/Annie is the narrator, and she does cosplay as either Lara Croft or a generic lady archaeologist, but didn't carry any guns, even fake ones, as the fan art showed. She did have a few hidden ceramic knives, both on her person and in her backpack, as well as lock picks tucked in her bra, which she got through the metal scanners saying it was her underwire bra causing the beeps. One thing that conforms to the Lara Croft cosplay is that Annie is very well endowed, which had always made her older sister Verity jealous, even if larger breasts would have hampered her dancing ability. Annie, Verity, Sarah, and Artie attend the Emerald City Comic-Con because Annie had been tracking deaths at other conventions, which she suspects have been caused by a Siren. The deaths have only occurred at cons held near large bodies of water, including one in Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan. She thinks the culprit is someone who works the cons as a vendor, and Emerald City is the next up on the schedule. She wants to catch and deal with the Siren before San Diego's Comic-Con, the largest media convention in the world.

The majority of the story takes place first in Artie's basement room at his parent's house, then at the Price's house at their compound outside Portland, the gist of the discussions being why Artie needs to go to the con with them. Artie tries to isolate himself as much as possible because of being a Lilu/incubus. He doesn't want his pheremones to influence other people being attracted to him when they otherwise would not. He is also a strong empath, which Annie thinks will help them locate the Siren. When Artie does have to be near people his defense is an over abundance of strong cologne, which would hopefully mask his pheremones. Annie also has to contend with her mother insisting that Verity go with her. I think my notion of how old Annie was in the first book she narrated was wrong. The first book of the series was published in 2012, with each book released a year apart. If the stories are taking place in those years then Verity would have been about twenty-two in the first book, and Annie nineteen. "Comic-Con Blues" is set nine years earlier than the end of Calculated Risks, apparently just prior to the first book, before Verity moved to New York. Annie insists this is her mission, that her mother and Verity need to respect that and give her the chance to prove herself in the field. I had previously mentioned that Annie loves her sister, but she wasn't sure she would be able to like her. Verity is head-strong, not listening to Annie's instructions on how to deal with the situation. Verity had every opportunity to check convention rules and regulations before they left, and yet she still wanted to take several of her guns, plus she thought it was a good idea to wear extremely high heels when Annie had stressed "sensible shoes."

Not only did Annie want to catch the Siren, she was also a geek about comic books, and fantastical stories in all media. So was Sarah and Artie, but not Verity, who didn't even recognize Sarah's cosplay as a Jedi knight. Of course, Sarah is needed for the mission since her telepathic mind tricks are similar to a Jedi's, aiding them in getting a luxurious suite at one of the con hotels. That was something different than the way Sarah had been depicted so far, being reluctant to use her abilities without consent. It is more than 3/4 of the way in the story before they get to Seattle, and the eventual identification of the Siren, and dealing with her, is very anti-climactic. It ends even before their concluding instructions to the Siren not to use her ability to persuade creepy guys from taking a plunge into the water. As I said above, this is the last of the books I had bought, and while I want to continue with the story I don't know when that will happen. There are currently four more novels, with another due out next March. There may be more bonus stories included with the novels, plus there are many others available to download on Seanan's website, along with a few in general anthologies that include other authors. Along with every other series she continues to expand I am sure I would have a hard time reading everything even if I ignored everyone else. That won't happen of course, with my next read being from a different author.

Related Links:
Part 1 of my InCryptid Reviews
A list of all my Seanan McGuire Reviews

 

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