Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
DAW Books (New York, 2020). 1st edition, 1st printing. 448 pages. $7.99.
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:The ninth book in the fast-paced InCryptid urban fantasy series returns to the mishaps of the Price family, eccentric cryptozoologists who safeguard the world of magical creatures living in secret among humans. Sarah Zellaby has always been in an interesting position. Adopted into the Price family at a young age, she's never been able to escape the biological reality of her origins: she's a cuckoo, a telepathic ambush predator closer akin to a parasitic wasp than a human being. Friend, cousin, mathematician; it's never been enough to dispel the fear that one day, nature will win out over nurture, and everything will change. Maybe that time has finally come. After spending the last several years recuperating in Ohio with her adoptive parents, Sarah is ready to return to the worldâ??and most importantly, to her cousin Artie, with whom she has been head-over-heels in love since childhood. But there are cuckoos everywhere, and when the question of her own survival is weighed against the survival of her family, Sarah's choices all add up to one inescapable conclusion. This is war. Cuckoo vs. Price, human vs. cryptid...and not all of them are going to walk aw… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member MarFisk
Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over
I realized I’d missed a book in the InCryptid series, and one I’d been looking forward to, when news of the next book reached me, so dug out our paper copy. Sarah’s story is unique for the series so far because it’s written in the narrative voice
It’s not that Sarah’s the first cryptid to hold a major role. We’ve shared space with ghosts, dragons, werewolves, and variants I’d never heard of before. Sarah, though, cannot touch without violating a person’s inner world and cannot read expressions well enough to interpret intent or state of mind. Without telepathy, she is all but struck blind and only aware of those around her if they cross into her line of sight.
I wanted to see how the author handled these differences when, for the most part, the lead had also been the narrator in the previous books. There are many cryptids who are friends and even family. Sarah’s not alone in that distinction as much as her species sets her apart both because it’s from a vastly different dimension and because the Johrlac are parasitic, ambush hunters.
Her species isn’t the only one that hunts humans either. Some of those others are even in the acceptable range for the Price family as long as they restrain their appetites. I think what makes the Johrlac so repulsive, beyond their overwhelming selfishness, is the feeling of violation when they remove the last protected space – the mind. It’s an underlying human fear running through our literature, and the reaction to torture or cults. Rewriting someone’s internal wiring is not cool.
While it may seem as if I’m talking at random, these are major themes in the book. The war mentioned in the book blurb is as much for minds as land, at least at first, and Sarah is the battleground.
Here’s where things get dicey. The narrative voice I was looking forward to all but disappears for what felt like a good part of the book. This isn’t Sarah’s story, despite appearances. It’s Sarah and Artie’s story. I went with it because Sarah wasn’t in a position to narrate, but I found the change startling.
Artie is half cryptid on his father’s side, which comes with significant limitations. Still, in affect, he’s human. He has the same wants, needs, and reactions. He doesn’t have to second guess every thought to see whether it arises from a repellant species. In other words, he’s a more comfortable, familiar voice to most readers, at least when doused in cheap men’s perfume.
The repetition of catch-up material threw me out of the story a couple of times. It happened when Artie took over from Sarah, but there was some repetition in Sarah’s portion already. Artie rehashed history of the extended Price family, and how his and Sarah’s unusual cryptobiologies work. I don’t remember this being an issue in the earlier books, but time may just have swallowed the knowledge, and it’s a minor annoyance.
My biggest issue came with the cliffhanger ending. If you don’t like those, be forewarned. The following book is right around the corner, though, which means we don’t have to stand on this cliff for long. And that’s not to say some things aren’t resolved. Long-term threads, even those stretching back to the very first book, came to satisfactory conclusions while even major parts of the main plot are tied up by the end.
Questions raised in the cuckoo war are answered in fascinating ways, and the big reveals were well seeded, allowing me to anticipate almost all of them. I just had to wait to see if I was right. Interesting cryptid discoveries, mostly about the Johrlac, kept me reading and involved in the story.
I really liked what this story did for the Johrlac. It’s a strange thing to say when the teaser is all about a cuckoo war, and I’m not going to give you specifics, but if you’re enthralled with discovering new things about cryptids, there’s meat for you in this book. Even the mice, who I adore, have their moments. It will surprise no one who pays attention to learn the mice are more than the Price family sees.
The character development in Artie and Sarah, among others, also appeals. They face a lot of challenges in this book on a personal and public level. Nothing brushes past the characters on either side of this war without leaving a wave of change in its wake.
Ultimately, this book isn’t my favorite of the series, but I never wanted to stop reading it. Fascinating things are happening throughout, and there are moments of levity to lighten the dark. Maybe not as many as some would have preferred, but they are there. This story is big on the Price motto of family first unless the world’s at risk, and it teetered between those opposing values well.
P.S. There’s a new novella in the back that I’ve yet to read: Follow the Lady.
I realized I’d missed a book in the InCryptid series, and one I’d been looking forward to, when news of the next book reached me, so dug out our paper copy. Sarah’s story is unique for the series so far because it’s written in the narrative voice
Show More
of someone who interacts with the world differently on many levels.It’s not that Sarah’s the first cryptid to hold a major role. We’ve shared space with ghosts, dragons, werewolves, and variants I’d never heard of before. Sarah, though, cannot touch without violating a person’s inner world and cannot read expressions well enough to interpret intent or state of mind. Without telepathy, she is all but struck blind and only aware of those around her if they cross into her line of sight.
I wanted to see how the author handled these differences when, for the most part, the lead had also been the narrator in the previous books. There are many cryptids who are friends and even family. Sarah’s not alone in that distinction as much as her species sets her apart both because it’s from a vastly different dimension and because the Johrlac are parasitic, ambush hunters.
Her species isn’t the only one that hunts humans either. Some of those others are even in the acceptable range for the Price family as long as they restrain their appetites. I think what makes the Johrlac so repulsive, beyond their overwhelming selfishness, is the feeling of violation when they remove the last protected space – the mind. It’s an underlying human fear running through our literature, and the reaction to torture or cults. Rewriting someone’s internal wiring is not cool.
While it may seem as if I’m talking at random, these are major themes in the book. The war mentioned in the book blurb is as much for minds as land, at least at first, and Sarah is the battleground.
Here’s where things get dicey. The narrative voice I was looking forward to all but disappears for what felt like a good part of the book. This isn’t Sarah’s story, despite appearances. It’s Sarah and Artie’s story. I went with it because Sarah wasn’t in a position to narrate, but I found the change startling.
Artie is half cryptid on his father’s side, which comes with significant limitations. Still, in affect, he’s human. He has the same wants, needs, and reactions. He doesn’t have to second guess every thought to see whether it arises from a repellant species. In other words, he’s a more comfortable, familiar voice to most readers, at least when doused in cheap men’s perfume.
The repetition of catch-up material threw me out of the story a couple of times. It happened when Artie took over from Sarah, but there was some repetition in Sarah’s portion already. Artie rehashed history of the extended Price family, and how his and Sarah’s unusual cryptobiologies work. I don’t remember this being an issue in the earlier books, but time may just have swallowed the knowledge, and it’s a minor annoyance.
My biggest issue came with the cliffhanger ending. If you don’t like those, be forewarned. The following book is right around the corner, though, which means we don’t have to stand on this cliff for long. And that’s not to say some things aren’t resolved. Long-term threads, even those stretching back to the very first book, came to satisfactory conclusions while even major parts of the main plot are tied up by the end.
Questions raised in the cuckoo war are answered in fascinating ways, and the big reveals were well seeded, allowing me to anticipate almost all of them. I just had to wait to see if I was right. Interesting cryptid discoveries, mostly about the Johrlac, kept me reading and involved in the story.
I really liked what this story did for the Johrlac. It’s a strange thing to say when the teaser is all about a cuckoo war, and I’m not going to give you specifics, but if you’re enthralled with discovering new things about cryptids, there’s meat for you in this book. Even the mice, who I adore, have their moments. It will surprise no one who pays attention to learn the mice are more than the Price family sees.
The character development in Artie and Sarah, among others, also appeals. They face a lot of challenges in this book on a personal and public level. Nothing brushes past the characters on either side of this war without leaving a wave of change in its wake.
Ultimately, this book isn’t my favorite of the series, but I never wanted to stop reading it. Fascinating things are happening throughout, and there are moments of levity to lighten the dark. Maybe not as many as some would have preferred, but they are there. This story is big on the Price motto of family first unless the world’s at risk, and it teetered between those opposing values well.
P.S. There’s a new novella in the back that I’ve yet to read: Follow the Lady.
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LibraryThing member readinggeek451
The ninth book in McGuire's Incryptid series focuses on cousin Sarah Zellaby, who is finally recovered enough to travel from Ohio to the family compound in Oregan on her own. Things go wrong, of course.
Good characterizations, exciting action, and a lot of new information about the very dangerous
Recommended.
Good characterizations, exciting action, and a lot of new information about the very dangerous
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creatures known as cuckoos, of whom Sarah is one.Recommended.
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
I never have any trouble getting back into this series. Love seeing things from Sarah's POV - we've seen a lot around her, now we get her view. We (and the Prices) learn a _lot_ about cuckoos here. And - it does end in media res. Not _exactly_ a cliffhanger, but pretty close - who what why what's
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going on what happened... If it had ended with the darkness that would be a cliffhanger, or something worse. I'm very glad of the epilogue - even if I will spend the next 11 months chewing over possible scenarios to explain that scene. The bonus short is interesting - Annie and Sam and allies meet up with Grandma Alice. Annie's last adventure had a direct impact on Alice; this is where she feels that impact. Nice! and it adds to the potential scenarios - if Alice is scouring the worlds for her husband, maybe she'll end up with Sarah and friends? Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the 9th book in the InCryptid series. I got an eGalley from NetGalley to review.
Story (5/5): I really enjoyed this a lot. This story focuses on Sarah and her race, the cuckoos. It was incredibly entertaining and I really loved getting to know more about the Price family
Characters (5/5): While I wasn't a huge fan of Antimony being featured in the last couple books, I am a huge fan of Sarah. Sarah is one of my favorite characters, so I was very excited to be able to read a story focused on her. Delving into the world of cuckoos and getting to learn more about Sarah's origins was amazing. I also really enjoyed Artie and learning more about succubi, as well as getting to know the rest of the Price family a bit better.
Setting (4/5): The setting really wasn’t the feature of the story. The majority of the story takes place at the Price family compound. I continue to really enjoy how the incryptids are blended seamlessly into our modern day world.
Writing Style (5/5): I always love McGuire’s writing style, it’s very engaging and highly readable. This book is no exception to that. This book is very well written, easy to read and engaging.
Summary (5/5): Overall I enjoyed this installment of the InCryptid series much more than the last few books told from Antimony’s POV. Sarah is an awesome character and I really enjoyed getting to learn about the Cuckoo race. I was excited to see that the next book in this series will also be from Sarah’s POV. This was a wonderful installment in a very solid urban fantasy series that continues to be very well done. I would recommend this whole series to urban fantasy fans out there.
Story (5/5): I really enjoyed this a lot. This story focuses on Sarah and her race, the cuckoos. It was incredibly entertaining and I really loved getting to know more about the Price family
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and learning more about cuckoos. This also includes a novella at the end about how Antimony and crew got to Oregon to rejoin the family.Characters (5/5): While I wasn't a huge fan of Antimony being featured in the last couple books, I am a huge fan of Sarah. Sarah is one of my favorite characters, so I was very excited to be able to read a story focused on her. Delving into the world of cuckoos and getting to learn more about Sarah's origins was amazing. I also really enjoyed Artie and learning more about succubi, as well as getting to know the rest of the Price family a bit better.
Setting (4/5): The setting really wasn’t the feature of the story. The majority of the story takes place at the Price family compound. I continue to really enjoy how the incryptids are blended seamlessly into our modern day world.
Writing Style (5/5): I always love McGuire’s writing style, it’s very engaging and highly readable. This book is no exception to that. This book is very well written, easy to read and engaging.
Summary (5/5): Overall I enjoyed this installment of the InCryptid series much more than the last few books told from Antimony’s POV. Sarah is an awesome character and I really enjoyed getting to learn about the Cuckoo race. I was excited to see that the next book in this series will also be from Sarah’s POV. This was a wonderful installment in a very solid urban fantasy series that continues to be very well done. I would recommend this whole series to urban fantasy fans out there.
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LibraryThing member karidrgn
The biggest objection I have is that the ending is something of a cliff hanger. Theres a lot in here of the nature and history of the Cuckoos. There's also followup on the characters from the previous novel. And I liked the short story at the end of Antimony and her Grandmother.
LibraryThing member bgknighton
Sarah comes to terms with the fact that she is a cuckoo. The cuckoos are trying to take over the world.
LibraryThing member hcnewton
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S IMAGINARY NUMBERS ABOUT?
The Price's cousin, Sarah, the Johrlac (aka "cuckoo") adopted by the family years ago and last really seen in Midnight Blue-Light Special—but mentioned in almost/every book since—has finally recovered from
She flies out to Portland to reconnect with the family out there, and while she does reconnect with the Prices, she also finds herself connecting to a bunch of other cuckoos. Which is something that the species just doesn't do—these telepathic apex predators have developed in such a way that they can't share territory for long at all. So the fact that you have a group of them working together spells trouble for Sarah and any cryptozoologists trying to keep the peace between the species (and, in this case, to preserve a spot for every species that isn't a Johrlac to live).
That's a little brief, but I don't know how else to be.
IMAGINARY NUMBERS' PLACE IN THE SERIES
It's been five years in series' time, seven years and seven novels in our timeline, since we spent any real time with Sarah. I remember really liking her as a character for the first two books and couldn't believe McGuire would do what she did to her so soon out of the gate for the series. But over the years, as she's been largely "off screen" recovering, I've pretty much forgotten everything about her and what made her click for me as a character. I remembered enough to understand what a big deal it was for Sarah and Artie to see each other and to be say all they needed to say. But beyond that...it'd just been too long for me. Maybe if I'd re-read Midnight Blue-Light Special recently (or ever), this wouldn't have been a problem.
This is our fourth narrator (fourth plus? There's a lot of this book not narrated by Sarah) in this series, and like most fans, I've embraced that as a feature and as a strength. But this one feels more like a sequel to the Annie books (the previous three novels) than we usually get with a narrator switch. There's a direct connection between the events of Verity's Chaos Choreography and Annie's Magic for Nothing, and all the other books show an awareness of the others. But the cast from That Ain't Witchcraft is present and accounted for here, and Imaginary Numbers is happening in its shadow. This isn't good bad or indifferent, it just gives this book a different vibe than I'm used to in this series.
And the way this ends is pretty different, too—McGuire hasn't given us a cliffhanger (this is a pretty complete story, thankfully) before. It's a good one, but, again, not something I'm used to in these books.
One of the advantages of the way this series is set up is that it can do things like this—each book, or each "set" of books*, can take on a different flavor, a different way of approaching the story, a different way to fit in the series, a different way to end a book. While all being part of a larger, overarching story. But there are some dangers with this approach, too. And right now I'm not sure what to think of the Sarah set's approach.
* The initial "Verity" set, the "Alex" set, then the three "Annie"s and now, two (at least) "Sarah"s, I'm not sure how to group the Verity novel between the Alex and Annie sets.
HAIL, AESLIN MICE!
There was much rejoicing here (and I'm betting among all fans) that the Aeslin Mice were back in these pages. If we took nothing else from their absence in the last two books, it's just how important they are for the telling of these stories—they're far more than comic relief (although they are that), and for me, the best emotional moments of this particular novel came from them.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT IMAGINARY NUMBERS?
I liked it, but not as much as I expected to, not as much as I wanted to. There was just so much space devoted to getting everyone caught up with Sarah (and reminding us who she was/what happened to her). Then another big chunk explaining Jorlacs—and then there was another exposition dump when the Johrlacs explained what was going on to Sarah (and then another chunk when it was explained to the Prices). Just so much talking that it felt like the story got pushed out of the way.
Based on the way this ended, I'm not sure I can actually say what I thought about the book. I might have to wait until the end of Calculated Risks. Still, I enjoyed it. I like this world, I like the characters. McGurie writes a good book, and is probably incapable of writing anything but.
---
WHAT'S IMAGINARY NUMBERS ABOUT?
The Price's cousin, Sarah, the Johrlac (aka "cuckoo") adopted by the family years ago and last really seen in Midnight Blue-Light Special—but mentioned in almost/every book since—has finally recovered from
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the events of that book (5 years ago, in the series chronology), or at least recovered enough to travel on her own. She's still not at 100% (and is further from it than anyone but Sarah realizes).She flies out to Portland to reconnect with the family out there, and while she does reconnect with the Prices, she also finds herself connecting to a bunch of other cuckoos. Which is something that the species just doesn't do—these telepathic apex predators have developed in such a way that they can't share territory for long at all. So the fact that you have a group of them working together spells trouble for Sarah and any cryptozoologists trying to keep the peace between the species (and, in this case, to preserve a spot for every species that isn't a Johrlac to live).
That's a little brief, but I don't know how else to be.
IMAGINARY NUMBERS' PLACE IN THE SERIES
It's been five years in series' time, seven years and seven novels in our timeline, since we spent any real time with Sarah. I remember really liking her as a character for the first two books and couldn't believe McGuire would do what she did to her so soon out of the gate for the series. But over the years, as she's been largely "off screen" recovering, I've pretty much forgotten everything about her and what made her click for me as a character. I remembered enough to understand what a big deal it was for Sarah and Artie to see each other and to be say all they needed to say. But beyond that...it'd just been too long for me. Maybe if I'd re-read Midnight Blue-Light Special recently (or ever), this wouldn't have been a problem.
This is our fourth narrator (fourth plus? There's a lot of this book not narrated by Sarah) in this series, and like most fans, I've embraced that as a feature and as a strength. But this one feels more like a sequel to the Annie books (the previous three novels) than we usually get with a narrator switch. There's a direct connection between the events of Verity's Chaos Choreography and Annie's Magic for Nothing, and all the other books show an awareness of the others. But the cast from That Ain't Witchcraft is present and accounted for here, and Imaginary Numbers is happening in its shadow. This isn't good bad or indifferent, it just gives this book a different vibe than I'm used to in this series.
And the way this ends is pretty different, too—McGuire hasn't given us a cliffhanger (this is a pretty complete story, thankfully) before. It's a good one, but, again, not something I'm used to in these books.
One of the advantages of the way this series is set up is that it can do things like this—each book, or each "set" of books*, can take on a different flavor, a different way of approaching the story, a different way to fit in the series, a different way to end a book. While all being part of a larger, overarching story. But there are some dangers with this approach, too. And right now I'm not sure what to think of the Sarah set's approach.
* The initial "Verity" set, the "Alex" set, then the three "Annie"s and now, two (at least) "Sarah"s, I'm not sure how to group the Verity novel between the Alex and Annie sets.
HAIL, AESLIN MICE!
There was much rejoicing here (and I'm betting among all fans) that the Aeslin Mice were back in these pages. If we took nothing else from their absence in the last two books, it's just how important they are for the telling of these stories—they're far more than comic relief (although they are that), and for me, the best emotional moments of this particular novel came from them.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT IMAGINARY NUMBERS?
I liked it, but not as much as I expected to, not as much as I wanted to. There was just so much space devoted to getting everyone caught up with Sarah (and reminding us who she was/what happened to her). Then another big chunk explaining Jorlacs—and then there was another exposition dump when the Johrlacs explained what was going on to Sarah (and then another chunk when it was explained to the Prices). Just so much talking that it felt like the story got pushed out of the way.
Based on the way this ended, I'm not sure I can actually say what I thought about the book. I might have to wait until the end of Calculated Risks. Still, I enjoyed it. I like this world, I like the characters. McGurie writes a good book, and is probably incapable of writing anything but.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I loved learning more about cuckoos, since we'd previously only gotten the most general impression of what their deal is. Sarah is a great character, very different from the other protagonists in the series. I was surprised by the cliffhanger ending! Can't wait til February when the next book comes
The novella at the end was great too, a nice coda to Antimony's journey and an actual introduction to Grandma Alice Healy.
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out.The novella at the end was great too, a nice coda to Antimony's journey and an actual introduction to Grandma Alice Healy.
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LibraryThing member KittyCunningham
I loved Artie and Sarah finally having THAT conversation. I did not love the cliffhanger.
LibraryThing member murderbydeath
The InCryptid series is an outlier for me; it’s the only series I’ve ever read where I feel comfortable picking and choosing which books to read, and have no problem skipping those that don’t appeal to me. My favourites are the Verity novels, and in those novels one of the best characters in
I went in with few expectations, but still, even though it was a good book I read in almost one sitting (I fell asleep with 10 pages to go), I was disappointed. It started off great but went pear shaped once Sarah was forced to work with the other cuckoos. Because at this point the story became more science fiction than urban fantasy, and I don’t like science fiction.
Still, I could have coped, but there were two biggies for me: 1. The all-or-nothing we have to save the world from annihilation trope drives me insane. Like nobody would notice this apocalyptic occurrence? It’s totally unreasonable and gets more unreasonable as the book comes to an end. 2. The end. It’s a damn cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers. Especially when the cliffhanger is in a book that’s just been released and how long am I going to have to wait until the resolution? Will I care by that point?
In spite of all this complaining, you’ll notice I still gave the book 4 stars. Because McGuire can write. She made me devour a story that was irritating me more and more from the mid-way point because her characters are awesome, and the dialog, oh, the dialog is a joy to read. So much sass and wit that’s perfectly balanced and never over-played. Also, the Aeslin mice – they’re always good for at least a 1/2 star bump.
I had planned to use this book for a Spell Pack card in Halloween Bingo, I think. But after reading it I realise it fits perfectly for the In the Dark, Dark Woods square, as most of the story takes place on the Price compound in the middle of the Oregon woods and Sarah is very descriptive about the drive through those woods to get to the compound. Also, 2 significant events to the plot take place in those woods.
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my opinion, was Sarah. So when this book came out, I was excited about seeing where the author would take this character when given her own space.I went in with few expectations, but still, even though it was a good book I read in almost one sitting (I fell asleep with 10 pages to go), I was disappointed. It started off great but went pear shaped once Sarah was forced to work with the other cuckoos. Because at this point the story became more science fiction than urban fantasy, and I don’t like science fiction.
Still, I could have coped, but there were two biggies for me: 1. The all-or-nothing we have to save the world from annihilation trope drives me insane. Like nobody would notice this apocalyptic occurrence? It’s totally unreasonable and gets more unreasonable as the book comes to an end. 2. The end. It’s a damn cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers. Especially when the cliffhanger is in a book that’s just been released and how long am I going to have to wait until the resolution? Will I care by that point?
In spite of all this complaining, you’ll notice I still gave the book 4 stars. Because McGuire can write. She made me devour a story that was irritating me more and more from the mid-way point because her characters are awesome, and the dialog, oh, the dialog is a joy to read. So much sass and wit that’s perfectly balanced and never over-played. Also, the Aeslin mice – they’re always good for at least a 1/2 star bump.
I had planned to use this book for a Spell Pack card in Halloween Bingo, I think. But after reading it I realise it fits perfectly for the In the Dark, Dark Woods square, as most of the story takes place on the Price compound in the middle of the Oregon woods and Sarah is very descriptive about the drive through those woods to get to the compound. Also, 2 significant events to the plot take place in those woods.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
It's finally time for Sarah and Artie and cuckoos and... this story arc, that we've been waiting for. Love that much is being resolved, shocked at places it goes to, delighted with the short story in the back of the book, and also that Alice and Thomas are yet to come. Groovy.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020-02-25
Physical description
448 p.; 4.25 inches
ISBN
9780756413781
Local notes
Inscribed (San Francisco, March 2020).