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kathydavie's review
4.0
Tenth in the InCryptid urban fantasy series revolving around a family of cryptozoologists. The focus is on Sarah Zellaby. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the InCryptid books on my website.
My Take
Events in Imaginary Numbers, 9, have stranded Sarah and those who no longer know her, and therefore don’t love her in another dimension. Thank goodness McGuire starts Calculated Risks with a recapitulation of events in Imaginary Numbers.
While the perspective is primarily Sarah’s in first person protagonist point-of-view, Angela does provide the prologue and her thoughts about puberty and cuckoo behavior emerging at the same time — it has some merit — is from a third person point-of-view as is Mark’s commentary on the back history on how the cuckoos came to earth and why the luck-benders were so bad for them. It’s also why Frances Brown was an orphan. Plenty more back history comes as Sarah tries to remind her fellow travelers that they do indeed know her.
We also learn the “truth” about survival of the fittest, and it does make more sense, lol.
Then again, that human bigotry in which too many humans here on earth believe that if you’re not exactly like them, with their beliefs, then you’re monstrous. Explains why so many idiots believe that anyone not of their religion, LGBTQ, racial make-up, etc., are “monsters”.
It’s a fear of return without death that drives a good chunk of the story, keeping us in suspense with this primarily character-driven story. Yes, there is action too.
The Story
Sarah’s fellow cuckoos had triggered her second instar and made her their cuckoo queen, except that Sarah’s human upbringing hasn’t inculated her with those cuckoo beliefs.
They do make that dimensional jump, but not with everyone and Sarah does bring part of the campus with her. It’s how to get back that worries everyone.
The Characters
Sarah Zellaby, a telepathic ambush predator, is an adopted member of the Price family. She’s also a mathematician, a cryptozoologist, and the Calculating Priestess of the Aeslin mice. The McNallys had been Sarah’s first human family. Angela and Martin Baker were the second family to take Sarah in.
Angela Baker, a cuckoo who can project but can’t receive, has raised many young cuckoos in Ohio, besides Sarah and including Evie, a human, who is now a combat medic and herbalist fascinated by cryptid biology and medicine, and Drew, a boogeyman whose birth family was killed in an accident.
Evelyn “Evie” Baker is not a biological cuckoo, but having been raised by and with cuckoos, has developed a learned resistance. She’s married to Kevin Price (a descendant of Frances Brown who had also been resistant to cuckoos) is something of a cryptosociologist. Their children (Sarah’s cousins) are Verity, a competitive ballroom dancer, is married to Dominic; Alex is married to the pregnant Shelby; and, the judgmental Antimony “Annie”, the Precise Priestess who is a pyrokinetic. Laverne is the Aeslin mouse who is part of Annie’s clergy. Sam Taylor is Annie's fūri trapeze artist turned boyfriend whom she met at the carnival in Magic For Nothing, 6. James Smith is another sorcerer whose power is ice (That Ain't Witchcraft, 8, and "Follow the Lady", 8.25). He’s been adopted into the Price family. Sally is James' friend who made the bad deal with the crossroads.
Jane, Kevin’s sister, has two children, half-human and half-Lilu and all empath: Arthur “Artie”, the God of Chosen isolation with a pheromone problem, and Elsinore, a succubus like Grandma Alice Price (she’s still searching for her missing husband, Thomas). Both are Sarah’s cousins. Theodore Harrington, a Lilu, is her husband, their father. Aunt Mary Dunlavy and Aunt Rose Marshall, a crossroads ghost and a hitchhiking ghost, live with them.
Miranda, a biochemistry major, brought her “little sisters” to school with her: Ava, Morag, and Lupe. Morag’s gran was one of the magpies, a cuckoo. Terrence, a drug-seeking junkie with a gun. Michael, an agriculture major, is a cornwife. Heidi is a regular, human, student. Crystal, a comp-sci major, is a bogeywoman; her father and fiancée were there too. Maria is a chupacabra. Gwen Stacy.
In this dimension, the Patriarch had been an incubus traveling the dimensions with fellow travelers. The waheela woman with him was fleeing the High Arctic. Another traveler with him was Betsy, a sorcerer. Kenneth is his grandson and their current Patriarch. Greg is the giant cannibalistic spider Sarah coopts. They call them the heartless ones or hunters in the dark.
The Johrlacs’ . . .
. . . original world was Johrlar, a prison planet? Mark is a cuckoo who changed sides. Cici is Mark’s human sister. Ingrid, Sarah’s actual mother, organized Sarah’s kidnapping in Imaginary Numbers to transport the cuckoos o n earth to another dimension.
Luck-benders are . . .
. . . divided into three types: jinks who saw luck; Fortuna who made luck; and Kairos with internal luck, a haze of coincidence, making them immune to the cuckoos.
The Covenant of St George is . . .
. . . an organization based in Penton Hall that hates and despises cryptids. Cousin Margaret Price showed up in Midnight Blue-Light Special, 2, as part of a Covenant strike team.
The Prices broke away from the Covenant and became monster saviors. Cuckoos, their true name is Johrlac, are invaders from another dimension, completely sociopathic, not caring about others’ feelings in any way, and telepathic. Madhura and Apraxis are competitors with the Johrlacs. The Aeslin mice are evolutionary mimics who are a religious cult which is passionate about documenting every move of every member of the Price family. Instar is a cuckoo biological metamorphic process. Dr Morrow was a Caladrius at St Giles, a cryptid-only hospital in New York.
The Cover and Title
The cover is golden-hued with a blackboard in the background covered in mathematical formulae. In front of it is Sarah with her short dark hair and purple top. In front of her is a cracked glass with a huge shard missing, and in front of that, on the right, is a partial shadow of Sarah. The text is all white, starting with the info blurb at the very top with the author’s name immediately below. The title, outlined in yellow, crosses Sarah’s chest with the series info below that. On the right, starting at the top of Sarah’s head is a yellow badge, outlined in purple with award information in black.
The title is all about the Calculated Risks involved in getting home again.
My Take
Events in Imaginary Numbers, 9, have stranded Sarah and those who no longer know her, and therefore don’t love her in another dimension. Thank goodness McGuire starts Calculated Risks with a recapitulation of events in Imaginary Numbers.
While the perspective is primarily Sarah’s in first person protagonist point-of-view, Angela does provide the prologue and her thoughts about puberty and cuckoo behavior emerging at the same time — it has some merit — is from a third person point-of-view as is Mark’s commentary on the back history on how the cuckoos came to earth and why the luck-benders were so bad for them. It’s also why Frances Brown was an orphan. Plenty more back history comes as Sarah tries to remind her fellow travelers that they do indeed know her.
We also learn the “truth” about survival of the fittest, and it does make more sense, lol.
”Survival of whatever fit into its ecological niche the most efficiently, without getting eaten by something else before it could make more of itself.”Ooh, major fight about ancestral habits versus growing up “human”. I’m on the side of humans.
Then again, that human bigotry in which too many humans here on earth believe that if you’re not exactly like them, with their beliefs, then you’re monstrous. Explains why so many idiots believe that anyone not of their religion, LGBTQ, racial make-up, etc., are “monsters”.
It’s a fear of return without death that drives a good chunk of the story, keeping us in suspense with this primarily character-driven story. Yes, there is action too.
The Story
Sarah’s fellow cuckoos had triggered her second instar and made her their cuckoo queen, except that Sarah’s human upbringing hasn’t inculated her with those cuckoo beliefs.
They do make that dimensional jump, but not with everyone and Sarah does bring part of the campus with her. It’s how to get back that worries everyone.
The Characters
Sarah Zellaby, a telepathic ambush predator, is an adopted member of the Price family. She’s also a mathematician, a cryptozoologist, and the Calculating Priestess of the Aeslin mice. The McNallys had been Sarah’s first human family. Angela and Martin Baker were the second family to take Sarah in.
Angela Baker, a cuckoo who can project but can’t receive, has raised many young cuckoos in Ohio, besides Sarah and including Evie, a human, who is now a combat medic and herbalist fascinated by cryptid biology and medicine, and Drew, a boogeyman whose birth family was killed in an accident.
Evelyn “Evie” Baker is not a biological cuckoo, but having been raised by and with cuckoos, has developed a learned resistance. She’s married to Kevin Price (a descendant of Frances Brown who had also been resistant to cuckoos) is something of a cryptosociologist. Their children (Sarah’s cousins) are Verity, a competitive ballroom dancer, is married to Dominic; Alex is married to the pregnant Shelby; and, the judgmental Antimony “Annie”, the Precise Priestess who is a pyrokinetic. Laverne is the Aeslin mouse who is part of Annie’s clergy. Sam Taylor is Annie's fūri trapeze artist turned boyfriend whom she met at the carnival in Magic For Nothing, 6. James Smith is another sorcerer whose power is ice (That Ain't Witchcraft, 8, and "Follow the Lady", 8.25). He’s been adopted into the Price family. Sally is James' friend who made the bad deal with the crossroads.
Jane, Kevin’s sister, has two children, half-human and half-Lilu and all empath: Arthur “Artie”, the God of Chosen isolation with a pheromone problem, and Elsinore, a succubus like Grandma Alice Price (she’s still searching for her missing husband, Thomas). Both are Sarah’s cousins. Theodore Harrington, a Lilu, is her husband, their father. Aunt Mary Dunlavy and Aunt Rose Marshall, a crossroads ghost and a hitchhiking ghost, live with them.
Miranda, a biochemistry major, brought her “little sisters” to school with her: Ava, Morag, and Lupe. Morag’s gran was one of the magpies, a cuckoo. Terrence, a drug-seeking junkie with a gun. Michael, an agriculture major, is a cornwife. Heidi is a regular, human, student. Crystal, a comp-sci major, is a bogeywoman; her father and fiancée were there too. Maria is a chupacabra. Gwen Stacy.
In this dimension, the Patriarch had been an incubus traveling the dimensions with fellow travelers. The waheela woman with him was fleeing the High Arctic. Another traveler with him was Betsy, a sorcerer. Kenneth is his grandson and their current Patriarch. Greg is the giant cannibalistic spider Sarah coopts. They call them the heartless ones or hunters in the dark.
The Johrlacs’ . . .
. . . original world was Johrlar, a prison planet? Mark is a cuckoo who changed sides. Cici is Mark’s human sister. Ingrid, Sarah’s actual mother, organized Sarah’s kidnapping in Imaginary Numbers to transport the cuckoos o n earth to another dimension.
Luck-benders are . . .
. . . divided into three types: jinks who saw luck; Fortuna who made luck; and Kairos with internal luck, a haze of coincidence, making them immune to the cuckoos.
The Covenant of St George is . . .
. . . an organization based in Penton Hall that hates and despises cryptids. Cousin Margaret Price showed up in Midnight Blue-Light Special, 2, as part of a Covenant strike team.
The Prices broke away from the Covenant and became monster saviors. Cuckoos, their true name is Johrlac, are invaders from another dimension, completely sociopathic, not caring about others’ feelings in any way, and telepathic. Madhura and Apraxis are competitors with the Johrlacs. The Aeslin mice are evolutionary mimics who are a religious cult which is passionate about documenting every move of every member of the Price family. Instar is a cuckoo biological metamorphic process. Dr Morrow was a Caladrius at St Giles, a cryptid-only hospital in New York.
The Cover and Title
The cover is golden-hued with a blackboard in the background covered in mathematical formulae. In front of it is Sarah with her short dark hair and purple top. In front of her is a cracked glass with a huge shard missing, and in front of that, on the right, is a partial shadow of Sarah. The text is all white, starting with the info blurb at the very top with the author’s name immediately below. The title, outlined in yellow, crosses Sarah’s chest with the series info below that. On the right, starting at the top of Sarah’s head is a yellow badge, outlined in purple with award information in black.
The title is all about the Calculated Risks involved in getting home again.
katieinca's review
3.0
I love this series, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next one. This one's not my fave.
Sarah as a narrator has grown on me a little (especially since she acknowledges how obnoxious Antimony can be). But I like them better when we're more in the mystery solving caper format, not... whatever adventure this was. The character stuff was fun. The plot, even looking back from two weeks out, is a little fuzzy. "Run around for a while, try to get home without dying." We were 50-60% of the way through the book and turned to each other and wondered "what exactly has actually happened so far?"
Sarah as a narrator has grown on me a little (especially since she acknowledges how obnoxious Antimony can be). But I like them better when we're more in the mystery solving caper format, not... whatever adventure this was. The character stuff was fun. The plot, even looking back from two weeks out, is a little fuzzy. "Run around for a while, try to get home without dying." We were 50-60% of the way through the book and turned to each other and wondered "what exactly has actually happened so far?"
amandae129's review
4.0
Drags in parts but otherwise an excellent addition to one of my favorite series.
alikatson's review
2.0
My least favorite Seanan McGuire to date. Just so much in Sarah’s head, like almost the whole book.
maxtrommelen's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
malreynolds111's review
3.0
Of the entire incryptid series this was my least favorite. There were long stretches of talk where nothing was happening but the characters having a conversation. Also Sarah's constant whining about wanting a bra drove me nuts. I have never met a woman who couldnt wait to get that thing off. My favorite part about the book was Greg.
pixxyhex's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
rusticreadingal's review
4.0
After the way the previous book, Imaginary Numbers, ended, I had to read this one as soon as possible. Talk about a massive cliffhanger! Thankfully, this one started pretty much right where we left off.
The first half was a little slow. Never boring, just not a lot of action. There were a lot of recaps, and then the characters were trying to figure out what was going on, and where (and who) they were. But the second half really delivered on the excitement, and I couldn't finish it fast enough. I didn't know how they were gonna possibly do what needed to be done. It was stressful!
Just like the previous book, I really enjoyed getting Sarah's perspective. This book was narrated completely by her, so that was really interesting. She's a fascinating character. Annie, one of the main supporting characters of this book, was back to annoying the crap outta me. It was like all her likability from the last few books evaporated and she was back to the bratty girl from the first few books in the series. She made me want to scream sometimes. But anyway, there was a new character introduced who just might be my new favorite. Greg was just plain awesome!
There were some revelations about Sarah's family, human and cuckoo alike, that really helped make sense of some things, and I can't wait to see where things go in the next installment.
NOTE: This book does contain some strong language.
The first half was a little slow. Never boring, just not a lot of action. There were a lot of recaps, and then the characters were trying to figure out what was going on, and where (and who) they were. But the second half really delivered on the excitement, and I couldn't finish it fast enough. I didn't know how they were gonna possibly do what needed to be done. It was stressful!
Just like the previous book, I really enjoyed getting Sarah's perspective. This book was narrated completely by her, so that was really interesting. She's a fascinating character. Annie, one of the main supporting characters of this book, was back to annoying the crap outta me. It was like all her likability from the last few books evaporated and she was back to the bratty girl from the first few books in the series. She made me want to scream sometimes. But anyway, there was a new character introduced who just might be my new favorite. Greg was just plain awesome!
There were some revelations about Sarah's family, human and cuckoo alike, that really helped make sense of some things, and I can't wait to see where things go in the next installment.
NOTE: This book does contain some strong language.
cimorene1558's review
4.0
It’s very good, but why, oh why, does it have to be set in an alternate universe full of giant insects and arachnids? I felt creepy crawly for days after reading it!