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InCryptid #11
Spelunking Through Hell
Now in trade paperback, the eleventh 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.
Love, noun:
1. An intense feeling of deep affection; may be romantic, filial or platonic.
Passion, noun:
1. A strong or barely controllable emotion.
2. Enthusiasm, interest, desire.
3. See also “obsession.”
It’s been fifty years since the crossroads caused the disappearance of Thomas Price, and his wife, Alice, has been trying to find him and bring him home ever since, despite the increasing probability that he’s no longer alive for her to find. Now that the crossroads have been destroyed, she’s redoubling her efforts. It’s time to bring him home, dead or alive.
Preferably alive, of course, but she’s tired, and at this point, she’s not that picky. It’s a pan-dimensional crash course in chaos, as Alice tries to find the rabbit hole she’s been missing for all these decades—the one that will take her to the man she loves.
Who are her allies? Who are her enemies? And if she manages to find him, will he even remember her at this point?
It’s a lot for one cryptozoologist to handle.
Love, noun:
1. An intense feeling of deep affection; may be romantic, filial or platonic.
Passion, noun:
1. A strong or barely controllable emotion.
2. Enthusiasm, interest, desire.
3. See also “obsession.”
It’s been fifty years since the crossroads caused the disappearance of Thomas Price, and his wife, Alice, has been trying to find him and bring him home ever since, despite the increasing probability that he’s no longer alive for her to find. Now that the crossroads have been destroyed, she’s redoubling her efforts. It’s time to bring him home, dead or alive.
Preferably alive, of course, but she’s tired, and at this point, she’s not that picky. It’s a pan-dimensional crash course in chaos, as Alice tries to find the rabbit hole she’s been missing for all these decades—the one that will take her to the man she loves.
Who are her allies? Who are her enemies? And if she manages to find him, will he even remember her at this point?
It’s a lot for one cryptozoologist to handle.
342 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2022
362 people are currently reading
1522 people want to read
About the author
Seanan McGuire
507 books17.1k followersHi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 332 reviews
January 16, 2022
Spelunking Through Hell
(InCryptid #11)
by Seanan McGuire
Now this is the way to start the New Year! A terrific fantasy adventure that keeps your blood pumping and mind whirling! Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this outstanding book! It will be hard to top this book no matter how many I read this year!
This has Thomas who made a deal at the crossroads to save the life of the girl he loves, Alice. He can't leave his house, part of the terms, and they (Powers that be) can come take him at any time.
Alice and Thomas marry and have a child and due to have another baby any day when they come for him. They don't even let him say goodbye.
Now Alice is not a pushover and has a bit of power. She has a forest that loves her, and a mouse congregation complete with Priest that keep records and prays for her. She also has a ghost babysitter.
Alice is determined to find her husband. As soon as the baby is born, she is off through the Dimensions searching for him. For 50 years!
This is so awesome! The characters are amazing! The places she goes! She is one tough cookie! Tattoos for healing and more. There is multiple elements at play too! Unpredictable, page turner, so clever and mind blowing!
There are flash backs to her life as a child and that is incredible! The whole book is a feast for the brain. Total brain candy!
(InCryptid #11)
by Seanan McGuire
Now this is the way to start the New Year! A terrific fantasy adventure that keeps your blood pumping and mind whirling! Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this outstanding book! It will be hard to top this book no matter how many I read this year!
This has Thomas who made a deal at the crossroads to save the life of the girl he loves, Alice. He can't leave his house, part of the terms, and they (Powers that be) can come take him at any time.
Alice and Thomas marry and have a child and due to have another baby any day when they come for him. They don't even let him say goodbye.
Now Alice is not a pushover and has a bit of power. She has a forest that loves her, and a mouse congregation complete with Priest that keep records and prays for her. She also has a ghost babysitter.
Alice is determined to find her husband. As soon as the baby is born, she is off through the Dimensions searching for him. For 50 years!
This is so awesome! The characters are amazing! The places she goes! She is one tough cookie! Tattoos for healing and more. There is multiple elements at play too! Unpredictable, page turner, so clever and mind blowing!
There are flash backs to her life as a child and that is incredible! The whole book is a feast for the brain. Total brain candy!
August 12, 2023
Re-Read 8/12/23:
It wasn't long ago that I read this, so it's all pretty fresh, but I AM finishing up a full re-read of the series. It's as enjoyable as ever.
Alice, ya'll.
Original Review:
Do you see that cover on the book?
Yeah, that's one hell of a hot octogenarian. And she kicks ass, doesn't care if she gets skinned alive, will destroy hell dimensions and adjacent universes with all the heavy armament she can carry and doesn't care about the cost.
Knowing the rest of the family, grandma isn't all that surprising. And she's been searching for her husband for 50 years after he was whisked away for a crossroads price like a legendary cross-dimensional true warrior.
This is her story. Finally. And it's a blast. Literally. Lots of gunpowder, broken dimensional barriers, and a few surprises. :)
It wasn't long ago that I read this, so it's all pretty fresh, but I AM finishing up a full re-read of the series. It's as enjoyable as ever.
Alice, ya'll.
Original Review:
Do you see that cover on the book?
Yeah, that's one hell of a hot octogenarian. And she kicks ass, doesn't care if she gets skinned alive, will destroy hell dimensions and adjacent universes with all the heavy armament she can carry and doesn't care about the cost.
Knowing the rest of the family, grandma isn't all that surprising. And she's been searching for her husband for 50 years after he was whisked away for a crossroads price like a legendary cross-dimensional true warrior.
This is her story. Finally. And it's a blast. Literally. Lots of gunpowder, broken dimensional barriers, and a few surprises. :)
March 5, 2022
I didn't know whether I would enjoy a book about Alice Healy, after reading the previous books in the series about her grandchildren. I should have known better. Ms. McGuire has a knack for writing characters that I enjoy. I also should have realized that Annie and Verity get their weapon skills from someone.
I find it interesting that the author changes up the main characters in this series. Does she do it to keep herself interested or to maintain the readers' interest? I assume that she's fond of all of these characters and wants to give them all their moments to shine. Much as I love the Price family, I adore the Aeslin mice and I will read any book that includes them.
Will Alice ever be able to settle herself? After 50 years of constant motion, will she be able to be happy in new circumstances? I hope we will find out in the next installment.
I find it interesting that the author changes up the main characters in this series. Does she do it to keep herself interested or to maintain the readers' interest? I assume that she's fond of all of these characters and wants to give them all their moments to shine. Much as I love the Price family, I adore the Aeslin mice and I will read any book that includes them.
Will Alice ever be able to settle herself? After 50 years of constant motion, will she be able to be happy in new circumstances? I hope we will find out in the next installment.
March 1, 2022
Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
We finally arrived at Alice's book. Ten main series novels and countless novellas/shorties later (available on her website and Patreon), multiple years of Incryptid-verse buildup and we finally get to go on Alice's journey to find Thomas.
I can't say much, because this book is a huge deal and I don't want to spoil anything... but what I will say is that all the anticipation was worth it. In this book, we get to follow Alice through multiple dimension/universes/worlds on her quest to bring home her husband.
Is she successful? I can't tell you that. Spoilers, sweetie. But what I can say is that there will be ramifications for the events of this book... and Seanan knows exactly how to leave you already frothing at the mouth for the next book.
Pick this one up, but start at the beginning of the series if you haven't already, and please do find the time to read all of the novellas and short stories leading up to this. It'll make this one feel much richer in story, character, and plot.
Side note - the bonus novella in this book was a gem - hard to read, but a gem nonetheless.
We finally arrived at Alice's book. Ten main series novels and countless novellas/shorties later (available on her website and Patreon), multiple years of Incryptid-verse buildup and we finally get to go on Alice's journey to find Thomas.
I can't say much, because this book is a huge deal and I don't want to spoil anything... but what I will say is that all the anticipation was worth it. In this book, we get to follow Alice through multiple dimension/universes/worlds on her quest to bring home her husband.
Is she successful? I can't tell you that. Spoilers, sweetie. But what I can say is that there will be ramifications for the events of this book... and Seanan knows exactly how to leave you already frothing at the mouth for the next book.
Pick this one up, but start at the beginning of the series if you haven't already, and please do find the time to read all of the novellas and short stories leading up to this. It'll make this one feel much richer in story, character, and plot.
Side note - the bonus novella in this book was a gem - hard to read, but a gem nonetheless.
August 13, 2023
Grandma Alice!
After what Antimony found out about the Crossroads and all the things we learned about parallel dimensions thanks to Sarah, it was about time we finally got to Alice hopping from one reality to the next to find Thomas. But boy, was I not prepared for just HOW awesome the eternally young grandma was!
Yes, it is no spoiler that Thomas is actually found. The majority of the book is about where, what happened to him compared to what happened to her in the past 50+ years, and kicking some ass so as to get back to the fam.
The rest, as they say, is (hi-)story. A pretty riveting (hi-)story with almost non-stop action and a very heartwarming payoff. Off which I can't tell you much more because those would be big spoilers.
No, not everything is perfectly alright once they find each other but that only made the story better if you ask me. Sure, I had a tiny problem with some of it at one point or another (if only because ) but it wasn't like .
I can't wait to see where the story is going next and I'm really glad we get more from Alice's perspective - I want the WHOLE family coming together and taking on a certain brotherhood after all and considering the family history, that will be all the more rewarding if Alice and Thomas are there for the ride. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
After what Antimony found out about the Crossroads and all the things we learned about parallel dimensions thanks to Sarah, it was about time we finally got to Alice hopping from one reality to the next to find Thomas. But boy, was I not prepared for just HOW awesome the eternally young grandma was!
Yes, it is no spoiler that Thomas is actually found. The majority of the book is about where, what happened to him compared to what happened to her in the past 50+ years, and kicking some ass so as to get back to the fam.
The rest, as they say, is (hi-)story. A pretty riveting (hi-)story with almost non-stop action and a very heartwarming payoff. Off which I can't tell you much more because those would be big spoilers.
No, not everything is perfectly alright once they find each other but that only made the story better if you ask me. Sure, I had a tiny problem with some of it at one point or another (if only because ) but it wasn't like .
I can't wait to see where the story is going next and I'm really glad we get more from Alice's perspective - I want the WHOLE family coming together and taking on a certain brotherhood after all and considering the family history, that will be all the more rewarding if Alice and Thomas are there for the ride. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
March 29, 2022
After ten books that feature the grandkids, the story of Alice's quest is finally told... we only had to wait half a century, right? It's possible to read this one without being familiar with the earlier ones first, but I'm sure you'll want to go back and catch up afterwards. It's a well-told, satisfying story, and leaves you wondering what will happen next, and wanting to know what Alice's kids and grandkids have been up to in the meantime. I thought the subtitle, "A Visitor's Guide to the Underworld," was a bit misleading, and was annoyed that the book appeared in a trade-sized edition that won't fit on the shelf with the mass-market sized predecessors. As with previous DAW McGuire books there's a bonus novella included, one that tells the set-up for the situation of the novel that precedes it. There are several richly drawn new characters, some insights into familiar ones (what kind of a woman abandons her kids to go off on such a mad quest, anyway?), and some intriguing new worlds. And the mice are always worth the price of admission! Altogether a very enjoyable read.
February 21, 2022
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I have been waiting FOREVER for Alice and Thomas's story and finally with Spelunking Through Hell, the 11th book of the Incryptid series, we are finally here. Alice has been on a journey to find her husband, taken by the Crossroads over fifty years ago. It is her obsession and if all she finds is a headstone, well that is fine too at least she will know. But, she has loved Thomas since before she was supposed to love a man and she can't move on until she knows.
With the Crossroads gone, Alice's quest has been reinvigorated and she is more determined than ever to find the love of her life. She has confirmation that Thomas is still alive and out there somewhere. After finding a book from a long ago dimensional traveler and cartographer, she has a new direction and hope to go towards and some doubts about the individual she considered a friend that had helped her all of these years.
Alice will risk everything to be reunited with her husband. Will she find him? Well I think it is a sad story indeed if that didn't happen. Will he remember her? Alice is pretty unforgettable and she is going to need all the Healy luck to be able to convince the universe it is time to give her husband back.
The readers get to find out so many mysteries in this series. Such as:
1 - How is Alice in her eighties now but still look to be 19 or 20. Let's just say ewww and ouch.
2 - What kind of impact did this have on her kids growing up? Hard to have mommy bail to go find daddy and never really come home.
3 - What has this life cost her? So much more than she probably knows.
4 - How does dimensional travel work and how can Alice do it?
5 - Where was the Crossroads stashing some of the people it made bargains with.
So many questions answered and so much chaos ensues, but what else would you expect with Alice jumping around in the Universe.
I had so much fun with this book, although I was a little impatient to get to the part where we actually find Thomas. But patience pays off and I'm really looking forward to how all of these new developments are going to rock the world of my favorite Cryptozoologist family.
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I have been waiting FOREVER for Alice and Thomas's story and finally with Spelunking Through Hell, the 11th book of the Incryptid series, we are finally here. Alice has been on a journey to find her husband, taken by the Crossroads over fifty years ago. It is her obsession and if all she finds is a headstone, well that is fine too at least she will know. But, she has loved Thomas since before she was supposed to love a man and she can't move on until she knows.
"Nothing is lost forever. Sometimes we just pretend not to understand what it would cost to find it."
--Juniper Campbell
With the Crossroads gone, Alice's quest has been reinvigorated and she is more determined than ever to find the love of her life. She has confirmation that Thomas is still alive and out there somewhere. After finding a book from a long ago dimensional traveler and cartographer, she has a new direction and hope to go towards and some doubts about the individual she considered a friend that had helped her all of these years.
Alice will risk everything to be reunited with her husband. Will she find him? Well I think it is a sad story indeed if that didn't happen. Will he remember her? Alice is pretty unforgettable and she is going to need all the Healy luck to be able to convince the universe it is time to give her husband back.
The readers get to find out so many mysteries in this series. Such as:
1 - How is Alice in her eighties now but still look to be 19 or 20. Let's just say ewww and ouch.
2 - What kind of impact did this have on her kids growing up? Hard to have mommy bail to go find daddy and never really come home.
3 - What has this life cost her? So much more than she probably knows.
4 - How does dimensional travel work and how can Alice do it?
5 - Where was the Crossroads stashing some of the people it made bargains with.
So many questions answered and so much chaos ensues, but what else would you expect with Alice jumping around in the Universe.
I had so much fun with this book, although I was a little impatient to get to the part where we actually find Thomas. But patience pays off and I'm really looking forward to how all of these new developments are going to rock the world of my favorite Cryptozoologist family.
April 5, 2022
Not gonna lie. I was not excited to read this one. I was just not interested in Alice. The fact that it starts VERY slowly did not help. Alice spent too much time in her own head and not enough time with other people.
I did, however, persevere. In the end, I enjoyed it. It is not great. I think I am not a huge fan of the multiple dimensions with no rules. This one is not my favorite in the series. Nor, is it my least favorite. I will read the next one because I hope everything I didn't like here is over and done and we can move on with the story.
I did, however, persevere. In the end, I enjoyed it. It is not great. I think I am not a huge fan of the multiple dimensions with no rules. This one is not my favorite in the series. Nor, is it my least favorite. I will read the next one because I hope everything I didn't like here is over and done and we can move on with the story.
March 3, 2022
This book...man...we learn so much. I felt bad for Alice on her journey to find her husband, felt bad that she sacrificed so many years with her kids, letting them be raised by others to find Thomas, it seemed like a fool's errand that it would not be possible after 50 years.
Learning what Alice had to go through to have the time was horrifying. That Alice would do that time and time again, so much more. That last time though, things were different and Alice finally had a real clue. While this was great, it started the doubt for me that the person who had been helping her, maybe wasn't as altruistic as they seemed.
I loved it when Alice found Thomas, but it sure wasn't the romantic reunion that she had imagined. The mistrust on Thomas's side seemed valid after learning what he had been through in the missing 50 years. I was glad that they worked it out quickly and in a way that was perfect for this family.
Thomas's life in this odd space was weird, it didn't help that it was dying. They managed to work out a way to get everyone who wanted to leave to leave, but it was harrowing.
The last couple of scenes were great! I loved the homecoming, even as short as it was! I sort of wish there was more with the whole family, hopefully next book. It was the last scene where betrayal was acknowledged, the retribution was perfect.
Learning what Alice had to go through to have the time was horrifying. That Alice would do that time and time again, so much more. That last time though, things were different and Alice finally had a real clue. While this was great, it started the doubt for me that the person who had been helping her, maybe wasn't as altruistic as they seemed.
I loved it when Alice found Thomas, but it sure wasn't the romantic reunion that she had imagined. The mistrust on Thomas's side seemed valid after learning what he had been through in the missing 50 years. I was glad that they worked it out quickly and in a way that was perfect for this family.
Thomas's life in this odd space was weird, it didn't help that it was dying. They managed to work out a way to get everyone who wanted to leave to leave, but it was harrowing.
The last couple of scenes were great! I loved the homecoming, even as short as it was! I sort of wish there was more with the whole family, hopefully next book. It was the last scene where betrayal was acknowledged, the retribution was perfect.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2023
Mini blurb: Matriarch cryptozoologist Alice Price-Healy finally has a shot at finding her husband Thomas, who's been missing for fifty years* after making a deal with the crossroads to save her life. It sounds like taking extreme measures to stay young and leaving her children in the care of friends while she was searching dimension after dimension finally paid off. But there's no being sure Thomas will be the same man Alice used to know - or even alive - if she finally locates the universe he's stranded in, and she may have paid a price too high to come this far...
*There's a bit of confusion in the timeline...the prologue states that Thomas was taken fifty-six years earlier (which fits this installment's publication year), but it's been fifty years in the story. Anyhow, this isn't the only glaring chronological contradiction in the series...
***
Rated 3.5 really.
I have mixed feeling about this installment. I mean, I do like Alice, though (or because?) she's deranged, and she makes for a sassy, yet somehow candid narrator; I do like what we see of Thomas (I'm not going to be more specific...is he alive? a ghost? or are those flashbacks? and what fun would it be if I told you? 😉) and his devotion to Alice; and as usual, I love McGuire's wild imagination and the multifaceted lore she spins. On the other hand, I was expecting actual spelunking through actual Hell ("A Visitor's Guide to the Underworld", my ass), not a bunch of dimension-hopping whose last stop sounds like something out of those straight-up fantasy books I'm not a fan of. The story alternatively kept me entertained (or better, its main characters and the magic system did) and gave me a mild case of boredom (or more like impatience - can we leave this fantasy stuff behind already?), but I guess readers who love the genre won't have a problem with that...though they might with certain long (if needed) conversations/explanations. Also, I've developed a high tolerance for blood and gore, but people getting skinned alive is pushing it a bit too far (and don't let me start on the bug/body horror in the companion novella, set in Alice and Thomas' past). Speaking of which, there's the not-so-small mystery of HOW Alice manages to stay young, since the method employed doesn't account for her internal organs, bones and stuff - it only explains her exterior...(I assume more/different magic is involved, but the book doesn't say). Then again, as usual, even with all the above issues - plus an unusually obvious villain and a slightly annoying sidekick - this is a creative, harsh but funny story with a lot of heart, which is typical McGuire and which I'll take any day.
(Apropos of nothing: at least two verbs are missing in this novel. Where were the proof editors?).
Note: as a rule, I review every book that I rate 3.5 stars and above in full, unless it's a novella or an anthology. But this series has been around for years now, and it doesn't sound like McGuire's going to stop writing it anytime soon, so I decided to only write mini reviews for its installments, or it would be too hard for me to catch up. I'll write mini reviews for the new ones as well, out of consistency.
*There's a bit of confusion in the timeline...the prologue states that Thomas was taken fifty-six years earlier (which fits this installment's publication year), but it's been fifty years in the story. Anyhow, this isn't the only glaring chronological contradiction in the series...
***
Rated 3.5 really.
I have mixed feeling about this installment. I mean, I do like Alice, though (or because?) she's deranged, and she makes for a sassy, yet somehow candid narrator; I do like what we see of Thomas (I'm not going to be more specific...is he alive? a ghost? or are those flashbacks? and what fun would it be if I told you? 😉) and his devotion to Alice; and as usual, I love McGuire's wild imagination and the multifaceted lore she spins. On the other hand, I was expecting actual spelunking through actual Hell ("A Visitor's Guide to the Underworld", my ass), not a bunch of dimension-hopping whose last stop sounds like something out of those straight-up fantasy books I'm not a fan of. The story alternatively kept me entertained (or better, its main characters and the magic system did) and gave me a mild case of boredom (or more like impatience - can we leave this fantasy stuff behind already?), but I guess readers who love the genre won't have a problem with that...though they might with certain long (if needed) conversations/explanations. Also, I've developed a high tolerance for blood and gore, but people getting skinned alive is pushing it a bit too far (and don't let me start on the bug/body horror in the companion novella, set in Alice and Thomas' past). Speaking of which, there's the not-so-small mystery of HOW Alice manages to stay young, since the method employed doesn't account for her internal organs, bones and stuff - it only explains her exterior...(I assume more/different magic is involved, but the book doesn't say). Then again, as usual, even with all the above issues - plus an unusually obvious villain and a slightly annoying sidekick - this is a creative, harsh but funny story with a lot of heart, which is typical McGuire and which I'll take any day.
(Apropos of nothing: at least two verbs are missing in this novel. Where were the proof editors?).
Note: as a rule, I review every book that I rate 3.5 stars and above in full, unless it's a novella or an anthology. But this series has been around for years now, and it doesn't sound like McGuire's going to stop writing it anytime soon, so I decided to only write mini reviews for its installments, or it would be too hard for me to catch up. I'll write mini reviews for the new ones as well, out of consistency.
March 9, 2022
I had been looking forward to Alice's book almost from the moment I met her in the series. I wanted to see her story told and how everything unfolds. This wasn't quite a 5 star book for me but I did love every minute and inhale it as quickly as possible.
But the memory of my mother was enough to teach me the one lesson she never learned: just because something loves you, that doesn't mean you can stop being careful when you're alone with it. The best-trained dog can bite. The most devoted forest can hide a striking snake.
The most loving husband can go when the crossroads call without looking back or kissing you goodbye.
Grandma Alice has been dimension hopping for 50 years looking for her missing husband and missing out on the lives of her children and grandchildren. She has managed to find a way to return herself to a youthful body free of physical scars through some rather unconventional means. So she looks younger than her youngest grandchild which is a little off putting for her family. She has managed to pick up some interesting allies and enemies along the way.
it's always a snake god with snake cultists, and somehow they believe that he who has the biggest snake will get to rule the world, not just have to clean up after the biggest snake.
I'm sure Freud would have a few things to say about that, if he weren't a dead hack who would probably also be happy to say that my fondness for knives stemmed from a bad case of penis envy. I do not have a bad case of penis envy. I have a bad case of wanting to own more knives, and those are not the same thing.
The setting of this one was fun with seeing all the different dimensions and how dimension jumping works. That being said I hope the next book takes place at least mostly on Earth as I am missing the having more of the family present.
All and all a great addition to the series and I am curious who's story is to come next. Love this series, will always recommend.
But the memory of my mother was enough to teach me the one lesson she never learned: just because something loves you, that doesn't mean you can stop being careful when you're alone with it. The best-trained dog can bite. The most devoted forest can hide a striking snake.
The most loving husband can go when the crossroads call without looking back or kissing you goodbye.
Grandma Alice has been dimension hopping for 50 years looking for her missing husband and missing out on the lives of her children and grandchildren. She has managed to find a way to return herself to a youthful body free of physical scars through some rather unconventional means. So she looks younger than her youngest grandchild which is a little off putting for her family. She has managed to pick up some interesting allies and enemies along the way.
it's always a snake god with snake cultists, and somehow they believe that he who has the biggest snake will get to rule the world, not just have to clean up after the biggest snake.
I'm sure Freud would have a few things to say about that, if he weren't a dead hack who would probably also be happy to say that my fondness for knives stemmed from a bad case of penis envy. I do not have a bad case of penis envy. I have a bad case of wanting to own more knives, and those are not the same thing.
The setting of this one was fun with seeing all the different dimensions and how dimension jumping works. That being said I hope the next book takes place at least mostly on Earth as I am missing the having more of the family present.
All and all a great addition to the series and I am curious who's story is to come next. Love this series, will always recommend.
February 24, 2022
3.5/5
Mon avis en Français
My English review
I’m always curious to get into a new Seanan McGuire novel and I happily dove into this new novel.
This time, we follow Verity’s grandmother: Alice. She who has not aged because she goes from dimension to dimension to find her husband who has been missing for 50 years. Will she finally find him now that the crossroads have disappeared? This new quest may bring her what she has been searching for, but she will also discover revelations she would rather never have known.
I was curious to discover Alice’s story, but in the end I have to say that I found it harder to get hooked on this new novel. I found it less fast paced, but it may also be that we are moving away from the main plot with the Covenant and that the characters are perhaps less iconic than our three Prices.
Either way, it was a nice new volume and I can’t wait to see who we follow in the next one.
Mon avis en Français
My English review
I’m always curious to get into a new Seanan McGuire novel and I happily dove into this new novel.
This time, we follow Verity’s grandmother: Alice. She who has not aged because she goes from dimension to dimension to find her husband who has been missing for 50 years. Will she finally find him now that the crossroads have disappeared? This new quest may bring her what she has been searching for, but she will also discover revelations she would rather never have known.
I was curious to discover Alice’s story, but in the end I have to say that I found it harder to get hooked on this new novel. I found it less fast paced, but it may also be that we are moving away from the main plot with the Covenant and that the characters are perhaps less iconic than our three Prices.
Either way, it was a nice new volume and I can’t wait to see who we follow in the next one.
March 1, 2022
I love this series so much! Not every book in the series (sorry, Verity!), but the series as a whole is one of my favorites. I'd been waiting for Alice's story ever since her character's first appearance and she did not disappoint. I love her and Thomas in all of their short stories and getting a full novel of them was wonderful. Sally was another character I fell in love with. I hope we'll see more of her, maybe even have her narrate a future story.
A word on the Healy family luck: this is the only series I can think of where the author decided to include an actual in-universe reason for when the plotlines seem a little too improbable and coincidental to be entirely believable and I love it!
I enjoyed Sarah's books and this one with the dimension hopping, but I still hope we're going to return to Earth as the main setting for future stories. (Not least of all because that makes appearances of the rest of the family more likely.)
A word on the Healy family luck: this is the only series I can think of where the author decided to include an actual in-universe reason for when the plotlines seem a little too improbable and coincidental to be entirely believable and I love it!
I enjoyed Sarah's books and this one with the dimension hopping, but I still hope we're going to return to Earth as the main setting for future stories. (Not least of all because that makes appearances of the rest of the family more likely.)
April 13, 2022
{2.5 rounded up} I feel as if this installment was a missed opportunity. If only the author would have tied this book more closely to the previous, which offered an easy tie-in for breaking barriers and dimensions. Until half way through, I had expected to shift PoV and bring in the cavalry with other members of the family to be finally reunited.
July 31, 2022
The main story was okay, though it wrapped up in a satisfying way. The extra star is for the extra novella which I enjoyed.
March 5, 2022
11th book in this series, first with this specific lead character.
A woman in her 80s continues searching for her missing husband (missing for about 50 years), now with a renewed determination to find him after being informed, after having it confirmed that her husband is still alive. Her family has long assumed Alice was on a mission of no hope, that Thomas, the missing husband was dead. Alice long fought against this assumption, but even she was beginning to lose hope. That is until her granddaughter, Annie, let her know what she learned when she meant an evil demonic-like force.
The book opens with Alice battered, bruised, near death, and slamming through a bar window. Her latest mission found her being ambushed by seven foot tall assholes. She killed most of them, naturally, but there were a lot of them. That bar, by the way, was on earth (the ambush happened on another planet in another dimension). One owned by a friend, a tree person (let's not dig too deep into that).
Refreshed, Alice returns to the planet where she was ambushed: they still had her stuff, and she wanted it. She gets her stuff, along with some more stuff - stuff that has deep impact on the plot moving forward. Getting that stuff, though, caused her to have to fight a giant crawfish (um, crab? something like that. Possibly a land-lobster). She killed it, but doing so allowed it to poke her with stuff. Spike like stuff on the back of the lobster-thing.
Near death, she touches a tattoo, which teleports her to the home of a giant snake. Who helps her. While there, after being cured from death (near-death), she looks at that "other stuff". A map and books. Of an explorer. Which proves that her host, the giant snake who has been helping her search for her husband for 50+ years, has been lying to her. She now knows, and/or suspects she knows where her husband is currently at. Mind you, her husband was older than her when he disappeared. He is in his 90s or 100s by this point. An old man or a dead man. Course she's in her 80s, so...
Why, that book cover must be completely and utterly off-topic and/or wrong, right? Well, the tattoos look completely wrong, and that machete in her hand looks way too new, shiny, and unused to be in any way similar to the machete described at the beginning of the book. Oh, you mean the obvious lack of other weapons? Including grenades? Well, yes, that does seem odd. But she more hides them amongst her body than have them just sitting there ready for anyone to grab. Hair might be slightly longer than expected - there was a point about her being worried about people grabbing her hair in a. fight. Yes yes, I've been dodging around the big obvious issue: the blond hair. Well, she has blond hair. Okay? I mean, really . . . heh. Right, anyone still reading? It's the part where the woman on the cover looks to be closer to 30 (possibly 20), right? And I said she's 80+? Well, if you don't know the reason - this is a good opportunity for me to note: this is the 11th book in the series, do not read this book first. Alice has never been a lead character in any of the previous books, but the plots in those books (at least the ones involving Annie), are quite important to this book (or, not; it's one of the few cases where having read the prior books would probably be wise, but more if you wish to ever read those books). Point being: if you have read the prior books in this series, you know that "Grandma" . . .. Why'd I put quotes around that? That's the bloody point. bah. Grandma Alice doesn't look 80, and in fact tends to look younger than her own grandkids because of a special something or other she absolutely refuses to divulge. Something that has allowed her to turn back time on her physical body (so to speak, not actually). She occasionally allows herself to age, but she tends to have the body of a 20 year old. And, in the beginning of this book (well, going through the special process thingie), she's closer to 17 or 19. In body, not in mind.
That was a huge paragraph.
Everything I could mention plot wise from here on out would probably be a spoiler for the series and or for the book. So, the main avenue left to explore would be "feelings". As in about the book.
I didn't restart this series because of this book here, I didn't really know it was going to appear at some point when I restarted. But I did probably learn about it way back when her grandson had control of the POV. So, I'll note that knowing this book was out there to read, got me through some of the books in-between grandson's books and this one. Mostly because I couldn't stand the first series POV lead character, and they retook over the series briefly. Then there was something about Annie's POV book, the first one, that started off roughly, but I ended up liking it. Then the telepath Sarah . . . . Good grief this series has had a ton of main character POV people.
Right, so: unlike some of the other books in this series, I was "driving towards" reading this book. Looking forward to doing so. So, that changes things, kinda, when it comes to that "feelings" part. So, did I like what I found? Yes. Well, that was a lot of writing to get to "Yes". Part of the tiny answer is spoiler type stuff.
Right, so. Enjoyed the book. Was good. Yay book. What am I going to read next? No idea.
Rating: 4.34
March 4 2022
A woman in her 80s continues searching for her missing husband (missing for about 50 years), now with a renewed determination to find him after being informed, after having it confirmed that her husband is still alive. Her family has long assumed Alice was on a mission of no hope, that Thomas, the missing husband was dead. Alice long fought against this assumption, but even she was beginning to lose hope. That is until her granddaughter, Annie, let her know what she learned when she meant an evil demonic-like force.
The book opens with Alice battered, bruised, near death, and slamming through a bar window. Her latest mission found her being ambushed by seven foot tall assholes. She killed most of them, naturally, but there were a lot of them. That bar, by the way, was on earth (the ambush happened on another planet in another dimension). One owned by a friend, a tree person (let's not dig too deep into that).
Refreshed, Alice returns to the planet where she was ambushed: they still had her stuff, and she wanted it. She gets her stuff, along with some more stuff - stuff that has deep impact on the plot moving forward. Getting that stuff, though, caused her to have to fight a giant crawfish (um, crab? something like that. Possibly a land-lobster). She killed it, but doing so allowed it to poke her with stuff. Spike like stuff on the back of the lobster-thing.
Near death, she touches a tattoo, which teleports her to the home of a giant snake. Who helps her. While there, after being cured from death (near-death), she looks at that "other stuff". A map and books. Of an explorer. Which proves that her host, the giant snake who has been helping her search for her husband for 50+ years, has been lying to her. She now knows, and/or suspects she knows where her husband is currently at. Mind you, her husband was older than her when he disappeared. He is in his 90s or 100s by this point. An old man or a dead man. Course she's in her 80s, so...
Why, that book cover must be completely and utterly off-topic and/or wrong, right? Well, the tattoos look completely wrong, and that machete in her hand looks way too new, shiny, and unused to be in any way similar to the machete described at the beginning of the book. Oh, you mean the obvious lack of other weapons? Including grenades? Well, yes, that does seem odd. But she more hides them amongst her body than have them just sitting there ready for anyone to grab. Hair might be slightly longer than expected - there was a point about her being worried about people grabbing her hair in a. fight. Yes yes, I've been dodging around the big obvious issue: the blond hair. Well, she has blond hair. Okay? I mean, really . . . heh. Right, anyone still reading? It's the part where the woman on the cover looks to be closer to 30 (possibly 20), right? And I said she's 80+? Well, if you don't know the reason - this is a good opportunity for me to note: this is the 11th book in the series, do not read this book first. Alice has never been a lead character in any of the previous books, but the plots in those books (at least the ones involving Annie), are quite important to this book (or, not; it's one of the few cases where having read the prior books would probably be wise, but more if you wish to ever read those books). Point being: if you have read the prior books in this series, you know that "Grandma" . . .. Why'd I put quotes around that? That's the bloody point. bah. Grandma Alice doesn't look 80, and in fact tends to look younger than her own grandkids because of a special something or other she absolutely refuses to divulge. Something that has allowed her to turn back time on her physical body (so to speak, not actually). She occasionally allows herself to age, but she tends to have the body of a 20 year old. And, in the beginning of this book (well, going through the special process thingie), she's closer to 17 or 19. In body, not in mind.
That was a huge paragraph.
Everything I could mention plot wise from here on out would probably be a spoiler for the series and or for the book. So, the main avenue left to explore would be "feelings". As in about the book.
I didn't restart this series because of this book here, I didn't really know it was going to appear at some point when I restarted. But I did probably learn about it way back when her grandson had control of the POV. So, I'll note that knowing this book was out there to read, got me through some of the books in-between grandson's books and this one. Mostly because I couldn't stand the first series POV lead character, and they retook over the series briefly. Then there was something about Annie's POV book, the first one, that started off roughly, but I ended up liking it. Then the telepath Sarah . . . . Good grief this series has had a ton of main character POV people.
Right, so: unlike some of the other books in this series, I was "driving towards" reading this book. Looking forward to doing so. So, that changes things, kinda, when it comes to that "feelings" part. So, did I like what I found? Yes. Well, that was a lot of writing to get to "Yes". Part of the tiny answer is spoiler type stuff.
Right, so. Enjoyed the book. Was good. Yay book. What am I going to read next? No idea.
Rating: 4.34
March 4 2022
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2022
Alice. I’ve been waiting for this one. Everyone thinks she’s insane, but I knew I’d love her story. Insane, determined— kind of the same thing when you look it from the correct perspective.
Alice who’s been searching for her husband for decades.
This is the great love story of the series. Also, the highest body count—of course I love it.
--This is as good if not better than Antimony taking on the crossroads. Once again, strong plot and action lead to a fast read.
Alice who’s been searching for her husband for decades.
This is the great love story of the series. Also, the highest body count—of course I love it.
[…]finally, mercifully, I lost consciousness. The pain went with it and was the greatest kindness I had ever experienced.
It alway was. Every single time.
--This is as good if not better than Antimony taking on the crossroads. Once again, strong plot and action lead to a fast read.
March 20, 2022
ALICE AND THOMAS. SO GOOD. SO SATISFYING. I feel so lucky to have a favorite living author whose output is so ridiculously prolific.
This is clearly a turning point for the series, and I feel like the series has only gotten better since it started. Can't wait to see where it goes next.
This is clearly a turning point for the series, and I feel like the series has only gotten better since it started. Can't wait to see where it goes next.
March 17, 2022
I love this series from the characters to the creatures and started listening the moment I got my hands on the audio. All along, we have known the story of Alice and Thomas Price and her relentless journey to find him. I was so excited get their story. I must caution you, though, as with any long-standing fantasy series, it is best to listen to them in the order of release.
With the crossroads destroyed and clues given to her by contacts, Alice hopes to traipse further. This time, maybe she will find Thomas. Dead or alive, she needs closure or a miracle. Her last journey almost killed her, but she found information that changes everything. We also painfully learn how Alice has stayed so young. OMG… nope. Nope. Nope.
This felt like an interlude as we stepped away from cryptology and the Covenant, but I loved what we learned about the crossroads and what happened to Thomas, Alice and others. McGuire has a brilliant imagination as she swept us through dimensions. From allies to enemies and those in disguise, I was all in.
Alice is stubborn, brave, relentless, and fearless in the face of battle. We meet some new characters and find connections as we face down foe and learn the effects of previous storylines. Does Alice find Thomas? Can she make it home? I will leave you to discover those answers. I will tell you, I experienced every emotion under the sun and stayed up listening way past my bedtime.
Emily Bauer narrates and did a splendid job of capturing not only Alice but others from human to creatures. I’ve listened to the series from the beginning and think they are perfect in this format.
Fans of fantasy, family, suspense and fast-paced action-packed adventure will love the InCryptid series. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
With the crossroads destroyed and clues given to her by contacts, Alice hopes to traipse further. This time, maybe she will find Thomas. Dead or alive, she needs closure or a miracle. Her last journey almost killed her, but she found information that changes everything. We also painfully learn how Alice has stayed so young. OMG… nope. Nope. Nope.
This felt like an interlude as we stepped away from cryptology and the Covenant, but I loved what we learned about the crossroads and what happened to Thomas, Alice and others. McGuire has a brilliant imagination as she swept us through dimensions. From allies to enemies and those in disguise, I was all in.
Alice is stubborn, brave, relentless, and fearless in the face of battle. We meet some new characters and find connections as we face down foe and learn the effects of previous storylines. Does Alice find Thomas? Can she make it home? I will leave you to discover those answers. I will tell you, I experienced every emotion under the sun and stayed up listening way past my bedtime.
Emily Bauer narrates and did a splendid job of capturing not only Alice but others from human to creatures. I’ve listened to the series from the beginning and think they are perfect in this format.
Fans of fantasy, family, suspense and fast-paced action-packed adventure will love the InCryptid series. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
September 29, 2025
9/29/25: 4 stars. We FINALLY get to see Alice's story—Alice, who has been searching for her missing husband after he disappeared in the middle of the night 50 years ago. Alice, who is in her 80s, but looks like a girl of 19. Alice, the most badass member of the Price-Healy family! And what a story it was. While the first half was slow to get started and most of the reason why this book is not a 5 star, it was still cool to see what Alice's life has been like for all these decades. The plot really took a turn for the intense and interesting at the halfway mark and the second half had so many fulfilling and awesome character moments and some fantastic dialogue, some of the best payoffs in the series, and I absolutely loved it. I really missed the presence of the family in this book, but looks like we will be getting a ton more of them in the next Alice book so I'm thrilled about that. Overall still having a great time with this series—it is a new favorite urban fantasy for sure.
June 17, 2024
"Normal people aren't supposed to rip holes in the membrane that separates dimensions. That petty pleasure is reserved for sorcerers and umbramancers and the various forms of cryptid who have managed to evolve a more symbiotic relationship with the stuff. For a human like me, it's a violation of the laws that supposedly govern the natural world, and it comes with a price."
Ten fun as hell books later and we've reached Alice's installment, finally! This was everything I needed right now during a time of burn out, barely reading, being busy and the general soul-sucking fuckery that is going on in the world. Seanan McGuire is always such a comfort for me!
Ten fun as hell books later and we've reached Alice's installment, finally! This was everything I needed right now during a time of burn out, barely reading, being busy and the general soul-sucking fuckery that is going on in the world. Seanan McGuire is always such a comfort for me!
March 1, 2022
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* 3.5-4
*Thoughts*
Spelunking Through Hell, by author Seanan McGuire, is the Eleventh installment in the authors InCryptid series. Alice Price-Healy knows what pain feels like. She lost her mother at a young age and her father years later. She fell in love with a man named Thomas Price whose family was part of the dreaded Covenant which wants to rid the world of Cryptids. 65 years ago, in order to save Alice from dying painfully, Thomas made a bargain with the malevolent entity known as the crossroads. 56 years ago, Thomas was separated from his wife, their son, Kevin, and newborn baby daughter, Jane.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* 3.5-4
*Thoughts*
Spelunking Through Hell, by author Seanan McGuire, is the Eleventh installment in the authors InCryptid series. Alice Price-Healy knows what pain feels like. She lost her mother at a young age and her father years later. She fell in love with a man named Thomas Price whose family was part of the dreaded Covenant which wants to rid the world of Cryptids. 65 years ago, in order to save Alice from dying painfully, Thomas made a bargain with the malevolent entity known as the crossroads. 56 years ago, Thomas was separated from his wife, their son, Kevin, and newborn baby daughter, Jane.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
February 15, 2023
Spelunking Through Hell: A Visitor’s Guide to the Underworld
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Daw Books
Publishing Date: 2022
Pgs: 33 pages
=======================================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Love, noun:
1. An intense feeling of deep affection; may be romantic, filial or platonic.
Passion, noun:
1. A strong or barely controllable emotion.
2. Enthusiasm, interest, desire.
3. See also “obsession.”
For Alice Price-Healy, finding her missing husband isn’t just a mission: it’s an obsession, the thing she has willingly given up every other aspect of her life to pursue. And after more than fifty years, she finally has confirmation that he might be alive out there. She may even have a direction. Now, if she can just keep herself from getting killed before she reaches her destination, she might be able to finish her seemingly endless quest.
All she wants is a happy ending. That’s the only thing the universe has never wanted her to have.
Fifty years of running through dimensions without a lot of concern for making friends has left her with more enemies than allies, but she’s still got a few places to turn, including Naga, the professor of extra-dimensional studies and giant snake-man she met when she was seven, Helen and Phoebe, the Ithacan satyrs, and Cynthia, the owner of the Red Angel Tavern.
Where she can’t turn is to her family, back on Earth and tired of her dimension-hopping obsession. They wrote her off as unreliable long ago, and are unlikely to join what looks like one more wild goose chase.
But is it? Or is this the time Alice finally brings Thomas home to stay?
_________________________________________
Genre:
Fiction
Fantasy
Comedic Fantasy
Paranormal
Paranormal Romance
Multiverse
Good vs Evil
Mystery
Science Fiction
Adventure
Cryptozoology
Series
Why this book:
Caught my eye in the new book shelf at the library. Luckily I was already ensconced in the book before I found out it was a series. …much less that I had started with Book 11 in the series.
_________________________________________
The Page 100 Test:
& ◄ - Imma need a bit more.
? ◄ - Just not sure about this.
(≖_≖ ) ◄ - side eyeing this
± ◄ - could go either way
Favorite Character:
Magically tattooed, dimension-hopping, perpetually young grandma bounty hunter... ... ...wow.
Favorite Scene:
Deals at the Crossroads and the price to be paid...telepathic mice, and brothers-in-law who have become gods in the beyond. Helluva opening.
Favorite Quote:
"...when you learn to treat all injuries as a mild inconvenience, you can handle almost anything." ...ain't that the truth.
“Put enough assholes in a box and you're going to find the biggest strongest assholes rising to the top like some sort of horrific algae bloom of sphincters.” That's a great line.
Favorite Concept:
Some people fight and some people bargain and some people just want a good cup of coffee on their way out the door. I understand Thomas. Man just wanted a good cup of tea before being gone.
Paranormal bounty hunter...I can dig it.
Tropes:
The "oh, we're so in love" is becoming saccharin and tedious by the time you're somewhere between the second and third act,, hard to draw the line but somewhere in the 2-aughts and 2-teens, third act…definitely 3rd act.
Uhm Moments:
So, is her mind altered when she goes through the flensing or whatever the Naga call it? And do they do it on purpose? Do we not trust the snakes because of long-held genetic memory or am I just loathe to trust anyone who offers help too easily?
Wait...What?:
If I had realized before I started reading that this was a series and not just a series, but like Book 7 in the series, I'd have probably passed it by. So far I'm glad I didn't. ...sorry Book 11. Yeah, that would've intimidated me right on off and away.
Suspension of Disbelief:
Testing the limit of SoD, how is she searching an entire dimension when she arrives. Even a subdimension would be functionally infinite. A pocket dimension provided the pocket was small enough, maybe. But searching an infinity of dimensions with a potentially infinite substrate within that dimension and only being able to access one at a time via a web or chain jump...well it's a good thing that the Naga skinning ritual makes her a physically clean state whenever the damage gets too much also makes her younger cause 50 years is only a drop in the bucket against the infinity of spots the Crossroads could have put her husband.
Logic Gaps:
I seem to be on a run of books where characters make stupid and/or illogical decisions to further the plot. In this instance, the character mentions that this is a bad idea after failing to make the crossing twice and going ahead and attempting it again. ...and promptly passing out when she makes the journey, leaving her unconscious in a dead universe/parallel world where there are probably things that will want to kill or eat her. SMH. Still reading.
The Poker Game/DND Table:
Referring to her grandkids playing DnD while she is fighting 7-foot tall, barbarian lizard people and a cave-dwelling lobstrocity, thanks for the word Stephen King, cause that's what the description reminds me of. Bet the author is a helluva gamemaster.
Afterword mentions 4 ongoing DND games...respect.
_________________________________________
Pacing:
Very well paced.
Last Page Sound:
That was a good stopping spot. The 3rd Act/Climax coming across as more caper than Alice vs etc. etc. etc.
Author Assessment:
Say book by book, but I'll look forward to reading the summary to see if I'm in for another of the family's adventures.
=======================================
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Daw Books
Publishing Date: 2022
Pgs: 33 pages
=======================================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Love, noun:
1. An intense feeling of deep affection; may be romantic, filial or platonic.
Passion, noun:
1. A strong or barely controllable emotion.
2. Enthusiasm, interest, desire.
3. See also “obsession.”
For Alice Price-Healy, finding her missing husband isn’t just a mission: it’s an obsession, the thing she has willingly given up every other aspect of her life to pursue. And after more than fifty years, she finally has confirmation that he might be alive out there. She may even have a direction. Now, if she can just keep herself from getting killed before she reaches her destination, she might be able to finish her seemingly endless quest.
All she wants is a happy ending. That’s the only thing the universe has never wanted her to have.
Fifty years of running through dimensions without a lot of concern for making friends has left her with more enemies than allies, but she’s still got a few places to turn, including Naga, the professor of extra-dimensional studies and giant snake-man she met when she was seven, Helen and Phoebe, the Ithacan satyrs, and Cynthia, the owner of the Red Angel Tavern.
Where she can’t turn is to her family, back on Earth and tired of her dimension-hopping obsession. They wrote her off as unreliable long ago, and are unlikely to join what looks like one more wild goose chase.
But is it? Or is this the time Alice finally brings Thomas home to stay?
_________________________________________
Genre:
Fiction
Fantasy
Comedic Fantasy
Paranormal
Paranormal Romance
Multiverse
Good vs Evil
Mystery
Science Fiction
Adventure
Cryptozoology
Series
Why this book:
Caught my eye in the new book shelf at the library. Luckily I was already ensconced in the book before I found out it was a series. …much less that I had started with Book 11 in the series.
_________________________________________
The Page 100 Test:
& ◄ - Imma need a bit more.
? ◄ - Just not sure about this.
(≖_≖ ) ◄ - side eyeing this
± ◄ - could go either way
Favorite Character:
Magically tattooed, dimension-hopping, perpetually young grandma bounty hunter... ... ...wow.
Favorite Scene:
Deals at the Crossroads and the price to be paid...telepathic mice, and brothers-in-law who have become gods in the beyond. Helluva opening.
Favorite Quote:
"...when you learn to treat all injuries as a mild inconvenience, you can handle almost anything." ...ain't that the truth.
“Put enough assholes in a box and you're going to find the biggest strongest assholes rising to the top like some sort of horrific algae bloom of sphincters.” That's a great line.
Favorite Concept:
Some people fight and some people bargain and some people just want a good cup of coffee on their way out the door. I understand Thomas. Man just wanted a good cup of tea before being gone.
Paranormal bounty hunter...I can dig it.
Tropes:
The "oh, we're so in love" is becoming saccharin and tedious by the time you're somewhere between the second and third act,, hard to draw the line but somewhere in the 2-aughts and 2-teens, third act…definitely 3rd act.
Uhm Moments:
So, is her mind altered when she goes through the flensing or whatever the Naga call it? And do they do it on purpose? Do we not trust the snakes because of long-held genetic memory or am I just loathe to trust anyone who offers help too easily?
Wait...What?:
If I had realized before I started reading that this was a series and not just a series, but like Book 7 in the series, I'd have probably passed it by. So far I'm glad I didn't. ...sorry Book 11. Yeah, that would've intimidated me right on off and away.
Suspension of Disbelief:
Testing the limit of SoD, how is she searching an entire dimension when she arrives. Even a subdimension would be functionally infinite. A pocket dimension provided the pocket was small enough, maybe. But searching an infinity of dimensions with a potentially infinite substrate within that dimension and only being able to access one at a time via a web or chain jump...well it's a good thing that the Naga skinning ritual makes her a physically clean state whenever the damage gets too much also makes her younger cause 50 years is only a drop in the bucket against the infinity of spots the Crossroads could have put her husband.
Logic Gaps:
I seem to be on a run of books where characters make stupid and/or illogical decisions to further the plot. In this instance, the character mentions that this is a bad idea after failing to make the crossing twice and going ahead and attempting it again. ...and promptly passing out when she makes the journey, leaving her unconscious in a dead universe/parallel world where there are probably things that will want to kill or eat her. SMH. Still reading.
The Poker Game/DND Table:
Referring to her grandkids playing DnD while she is fighting 7-foot tall, barbarian lizard people and a cave-dwelling lobstrocity, thanks for the word Stephen King, cause that's what the description reminds me of. Bet the author is a helluva gamemaster.
Afterword mentions 4 ongoing DND games...respect.
_________________________________________
Pacing:
Very well paced.
Last Page Sound:
That was a good stopping spot. The 3rd Act/Climax coming across as more caper than Alice vs etc. etc. etc.
Author Assessment:
Say book by book, but I'll look forward to reading the summary to see if I'm in for another of the family's adventures.
=======================================
March 3, 2022
I did this in audio. I thoroughly enjoyed grandma Alice Price Healy's story. I had a few moments near the end that had me worried l wouldn't mind another story with her in the lead.
February 22, 2022
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I decided to request this book (Incryptid #11) despite not having read the first ten books because -- well, one has to start somewhere! And although it's usually at the start, I'm familiar enough with paranormal investigation series that run this long to know that although there are ties backward and forward, they are generally pretty standalone.
That was 100% the case with this book, which had the occasional moment of oddity I could tell was a reference to a previous book (like the offscreen handling of the Crossroads) but which otherwise kept all elements of its central story, both the emotional story and the literal narrative plot, completely self-contained. It felt like a great place to begin, which is a fantastic thing for such a long series to do with any one book. Maybe I just got lucky and the last 9 wouldn't have been good places, but if it's luck, I'll take it!
I really enjoyed this book. It had a fun adventure, a strong emotional drive that was really sold from the prologue, and a great plot (both A and B). The narrative voice was consistent, and its tone just *felt* right for a paranormal investigation story -- many paranormal investigation stories try to imitate the combination gritty patter/humor of the original trailblazers, and often come across not quite making it there, but this one sells the fantasy completely.
The only negative is one that didn't bother me too much -- but basically, I didn't always buy what I saw of the worlds Alice went to. For example, why, ? Etc. In the text, most of these got left as 'Well dimensional differences are weird', which was fine enough for me to handwave them, but they didn't always feel completely grounded rather than just a cool idea.
That said, these moments were few and Alice's drive sold the rest of it; I didn't always like Alice (an admittedly bad mother who literally cut away every part of herself that wasn't finding the man she loved) but I always believed she was a real person with real motivations. A really fun read, and I'm looking forward to going back and giving the rest of the series a go.
One really nitpicky thing I can't not mention: Spelunking is a term specifically reserved for caves and the hell in this book doesn't have a single cave in it. It's like calling it Mountaineering through Hell and putting Hell on the plains. Schlepping or Sauntering might have been better choices. Yes, I know this is super nitpicky, and it would never impact my star rating! But I was really hoping for some fun cave horror sequences, and the closest was one cave on a non-hell world early on! It might be metaphorical caves -- "Seanan McGuire's allegory of the cave" my wife offers -- but still.
Also: This ARC includes an additional InCryptid novella at the end, which deals with some of Alice's younger years and is incredibly moving. I definitely cried for some mice. Really good!
I decided to request this book (Incryptid #11) despite not having read the first ten books because -- well, one has to start somewhere! And although it's usually at the start, I'm familiar enough with paranormal investigation series that run this long to know that although there are ties backward and forward, they are generally pretty standalone.
That was 100% the case with this book, which had the occasional moment of oddity I could tell was a reference to a previous book (like the offscreen handling of the Crossroads) but which otherwise kept all elements of its central story, both the emotional story and the literal narrative plot, completely self-contained. It felt like a great place to begin, which is a fantastic thing for such a long series to do with any one book. Maybe I just got lucky and the last 9 wouldn't have been good places, but if it's luck, I'll take it!
I really enjoyed this book. It had a fun adventure, a strong emotional drive that was really sold from the prologue, and a great plot (both A and B). The narrative voice was consistent, and its tone just *felt* right for a paranormal investigation story -- many paranormal investigation stories try to imitate the combination gritty patter/humor of the original trailblazers, and often come across not quite making it there, but this one sells the fantasy completely.
The only negative is one that didn't bother me too much -- but basically, I didn't always buy what I saw of the worlds Alice went to. For example, why, ? Etc. In the text, most of these got left as 'Well dimensional differences are weird', which was fine enough for me to handwave them, but they didn't always feel completely grounded rather than just a cool idea.
That said, these moments were few and Alice's drive sold the rest of it; I didn't always like Alice (an admittedly bad mother who literally cut away every part of herself that wasn't finding the man she loved) but I always believed she was a real person with real motivations. A really fun read, and I'm looking forward to going back and giving the rest of the series a go.
One really nitpicky thing I can't not mention: Spelunking is a term specifically reserved for caves and the hell in this book doesn't have a single cave in it. It's like calling it Mountaineering through Hell and putting Hell on the plains. Schlepping or Sauntering might have been better choices. Yes, I know this is super nitpicky, and it would never impact my star rating! But I was really hoping for some fun cave horror sequences, and the closest was one cave on a non-hell world early on! It might be metaphorical caves -- "Seanan McGuire's allegory of the cave" my wife offers -- but still.
Also: This ARC includes an additional InCryptid novella at the end, which deals with some of Alice's younger years and is incredibly moving. I definitely cried for some mice. Really good!
October 3, 2022
Thomas is Alice's better half
Spelunking Through Hell is the eleventh novel in Seanan McGuire's Incryptid Series. Although the novels are the main works of the series, you will understand Spelunking best if you read the short stories McGuire has written about Alice and Thomas. Although many of these are available free from her web site, some are available only on Patreon. To be brief, Thomas Price and Alice Healy-Price are the progenitors of the Price family in North America, around whom the Incryptid novels revolve. Most of the novels are about their grandchildren: Alex, Verity, Antimony, Elsinore, Artie, and Sarah; along with a bunch of strays whom the Prices have picked up in their walks through life. This tendency to incorporate strays is one of the more endearing characteristics of the Prices.
I have always felt that Alice and Thomas were the central figures of the Incryptid series. Therefore I was really looking forward to Spelunking, the first novel to be told from Alice's point of view. Thomas was lost many years ago (1965, if I remember right), as told in some of the stories previously mentioned, as well as the bonus novella And Sweep Up The Wood… included in this book after Spelunking.
Unfortunately, I found that I don't like Alice very much. The Prices are a family of very dangerous scholars -- they carry enough knives and guns on their persons at all times to assault a fortress. But they identify as cryptozoologists, meaning they consider it their life work to study the cryptid species (magical beings) that inhabit the world alongside humans. The Prices are planners. They think things through and make plans, which. if not always successful, are at least well-considered.
What we find in Spelunking is that Alice is the dangerous progenitor, and Thomas the scholar. Alice has one approach to every problem that arises: frontal assault. She relies on her combat proficiency, her tolerance for pain, and her luck to carry her through intact. Alice is not a planner. And she is scornful of scholarship, proudly ignorant of classic literature, although she worked as a librarian. Alice is not stupid, but her intelligence is not what strikes you.
Actually, if you are familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will not be far wrong in thinking of her as Buffy. (McGuire is a Buffy fan, so this is probably not coincidence.)
In conclusion, I felt that Spelunking showed that the characteristics of the Price family that I most respect probably came from Thomas, not Alice. So that was disappointing. Also, sadly, the Aeslin Mice are almost completely absent from Spelunking.
Review of the included novella And Sweep Up The Wood… follows.
★★★★☆ Alice and Thomas get it on
And Sweep Up The Wood… is the bonus novella included with Seanan McGuire's Spelunking Through Hell. It is a prolog to Spelunking.
Before Spelunking, we knew a great deal about how Alice and Thomas got to be Married With Children. Numerous stories by McGuire described their courtship. The two previous novels, Imaginary Numbers and Calculated Risks told us in outline how Thomas was lost and Alice was unable to follow when Thomas was ripped out of this universe, because she was pregnant with a baby (who would eventually be Jane Rose). Spelunking in fact begins by recounting the latter story. No story published yet (as of 10-Mar-2022) recounts the story of their marriage or how they lived together for the five years of Thomas's imprisonment and had a child, Kevin Alexander. When last we left Alice and Thomas, Alice's father Jonathan was preventing them from communicating, mainly by lying to Alice.
And Sweep Up The Wood… tells the story of how that communication block got broken. It's hard to say any more without major spoilers, but it is a good story.
Although there are still some details left to fill in, we now have in hand most of the story of Alice and Thomas.
Spelunking Through Hell is the eleventh novel in Seanan McGuire's Incryptid Series. Although the novels are the main works of the series, you will understand Spelunking best if you read the short stories McGuire has written about Alice and Thomas. Although many of these are available free from her web site, some are available only on Patreon. To be brief, Thomas Price and Alice Healy-Price are the progenitors of the Price family in North America, around whom the Incryptid novels revolve. Most of the novels are about their grandchildren: Alex, Verity, Antimony, Elsinore, Artie, and Sarah; along with a bunch of strays whom the Prices have picked up in their walks through life. This tendency to incorporate strays is one of the more endearing characteristics of the Prices.
I have always felt that Alice and Thomas were the central figures of the Incryptid series. Therefore I was really looking forward to Spelunking, the first novel to be told from Alice's point of view. Thomas was lost many years ago (1965, if I remember right), as told in some of the stories previously mentioned, as well as the bonus novella And Sweep Up The Wood… included in this book after Spelunking.
Unfortunately, I found that I don't like Alice very much. The Prices are a family of very dangerous scholars -- they carry enough knives and guns on their persons at all times to assault a fortress. But they identify as cryptozoologists, meaning they consider it their life work to study the cryptid species (magical beings) that inhabit the world alongside humans. The Prices are planners. They think things through and make plans, which. if not always successful, are at least well-considered.
What we find in Spelunking is that Alice is the dangerous progenitor, and Thomas the scholar. Alice has one approach to every problem that arises: frontal assault. She relies on her combat proficiency, her tolerance for pain, and her luck to carry her through intact. Alice is not a planner. And she is scornful of scholarship, proudly ignorant of classic literature, although she worked as a librarian. Alice is not stupid, but her intelligence is not what strikes you.
Actually, if you are familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will not be far wrong in thinking of her as Buffy. (McGuire is a Buffy fan, so this is probably not coincidence.)
In conclusion, I felt that Spelunking showed that the characteristics of the Price family that I most respect probably came from Thomas, not Alice. So that was disappointing. Also, sadly, the Aeslin Mice are almost completely absent from Spelunking.
Review of the included novella And Sweep Up The Wood… follows.
★★★★☆ Alice and Thomas get it on
And Sweep Up The Wood… is the bonus novella included with Seanan McGuire's Spelunking Through Hell. It is a prolog to Spelunking.
Before Spelunking, we knew a great deal about how Alice and Thomas got to be Married With Children. Numerous stories by McGuire described their courtship. The two previous novels, Imaginary Numbers and Calculated Risks told us in outline how Thomas was lost and Alice was unable to follow when Thomas was ripped out of this universe, because she was pregnant with a baby (who would eventually be Jane Rose). Spelunking in fact begins by recounting the latter story. No story published yet (as of 10-Mar-2022) recounts the story of their marriage or how they lived together for the five years of Thomas's imprisonment and had a child, Kevin Alexander. When last we left Alice and Thomas, Alice's father Jonathan was preventing them from communicating, mainly by lying to Alice.
And Sweep Up The Wood… tells the story of how that communication block got broken. It's hard to say any more without major spoilers, but it is a good story.
Although there are still some details left to fill in, we now have in hand most of the story of Alice and Thomas.
September 26, 2024
As much as I love the InCryptid world and Seanan McGuire's writing, I wasn't that excited about Spelunking Through Hell. The previous arc was probably my least favorite AND I had basically zero connection to Alice going into the book. But actually as I should have expected, it was really good.
For those who don't remember, Alice has been on the hunt for her husband Thomas, taken by the Crossroads, for fifty years. She's a magically youthful total badass with little regard for her own safety. In a family where everyone's chaotic, she stands out as the most stubborn and wild. Of course, this book is her finally getting a breakthrough in her search for Thomas.
Listen, it is HARD to review a book eleven into a series, and I don't want to spoil anything. The plot is fantastic, as McGuire plots almost always are. It took me fifty plus pages to warm up to Alice and feel emotionally connected; this is a rare book where I was more into the plot than the characters initially. But I was so into it by the end, that I nearly cried.
For those who don't remember, Alice has been on the hunt for her husband Thomas, taken by the Crossroads, for fifty years. She's a magically youthful total badass with little regard for her own safety. In a family where everyone's chaotic, she stands out as the most stubborn and wild. Of course, this book is her finally getting a breakthrough in her search for Thomas.
Listen, it is HARD to review a book eleven into a series, and I don't want to spoil anything. The plot is fantastic, as McGuire plots almost always are. It took me fifty plus pages to warm up to Alice and feel emotionally connected; this is a rare book where I was more into the plot than the characters initially. But I was so into it by the end, that I nearly cried.
January 5, 2023
After years of hyping this story up (ever since the title was announced, 5 books early), I just wasn't very happy with how the story played out / what it ended up being... maybe i was just grumpy, back in March... maybe I'll like it more on re-read... hopefully, since the next book focuses on Alice as well...
Backpacking Through Bedlam
Backpacking Through Bedlam
August 6, 2022
This took me a minute to get into Alice's story but once I did it was as good as the rest of the series. I love this world that the author has created and most importantly I love a strong female character!
June 29, 2022
A Wrinkle in Time stars Alice Price-Healy. Sort of. I liked it.
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