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InCryptid #12
Backpacking Through Bedlam
Seanan McGuire's New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated urban fantasy InCryptid series continues with the twelfth book following the Price family, cryptozoologists who study and protect the creatures living in secret all around us.
Reunion, noun:
1. The state of being united again.
Reconciliation, noun:
1. An act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amiable truce.
2. The process of making consistent or compatible.
3. See also “impossible.”
Alice Price-Healy gave up her life for fifty years to focus completely on the search for her missing husband. The danger of focus like that is that it leaves little room for thinking about what happens after…and now that she’s finally managed to find Thomas, she has no idea what she’s supposed to do next. The fact that he comes with a surrogate daughter who may or may not have some connection to Alice’s recently adopted grandson is just icing on the complicated cake.
So the three of them are heading for the most complicated place in the universe: they’re going home.
But things on Earth have changed while Alice, Thomas, and Sally have been away. The Covenant of St. George, antagonized by Verity’s declaration of war and Sarah’s temporary relocation of an entire college campus, is trying to retake North America from the cryptids and cryptozoologists who’ve been keeping the peace for the past hundred years. And they’re starting in New York.
Alice and company have barely been back for an hour before the Ocean Lady and the Queen of the Routewitches are sending them to New York to help, and they find themselves embroiled in the politics of dragons, kidnappings, and of course, the most dangerous people of all: family.
Getting “back to normal” may be the hardest task Alice has undertaken yet.
Reunion, noun:
1. The state of being united again.
Reconciliation, noun:
1. An act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amiable truce.
2. The process of making consistent or compatible.
3. See also “impossible.”
Alice Price-Healy gave up her life for fifty years to focus completely on the search for her missing husband. The danger of focus like that is that it leaves little room for thinking about what happens after…and now that she’s finally managed to find Thomas, she has no idea what she’s supposed to do next. The fact that he comes with a surrogate daughter who may or may not have some connection to Alice’s recently adopted grandson is just icing on the complicated cake.
So the three of them are heading for the most complicated place in the universe: they’re going home.
But things on Earth have changed while Alice, Thomas, and Sally have been away. The Covenant of St. George, antagonized by Verity’s declaration of war and Sarah’s temporary relocation of an entire college campus, is trying to retake North America from the cryptids and cryptozoologists who’ve been keeping the peace for the past hundred years. And they’re starting in New York.
Alice and company have barely been back for an hour before the Ocean Lady and the Queen of the Routewitches are sending them to New York to help, and they find themselves embroiled in the politics of dragons, kidnappings, and of course, the most dangerous people of all: family.
Getting “back to normal” may be the hardest task Alice has undertaken yet.
352 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 2023
177 people are currently reading
3339 people want to read
About the author
Seanan McGuire
508 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 253 reviews
September 16, 2023
This is the last book in the series - at least so far. Unfortunately, we did not go out with a bang.
After FINALLY proving her husband, Thomas, isn't dead by finding him in a parallel universe in the previous volume, Alice and he are back in our world - with Alice, who is a nice addition to the family.
Their return home is somewhat dampened by some people not appreciating that they have been wrong and Alice has been right. Moreover, certain events (aka the Covenant coming to America with more and more teams and capturing/killing more and more cryptids) prevent a happy party of the entire family.
So to NYC Alice, Sally and Thomas go to help Verity, her husband AND BABY OLIVIA. D'aw!
Eventually, they actually run into some Covenant members and have to save some dragons/children before the war gets out of hand (yep, I just said that).
Honestly? This book took way to long to get to the good bits. First we didn't get the family reunion, then we get a lukewarm reception from Verity, and then there was ... what was that with Margaret? I mean, sure, she's a hack anyway, a stupid cow that thinks way too highly of herself and needs some sense slapped into her but was that supposed to be a kidnapping?
I didn't feel too much while reading this book, sadly. Barely any tension, barely any apprehension about the family stuff, barely any delight regarding cryptid species or magic.
So yeah, while this was in no way bad, it didn't feel as cozy as the others, it wasn't as hilarious (though the Aeslin mice were brilliant once again), it didn't have as much action (or as good), and generally disappointed a little. Especially IF this is supposed to be the last book - which is in no way sure (and I'm hoping it won't be). Too bad.
3.5 stars generously rounded up because I really love the series overall.
After FINALLY proving her husband, Thomas, isn't dead by finding him in a parallel universe in the previous volume, Alice and he are back in our world - with Alice, who is a nice addition to the family.
Their return home is somewhat dampened by some people not appreciating that they have been wrong and Alice has been right. Moreover, certain events (aka the Covenant coming to America with more and more teams and capturing/killing more and more cryptids) prevent a happy party of the entire family.
So to NYC Alice, Sally and Thomas go to help Verity, her husband AND BABY OLIVIA. D'aw!
Eventually, they actually run into some Covenant members and have to save some dragons/children before the war gets out of hand (yep, I just said that).
Honestly? This book took way to long to get to the good bits. First we didn't get the family reunion, then we get a lukewarm reception from Verity, and then there was ... what was that with Margaret? I mean, sure, she's a hack anyway, a stupid cow that thinks way too highly of herself and needs some sense slapped into her but was that supposed to be a kidnapping?
I didn't feel too much while reading this book, sadly. Barely any tension, barely any apprehension about the family stuff, barely any delight regarding cryptid species or magic.
So yeah, while this was in no way bad, it didn't feel as cozy as the others, it wasn't as hilarious (though the Aeslin mice were brilliant once again), it didn't have as much action (or as good), and generally disappointed a little. Especially IF this is supposed to be the last book - which is in no way sure (and I'm hoping it won't be). Too bad.
3.5 stars generously rounded up because I really love the series overall.
March 14, 2023
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.
3.5 hearts
Backpacking through Bedlam is the 12th book the Incryptid series, unless you are reading all the short stories as well, then I think it is closer to triple digits. You should read the entire series in order to really understand everything happening in this book, at minimum you will need to have read Spelunking Through Hell, Alice's story to find her husband lost for 50 years due to a deal made with the Crossroads. Reunited, they are now trying to figure out how to live together after so long apart and find a new path together.
Thomas and Alice have a rare and unique love and kept it alive for fifty years while they were separated. Alice has been fighting on her own for so long she isn't used to having a team to depend on. Thomas has been the leader of a population of others also stranded in the same place he was, he feels responsible for all of those people and wants to help find them a home before Alice and Thomas and Sally, Thomas's adoptive daughter, head back to earth. This story actually feels like it is two separate stories. There are the travels to get Thomas's people somewhere they can call home and then there is the second half that is a story of getting the Covenant out of New York. It is a bit disjointed and I will say the plot is almost non-existent in installment, it is more like two or three shorter stories pressed together into one book.
Verity and Sarah are helping the Cryptids of New York hide from the long time Price family nemesis the Covenant, an organization bent on exterminating non human beings that don't 'fit' into there version of what sapient creatures should be. The Covenant has heard of a dragon in New York and are there to find William (said Dragon). This is actually the most interesting part of the story where all the plotting really is. There are some reunions with family, understanding of Alice's non human heritage and how it plays into her unique luck and imperviousness to telepathy. I was a bit bored as we travelled to find homes for Thomas's charges from a bottle world, the second half of the story was much more interesting to me.
We can really think of books 1-9 as world building books with interesting stories in them. After that for Sarah and Alice's books, I think we are nearing the possible end of the series, or at least it feels like that. Backpacking through Bedlam had some interesting moments but I would say it is one of the weakest plotted books in the series, so it seems like unless there is a shift of some kind in the next book, we are at the end. This second chance romance was one I have been pulling for, for years through the other books and as Grandma Alice has now found the love of her life, Thomas, it felt like we are close to the end.
Overall, not my favorite book of the series, there are so many great ones leading up to this one to compare it to. But if you have read the rest of the series, you are also probably pulling for Alice and Thomas to get a HEA after all of these years. A must read for series lovers to get the closure many of us were looking for.
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
3.5 hearts
Backpacking through Bedlam is the 12th book the Incryptid series, unless you are reading all the short stories as well, then I think it is closer to triple digits. You should read the entire series in order to really understand everything happening in this book, at minimum you will need to have read Spelunking Through Hell, Alice's story to find her husband lost for 50 years due to a deal made with the Crossroads. Reunited, they are now trying to figure out how to live together after so long apart and find a new path together.
Thomas and Alice have a rare and unique love and kept it alive for fifty years while they were separated. Alice has been fighting on her own for so long she isn't used to having a team to depend on. Thomas has been the leader of a population of others also stranded in the same place he was, he feels responsible for all of those people and wants to help find them a home before Alice and Thomas and Sally, Thomas's adoptive daughter, head back to earth. This story actually feels like it is two separate stories. There are the travels to get Thomas's people somewhere they can call home and then there is the second half that is a story of getting the Covenant out of New York. It is a bit disjointed and I will say the plot is almost non-existent in installment, it is more like two or three shorter stories pressed together into one book.
Verity and Sarah are helping the Cryptids of New York hide from the long time Price family nemesis the Covenant, an organization bent on exterminating non human beings that don't 'fit' into there version of what sapient creatures should be. The Covenant has heard of a dragon in New York and are there to find William (said Dragon). This is actually the most interesting part of the story where all the plotting really is. There are some reunions with family, understanding of Alice's non human heritage and how it plays into her unique luck and imperviousness to telepathy. I was a bit bored as we travelled to find homes for Thomas's charges from a bottle world, the second half of the story was much more interesting to me.
We can really think of books 1-9 as world building books with interesting stories in them. After that for Sarah and Alice's books, I think we are nearing the possible end of the series, or at least it feels like that. Backpacking through Bedlam had some interesting moments but I would say it is one of the weakest plotted books in the series, so it seems like unless there is a shift of some kind in the next book, we are at the end. This second chance romance was one I have been pulling for, for years through the other books and as Grandma Alice has now found the love of her life, Thomas, it felt like we are close to the end.
Overall, not my favorite book of the series, there are so many great ones leading up to this one to compare it to. But if you have read the rest of the series, you are also probably pulling for Alice and Thomas to get a HEA after all of these years. A must read for series lovers to get the closure many of us were looking for.
March 26, 2023
I was happy when my book mail arrived this week, including the latest volume of InCryptid. McGuire chose to remain with Alice Healy-Price as principle narrator. I am taking a shine to Alice, who is determined to find a way to fit back into contemporary life and into her much expanded family while keeping her husband within sight whenever possible.
I also liked the addition of Sally to the family. The Prices are generous in their adoption of strays, just as they are in their evaluation of cryptids. Cryptids are people, just not human people. Adoption is sealed when the adoptee is accepted by the family ghosts and the Aeslin mice. Sally's passion for showers, clean socks, and pizza were completely understandable, after years in another dimension short on these amenities.
Speaking of the mice, they continue to be delightful. It was nice to get more of their antics, now that Alice is back home. The novella at the end of the book provided a good dose of mousiness, the point of view alternating between adoptee James and his fledgling clergy, Arcadia and Camden. We get the mouse’s eye view of things.
While attempting to readjust to home, Alice and Thomas get drawn into the effort to expel the Covenant from North America. Thomas' former employers are certainly persistent in their persecution of non-human people. Alice has difficulty with the notion that she is no longer an army of one, but manages to accomplish her objectives relatively unscathed.
So, we get a look at most of the family, get caught up on their news, and have another action packed adventure.
I also liked the addition of Sally to the family. The Prices are generous in their adoption of strays, just as they are in their evaluation of cryptids. Cryptids are people, just not human people. Adoption is sealed when the adoptee is accepted by the family ghosts and the Aeslin mice. Sally's passion for showers, clean socks, and pizza were completely understandable, after years in another dimension short on these amenities.
Speaking of the mice, they continue to be delightful. It was nice to get more of their antics, now that Alice is back home. The novella at the end of the book provided a good dose of mousiness, the point of view alternating between adoptee James and his fledgling clergy, Arcadia and Camden. We get the mouse’s eye view of things.
While attempting to readjust to home, Alice and Thomas get drawn into the effort to expel the Covenant from North America. Thomas' former employers are certainly persistent in their persecution of non-human people. Alice has difficulty with the notion that she is no longer an army of one, but manages to accomplish her objectives relatively unscathed.
So, we get a look at most of the family, get caught up on their news, and have another action packed adventure.
March 7, 2023
Thanks to Netgalley and DAW publishing for gifting me an early copy of this book. My honest review follows.
Everybody... Incryptid is awesome. Are you reading it? You should be if you aren't. If you are, high five to you!
This one picks up where Spelunking through Hell left off, so at the VERY LEAST, you should have read that one before starting this one.
Backpacking through Bedlam starts by tying up some loose ends from Spelunking, then diving back into the "our dimension"/"rest of the family" storyline. Verity's behavior, coupled with Annie's, has sparked a war with the Covenant. Who better to help with that than Alice and the gang?
I don't want to spoil too much or give away a lot of the story, but I really enjoyed the new dynamic between Alice and everyone, now that her lifelong quest is completed and things are supposed to be getting back to "normal." I can't wait to see more of the family reunions, especially James and Sally, now that they've both been adopted by the Prices - the short novella at the end of the book hinted at this upcoming storyline.
And if having another awesome Incryptid novel wasn't enough, we get a novella at the end that has two POVs in it. James is one... and the other? AN AESLIN MOUSE. They are one of the best creations in all of Urban Fantasy, and I loved this POV.
Highly recommended series. It's one of my absolute favorites. Not the best place to start, but if you haven't read the rest and choose to pick this one up, I hope that it drives you to go back and read the rest of them.
Everybody... Incryptid is awesome. Are you reading it? You should be if you aren't. If you are, high five to you!
This one picks up where Spelunking through Hell left off, so at the VERY LEAST, you should have read that one before starting this one.
Backpacking through Bedlam starts by tying up some loose ends from Spelunking, then diving back into the "our dimension"/"rest of the family" storyline. Verity's behavior, coupled with Annie's, has sparked a war with the Covenant. Who better to help with that than Alice and the gang?
I don't want to spoil too much or give away a lot of the story, but I really enjoyed the new dynamic between Alice and everyone, now that her lifelong quest is completed and things are supposed to be getting back to "normal." I can't wait to see more of the family reunions, especially James and Sally, now that they've both been adopted by the Prices - the short novella at the end of the book hinted at this upcoming storyline.
And if having another awesome Incryptid novel wasn't enough, we get a novella at the end that has two POVs in it. James is one... and the other? AN AESLIN MOUSE. They are one of the best creations in all of Urban Fantasy, and I loved this POV.
Highly recommended series. It's one of my absolute favorites. Not the best place to start, but if you haven't read the rest and choose to pick this one up, I hope that it drives you to go back and read the rest of them.
April 27, 2023
First, I highly recommend that listeners start from the beginning of this series and listen to them in the order of their release. I also recommend listening to the Ghost Roads series before beginning Backpacking Through Bedlam. There are characters in those books that appear here, plus they are epic.
Alice, Thomas, and Sally are moving between worlds, finding a safe place for the refugees with them before heading home. But there is no rest for the weary because the Covenant of St. George has declared war.
The story has two parts. The travel home after the crossroads was destroyed and returning home to discover things have changed and that the Covenant is an issue that must be finally be dealt with. We see character growth, reunions and overall series arc development.
I love the idea that InCryptid live among us. Of course, when a group of humans discovered this; they made it their mission to destroy them and the Covenant was born. Now the Price family disagreed and became cryptozoologists. They study and protect these creatures, all while humans walk around oblivious to the fact that the butcher is a Hydra. Stories in our own history of dragons and giant bugs make it seem surreal.
The world-building was well done and carefully planned as McGuire took different storylines and threads to weave together Backpacking Through Bedlam. Despite feeling like two stories, I enjoyed the ride and cannot wait to see what happens next. I was excited to learn the next book is in edits.
I love the Price family and the entourage of characters they’ve claimed as family, not to mention the Aeslin Mice who record their history. I am happy Alice has found Thomas. Was it Kairos luck or one woman’s sheer grit and determination? I’ll let you decide.
Emily Bauer narrates and has become a favorite for me. From the voices she gives each character to her squeaky Aeslin Mice, she makes listening a pleasure. If you haven’t begun this series, I highly recommend going for the audiobooks.
Perfect for fans of urban fantasy, danger and adventure. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Alice, Thomas, and Sally are moving between worlds, finding a safe place for the refugees with them before heading home. But there is no rest for the weary because the Covenant of St. George has declared war.
The story has two parts. The travel home after the crossroads was destroyed and returning home to discover things have changed and that the Covenant is an issue that must be finally be dealt with. We see character growth, reunions and overall series arc development.
I love the idea that InCryptid live among us. Of course, when a group of humans discovered this; they made it their mission to destroy them and the Covenant was born. Now the Price family disagreed and became cryptozoologists. They study and protect these creatures, all while humans walk around oblivious to the fact that the butcher is a Hydra. Stories in our own history of dragons and giant bugs make it seem surreal.
The world-building was well done and carefully planned as McGuire took different storylines and threads to weave together Backpacking Through Bedlam. Despite feeling like two stories, I enjoyed the ride and cannot wait to see what happens next. I was excited to learn the next book is in edits.
I love the Price family and the entourage of characters they’ve claimed as family, not to mention the Aeslin Mice who record their history. I am happy Alice has found Thomas. Was it Kairos luck or one woman’s sheer grit and determination? I’ll let you decide.
Emily Bauer narrates and has become a favorite for me. From the voices she gives each character to her squeaky Aeslin Mice, she makes listening a pleasure. If you haven’t begun this series, I highly recommend going for the audiobooks.
Perfect for fans of urban fantasy, danger and adventure. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
February 28, 2023
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
Backpacking Through Bedlam, by author Seanan McGuire, is the 12th installment in the authors Incryptid series. One would hope that you have read Spelunking Through Hell before starting this book as the story picks up right were the previous book left off. The InCryptid series is a witty urban fantasy saga featuring an eccentric family of cryptozoologists who act as a buffer between the humans and the magical creatures living in secret around us.This story is narrated by Alice Healy Price who spent 50 years searching for her husband Thomas Price.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
Backpacking Through Bedlam, by author Seanan McGuire, is the 12th installment in the authors Incryptid series. One would hope that you have read Spelunking Through Hell before starting this book as the story picks up right were the previous book left off. The InCryptid series is a witty urban fantasy saga featuring an eccentric family of cryptozoologists who act as a buffer between the humans and the magical creatures living in secret around us.This story is narrated by Alice Healy Price who spent 50 years searching for her husband Thomas Price.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
December 26, 2022
This is the twelfth book in the series, and it falls into the pitfalls that books of this pedigree often do.
The first third is spent as an epilogue to the previous book.
The next third is spent having characters bump around and reunite with other beloved characters that they haven't seen for a little while.
Then the book seems to jostle itself awake, and realize that it's supposed to have a plot or something. It produces Something.
And hints at a big showdown that might be in the next book. End. Curtain.
Boring.
I haven't read any of the previous books of the series, and even I was bored of rehashing the same conversations over and over by the end.
Husband is worried about safety of wife. Family is big and blended. Danger danger, trauma something. Trust is important because family is important and also past betrayals still sting. Husband is worried about wife. Wife is obsessively worried about husband, and hurt that he is worried and doesn't trust her. Family is big and complicated. Organized religion is bad, unless you are a comic relief mouse worshipping the protagonist. They aren't in the loop with modern life (laugh). Danger danger. Spouses are worried and clingy.
Boring.
Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
The first third is spent as an epilogue to the previous book.
The next third is spent having characters bump around and reunite with other beloved characters that they haven't seen for a little while.
Then the book seems to jostle itself awake, and realize that it's supposed to have a plot or something. It produces Something.
And hints at a big showdown that might be in the next book. End. Curtain.
Boring.
I haven't read any of the previous books of the series, and even I was bored of rehashing the same conversations over and over by the end.
Husband is worried about safety of wife. Family is big and blended. Danger danger, trauma something. Trust is important because family is important and also past betrayals still sting. Husband is worried about wife. Wife is obsessively worried about husband, and hurt that he is worried and doesn't trust her. Family is big and complicated. Organized religion is bad, unless you are a comic relief mouse worshipping the protagonist. They aren't in the loop with modern life (laugh). Danger danger. Spouses are worried and clingy.
Boring.
Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
July 25, 2025
HAIL! The mice are back!
Backpacking Through Bedlam is the twelfth novel in Seanan McGuire's Incryptid series. More important, it is Grandma Alice's second major outing. McGuire has told us that Sarah Zellaby and Alice Healy-Price were the key characters around whom she built the Incryptid series. (McGuire plans her series many years in advance -- this is a pattern that she has shown in both the Incryptid and October Daye series.) Sarah's main outings were novels 9 and 10, Imaginary Numbers and Calculated Risks. Alice took her big step in novel 11, Spelunking Through Hell. With novel 12, Backpacking Through Bedlam, we enter a new phase of the Incryptid series. Oversimplifying -- novels 1-11 were the world-building novels. (Eleven novels and ten years of world-building. Impressive!) In novels 9 and 10 Sarah graduated, so to speak -- she is now an immensely powerful telepath and can in addition manipulate space and time. Another key character was brought into the fold in novel 11 -- Alice's husband Thomas, the patriarch of the Price family. What all that means, I think, is The Gang's All Here. (Not to say that it won't expand more -- one of the more endearing characteristics of the Price family is their tendency to take in strays. But the core family is now all present and ready for action.)
Alice's background is important in understanding Backpacking Through Bedlam. Years ago there was a race of cryptids called Kairos. They were a type of cryptid who manipulated luck. They were also immune to telepathic manipulation, and were therefore the nemesis of Johrlacs (like Sarah). The Johrlacs and the Covenant wiped out the purebred Kairos. However, Alice's mother Fran Brown was the daughter of a Kairos father and a human mother. Thus Fran was half Kairos and Alice is a quarter Kairos. She has substantial resistance to telepathy, and she has Kairos luck. Kairos luck means that improbable coincidences happen to her reliably. Kairos coincidences can be good luck or bad luck. I think the simplest description of Kairos luck is, "Things fall into place." An even more pointed description is "Kairos luck causes those coincidences that are most convenient for a fiction author who doesn't want to come up with a plausible rationale to bring all her pieces into play."
Unlike most of the Price family, Alice is not a planner. She herself says, "Thinking about the future has never been my area of expertise. Hell, thinking beyond what I was going to do tomorrow has never been my strong suit. Reacting is my primary way of dealing with the world." This works for her because of her Kairos luck.
The plot of Backpacking Through Bedlam appears weak to nonexistent. There is not really much of a conventional plot -- there is no one big issue we're trying to deal with throughout Backpacking Through Bedlam. A sort of plot does show up at about the 50% point and hang on through to the end, but it is the default plot of the entire Incryptid series , so, to my mind, hardly counts. Instead Backpacking Through Bedlam feels like what McGuire has elsewhere called a stitch-up -- a novel-shaped object pieced together from a bunch of related stories.
I was less bothered by this than you might expect, because I suspect McGuire had a reason to do it that way. This, I think, is her way of showing us what the world looks like to Alice and her Kairos heritage. In fact, I really enjoyed reading Backpacking Through Bedlam. It was fun to see all these old friends together and to come to understand them better. I was disappointed by Alice in Spelunking Through Hell, which I rated only three stars. Alice is much more likeable in Backpacking Through Bedlam.
Another reason for liking Backpacking Through Bedlam is the one I alluded to at the top: the Aeslin Mice, who were absent for most of Spelunking Through Hell, are back in Backpacking Through Bedlam.
So, summing up, Backpacking Through Bedlam is a jumble of stuff, but it's fun stuff, lots of old friends bouncing off each other in entertaining ways, and there's a cognizable justification for the jumble. I waffled between three stars and four, but decided to give McGuire four for what I saw as a creative way of showing us Alice's character and world.
As usual, the book contains a bonus novella, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went. In this novella point of view alternates between James Price and an Aeslin Mouse Acadia, who is one of his priestesses. James is The Stolen God (formerly James Baker, now calling himself James Price), whom Antimony more or less kidnapped (with his consent) from Maine where he grew up. In Spelunking Through Hell we met Sally, who had been banished to the same Crossroads exile as Thomas and become his second-in-command and de facto adopted daughter there. Sally Henderson was James' best friend in Maine and had made her deal with the Crossroads to get him out of his hometown. At the end of Spelunking Alice brought her to Kevin Price's compound in Oregon. Sally stole James' waffles and told the folks there (folks including Aeslin Mice) to tell James that Sally stole his waffles.
As you have no doubt guessed from the title, that communication is the subject of the novella. We see more deeply into the civilization and religion of the Aeslin in this story than we ever have before.
This was GREAT fun. If I were to rate the novella on its own, it would get five stars.
I thank NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy. This review expresses my honest opinions. Book release date 7-Mar-2023.
Blog review.
Backpacking Through Bedlam is the twelfth novel in Seanan McGuire's Incryptid series. More important, it is Grandma Alice's second major outing. McGuire has told us that Sarah Zellaby and Alice Healy-Price were the key characters around whom she built the Incryptid series. (McGuire plans her series many years in advance -- this is a pattern that she has shown in both the Incryptid and October Daye series.) Sarah's main outings were novels 9 and 10, Imaginary Numbers and Calculated Risks. Alice took her big step in novel 11, Spelunking Through Hell. With novel 12, Backpacking Through Bedlam, we enter a new phase of the Incryptid series. Oversimplifying -- novels 1-11 were the world-building novels. (Eleven novels and ten years of world-building. Impressive!) In novels 9 and 10 Sarah graduated, so to speak -- she is now an immensely powerful telepath and can in addition manipulate space and time. Another key character was brought into the fold in novel 11 -- Alice's husband Thomas, the patriarch of the Price family. What all that means, I think, is The Gang's All Here. (Not to say that it won't expand more -- one of the more endearing characteristics of the Price family is their tendency to take in strays. But the core family is now all present and ready for action.)
Alice's background is important in understanding Backpacking Through Bedlam. Years ago there was a race of cryptids called Kairos. They were a type of cryptid who manipulated luck. They were also immune to telepathic manipulation, and were therefore the nemesis of Johrlacs (like Sarah). The Johrlacs and the Covenant wiped out the purebred Kairos. However, Alice's mother Fran Brown was the daughter of a Kairos father and a human mother. Thus Fran was half Kairos and Alice is a quarter Kairos. She has substantial resistance to telepathy, and she has Kairos luck. Kairos luck means that improbable coincidences happen to her reliably. Kairos coincidences can be good luck or bad luck. I think the simplest description of Kairos luck is, "Things fall into place." An even more pointed description is "Kairos luck causes those coincidences that are most convenient for a fiction author who doesn't want to come up with a plausible rationale to bring all her pieces into play."
Unlike most of the Price family, Alice is not a planner. She herself says, "Thinking about the future has never been my area of expertise. Hell, thinking beyond what I was going to do tomorrow has never been my strong suit. Reacting is my primary way of dealing with the world." This works for her because of her Kairos luck.
The plot of Backpacking Through Bedlam appears weak to nonexistent. There is not really much of a conventional plot -- there is no one big issue we're trying to deal with throughout Backpacking Through Bedlam. A sort of plot does show up at about the 50% point and hang on through to the end, but it is the default plot of the entire Incryptid series , so, to my mind, hardly counts. Instead Backpacking Through Bedlam feels like what McGuire has elsewhere called a stitch-up -- a novel-shaped object pieced together from a bunch of related stories.
I was less bothered by this than you might expect, because I suspect McGuire had a reason to do it that way. This, I think, is her way of showing us what the world looks like to Alice and her Kairos heritage. In fact, I really enjoyed reading Backpacking Through Bedlam. It was fun to see all these old friends together and to come to understand them better. I was disappointed by Alice in Spelunking Through Hell, which I rated only three stars. Alice is much more likeable in Backpacking Through Bedlam.
Another reason for liking Backpacking Through Bedlam is the one I alluded to at the top: the Aeslin Mice, who were absent for most of Spelunking Through Hell, are back in Backpacking Through Bedlam.
So, summing up, Backpacking Through Bedlam is a jumble of stuff, but it's fun stuff, lots of old friends bouncing off each other in entertaining ways, and there's a cognizable justification for the jumble. I waffled between three stars and four, but decided to give McGuire four for what I saw as a creative way of showing us Alice's character and world.
As usual, the book contains a bonus novella, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went. In this novella point of view alternates between James Price and an Aeslin Mouse Acadia, who is one of his priestesses. James is The Stolen God (formerly James Baker, now calling himself James Price), whom Antimony more or less kidnapped (with his consent) from Maine where he grew up. In Spelunking Through Hell we met Sally, who had been banished to the same Crossroads exile as Thomas and become his second-in-command and de facto adopted daughter there. Sally Henderson was James' best friend in Maine and had made her deal with the Crossroads to get him out of his hometown. At the end of Spelunking Alice brought her to Kevin Price's compound in Oregon. Sally stole James' waffles and told the folks there (folks including Aeslin Mice) to tell James that Sally stole his waffles.
As you have no doubt guessed from the title, that communication is the subject of the novella. We see more deeply into the civilization and religion of the Aeslin in this story than we ever have before.
This was GREAT fun. If I were to rate the novella on its own, it would get five stars.
I thank NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy. This review expresses my honest opinions. Book release date 7-Mar-2023.
Blog review.
July 4, 2023
This is the twelfth novel in the InCryptid series, so there's a whole lot of backstory involved and I think it would be difficult to fully appreciate the current book if the reader weren't familiar with what has gone before. This one ties-up one of the main points that was introduced right from the beginning, Grandma Alice's half-century quest to find and bring home her missing husband... and, of course, things don't go as comfortably as she wishes. Alice is the viewpoint character, but many of the main family members from earlier books appear... it was cool to see how Verity has been getting along, for example. It's a fast and fun read... McGuire never disappoints. As an added bonus, the book includes an original novella featuring the mice with an unlikely title, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went, which is worth the price of admission all on its own.
March 10, 2023
This one picked up right where the last one left off. I liked seeing Alice finally make it home with Thomas, of course it wasn't easy, nothing for these 2 are. You would think they would get some rest, but no, they are quickly dragged into a situation in NYC, where Verity is.
This is where things got fun! I loved seeing Alice introduce Thomas to his family, they all knew about him, knew what Grandma had been doing, but to see her actually succeed, it was a bit mind blowing for them all. Things went well, even when Sarah showed up and got to meet Grandpa.
The drama came from the damn Covenant, doing their crazy things. At least this time it wasn't the organization as a whole, just a splinter group. Our guys did what they could to neutralize things and have a good led on the rest of the Covenant people. It will be interesting to see where things go from here with all the new things they learned and as Thomas meets more of his family.
This is where things got fun! I loved seeing Alice introduce Thomas to his family, they all knew about him, knew what Grandma had been doing, but to see her actually succeed, it was a bit mind blowing for them all. Things went well, even when Sarah showed up and got to meet Grandpa.
The drama came from the damn Covenant, doing their crazy things. At least this time it wasn't the organization as a whole, just a splinter group. Our guys did what they could to neutralize things and have a good led on the rest of the Covenant people. It will be interesting to see where things go from here with all the new things they learned and as Thomas meets more of his family.
March 11, 2023
Another excellent novel in the series. I really loved the novella at the end that had the point of view of one of the mice. It was a great addition to the book and helped explain more of the story.
March 8, 2023
3.5 stars
This felt more like two (long-ish) back to back novellas than a novel. The first part was more like an add-on to the ending of the previous book, like a very long epilogue, detailing the quest to return all of the refugees from the bottle dimension home or find a new home for them. During that entire time, much like the characters themselves, I was getting impatient, wanting them to be done with that already, so they could return to the rest of the family and we could move forward with the larger plot.
Then, when we finally did get to that, only half the book was left, which meant we couldn't spend enough time on the Covenant war part of the plot to give it much complexity. For this part of the book we were back in New York, and while I like the group of characters there well enough, they're definitely not the part of the InCryptid world I find most interesting. The obstacles the Covenant presented here were really only "novella-sized" with the book not having enough page time left. The immediate issues were solved very quickly and straight forward, with the Price family being in luck because the Covenant strike teams were acting like complete idiots and making it (too) easy for them. It felt more like a prequel novella reminding us that the Covenant is still a threat on the horizon and will probably be dealt with soon.
I did enjoy the Alice-Thomas-Sally family dynamic, so I still enjoyed myself a lot while I was reading this. But it was the kind of enjoying myself I usually get out of side stories, keeping me from missing the characters too much between novels. Not the kind I usually get from novels moving forward with the next big step in the characters' journeys.
I am happy that it was acknowledged that the Artie reset at the end of Sarah's books is an issue and not something to just shrug off. Looking forward to how this will be dealt with in future books, now that I have confirmation that it's something that's going to be addressed.
One more thing: it's probably a good idea to read all of the Rose Marshall books before reading this... or accept that you're going to be at least a little confused about what's going on with the family ghosts... which would also be fine, Alice is confused too, but I prefer knowing all the things that are available for me to know.
--
The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went 5 stars
As with most of the recent books, there's again a novella at the end, this time dealing with James learning that Sally stole his waffles at the end of Spelunking Through Hell. This novella was probably my favorite part of the book. I loved James' POV and hope we'll get more of it in the future. (There's also an Aeslin POV again here, which was interesting too.)
This felt more like two (long-ish) back to back novellas than a novel. The first part was more like an add-on to the ending of the previous book, like a very long epilogue, detailing the quest to return all of the refugees from the bottle dimension home or find a new home for them. During that entire time, much like the characters themselves, I was getting impatient, wanting them to be done with that already, so they could return to the rest of the family and we could move forward with the larger plot.
Then, when we finally did get to that, only half the book was left, which meant we couldn't spend enough time on the Covenant war part of the plot to give it much complexity. For this part of the book we were back in New York, and while I like the group of characters there well enough, they're definitely not the part of the InCryptid world I find most interesting. The obstacles the Covenant presented here were really only "novella-sized" with the book not having enough page time left. The immediate issues were solved very quickly and straight forward, with the Price family being in luck because the Covenant strike teams were acting like complete idiots and making it (too) easy for them. It felt more like a prequel novella reminding us that the Covenant is still a threat on the horizon and will probably be dealt with soon.
I did enjoy the Alice-Thomas-Sally family dynamic, so I still enjoyed myself a lot while I was reading this. But it was the kind of enjoying myself I usually get out of side stories, keeping me from missing the characters too much between novels. Not the kind I usually get from novels moving forward with the next big step in the characters' journeys.
I am happy that it was acknowledged that the Artie reset at the end of Sarah's books is an issue and not something to just shrug off. Looking forward to how this will be dealt with in future books, now that I have confirmation that it's something that's going to be addressed.
One more thing: it's probably a good idea to read all of the Rose Marshall books before reading this... or accept that you're going to be at least a little confused about what's going on with the family ghosts... which would also be fine, Alice is confused too, but I prefer knowing all the things that are available for me to know.
--
The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went 5 stars
As with most of the recent books, there's again a novella at the end, this time dealing with James learning that Sally stole his waffles at the end of Spelunking Through Hell. This novella was probably my favorite part of the book. I loved James' POV and hope we'll get more of it in the future. (There's also an Aeslin POV again here, which was interesting too.)
December 15, 2022
In this latest installment in the InCryptid series, Alice and her long-missing husband Thomas are finally reunited. But a reunion after fifty years apart is a lot harder than Alice ever bargained for, and they’re not quite the same people they used to be. And on top of that, the family they’re coming back to is at war with the Covenant, so there’s not a lot of time to slow down and talk things out.
I’m not really sure what to say about this one other than I loved it. This series just gets better and better. I’m glad we returned to Alice’s POV – and I hope we get one more from her, too, in which she and Thomas and their family have a proper reunion, for better or worse. There’s a lot that needs to be hashed out there.
The short story at the end, “The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went,” is a very nice look at several angles of the series we haven’t seen before: James’s POV and his adjustment to his new family, the POV of one of his Aeslin Mice priests and an inside look at the religious colony, and a look at the immediate fallout of Alice and Thomas’s return to the rest of the family.
Representation: LGBTQ characters, POC characters
I’m not really sure what to say about this one other than I loved it. This series just gets better and better. I’m glad we returned to Alice’s POV – and I hope we get one more from her, too, in which she and Thomas and their family have a proper reunion, for better or worse. There’s a lot that needs to be hashed out there.
The short story at the end, “The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went,” is a very nice look at several angles of the series we haven’t seen before: James’s POV and his adjustment to his new family, the POV of one of his Aeslin Mice priests and an inside look at the religious colony, and a look at the immediate fallout of Alice and Thomas’s return to the rest of the family.
Representation: LGBTQ characters, POC characters
April 6, 2023
{3.5 rounded up} Finding my way back to a series in its advanced stages with its multitude of characters {each with their own race \ special traits} took a bit to refresh my memory. Once acclimated it was a smooth read with a familiar familial read. This book answered some lingering questions from both the previous one and some major ones from the arc-plot itself. Unfortunately recent events only continue to build up into a larger high stake event yet to fully land.
March 5, 2023
Another fun installment in a favorite series!
April 26, 2023
This was fun - did it as an audio. I kind of like having Alice develop more as a character and also her interactions with the newly rescued Thomas.
January 31, 2024
Between this and the latest Wayward Children novella I am reminded why this author’s work continues to make me joyful so much of the time :)
March 14, 2023
52 Book Club Prompt 44 - Contemporary Setting
I liked both parts of the story, and especially liked the 2nd part with the POV from the Mice. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!
I liked both parts of the story, and especially liked the 2nd part with the POV from the Mice. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!
August 21, 2024
I feel like this book was pretty meandering and plotless. There was no arc. For some reason I haven’t really enjoyed the Alice books. At least Mary is next.
March 11, 2023
A very loosely plotted nothing important happening book at a moment in the series where plot is beating down the door screaming pay attention to me. I found this frustrating despite often really enjoying this kind of loosely plotted meandering late series book, and I think it's because things felt like they should be happening? You could make at least three cool books out of this - you could make a fun trans dimensional refugee resettlement book, you could make a book out of the emotional bombshell that is the grandmother finally bringing home her presumed dead husband after she ditched her family in favor of searching through dimension after dimension for him and just roll around in the emotions all book long, you could make a book out of the badass bounty hunter grandma and sorcerer grandfather coming home and joining the war against the Covenant that has been ramping up in the background and shit getting real. Instead the book halfasses all of these into one meh book.
January 4, 2024
I really, really liked the previous title, Spelunking through Hell. This one didn't work quite as well for me.
That said, I still enjoyed it! The writing style was snappy and fun, I still love Alice as a character, and there were a lot of cool little details. I loved the idea that dragons had such sexual dimorphism that the eponymous 'princesses' they were known to kidnap were just what female dragons look like. That's FUN.
But... it felt like it wanted to be a novella (or several novellas), not a novel, and as a result the pacing was off. Basically as I was reading the arc, I noticed several distinct stages:
1-25% = getting home
I got stuck for a while after reading this section because it felt like the conclusion to the previous book, so very much a resolution to that for me -- a place I felt naturally inclined to take a break.
26-52% = exposition
This part was kind of hard for me to get through, because it was just repeatedly having Sally and/or Thomas meeting new characters and then exposition about those characters and their role in the world and whatever previous novels had been having them doing and so on. LOTS of mentioning what other characters from the InCryptid series had been doing and a sense that it was all starting to come to a head, which is important, but there were basically no plot beats in here for this specific novel besides establishing the Covenant as a threat and raising the fact that Alice was going to have to figure out how to actually make family work now. And I'm invested in that idea, but it was so many introductions and character discussions one after another instead of collating them in some way. In addition, it meant the same jokes or beats kept getting repeated -- we heard so many times about needing a family flowchart, or how complicated the relationships were and so on.
52-60% = a digression that sort of led into the main plot
This did not end up tying back in directly to the main plot and the story it wants to tell, but it did introduce the value of male dragons and the fact the dragons hadn't been hiding themselves so well.
60%-85% - the story's plot
Here we got hook, drive, motivation, action, pause, rising action, danger, climax, and denoument. It was really engaging and exciting once the introductions got cut down -- especially starting about at 70% when Alice was on her own and had to figure out how things work, this book SANG at this point.
The novel ended at 85% (the rest of the book was a bonus novella).
This is in comparison to the previous book, which had Alice struggling on her own with an active goal, risks, and threats that she had to deal with the whole time and felt much more cohesive and contained in itself as a result.
Again: it's not bad. This criticism isn't meant to overwrite the fact that it was fun to read. This is a solid three star read for me! I enjoyed it, and I see what McGuire was going for with this one, given that it's very much like... how do you write a novel when your characters are finally coming home after decades, and give that the weight it needs while still spilling a plot out of it. But I couldn't shake the fact I was noticing these distinct stages that didn't feel like they were part of a cohesive whole single work, either.
That said, I still enjoyed it! The writing style was snappy and fun, I still love Alice as a character, and there were a lot of cool little details. I loved the idea that dragons had such sexual dimorphism that the eponymous 'princesses' they were known to kidnap were just what female dragons look like. That's FUN.
But... it felt like it wanted to be a novella (or several novellas), not a novel, and as a result the pacing was off. Basically as I was reading the arc, I noticed several distinct stages:
1-25% = getting home
I got stuck for a while after reading this section because it felt like the conclusion to the previous book, so very much a resolution to that for me -- a place I felt naturally inclined to take a break.
26-52% = exposition
This part was kind of hard for me to get through, because it was just repeatedly having Sally and/or Thomas meeting new characters and then exposition about those characters and their role in the world and whatever previous novels had been having them doing and so on. LOTS of mentioning what other characters from the InCryptid series had been doing and a sense that it was all starting to come to a head, which is important, but there were basically no plot beats in here for this specific novel besides establishing the Covenant as a threat and raising the fact that Alice was going to have to figure out how to actually make family work now. And I'm invested in that idea, but it was so many introductions and character discussions one after another instead of collating them in some way. In addition, it meant the same jokes or beats kept getting repeated -- we heard so many times about needing a family flowchart, or how complicated the relationships were and so on.
52-60% = a digression that sort of led into the main plot
This did not end up tying back in directly to the main plot and the story it wants to tell, but it did introduce the value of male dragons and the fact the dragons hadn't been hiding themselves so well.
60%-85% - the story's plot
Here we got hook, drive, motivation, action, pause, rising action, danger, climax, and denoument. It was really engaging and exciting once the introductions got cut down -- especially starting about at 70% when Alice was on her own and had to figure out how things work, this book SANG at this point.
The novel ended at 85% (the rest of the book was a bonus novella).
This is in comparison to the previous book, which had Alice struggling on her own with an active goal, risks, and threats that she had to deal with the whole time and felt much more cohesive and contained in itself as a result.
Again: it's not bad. This criticism isn't meant to overwrite the fact that it was fun to read. This is a solid three star read for me! I enjoyed it, and I see what McGuire was going for with this one, given that it's very much like... how do you write a novel when your characters are finally coming home after decades, and give that the weight it needs while still spilling a plot out of it. But I couldn't shake the fact I was noticing these distinct stages that didn't feel like they were part of a cohesive whole single work, either.
January 11, 2023
I was so excited to receive this book as an ARC - I absolutely love this series that follows a family of cryptozoologists. While Backpacking through Bedlam is the 12th book in the series, each is written from different family members point-of-views and it really keeps the series interesting. In this book Alice and her husband have returned home from dimension hopping. Instead of much down time to reacclimate to their large blended family, they are sent into New York City to stop the covenant from targeting dragons.
One of my favorite things about this series is how much I love the side characters just as much as members of the Price family. They are written with so much personality and there's such a diverse species range. It was fun watching Alice and Thomas jump back into their family life and immediately hit the ground running into a new disaster. I will say there was a lot at the beginning that really just seemed like wrapping up the last book in the series. The pacing doesn't really pick up until halfway through when we get to NYC and into the real plot of the book. But oh man, the dragon nest and family don't disappoint once you reach it. I've always loved this branch of cryptids. Watching Sally get a crash course in not only the family history, but cryptids in general, was enjoyable. I like how complicated her relationship is with Alice and Thomas, it is well written how Alice isn't necessarily jealous of her but uncomfortable with how much Sally and Thomas have shared the past few years. It's hard to just jump back into somebody's life after 50 years and expect nothing to have changed, there's definitely an adjustment that McGuire does well at covering. Can't wait to see how the reunion with more family members goes in future books.
As a bonus, the novella at the end was fantastic. It was great to follow new characters like James and one of the Aeslin mice. I especially enjoyed the look into the Aeslin mice colony, I would love even more from them!
I definitely recommend this book, and highly suggest you start at the beginning of the series. If nothing else, the previous book - Spelunking Through Hell - is a must read before this one. Seanan McGuire delivered a solid addition to the series again, and I look forward to seeing what comes next for the Price family. Thank you for the ARC from DAW and NetGalley for my opinions.
4.5 rounded up to 5
One of my favorite things about this series is how much I love the side characters just as much as members of the Price family. They are written with so much personality and there's such a diverse species range. It was fun watching Alice and Thomas jump back into their family life and immediately hit the ground running into a new disaster. I will say there was a lot at the beginning that really just seemed like wrapping up the last book in the series. The pacing doesn't really pick up until halfway through when we get to NYC and into the real plot of the book. But oh man, the dragon nest and family don't disappoint once you reach it. I've always loved this branch of cryptids. Watching Sally get a crash course in not only the family history, but cryptids in general, was enjoyable. I like how complicated her relationship is with Alice and Thomas, it is well written how Alice isn't necessarily jealous of her but uncomfortable with how much Sally and Thomas have shared the past few years. It's hard to just jump back into somebody's life after 50 years and expect nothing to have changed, there's definitely an adjustment that McGuire does well at covering. Can't wait to see how the reunion with more family members goes in future books.
As a bonus, the novella at the end was fantastic. It was great to follow new characters like James and one of the Aeslin mice. I especially enjoyed the look into the Aeslin mice colony, I would love even more from them!
I definitely recommend this book, and highly suggest you start at the beginning of the series. If nothing else, the previous book - Spelunking Through Hell - is a must read before this one. Seanan McGuire delivered a solid addition to the series again, and I look forward to seeing what comes next for the Price family. Thank you for the ARC from DAW and NetGalley for my opinions.
4.5 rounded up to 5
January 3, 2023
Backpacking Through Bedlam by Seanan McGuire
Now this is the book I have been waiting for since the end of book 5!!! This is a “shut up and take my money!” novel.
I am a HUGe fan of Seanan McGuire’s books - she is one of my favorite authors, hands down, and for good reason -she consistently writes numerous excellent, honest, and fun books every year. I was thrilled when DAW and NetGalley gave me an eARC of her newest Incryptid novel, Backpacking Through Bedlam which is the 12th novel in the series. Finally Alice and Thomas make it home and have to deal with Verity’s declaration of war from the end of book 5.
(To recap, the Incryptid series involves a family of cryptozoologists that work to protect the natural diversity of the hidden world. Every few books, the point of view narrator shifts to another member of the same family, which has the added benefit of keeping the series fresh and invigorated.)
The beginning of the book felt a bit slow to me - mainly because I was tired of dimension hopping and just wanted to get back to Earth to move that plot along. And move along it did! Things resolved, almost too quickly for my tastes - I wish the book had spent more time, or even a whole other book, on the dealings with the Covenant in New York and everything with the dragons. I also wish that we had gotten to spend more time with more family members. I particularly want to see how Artie is doing.
The bonus novella was also fantastic - it gave me more of what I wanted in terms of family drama. More importantly, it gave me much more insight than ever before in the internal workings of Aeslin society and I would adore an entire book from their POV.
My only complaint is I have to wait a whole other year to find out what happens next!!! This book is a must buy. Thanks to DAW and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Now this is the book I have been waiting for since the end of book 5!!! This is a “shut up and take my money!” novel.
I am a HUGe fan of Seanan McGuire’s books - she is one of my favorite authors, hands down, and for good reason -she consistently writes numerous excellent, honest, and fun books every year. I was thrilled when DAW and NetGalley gave me an eARC of her newest Incryptid novel, Backpacking Through Bedlam which is the 12th novel in the series. Finally Alice and Thomas make it home and have to deal with Verity’s declaration of war from the end of book 5.
(To recap, the Incryptid series involves a family of cryptozoologists that work to protect the natural diversity of the hidden world. Every few books, the point of view narrator shifts to another member of the same family, which has the added benefit of keeping the series fresh and invigorated.)
The beginning of the book felt a bit slow to me - mainly because I was tired of dimension hopping and just wanted to get back to Earth to move that plot along. And move along it did! Things resolved, almost too quickly for my tastes - I wish the book had spent more time, or even a whole other book, on the dealings with the Covenant in New York and everything with the dragons. I also wish that we had gotten to spend more time with more family members. I particularly want to see how Artie is doing.
The bonus novella was also fantastic - it gave me more of what I wanted in terms of family drama. More importantly, it gave me much more insight than ever before in the internal workings of Aeslin society and I would adore an entire book from their POV.
My only complaint is I have to wait a whole other year to find out what happens next!!! This book is a must buy. Thanks to DAW and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 8, 2023
Book Summary:
Alice Price-Healy has finally found her husband. It only took her fifty years of searching. Now it's time to figure out what her (well, their) new normal is. But Price-Healy's version of normal is not, well, normal.
In this case, it means helping a bunch of realm refugees find a home and then coming home to war against the Covenant of St. George. We all knew this war was brewing, but those that have spent time outside of the dimension may have been less aware of how bad things had gotten...
Backpacking Through Bedlam also includes a new InCryptid novella, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went.
My Review:
Yes! Seanan McGuire has done it again. The InCryptid series is delightfully complex, fascinating, and ever-growing. This latest installment, Backpacking Through Bedlam, follows Alice Price-Healy (the series has covered multiple family members at this point).
In a way, Alice is the most unique perspective of the family thus far. She's the oldest and also the most set in her ways. Despite this, she has a lot to learn, and this novel did a great job of driving that point home. I loved it.
I feel like we got a two-for-one deal in Backpacking Through Bedlam. We have a realm/portal adventure (with a side of family drama) for the first part and then a war against a great enemy for the second half (also with a side of family drama). Both were fascinating additions to the lore!
In addition, this novel has a new novella, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went. The novella has multiple perspectives, predominantly James (said Stolen God) and Acadia, one of the Aeslin Mice. In other words, it's pure perfection! Read this novella if you love the Aeslin Mice.
Highlights:
Urban Fantasy
Part of a Series
Family Drama
Dragons & Mythical Creatures
Portal Adventures
Trigger Warnings:
Giant insects
“Monster” hunting sentient creatures
Thanks to DAW Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Alice Price-Healy has finally found her husband. It only took her fifty years of searching. Now it's time to figure out what her (well, their) new normal is. But Price-Healy's version of normal is not, well, normal.
In this case, it means helping a bunch of realm refugees find a home and then coming home to war against the Covenant of St. George. We all knew this war was brewing, but those that have spent time outside of the dimension may have been less aware of how bad things had gotten...
Backpacking Through Bedlam also includes a new InCryptid novella, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went.
My Review:
Yes! Seanan McGuire has done it again. The InCryptid series is delightfully complex, fascinating, and ever-growing. This latest installment, Backpacking Through Bedlam, follows Alice Price-Healy (the series has covered multiple family members at this point).
In a way, Alice is the most unique perspective of the family thus far. She's the oldest and also the most set in her ways. Despite this, she has a lot to learn, and this novel did a great job of driving that point home. I loved it.
I feel like we got a two-for-one deal in Backpacking Through Bedlam. We have a realm/portal adventure (with a side of family drama) for the first part and then a war against a great enemy for the second half (also with a side of family drama). Both were fascinating additions to the lore!
In addition, this novel has a new novella, The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went. The novella has multiple perspectives, predominantly James (said Stolen God) and Acadia, one of the Aeslin Mice. In other words, it's pure perfection! Read this novella if you love the Aeslin Mice.
Highlights:
Urban Fantasy
Part of a Series
Family Drama
Dragons & Mythical Creatures
Portal Adventures
Trigger Warnings:
Giant insects
“Monster” hunting sentient creatures
Thanks to DAW Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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April 19, 2023
Objectively, putting this up against some of the other episodes in the series this is more like a 4 star read, but this is my favourite UF series and I enjoyed it so much that subjectively its 5 stars. Antimony is still my favourite Price-Healey but I do like Alice, despite the fact that she's annoyingly pig-headed sometimes.
Alice has finally found her husband and managed to drag him back through the dimensions along with a new, adopted step-daughter. Of course that only means they might be about to face their biggest challenge yet: reuniting with family after fifty years of absence.
This was more of an intermediate step episode which didn't feel as self contained as some of the other books and only moved the over arching series plot on a little BUT I would point out that if your 12 books in and you're reading in order, then you're probably here for the same reasons I am - the characters, the world building, the adventure and an UF series that actually does something other than vampire and werewolves in a love triangle. And let's not forget the wry humour and the fact that even when they're being stupid, all the characters are highly competent. Also, loved seeing Sarah again!
Aeslin mice too! So happy.
Overall, really enjoyed this. I'm exactly the target audience and I would be happy if the series went on forever.
My only irritation is that it's really bloody difficult to get these books in any format in the UK :( Daw need to sort their shit out - loads of McGuire fans live outside the US.
Alice has finally found her husband and managed to drag him back through the dimensions along with a new, adopted step-daughter. Of course that only means they might be about to face their biggest challenge yet: reuniting with family after fifty years of absence.
This was more of an intermediate step episode which didn't feel as self contained as some of the other books and only moved the over arching series plot on a little BUT I would point out that if your 12 books in and you're reading in order, then you're probably here for the same reasons I am - the characters, the world building, the adventure and an UF series that actually does something other than vampire and werewolves in a love triangle. And let's not forget the wry humour and the fact that even when they're being stupid, all the characters are highly competent. Also, loved seeing Sarah again!
Aeslin mice too! So happy.
Overall, really enjoyed this. I'm exactly the target audience and I would be happy if the series went on forever.
My only irritation is that it's really bloody difficult to get these books in any format in the UK :( Daw need to sort their shit out - loads of McGuire fans live outside the US.
September 28, 2024
Good book, not my favourite of the series but still fun returning to this incredibly entertaining family.
I found the first half of the story slow which isn't something I ever expect to feel from an Incryptid book. It was like a long epilogue to the last book. The dimension hopping was fine but I wanted the time with the family as a whole more than I cared about what happened to all the refuges Thomas had saved. Also there was a lot of catching Thomas and Sally up to speed. This was understandable but lead to feelings of info dump moments in order to recap parts of the story. The events of the Ghost Roads spin off have become more important and some of the recaps were to explain pieces of these books in case the reader hasn't read them.
"Sometimes it's nice when things stay predictable. Giant bats eat people; talking pantheistic rodents care more about religious rituals than they do about explosions; if I'm around, something's going to blow up."
The second half was more interesting but as there was only half a book left there wasn't enough time for the details. We get to return to New York, where the Covenant has come to fight to take out the Price family and take over North America. While a lot of fun, it was dealt with too quickly and easily. I do like seeing Alice try to relearn what it is like to not work alone after 50 years of being pretty much solo.
"Life's too short to go around saying things I don't mean."
"Says the twenty-year old octogenarian."
"I said life was short, not that life was logical"
I loved the novella at the end The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went. Told between James and one of the Aeslin Mice. So fun and seeing him realize Sally is alive and coming back was just so touching.
I found the first half of the story slow which isn't something I ever expect to feel from an Incryptid book. It was like a long epilogue to the last book. The dimension hopping was fine but I wanted the time with the family as a whole more than I cared about what happened to all the refuges Thomas had saved. Also there was a lot of catching Thomas and Sally up to speed. This was understandable but lead to feelings of info dump moments in order to recap parts of the story. The events of the Ghost Roads spin off have become more important and some of the recaps were to explain pieces of these books in case the reader hasn't read them.
"Sometimes it's nice when things stay predictable. Giant bats eat people; talking pantheistic rodents care more about religious rituals than they do about explosions; if I'm around, something's going to blow up."
The second half was more interesting but as there was only half a book left there wasn't enough time for the details. We get to return to New York, where the Covenant has come to fight to take out the Price family and take over North America. While a lot of fun, it was dealt with too quickly and easily. I do like seeing Alice try to relearn what it is like to not work alone after 50 years of being pretty much solo.
"Life's too short to go around saying things I don't mean."
"Says the twenty-year old octogenarian."
"I said life was short, not that life was logical"
I loved the novella at the end The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went. Told between James and one of the Aeslin Mice. So fun and seeing him realize Sally is alive and coming back was just so touching.
December 10, 2022
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This is a pretty calm book, which is nice if you want some light afternoon reading--not as nice if you're in the mood for lots of action and suspense. I'd call it Medium Angst--there's some interpersonal conflict going on and more combative conflict, but it's a little more low stakes than previous books.
There are kind of three sections to this book: other dimensions, Michigan, New York. All had their highlights, but they were all kind of slow paced.
I did really enjoy seeing Alice and Thomas together again at last, but this isn't my favorite installment in the series.
This is a pretty calm book, which is nice if you want some light afternoon reading--not as nice if you're in the mood for lots of action and suspense. I'd call it Medium Angst--there's some interpersonal conflict going on and more combative conflict, but it's a little more low stakes than previous books.
There are kind of three sections to this book: other dimensions, Michigan, New York. All had their highlights, but they were all kind of slow paced.
I did really enjoy seeing Alice and Thomas together again at last, but this isn't my favorite installment in the series.
November 20, 2022
Alice finally found her missing husband after fifty years. Now they are going home, but first they have to find a hospitable place to drop off several hundred refugees from the bottle dimension where Thomas was trapped. Once they make it back to Earth, all of their troubles should be over for a while, right? Um, no.
Fun, but not the place to start with this series. Best place: at the beginning. Second best place: the previous book, Spelunking Through Hell.
Contains a bonus novella, which is also fun.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Fun, but not the place to start with this series. Best place: at the beginning. Second best place: the previous book, Spelunking Through Hell.
Contains a bonus novella, which is also fun.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 14, 2023
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm providing an honest review in gratitude. This is the 12th adventure we've gone on with the Price-Healy family, and we're still following Alice and, to avoid massive spoilers, the people she encountered in Spelunking through Hell (book 11).
If Alice is one of your favorite members of the family, as she is mine, I think you'll love this book. From a plot standpoint, we are shifting into a new, massive phase by the end of the novel. It feels to me like a transitional book with a good mix of plot importance and fanservice, as many fan favorite characters arrive on the page once Alice and crew arrive in New York. We see both beloved ghosts as part of this book--to me, Rose's character felt strange in this one, but that may well be because it's been a long time since I read Angel of the Overpass--and if you enjoy seeing Mary, this is a book for you, too.
We're 12 books into the series, and I'll say that while early on, I think you're fine hopping in with little context, we're past that point in the story and have been for a while. At the very least, Spelunking through Hell is required reading in order to understand what's going on at the start of the book. Even the novella at the end of the book picks up directly where the novella at the end of the last book leaves off.
On that note, "The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went" includes one of my favorite bits of narration that Seanan does: we get the perspective of one of the Aeslin mice, and from a relatively new clergy, no less!
I deeply enjoyed this year's entry into the lives of my favorite cryptozoologist family, and Incryptid continues to be my favorite series that Seanan writes.
If Alice is one of your favorite members of the family, as she is mine, I think you'll love this book. From a plot standpoint, we are shifting into a new, massive phase by the end of the novel. It feels to me like a transitional book with a good mix of plot importance and fanservice, as many fan favorite characters arrive on the page once Alice and crew arrive in New York. We see both beloved ghosts as part of this book--to me, Rose's character felt strange in this one, but that may well be because it's been a long time since I read Angel of the Overpass--and if you enjoy seeing Mary, this is a book for you, too.
We're 12 books into the series, and I'll say that while early on, I think you're fine hopping in with little context, we're past that point in the story and have been for a while. At the very least, Spelunking through Hell is required reading in order to understand what's going on at the start of the book. Even the novella at the end of the book picks up directly where the novella at the end of the last book leaves off.
On that note, "The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went" includes one of my favorite bits of narration that Seanan does: we get the perspective of one of the Aeslin mice, and from a relatively new clergy, no less!
I deeply enjoyed this year's entry into the lives of my favorite cryptozoologist family, and Incryptid continues to be my favorite series that Seanan writes.
March 30, 2023
Loved the book but it felt a little like a bridge from where we are in the story to where we want to be in the story. Plenty of fun story and great action, but a bit more of a bounce between dilemmas than one consistent issue. However, it is setting up some exciting drama for book 13 that I will now have to wait about a year for.
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