Discount Armageddon is the first novel in Seanan McGuire's second Urban Fantasy series, InCryptid. I have a mixed track record with McGuire's work - I greatly enjoy (if not love) her October Daye Urban Fantasy series, but have not been a fan of her two Wayward Children novellas. That said, I've actually read some of the InCryptid series before - earlier this month I read through most of the prequel short stories that are on McGuire's website, and I enjoyed them a lot. So I had good expectations going in.

For the most part, those expectations were met. The InCryptid universe is similar to the October Daye universe in that it very much has an "all myths are true" attitude, except in this case it's with mythological creatures, not faeries and magic. It also features some fun unique characters and a decent first person narrator. That said, the book isn't quite as solid as the typical October Daye novel, but well, it's the first in the series, so that's kind of unsurprising.

-----------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------------------The world is stranger than is commonly known. Living amongst humanity - and separately in nature - are Cryptids - creatures that science cannot explain. Some of these creatures are sentient like humans, others aren't; some seem to the basis for mythical creatures (gorgons, boogeyman, tanuki), while others are just strange (talking mice, frogs with feathers, etc.). And for ages, an organization known as the Covenant of St. George has scoured the globe, hunting and killing every Cryptid they could find. But about 80 years ago, the Healy/Price family broke away from the Covenant and fled to America, where they vowed, as Cryptozoologists, to catalog but protect Cryptids and preserve them in their environment as long as they did no harm to human beings. The Covenant of course, considers the Price and Healy families to be traitors who must be eliminated.

In present day Manhattan, Verity Price, one of the newest Price generation, isn't sure she wants just to be another family Cryptozoologist. Instead, she harbors a passion for ballroom dancing, which she competes in under an assumed name, all the while trying to help the Cryptid community of New York at the same time. But when a member of the Covenant - a Dominic De Luca - shows up, seemingly to scout ahead for a purge of New York's cryptids, things look down. And things look worse when sentient Cryptid females begin disappearing from the streets and strange monsters appear beneath the City. In order to set things right, Verity may be forced to hook up with the covenant agent Dominic in order to save the Cryptids of New York.

And by "hook up," well, I mean surely Verity can't fall for someone who's pledged to kill the very people, and her very family, she's sworn to protect? Could she?

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Like the October Daye series, Discount Armageddon is told from a first person point of view, that of Verity. Verity's a pretty strong character, self-aware and witty, and she's pretty fun to read. Much of the supporting cast is also excellent in this one - Sarah, Verity's cryptid cousin, is particularly amusing and the wide variety of other cryptids who show up are generally pretty well built up.

The book is pretty fast paced, and again, is pretty witty - definitely more so than the October Daye series. For example, each chapter begins with a description of where we are, except that opinion includes Verity editorializing about where that is ( "In the sewers under Manhattan, doing something stupid" is such a description). It's really cute and works very well. There's some points where Verity seems to be telling the story from the perspective of someone retelling a past-story, and the book doesn't really explain that, but it mainly just adds to the charm.

The book definitely feels like a first in a series novel though, with some weaknesses that I'm guessing are hardened out later in the series. The arc of the love interest Dominic and his relations with the Cryptid community didn't quite work for me - he goes from true believer for partially religious reasons to being a bit more tolerant (if not totally converted) by the end, and it's didn't quite read as believable to me. And one character who plays a big part in the ending action just sort of pops up from nowhere (despite a quick mention earlier) to be highly important, and she feels kind of out of place.

That said, again, this is a damn fun book, and I've already reserved the sequel from the library.

I received this work as part of the 2018 Hugo Voter Packet. This is a quirky and humorous mix of pop culture and magic realism, set in a modern-day New York City with dragons and fae and other supernatural creatures. I find that I prefer the author's October Daye series, which manages the snarky humor without being flippant and less of the all-pop-culture, all-the-time of this series. Recommended for fans of urban fantasy and pop culture, who will likely really enjoy this.

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire is the first book in the author's InCryptid urban fantasy series. I've previously read many books and stories by Seanan McGuire (and her alter ego Mira Grant) but this is only my second foray into her urban fantasy novels.

Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night... The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity—and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city...

When I was pressed for time towards the end of Hugo voting season, I decided to make my last few decisions by reading the first couple of chapters of the remaining books, this one among them. After that I had to get back to other (review) books, but when I had the chance, this was the book I wanted to pick up the most. It was the sentient, religious mice that really won me over.

The protagonist of this story is the scion of a family that used to be part of the "exterminate everything supernatural" society (aka the Covenant) until her great-grandparent defected. Now they study and protect the supernatural and stop the more aggressive members of that group from preying on humans. Verity in particular is well trained in fighting and enjoys cryptozoology and ballroom dancing. She's making a go of in New York: dancing, waitressing in a strip club (hence the cover art) and keeping the peace. The main story happens when a chap from the Covenant shows up, intent on a purge, but not responsible for a spate of recent disappearances...

This wasn't a complicated read but it was a fun one. As I said, I really liked the mice and most of the other characters also made for fun reading (basically, except for the bad guys). I felt a bit meh with regards to the romantic storyline, which was simultaneously a bit underdeveloped and predictable — the latter partly because there weren't many other male characters around. (On the other hand, yay for lots of female characters!)

I quite enjoyed this book and found it enough of a fun read that I am definitely interested in continuing with the series. I definitely recommend it to fans of urban fantasy looking for a fun read with a bit of a scientific take on different supernatural creatures. As it happens, I picked up book 2 on sale in paper (urgh) several years ago, so I already have it waiting on my shelf, huzzah. So I will be getting to that just as soon as I can bring myself to read a paper book again.

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2012, Daw
Series: InCryptid book 1 of 7 so far with more on the way
Format read: ePub
Source: Hugo Voter Packet (in this case, from the publisher via NetGalley)

I liked this book better on the re-read. Verity Price is a fascinating character, torn between her love of dancing (although we don't see much of that in this book) and the family job of hunting/saving mythical creatures. Into her strange life comes Dominic, a straitlaced member of the Covenant taught to kill the creatures Verity studies/protects. Naturally they fall in love while dealing with an attempt to wake a dragon underneath NYC.

The romance does not get in the way of the action and the characters are interesting and quirky without quite crossing the line into caricature. I liked this series much more than the October Daye books.

I have to say that I enjoyed this book better than the October Daye series by Mrs. McGuire. The October Daye series is a good series, but I really don't enjoy the faerie setting of it. This series is a better fit for me. Discount Armageddom hit all the right spots for me - great action, cool monsters, and a monster hunter/dance heroine. The conflict between the crypid and the Covenant is more interesting than her October Daye book in my opinion.

Loving this series and very much appreciate having access for the Hugo voting. Gradually working my way through the other books and short pieces.

Fun and fluffy urban fantasy with lots of action and a dash of romance. I especially enjoyed the world McGuire has created with monsters hidden in plain sight. I also appreciated that she uses less well-known monsters than the usual werewolves and vampires.

This was SO MUCH FUN. I loved the premise, of a family that splinters from the secret society sworn to kill all cryptids (monsters, to you and me) and instead works to protect the cryptid society so long as they live in peace with humans.

The world building is phenomenal, from the religious mice that have decided to worship Verity's family, to the dragons and their priestesses. And the story was just awesome. Verity stumbles across a Covenant member (of the monster-killing secret society) in her town and cryptids start disappearing ... and it isn't the Covenant.

I loved this book

Since I have the series now (courtesy of the Hugo voter packet), I thought I'd push on and read at least this one and the next one (Half-Off Ragnarok) before I make a decision about whether to finish the series...

This book carries on in the aftermath of Discount Armageddon, with the dust having just about settled from the events described there - the bar where Verity has been working has now been turned into a modern-day freakshow to exploit the gullible and Verity herself is just about coming to terms with the fact that her dance career has stalled completely. She's also still shagging Dominic, who's been sent by the Covenant to see if New York needs purging of its cryptid populace, despite the fact that his character is still pretty much cardboard with a pretty face.

Anyway, in this book, the Covenant decide to check up on Dominic's apparently half-arsed survey of the city and send along a bunch of more efficient operatives to see what's actually going on. This leads to a lot of time for Verity going round and warning the local cryptid populace that Bad Things Are Coming, while also angsting about her boyfriend and which side he'll choose when the chips are down. It also leads to her spending a chunk of the book either unconscious or naked and being tortured for information by moustache-twirling Covenant lackies, so if the latter is an issue for you then you might want to pass on by.

So, I'm going to read Half-Off Ragnarok, as it introduces Verity's brother - we'll see if I find that less annoying and then I'll make a decision on the rest of the series...

I often try to read something written by the guests of honor at BayCon before I go. Sometimes that merely ends up in adding to the to-be-read pile (which already had a different Seanan McGuire), but this time I managed to read the first InCryptid novel. Discount Armageddon is a wonderful urban fantasy with a sarcastic, funny, and self-aware female lead, Verity Price, and a determined—if misguided—male lead, Dominic De Luca.

Dominic has been raised to believe all cryptids are evil beings out to exterminate the human race. He has some rather good reasons for this historically, but the secret organization that raised him, the Covenant, refuses to believe times change and not all cryptids are the same. This causes a good bit of tension between them because the Price family believes sapient cryptids are, well, people with all the complexity that entails. They also understand about acting within one’s nature and will give the cryptids they find harming humans a chance to mend their ways. It’s all about balance.

Between the family history revealed throughout the novel and the clear sexual/emotional tension flaring up whenever those two are near, it’s not surprising there’s a bit of a love story tangled up into what is a wild adventure.

Add in an adopted cousin telepath who really would prefer she wasn’t able to hear their thoughts, a boogeyman boss who goes with the money, a snobbish dragon princess, and a great many other cryptids of various types, most who would prefer to be left alone to make their way in the world, and you have a fun read.

I enjoyed the way Verity acts the cryptozoologist as she’s been trained, making note of new discoveries as she attempts to save her city from Dominic’s upbringing only to learn there’s a bigger threat that requires they work together. It’s a scientific approach that allows for the explanation of all these creatures while offering a delightful mix of science and mythology.

This is not a particularly deep novel, and if you think too hard some aspects of the plot become a little too pat, but it is definitely entertaining while exposing a morality I can appreciate.

Oh, and on top of all this, she’s trying to be a professional ballroom dancer. It’s great for the stamina and muscles she needs when fighting for her life, but the same cannot be said for the effect her family’s calling has on her dance. Verity uses her dance skills from keeping the beat to sheer athleticism to survive. However, her preferred career is unlikely to get off the ground when she spends all the time off work chasing down monsters both to protect and capture them, a purpose that intrudes on her competitions a bit more than through bruises and wounds.

Discount Armageddon fills the niche where urban fantasy took the sass of chicklit, the creatures of fantasy, and the non-stop action of men’s adventure then tosses in a little Romeo and Juliet romance. More than that, it does all those elements well then raises the bar with a scientific approach and grand imagination that both draws on myth and tosses in innovation with an even hand.

This book abounds with energy: snappy dialogue, whip-fast plot, and intriguing characters. While urban fantasy can be hit or miss for me, this example of the genre is fresh and character-driven, and drew me quickly and inexorably into the world of cryptozoology. First in a series; well worth a read.

Discount Armageddon is the first novel of the Incryptids series, which this year is a Hugo Award finalist for Best Series. This is another series I have avoided for no good reason and now that I've read Discount Armageddon, I am reminded that I am frequently a damn fool because McGuire is consistently excellent. Discount Armageddon features "monsters", monster hunters, a strip club, intensely religious talking mice, and a protagonist who is trying to decide if she'd rather be a professional ballroom dancer or keep with her family's tradition and trade of protecting those monsters from others who would do them harm. In short, it is delightful.

Book 1 in the Hugo nominated InCryptid series, kindly provided by the publisher through NetGalley for voter consideration. After a slow, information-heavy start, this book really hooked me once the main plot kicked in, and although I found the "good monster hunters on the run from ancient European asshole order" business a bit trite, and wasn't thrilled with how the narrative ended up treating the Dragon Princesses (like, seriously? You're going to go for THAT trope?) I was mostly quite satisfied with how things went. Verity is a fun main character and while the most of her family play minor, off-screen roles, there's obviously some characters being set up in the background who are going to play larger roles in future. I'm very interested to see where this goes next!

I absolutely adored this book, which was both a bit of a delightful surprise and the first step in laying a foundation of affection for everything that comes after this!

I loved this book so much that when I go on vacation later this year I am giving a copy to a friend that almost never has time to read and tell her to read it. Verity comes from a long line of people that for centuries hunted and killed anything that wasn't human or hunted humans and we are not talking about animals here. The difference is several generations ago they came to the realization that what they were doing was wrong and now they try to help the cryptids hide among society and police them when they decide that they would rather snack on humanity. The price Verity and her family pay is now they must live under the radar of the Covenant of St George who hunt down anything that they see is wrong even if it doesn't prey on humans. Of course with Verity living in NYC, working as a waitress in a strip joint that employs several types of female cryptids and trying to be a professional ballroom dancer things are going to spiral out of control when a new operative from the Covenant comes calling to NYC to "cleanse" the town. I think what I liked the most about this as an urban fantasy is there was no magic, no possible second love interest and a family that is ready to drop everything to help out the heroine should she ask for backup.

4.5 Stars

Love this series and so glad to see it nominated for the Hugo Best Series! Urban Fantasy is still FANTASY!