Well, I loved these reads! I love Seanan McGuire's writing so much, so when I got the chance to read this book, this is the first one that I picked up this month! This latest installment was so fantastic, and I can't wait to see what the future brings for this series.

In the author's note of the last book, it mentioned that that book was what she envisioned, for the stepping point for this series, of the stories beyond it, when she started this series. Which is a bit wild. And this is the first book after that, and all the pieces that were put into place, with the Covenant knowing about the Prices. And oh, was it a fun adventure!

There were many things I wanted from this book. To see Alice and Thomas to make it home, to have that time to relax. To see everyone's reactions to the fact that she did succeed after 50 years. We did get some of the reactions, in Backpacking, and in Mysteries of the Stolen God. I'm just so excited to see where things go from here!

The Mysteries of the Stolen God were really great, because along with Thomas, Sally is back-and James is the reason why she made that bargain in the first place. So there's all sorts of complicated emotions going on. And we got the perspective of Acadia, one of his new mouse priests. It was great to get their perspective in another story!

These were such great reads, and I can't wait for more in this series!

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.

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.

What can I say about this author. I have enjoyed every book she has written and this one is no different. In this book Alice has to deal with her feelings and adjustment of stopping a 50 year search for her husband and learning to live with him again in a normal life. Mind you the Price family is anything but normal. I love the cryptid series and this one is from the same mold as the others. There is chaos, adventure, danger and two damaged people learning to love again. It was excellent. As a side note there is a novella in the end that was just as funny, creative and enjoyable as the main book. I love living in the minds of the Price family. The author's humor comes out in every page and I find myself laughing constantly. I really can't say more without spoiling it, so I won't. Buy this book and enjoy. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.