Part of the InCrypted series, we learn more about Sarah, and being a cuckoo. Sarah and "friends" have wound up stranded in another dimension, a major problem is they seem to have forgotten her, and they also don't trust her. The alien dimension also has some strange inhabitants, who of course are deadly. Will they be able to get back home, and will anyone be able to finally remember Sarah? Fantastic addition to the series, highly recommended.

Calculated Risks, the tenth book in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire, starts directly after the events in Imaginary Numbers, thankfully! Because OMG, what a cliffhanger!

In an attempt to not destroy Earth while using a living math equation, Sarah transported herself, Antimony, James, Artie, and Greg, their only ally among the Johrlac, along with a chunk of university and students to another planet. A big enough problem since she doesn't know how to get them all back home. Even worse, her family doesn't remember who she is.

Sarah thought that using the equation would kill her so she made it erase her from all of their memories. Especially heartbreaking since she still loves Artie and now she's a hated Johrlac, to be distrusted, even feared.

Since Calculated Risks is closely tied to Imaginary Numbers, it's not a good entry point into the series. But for longtime readers, it should be incredibly satisfying to learn more about the Johrlac and their powers. And, of course, get more time with Sarah who's been an intriguing secondary character in several previous books.

Since the group is on another planet, we get the science fiction trope of how to survive on an alien planet, especially one with giant jumping spiders. Apparently, having a university bookstore to get supplies from is super helpful. Lots of Price-Healy survival skills on display.

While there's plenty of action because aliens! Zombies! Giant jumping spiders! There's also a lot of internal dialogue and a fair amount of exposition. All of it written with Seanan's usual wit and ability to capture emotions. One of her greatest gifts as a writer is creating characters that readers are emotionally invested in.

There's a bonus novella about Annie's first hunt as the lead. She, Sarah, Artie, and Verity hunt a killer siren at a con.

Of the entire incryptid series this was my least favorite. There were long stretches of talk where nothing was happening but the characters having a conversation. Also Sarah's constant whining about wanting a bra drove me nuts. I have never met a woman who couldnt wait to get that thing off. My favorite part about the book was Greg.

Picking up where Imaginary Numbers left off, with Sarah, Antimony, Artie, James, and their cuckoo ally Mark stranded in another universe with a college campus, a few random students, and an unknown number of other cuckoos. Now they need to find a way to get themselves and everyone else back--except for the cuckoos, if possible. This won't be easy. Especially since Sarah deleted her cousins' memories of her to make room for the equation that got them there.

A fun entry in the series, but probably not the best place to start.

Includes a slight but enjoyable bonus novella about several of the younger cousins searching Comic-Con for a deadly siren.

This series is so much fun to read. And it probably says something a bit disturbing about my sense of humor that I find the humor in this series quite so amusing. This is perhaps one of the darker books in the series as our heroine seems to have everything arrayed against her. Most of what I could say about this book would be pretty spoilery, at. the very least you need to read Imaginary Numbers before reading this book if for some reason you’re reading this review without having read previous books you should go look at https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/seanan-mcguire/ for series order. That site lays out book order in a tidy fashion that makes tracking more prolific authors a bit easier!
Things are darkest before the dawn and the book keeps the dangers up to the very end!

Calculated Risks by Seanan Mcguire, another Solid book in the Incryptid Series. This one was a little slower than her normal writing since we spend a lot of time in Sarah's head but overall thoroughly enjoyable.

I found the beginning of the book slow. It felt like an info dump, especially for readers who have been following the Incryptid series from the beginning. I enjoyed it once it got going. Of course the Aeslin Mice are my favorite part of all the series. HAIL THE CALCULATING PRIESTESS!

It's no secret that I'm a huge Seanan McGuire fan. I've pretty much read her entire back catalogue at this point (including everything she's written as Mira Grant). The InCryptid series took longer for me to warm up to than the October Daye series, which grabbed me from the get-go, but I have to admit that it's kind of overtaken Toby in my esteem by a gnat's whisker.



The concept is brilliant: a family of monster-hunters turned Crytozoological conservationists tries to preserve the balance between the supernatural and the mundane, whilst avoiding the attentions of their arch enemies, the Covenant of St George. What this means is that there is no set main characters

for the entire series - at some point everyone gets a book or two. Personally, I love the structure of this series. You get to see characters from their own perspective and multiple other perspectives in later books. It also makes each little character arc self-contained so while it's more rewarding to read the series in order, you could conceivably read a couple of Verity's books, or a couple of Antimony's without having to go through the entire series to get there.



Imaginary Numbers - the first InCryptid story featuring Sarah Zellaby, a human form telepathic 'cuckoo' or wasp like creature - ended on a gut wrenching cliff hanger. Calculated Risks picks up exactly where that book left off and is largely concerned with solving the huge problem now facing Sarah, Artie, Antimony, Mark and James. I don't want to give spoilers but I was genuinely feeling choked up at a couple of points and there was a heart stopping moment towards the end. Also, look out for Greg - 'You dropped something' Heh, classic.



I'm already invested in the Price- Healy family as a whole so of course I loved this book. I love this huge sprawling family which is made of blood ties and friend ties, psychic ties and non-human ties. It is the ultimate found family series and everyone gets their own adventures. Also shout out to Rose Marshall who has been dead since 1952 but is still a favourite aunt (check out the Ghost Road books if you haven't already). This was exactly what I wanted in a new instalment in this series. I hope more episodes are forthcoming. I'm not nearly done yet.

Sarah has been my favorite member of the Price-Healy family for ages, and having her previous POV book end on such a cliffhanger seemed unnecessarily cruel. This second half of Sarah's story was worth the wait. Sarah's unique way of looking at the world as a non-human and a psychic coupled with her new mathemagic make for a great protagonist. And this is a quick, exciting book that reads like the rest of the series as an action/scifi/horror/comedy. I'm hoping we get another Sarah POV book in the series, but if we change protagonists, I'm still happy with her story that we've gotten.

I will read anything by Seanan McGuire, and the Incryptid Series is a delightful real-world-plus-cryptids series that follows a large cast of characters in the Price-Healy family. Like its immediate predecessor Imaginary Numbers, Calculated Risks follows Sarah, a non-murderous member of the generally-hostile cuckoo species. It's definitely NOT a good entry point to the series (I'd say if you don't start with the first book, start with one of the books where it switches narrators). Even as a fan of the series, I struggled with the early parts of the book, which are dialogue and interpersonal-conflict heavy but have very little action. Eventually things do begin to happen, but a lot still relies on your existing investment in the characters and their relationships and there is a lot of internal angsting and musing. Not my favorite in the series, but I look forward to seeing what is to come!