Damn, this one did a lot! Now I understand why Seanan McGuire chose to ease us into this mode in 'Backpacking Through Bedlam' rather than leap fully into everything that was ready to happen. It had an episode story that worked well enough, but it was there to move a bunch of pieces into the places they needed to be for this book to happen, based on everything that had gone before. And that was needed because of how the series had been constructed.

I pointed out in my review of that book that the 'InCryptid' series appears to have begun not with Verity in 'Discount Armageddon' as we thought but with Alice and Thomas; and the first ten books were Seanan McGuire building the series to the point where they could be reunited and we would care enough to be along for that ride. The side effect of that approach is a serious grounding in a universe. Let's call it the InCryptid Cinematic Universe to make the obvious parallel, which allows me to explain what this book really counts as.

In that concept, we should think of the first eleven books in this series as warmup movies, each of which grounds us in a particular character of importance and, in doing so, expands the universe as a whole. We get to know Verity and Dominic. Then we get to know Alex and Shelby. After a dab of complication, we get to know Annie, then Sarah and then Alice and Thomas. Of course, we met an awful lot of other people along the way, many of them other Healy-Price family members, as that built a serious ensemble cast of major players. And, with all of that done, McGuire deems it ready for the end of phase, which means everything everywhere all at once, to borrow a different title.

To milk that parallel, Verity, Alex, Annie and Sarah kind of count as Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor and Captain America, in whichever order you deem appropriate. Surely not that one. Maybe Alice and Thomas count as Nick Fury, but that's just me painting myself into a corner with this parallel. The combination of Black Widow and Doctor Strange seem more appropriate, but that's a cheat. They certainly aren't S.H.I.E.L.D. because they're not remotely that organised. Of course, the enemy has built ,too; though the Covenant of St. George feel a lot more like Hydra than they do Loki. And so we're ready for 'The Avengers', with all these folk teaming up to go up against the full force of the enemy, with all the background destruction that warrants.

What all this means is that this is by far the biggest, broadest and most impactful book the series has boasted to date. It's also the most emotional by far because people die, people that we don't expect to die because, to milk this parallel, they're our superheroes. It's specifically called out in dialogue by characters having to deal with this for the first time: "They do this ridiculous shit, and maybe they get hurt, but they walk away from it. Every time. That's what Prices do." The loss of a family member shakes them all the more because they feel they're invulnerable, through a mix of talent, training and Kairos luck.

More accurately, let's use the mindset that's already in place within the series: these characters are gods to the Aeslin mice. Gods are not supposed to die. When one does, the repercussions are immense and the emotional part of that is sustained. Appropriately enough, it whacked me hard between the eyes when the news reached the mice. After all, the family lost one of their own and that's heartbreaking but the mice lost a deity. The appropriate priesthood also lost their entire purpose. It's mentioned that no senior priest outlives his god by more than six months and we can see why. I'm not going to say that this series hasn't been emotional but there's been nothing like this before and McGuire isn't done. There's more heartbreak coming.

It's important for a phase end to get that serious, but McGuire's genius choice here is to have our guide through this book be Mary, the babysitter. Her origin story constitutes the prologue, most of a century ago in Buckley Township, and we're reminded that, while Alice was the first Price she babysat, she's taken care of every single one of them since, including the adoptees and extras, if they joined the family young enough. She's the perfect link to recap, ahead of a promised reunion, and she's the perfect link as the fit hits the shan because any family member can call her and she can go straight to them. She puts in a crazy amount of miles in this book, enough that the anima mundi summons her to talk about it. It's good to see that character building now the crossroads is gone and our planet can return to normal.

For instance, we're happily getting some of that reunion in Portland, Sally joining the family with style, when Olivia wakes up in New York City and Mary crosses coasts in the blink of an eye. This is the beginning of escalation, because the Nest is on fire. The Covenant have rocket launchers now. Back to the reunion to get Sarah so she can head back to New York with her and get Livvy out. It's Evelyn who makes a timely comment: "Have things always been this complicated, or have we just reached some sort of complication critical mass, where everything happens all at once forever?"

That's a good question because, while this book does reach a pretty emphatic conclusion, it surely won't count as the absolute end. Maybe it'll take a long while for the Covenant to build back up to the point where they can do again what they do here, but that's me making a lot of assumptions. I don't think I can do that safely. Certainly, the Covenant hit hard here and rather publicly, with at least seven coordinated attacks at once that must be reported as terrorist acts by those without the grounding in the series that we have. Rocket fire in New York City and five distinct attacks on carnivals? That's not something to brush under the carpet.

McGuire introduces this gloriously too. We're on a Zoom call watching the reunion build when the news comes in and off goes Mary again. Many family members are at the Portland compound in person, but there's Very and Dominic in New York, with William the dragon; there's Leo and Uncle Mike in Chicago; there's Alex, Shelby and Martin in Ohio; there's the Campbell family in their tent at the carnival; there's Drew in Toronto; there's Rose and Apple in a random diner... and we're not remotely done. I didn't start with a checklist of family members but I probably should have done. I would feel pretty safe in saying that every one alive appears here somewhere.

There's so much here that whatever I say is merely scratching the surface unless I let this run for a ridiculous length. I think I've got the key points across without spoiling anything, but I will raise an observation that would probably have McGuire throwing up her hands in despair, given how much she's built this InCryptid universe over a very large word count. This is book thirteen with at least two more on my shelf ready to go, but there are also sixty short stories, novelettes and novellas, some of which appear in these books but more of which are available on her Patreon. So, the last thing I need to do is throw out the suggestion of ways to expand it further.

However, there are two very clear opportunities here not just for individual side books but entire side series. As I mentioned, we shift location frequently here, whether in Mary's company or not, and many of those trips are to a crucial location not specifically tied to the Price-Healy family. I'm talking about St. Giles, the cryptid hospital under the streets of New York City. We're there often enough that I realised just how much I'd enjoy a series set here. Would you read a cryptid hospital drama, a sort of urban fantasy equivalent to James White's 'Hospital Station' books? I would!

The other raises that sort of potential even more overtly and it's one that I believe McGuire has touched on within her 'Ghost Roads' trilogy, the story of road ghost Rose Marshall. However, the sequence in this book with Mary descending from the Portland we know in our world to a twilight version, actually two twilight versions, screams out to be the location for an entire series. There are layers to the world that are not accessible to us but Mary is dead and thus can move between them. I want her, or indeed someone else, to do that for an associated but separate series.

The twilight layer is the closest to our reality and it's where everything loved and remembered is given the opportunity to linger on. Therefore, Portland exists there as both Stumptown and the Clearing, shifting between them either at random or according to logic not immediately obvious.  They're both populated with the ghosts of their respective eras, but the two blur together with a wonderful effect. Mary has a job to do that involves the twilight but it's easy to see the potential for a heck of a lot more stories set there. So Seanan, in your copious amounts of spare time...

Ignoring the dozens of other aspects I want to talk about, I'll just mention that another novella is included in this volume, which is the first trade paperback in the series, following the retirement of the mass market paperback format. That's 'Dreaming of You in Free Fall' and it explores more of the grief that pervades this entire volume. This is the most book in the series, that most being applicable to almost every aspect you can conjure up. The only word I'd throw at a different book is "fun" because 'Spelunking Through Hell' was a lot more fun, but this doesn't want to be fun. It's deep and broad and traumatically heartfelt. It's the phase end and it's the magnum opus. It's an impeccable achievement and you'll need to dedicate the time to run through it a single go. Trust me. And keep a tissue box to hand. ~~ Hal C F Astell

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