Wednesday, February 10, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on February 23, 2021 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.   

Calculated Risks is the tenth (10th!) book in Seanan McGuire's second urban fantasy series, InCryptid.  It's also the second half of a duology featuring Sarah Zellaby as its main protagonist, following from last year's "Imaginary Numbers" (Reviewed Here).  The InCryptid series has had its dark moments, but in general this series about a family trying to help the Cryptid (non-human creatures/beings science doesn't recognize as existing) community survive in a world where humans are dominant has had a really fun and often very witty tone, from its sardonic heroes/heroines to its hilarious hyper-religious mice that follow the protagonists around.  But Imaginary Numbers was the series' darkest novel yet and it ended on a really dark cliffhanger, which set kind of a different tone.

Calculated Risks tops its predecessor in darkness - there are moments of humor here, but again they're not nearly as extensive as earlier in the series.  Instead we get a book where Sarah - our protagonist from a species known for being sociopathic telepaths - has just had her dreamed-for moment of bliss stolen away from her in dramatic fashion and is forced to cope with the aftereffects all the while being also the only person who can possibly save everyone she cares about.  The characters here are still compelling, and the ending kind of cheats a little at the end to give a happy ending, but the darker tone makes this probably my least favorite of the series - though still well worth your time if you've enjoyed the series so far.  

Note:  This book comes with a novella set prior to the novel, which can be read before or after the main story, and I'll include a very quick review of that below:

---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------------
Just when Sarah Zellaby had what she'd always wanted - the boy she loved, half-incubus Artie Harrington, revealing the feeling was mutual - everything was torn away from her: she was kidnapped by her biological mother, forced to metamorphize into the next stage of Cuckoo/Johrlac evolution, become a Queen....and to wield the massive calculation of Cuckoo magic to destroy the Earth and send the Cuckoos all into a new dimension.  It was only through the efforts of her family, and Artie in particular, that she was able to do the impossible - contain the math, limit the damage, and survive.  

But she did not realize the cost: bringing a large chunk of Iowa with her into a world in a different dimension, with seemingly no way back home.   And even worse: while those she cares about - Annie, James and most of all Artie - are alive and with her, they now have no idea who she is, with Sarah's efforts having removed all memory of her from their minds.  And so all they see now in her is the Cuckoo who nearly destroyed their world and got them lost; just another member of the one species of Cryptid on Earth the Prices have felt okay hating and destroying.  

To survive long enough to think of a way to make things right, Sarah will have to convince her closest friends and family that she really is a member of the family.  But can she find a way to undo all her damage when the boy she loves now not only doesn't know her, but can barely stand to look at her?
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Calculated Risks, unlike its predecessor, never leaves Sarah's point of view to go to other characters (last book we got snippets from Artie's perspective).  And as I note above, Sarah's voice is a tragic one: she's one of two members of her species who she believes isn't a sociopathic asshole, has always feared people only like her due to her innate telepathic powers, and now finds herself with the only people who DO like her having forgotten all about her - and worse, since those people also know her species is made up of sociopathic monsters, they now think she is too.  

The result is that a large portion of this book is Sarah struggling to convince her allies that she is worthy of their friendship and love, allies who she normally would be able to count on without fail.  And it's heartbreaking to read, especially with regards to Artie, whose existence was so bound up in hers that the loss of Sarah in his memories causes him to be....well, still Artie, but now more depressed and bitter, as those memories are now of solitude and loneliness.  And he naturally resents that of her.  You might think that this book would develop in a way where Artie would fall in love with Sarah again despite meeting her essentially for the first time again....but McGuire doesn't take the book in that direction and its heartbreaking to read at times.  Sarah's voice mind you is still compelling - McGuire is a master at character work - but at the same time, the heartbreaking nature of this book - up till it finally gets a happy ending that kind of cheats a little bit - makes it probably my least favorite of the series just because it's so different in tone than its predecessors.    

This does not mean that this book is in any way bad - just that I probably won't reread it as much as I do the rest of this series.  McGuire uses the new dimension to further showcase the skills and character traits of our main characters - Annie is still very fun in a side role for instance - and to showcase a new utterly bonkers world (you'll never think of giant spiders necessarily the same way again).  Again, the characters are great, the world expansion is great, and there are still moments of the series' trademark wit which have helped make this series one of my favorites to look forward to.  So yeah, if you enjoy this series, you'll enjoy this one, and I don't know how you'd read this book if you didn't already enjoy the series (or read its predecessor).  It's still pretty great in general.  

Every InCryptid arc generally (Chaos Choreography aside) follows a different character, and each of these characters - First Verity, Then Alex, Then Antimony, Now Sarah (and even earlier if you count the short stories - acts differently, with their arcs having different tones accordingly.  Annie's arc was perhaps my favorite and I loved her the most (and I really still love her in this book here too) but with this book, I find Sarah's arc was my least favorite: Sarah's story is tremendously tragic, and while we end on a happy ending and the character developments are well done, I'm glad to be moving on.  Which doesn't mean I still don't love this series or that I can't wait for the next book, as we get into Grandma Alice.....oh boy.  

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This novel also contains a free bonus novella - "Singing the Comic-Con Blues".  As you might imagine from the title, its a lot lighter than the novel, featuring Annie as the narrator as she takes Artie, Sarah, and (unwillingly) Verity to Emerald City Comic Con just before the start of the books, ostensibly to stop a murderous Siren....but mainly to try and get Artie out of his basement to a Comic-Con with Sarah.  It's a good bit of fun - I love Annie's voice - and a nice antidote to the darkness of the novel, even if it was disappointingly too short for me: I wanted more!  Oh well.   

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