Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire

Half-Off Ragnarok (InCryptid, #3)

by Seanan McGuire

When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn't expect people to start dropping dead. But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend--Shelby Tanner, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats--is starting to get suspicious.

Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

The third book in the InCryptid series takes us to a new location and a new member of the family, as Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner.

Of course, so do the talking mice.

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on

4 of 5 stars

Share

These books always start off so slow for me, and this one felt especially so.  I suppose the author might have felt as though she needed to do a bit of world building with the change of character.  Whatever the case, Alex’s story dragged in spite of some cryptid action early on in the first half.

Fortunately, I liked Alex, and I was interested enough in Sarah’s recovery after book 2 to keep on.  Which became more important as I failed to find anything interesting or authentic about Shelby, Alex’s romantic interest.  Partly because, living in Australia, I was looking for the “Aussie-ness” of her personality, and it never appeared.  In the acknowledgements, the author thanked someone for keeping her from making Shelby a cliché, which  I can wholly appreciate wanting to avoid, as well as how easily it might be to fall into that trap.  But I think her advisor might have over-compensated (and failed to catch that it’s the Great Ocean Road, not highway).  Most Aussies aren’t Crocodile Dundee, or Steve Irwin, but they do have a unique character, and Shelby didn’t have it.  Though my favorite quote of the book was:

“Pretty sure that ship has sailed,” said Shelby, who was eyeing the nearby foliage with trepidation, as if she expected it to attack at any moment.  Then again, she came from Australia: she probably did expect some sort of vegetable ambush.

(Australia.  The only continent designed with a difficulty rating of  “ha ha fuck you no.”)

After about the first half, the story started to stand on its own legs.  Shelby never really got off the ground for me, but the rest of the story coalesced into something moderately interesting.  The plot was well crafted, but it just didn’t have any oomph, for me.  As always though, the presence of the Aeslin mice, and in this case, Angela Baker, made up for a lot.

I have the second of Alex’s books, and I’ll read it – it takes place in Australia, and it will be interesting to see of the author writes the characters any more authentically on the second try.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • 20 September, 2020: Started reading
  • 23 September, 2020: Finished reading
  • 28 September, 2020: Reviewed