Half-Off Ragnarok

InCryptid, Book 3

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Ray Porter, Emily Bauer

What do gorgons, basilisks, and frogs with feathers all have in common? They're all considered mythological by modern science, and some people are working very hard to keep them that way. Alexander Price is a member of a cryptozoological lineage that spans generations, and it's his job to act as a buffer between the human and cryptid worlds - not an easy task when you're dealing with women who have snakes in place of hair, little girls who may actually be cobras, and brilliant, beautiful Australian zookeepers. And then there's the matter of the murders...

Alex thought he was choosing the easier career when he decided to specialize in non-urban cryptids, leaving the cities to his little sister, Verity. It turns out that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. It's a family affair, and everyone - from his reanimated grandfather to his slightly broken telepathic cousin - is going to get involved before things get any better.

Half-Off Ragnarok is the third installment of the highly praised InCryptid series.

©2014 Seanan McGuire (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

A good series takes a great turn

I was so enthralled by the first two books in this series, I picked this one up without looking at any reviews or any synopsis. Thus I was surprised to discover the series had moved on to focus on a different member of the Price family. I had the devoted fan's moment of doubt about this, but this quickly passed as the same interesting action, unfolding characters, and brilliant humor came at me from a fresh voice and perspective. I won't belabor the merits of the story itself--it's a great example of the genre with a great reader. The shift to a new main character still a part of the central family gives me great hopes for a long, exciting, and highly diverse series.

New protagonist

New narrator Ray Porter (bobbiverse) Got o love a Price Boy. All the Family skills and science geek

A big change from the past two books

Same series. Different narrator. The focus is on different characters. This is more of a murder mystery, compared to the adventures of the first two novels. This was quite disconcerting at first. I somewhat warmed up to it eventually, but I still missed the style of the first two books. Especially as the voice actor pronounced a number of words oddly (especially "Tailypo") and didn't do the best job on female voices.

Now that I think about it, the name of the series makes no sense. The names of the individual books make no sense. Regardless, I still really enjoy the series. I look forward to future books, but I hope the focus goes back to Verity and away from Alex.

You may have noticed Emily Bauer is credited as one of the voice actors on this book. That's true, but just for a line or two. 99% of this is still narrated by the male voice actor.

Narrator grew on me

I usually have a hard time with male narrators but I have to say this one did grow on me. I did, however, really dislike his voices for the female characters. Another thing that bothered me was Verity's cameo. Why couldn't she have voiced Dominic instead of HIM giving Dominic that weird accent 🙄 All in all I did enjoy the tale of another Price sibling and other family members and Cryptids.

Another great book from Seanan McGuire

Would you listen to Half-Off Ragnarok again? Why?

I don't re listen to books but it was a great book and glad I listened to it

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the mx of humor and action

What about Ray Porter and Emily Bauer ’s performance did you like?

I thnk they did a great job with all the characters