Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire
Published by Daw Fantasy
Publication Date : March 7th, 2017
Available as eBook & paperback – 368 Pages
Source : NetGalley (Thank You!) & Purchased
Six books deep and we have finally met Antimony. It happens kids, we’ve heard about her over and over and seen her in passing, but finally we have her. I have to say, she just might be my favorite Price too!
Let me back up. Magic For Nothing is the continuation of the Incryptid series, the last book being Chaos Choreography. Chaos Choreography ends with Verity declaring, on live television, that the Prices are here and they’re ready to stand up and fight for their Cryptid neighbors. Which means of course – that everyone goes into defensive.
Antimony, being the one Price who doesn’t look like her ancestors, is asked to go undercover. She has to join the Covenant of St. George. The Prices need to know what the Covenant knows and what they plan on doing.
Antimony has always been described by her siblings, best way I can think to put it, as stab happy. She was the one that loved to survive. She didn’t have something that didn’t revolve around that simple fact. Yet, we come to find out she has more dimension to it than that. And she gives us a view of the rest of her family – specifically Verity that we’ve never seen before. She’s twenty-two and understandably angry with what’s happening. Which makes her all the more believable.
She’s the strongest of all of the Price kids that I’ve read, I think. I love Alex with his quite and bookish strength. Verity is the perfect kick ass guardian of Manhattan but Antimony sits right in the middle.
Besides my clear love of Antimony she also gives us a new perspective on the Covenant and she sees them in a new way. Remember, we have to follow her into their ranks. There are some wild ones there, but there is unexpected depth to them. Past the Covenant I don’t want to give what she has to do away but the people she meets and the things she has to do had me glued to the page. The last 20% of the book I was clenching my poor Kindle so hard I thought my case would break. I knew what was coming, and so did she, but we could only wait. Seanan did an amazing job of building the tension and building our love of our characters and what they were going through. This had to be the most intense last portion of an Incryptid book yet.
Look, I can’t give the book in huge flaws. The only thing I could scrounge up to say is I wish we had gotten more, and that’s my common complaint on all these. I loved this. I cannot wait for book 7, and if you’re behind or aren’t sure if this one is worth getting. I give you a whole hearted ‘Yes, pick this up. Catch up. Read this!’
It’s a hell of a ride and likely my favorite so far. Amazing.