InCryptid
#2254.09 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 15 books Status Ongoing 2012–present Reading commitment High Seanan McGuire Last reviewed 2026-08-15
Overview
Seanan McGuire's long-running urban fantasy series following several generations of the Price/Healy family, cryptozoologists who protect cryptids (sasquatch, gorgons, mice-worshipping Aeslin mice, and much stranger things) from human discovery, while staying one step ahead of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George that once employed their own ancestors; a distinct continuity from McGuire's other two admitted universes, Wayward Children and October Daye. The novels follow different family members in turn, from Verity Price's adventures in Manhattan through her brother Alex's investigations, their younger sister Antimony's covert operations, and their aunt Alice's dimensional travels, spanning fifteen novels published from 2012 onward alongside more than fifty companion short stories and novellas across various platforms. Critics have praised the series' worldbuilding and voice, with Publishers Weekly calling one installment "a joyous romp that juggles action, magic, and romance," and it has been a New York Times bestselling series and a repeated Hugo Award finalist for Best Series, in 2018, 2020, and 2025.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (15 works) counts toward ranking
InCryptid Seanan McGuire
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Discount Armageddon | 2012 | core | 3.86 (18,922 ratings) |
 | Midnight Blue-Light Special | 2013 | core | 4.09 (11,361 ratings) |
 | Half-Off Ragnarok | 2014 | core | 4.00 (8,650 ratings) |
 | Pocket Apocalypse | 2015 | core | 4.07 (7,091 ratings) |
 | Chaos Choreography | 2016 | core | 4.18 (6,420 ratings) |
 | Magic for Nothing | 2017 | core | 4.24 (5,653 ratings) |
 | Tricks for Free | 2018 | core | 4.22 (5,064 ratings) |
 | That Ain't Witchcraft | 2019 | core | 4.31 (4,487 ratings) |
 | Imaginary Numbers | 2020 | core | 4.23 (3,953 ratings) |
 | Calculated Risks | 2021 | core | 4.18 (3,513 ratings) |
 | Spelunking Through Hell | 2022 | core | 4.27 (3,056 ratings) |
 | Backpacking Through Bedlam | 2023 | core | 4.25 (2,493 ratings) |
 | Aftermarket Afterlife | 2024 | core | 4.29 (1,938 ratings) |
 | Installment Immortality | 2025 | core | 4.20 (1,243 ratings) |
 | Butterfly Effects | 2026 | core | 4.26 (810 ratings) |
Multi-generation cryptozoologist family (the Prices/Hayleighs) vs. the Covenant of St. George; DAW. A 16th novel is anticipated by some third-party listings but is not announced on the author's own bibliography page, and is not registered (Article 2). McGuire has also published 50+ further InCryptid short stories/novellas (anthologies, bonus content, Patreon); deliberately deferred as Expanded Canon out of scope, per the same scale-driven deferral this project already applied to Oz's Famous Forty continuation books.
Quick answers
- How many books are in InCryptid? InCryptid's Core Canon is 15 books.
- What is the reading order for InCryptid? Publication order, starting with Discount Armageddon. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is InCryptid finished? Ongoing (2012–present).
- How much reading does InCryptid take? High reading commitment (estimated from 15 Core Canon books).
- How is InCryptid ranked? #225 in this site's official ranking, based on 84,654 reader ratings across 15 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #225?
Ranked #225 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.09 across 15 core books.
- A smaller readership (84,654 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.86 to 4.31.
- 0.01 behind #224, Mio, My Son.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 15 books · Ongoing · 85k ratings · Ranks #225 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running urban fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (15 Core Canon books)
- Discount Armageddon (2012)
- Midnight Blue-Light Special (2013)
- Half-Off Ragnarok (2014)
- Pocket Apocalypse (2015)
- Chaos Choreography (2016)
- Magic for Nothing (2017)
- Tricks for Free (2018)
- That Ain't Witchcraft (2019)
- Imaginary Numbers (2020)
- Calculated Risks (2021)
- Spelunking Through Hell (2022)
- Backpacking Through Bedlam (2023)
- Aftermarket Afterlife (2024)
- Installment Immortality (2025)
- Butterfly Effects (2026)
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what InCryptid and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Iron Druid Chronicles Urban fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.21
- October Daye Urban fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.20
- Chronicles of Elantra Urban fantasy / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.17
- Alex Verus Urban fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.17
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.09 across 84,654 ratings on 15 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: InCryptid admitted; Core = its 15 main-sequence novels accepted 2026-08-15
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: InCryptid Tier 3
- Seanan McGuire: InCryptid Tier 1
- sfadb: Seanan McGuire Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-15
Rule: Core = the 15-novel main sequence published to date (Discount Armageddon, 2012, through Butterfly Effects, 2026), confirmed via the author's own official bibliography page; admitted in progress per Article 2. McGuire has also published 50+ further InCryptid short stories/novellas since 2012 (anthologies, bonus content, Patreon); Expanded Canon population is deliberately deferred out of scope for this pass given that scale, the same treatment this project already gave Oz's 'Famous Forty' continuation books.