Discount Armageddon

This is a gem of a book for fans of the urban paranormal and strong female characters that are sassy, independent, and still vulnerable all in one package.

Verity Price comes from a long and distinguished line of "monster-hunters," at least until about four generations ago that is. That would be when her family split off from the 'Covenant' to move the North America and start protecting those same monsters they once hunted. The family business is cryptzoology, something Verity has trained for her entire life.

However Verity is torn between going into the family business or pursuing her own passion - dancing. Specifically ballroom dancing. She is so passionate that she has to dance under an assumed name and disguise, because there is show more always a risk that the Covenant will think that her family line was not completely terminated some time ago. Disguise in place Verity goes on national television's hugely popular 'Dance or Die' show. After the show ends she makes a deal with her folks. She will move to New York City for one year to try to make it as a dancer, but on the side she'll also be doing some outreach into the cryptid community to do more non-invasive research and to help them however she can. Of course part of that job means she is also a hunter, because she can't just let the cryptids kill humans. But before she takes the drastic step of killing them she tries things like relocating them first. Anything that will keep her from taking a sentient being's life simply for doing what nature designed it to do.

Verity has made decent inroads with the cryptid community, but not so well with the dance career because of all her work with the cryptids. And her work with the cryptids is about to leap into first place for a while, as Dominic, a member of the Covenant comes to NYC to see if the city is ready for a purge. If the Covenant comes to NYC it would mean there wouldn't be a single cryptid alive by the time they left; not too mention the risk to not only Verity, and by extension her entire family.

The characters are well-rounded and engaging from the very beginning, with the appeal of being relate-able and interesting. The interpersonal dynamics are entertaining and run the gamut from insane to downright romantic and sweet.

Ms. McGuire has a talent for world-building that is to be applauded, keeping the story well balanced between the world we know and the one we unknowingly share with the cryptids. The story arc moves along at a nice clip, never letting the reader's attention wander to others things they should be doing, like getting some sleep before work rather than continuing to read. And if all that isn't enough to make you want to pick up the book, then read it solely for the pleasure of experiencing the Aeslin mice! show less

Think of Supernatural. Not current Supernatural, with angels and apocalypses and stuff, early Supernatural. Monsters of the week. Saving people, hunting things, the family business. Well, this is like that but better. Verity Price does everything the Winchester boys do backwards and in high heels, and does it while supporting herself as a waitress instead of stealing credit cards. She comes from a family of humanitarian monster hunters (they kick ass, but don’t kill unless they have to, and also offer support and advocacy to the supernatural community), and she loves the family business, but dreams of being a ballroom dancer. As the book opens, she’s spending a year living in New York, hoping to prove that dance is a feasible career show more for a Price girl. But then she meets an attractive and infuriating man who works for an organisation aiming to wipe all cryptids and the whole Price family off the face of the earth. And they start to hear rumours about a dragon … show less

I have been a longtime fan of Maguire's "Toby Daye" series so I was anxious to see what she would do with a new series. I am happy to announce that I loved "Discount Armageddon". This story is not nearly as dark as the Toby books but it still isn't all lollipops and roses. Innocent Cryptids are disappearing and maybe being murdered! Sure not all cryptids are decent and law abiding citizens but the cryptids in danger don't deserve what is happening to them. What are cryptids you may be asking? According to the book cryptids are "any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proved scientifically"...or to put it simply, a 'monster'. Enter our heroine Verity Price. Verity comes from a family line of people who hunt for cryptids show more and research them. They will take care of them if they are bad beyond redemption but they also see the value in the 'good' cryptids who are minding their own business. Not everyone believes the same way as the Price family. The Covenant is an organization that believes in completely eradicating all the cryptids. No cryptid is a good cryptid in their philosophy. Verity leads a double life...she has a public persona who competes in ballroom dance competitions...Verity's true life passion. Its the job of carrying on her family's profession that has her hiding from the Covenant and hunting the bad cryptids in the dark of the night. It is while she is hunting a cryptid that she finds herself face to face with a Covenant member named Dominic. Will they be able to work together on this one job? Will he find out about her ballroom dancing persona and out her to the Covenant who would like nothing more than to get their hands on any member of the Price family?

I found this story to be completely enchanting and engrossing. I loved reading about all the unique cryptids they encountered. I love that the author gave us a nice field guide to the cryptids in the back of this book. Verity is so easy to root for! She is witty and headstrong but very empathetic to the innocent. She is also conflicted about whether she wants to be doing the ballroom -dancing full time. Each person we meet along the journey, cryptid or not, is a completely developed character. Maguire could have taken some short cuts but she never did. I found myself empathizing with characters while mourning the loss of others we had only recently met. The characters are where Maguire shines regardless of what series she is writing. This sets her apart from the other authors in her genre.

There is no doubt that is going to be a must read series for me. My biggest question now is whether Verity will be the main character in the next book or if it will be from the view of another character of the Price family? I hope it will be Verity because I just adored her. show less

This was SO MUCH FUN. I loved the premise, of a family that splinters from the secret society sworn to kill all cryptids (monsters, to you and me) and instead works to protect the cryptid society so long as they live in peace with humans.

The world building is phenomenal, from the religious mice that have decided to worship Verity's family, to the dragons and their priestesses. And the story was just awesome. Verity stumbles across a Covenant member (of the monster-killing secret society) in her town and cryptids start disappearing ... and it isn't the Covenant.

I loved this book, and will be starting the second in the series as soon as I finish typing this.

DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDON begins a new urban fantasy series. In this first episode, Verity Price is trying to make a career for herself as a professional ballroom dancer in New York City while protecting the cryptids there. When Dominic De Luca from the Covenant of St. George comes to town, her cover as one of the Price girls from a family who left the Covenant generations earlier because they didn't think it was necessary to kill all cryptids is in danger of being blown. It doesn't help that cryptids are disappearing and there is rumor that there is a dragon sleeping under the city is growing. Verity needs to rescue the cryptids, find the dragon, and keep her family from being outed to the Covenant.

Verity is one kick-ass character who is as show more comfortable with weapons and martial arts as she is with the complexities of professional dance. She is smart-mouthed and witty. She is also very knowledgeable about the varieties of cryptids living in the City and treats the sentient ones the same way she would treat any other person.

I loved the variety of characters in this story. The world McGuire creates is a fascinating one. I am especially fond of the Aeslin Mice who look at any event as an opportunity to celebrate. I liked Verity's developing relationship with Dominic who needs an attitude adjustment and who gets it in this story.

This was a fun beginning to a series. I am eager to read more of the adventures. show less

I've joined this party a little late. I didn't know about Seanan McGuire until I read the serious and pain-filled "Rosemary and Rue"a few months ago.

"Discount Armageddon" is almost the mirror image of "Rosemary and Rue". It's fast, light and witty in a superficial denying-the-danger kind of way. It reaches for sassy, willfully unconventional and effortlessly lethal and makes it most of the time.

It has a great opening line:

"I really don't think you should put your hand inside the manticore, dear. You don't know where its been."
It's sprinkled with clever descriptions that made me smile. Here are a couple of examples:

Verity Price on her unconventional childhood

"Other kids got chores and teddy bears; we got gun safety classes and heavy show more weaponry. Normal’s what you make it."

Verity on first encountering the straight-laced but soon to be undone Covenant new-crusader-in-town who has snared her on a rooftop:

"Straightening, he puffed out his chest and said, “I am armored with righteousness.” 'Does righteousness protect you from small-caliber bullets?'"

I loved the premise of a family leaving the God-Wants-Us-To-Kill-The-Monsters cult and becoming cryptozoologists working with the Cryptids/monsters to create a stable ecosystem - how on message is that. The plot was clever without being too demanding. The originality and variety of cryptids encountered were fun. The mice were cute. The ballroom dancing was... exotic.

At times, I thought the pace lagged a little. The sex was eye-rolling but I'm almost sure that was intentional.

In the end, much depended on whether you liked Verity Price and cared what happened to her. I decided that I did and that I want to know more - in small doses - so I'm signing on for the next book in the series. show less

This is the first book from Seanan McGuire that I have not liked, not one little bit. I've loved works by both McGuire and Grant, but this has not lived up to the standards set by her other works. The only telltale McGuire trait is the worldbuilding being rich with beasties and monsters, with excellent details given, but after that... everything falls flat.

To begin, we are given a cast straight out of some of the worst parts of Urban Fantasy. Verity Price, who has nothing positive to say about much of anything, and Dominic De Luca, the trope-laden Catholic Italian swarthy love interest who is a stereotype from top to bottom. Things we hear about way too much: Verity's loathing of her job, Verity's desire to embrace her passion despite show more being a member of a hunted group of rogue cryptid hunters (putting herself and her family at risk to follow her dreams), how much she doesn't like her more-aggressive sister Antimony, and her weird family business when it doesn't relate to the plot. These characters are all paper thin and none of them get fleshed out beyond their barebones archetypes, and very few of them are even likable. The only one vaguely likable with a hint of an inner life is Sarah, and she feels like she's there because a telepath was needed for plotpoints.

The rest of the book is something straight out of a Buffy The Vampire Slayer script bible. If you are a long-time fan of the genre, you have read this book already. You have watched this show already. This brings nothing new to the table, and what it does bring to the table is stale bread and a glass of water. I am so deeply disappointed because it's candyfloss fluff, but it's not even good candyfloss. It's empty air where a much better book should have been. I know this, because I know Seanan can absolutely do better than this and right now I'm confused as to why she didn't.

Either way: 1/5, would probably .5 if I could give it, and that's only because it does have well thought out magical world and history... but if I wanted to read a book only to enjoy intricate worldbuilding, I would have picked up a Sanderson novel. show less