Backpacking Through Bedlam

Praise for the InCryptid Novels “The only thing more fun than an October Daye book is an InCryptid book. Swift narrative, charm, great world-building . . . all the McGuire trademarks.” —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times-bestselling author “Seanan McGuire’s Discount Armageddon is an urban fantasy triple threat—smart and sexy and funny. The Aeslin mice alone are worth the price of the book, so consider a cast of truly original characters, a plot where weird never overwhelms logic, and some serious kickass world-building as a bonus.” —Tanya Huff, bestselling author of The Wild Ways “McGuire’s InCryptid series is one of the most reliably imaginative and well-told sci-fi series to be found, and she brings all her considerable talents to bear on [Tricks for Free]. . . . McGuire’s heroine is a brave, resourceful and sarcastic delight, and her intrepid comrades are just the kind of supportive and snarky sidekicks she needs.” —RT Book Reviews (top pick) “While [Spelunking Through Hell] veers noticeably from the urban fantasy of earlier volumes, taking place primarily in strange realms with almost no humans in sight, it still bears all the hallmarks of the InCryptid series: a clever protagonist, snarky banter, unusual creatures, and an entertaining blend of action, romance, and horror (the secret behind Alice’s enduring youth and vitality is especially unsettling). At heart a love story, this entry delivers both a satisfying payoff for fans of the series and an intriguing expansion of its universe.” —Publishers Weekly “McGuire’s characters are equal parts sass and sarcasm, set in an ever-expanding interdimensional world where Alice is on a journey highlighted by emotional chaos and roller-coaster pacing. Fans will be delighted by [Spelunking Through Hell].” —Library Journal “Discount Armageddon is a quick-witted, sharp-edged look at what makes a monster monstrous, and at how closely our urban fantasy protagonists walk—or dance—that line. The pacing never lets up, and when the end comes, you’re left wanting more. I can’t wait for the next book!” —C. E. Murphy, author of Raven Calls DAW Books presents the finest in urban fantasy from Seanan McGuire InCryptid Novels DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDON MIDNIGHT BLUE-LIGHT SPECIAL HALF-OFF RAGNAROK POCKET APOCALYPSE CHAOS CHOREOGRAPHY MAGIC FOR NOTHING TRICKS FOR FREE THAT AIN’T WITCHCRAFT IMAGINARY NUMBERS CALCULATED RISKS SPELUNKING THROUGH HELL BACKPACKING THROUGH BEDLAM SPARROW HILL ROAD THE GIRL IN THE GREEN SILK GOWN ANGEL OF THE OVERPASS October Daye Novels ROSEMARY AND RUE A LOCAL HABITATION AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT LATE ECLIPSES ONE SALT SEA ASHES OF HONOR CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT THE WINTER LONG A RED ROSE CHAIN ONCE BROKEN FAITH THE BRIGHTEST FELL NIGHT AND SILENCE THE UNKINDEST TIDE A KILLING FROST WHEN SORROWS COME BE THE SERPENT SLEEP NO MORE* THE INNOCENT SLEEP* *Coming soon from DAW Books Copyright © 2023 by Seanan McGuire. All rights reserved. Copying or digitizing this book for storage, display, or distribution in any other medium is strictly prohibited. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, please contact [email protected]. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Cover illustration by Lee Moyer. Cover design by Jeanette Tran and Adam Auerbach. Edited by Sheila E. Gilbert. DAW Book Collectors No. 1938. DAW Books An imprint of Astra Publishing House dawbooks.com DAW Books and its logo are registered trademarks of Astra Publishing House Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: McGuire, Seanan, author. Title: Backpacking through Bedlam / Seanan McGuire. Description: First edition. | New York : DAW Books, 2023. | Series: Incryptid ; 12 Identifiers: LCCN 2022054304 (print) | LCCN 2022054305 (ebook) | ISBN 9780756418571 (Trade Paperback) | ISBN 9780756418588 (Ebook) Classification: LCC PS3607.R36395 B33 2023 (print) | LCC PS3607.R36395 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054304 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054305 For Jennifer, who has never been anything but a rock to brace myself against, and for Grace. Thank you for helping me reopen a door that should never have been closed. AUTHOR’S NOTE The InCryptid series is set in a world where parallel evolution and dimensional rifts have resulted in humans sharing the planet with multiple species of cryptid capable of passing for human, among many other differences and divergences. The COVID-19 pandemic has not happened in this version of reality, a decision I struggled with but ultimately decided best suited both the narrative and the series as a whole. I am hoping people will understand the reasons for this departure from reality. But for right now, the integrity of this fictional world is better served by not including the pandemic. Reunion, noun: 1. The state of being united again. Reconciliation, noun: 1. An act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amiable truce. 2. The process of making consistent or compatible. 3. See also “impossible.” Prologue “Being born to the Covenant means there was never a moment when I chose this life. It was chosen for me, before my parents were born, and it was chosen for my children, if ever I had them. Alice was the first person I met who actually believed we all got to have a choice. She certainly did.” —Thomas Price Just outside the Galway Woods, Buckley Township, Michigan Sixty years ago ALICE PRICE-HEALY, DAUGHTER OF Jonathan and Frances Healy, married to Thomas Price of the Covenant Prices for exactly one year, backed up until she was pressed against the side of the rotten old barn at the edge of the swamp, cursing herself for a fool the whole time. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence, either the cursing or the foolishness, but the location was a bit out of the ordinary. Alice normally did the majority of her hunting and aimless wandering inside the Galway Woods, the forest of her childhood, where both her mother and grandmother had died. (The fact that Enid had managed to make it all the way home before