Imaginary Numbers

Official cover

**Imaginary Numbers** is the ninth novel in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. It features Sarah Zellaby.

## Synopsis

Sarah Zellaby has always been in an interesting position. Adopted into the Price family at a young age, she's never been able to escape the biological reality of her origins: she's a cuckoo, a telepathic ambush predator closer akin to a parasitic wasp than a human being. Friend, cousin, mathematician; it's never been enough to dispel the fear that one day, nature will win out over nurture, and everything will change.

Maybe that time has finally come.

After spending the last several years recuperating in Ohio with her adoptive parents, Sarah is ready to return to the world--and most importantly, to her cousin Artie, with whom she has been head-over-heels in love since childhood. But there are cuckoos everywhere, and when the question of her own survival is weighed against the survival of her family, Sarah's choices all add up to one inescapable conclusion.

This is war. Cuckoo vs. Price, human vs. cryptid...and not all of them are going to walk away.

## Characters

### Major

* Sarah Zellaby: Cuckoo and cousin in the Price-Healy family. Sarah is taking her first solo trip after her five years of recovering her mental facilities.
* Artie Harrington-Price: Artie is desperately relieved to see Sarah again, but still confused and hurt over her emotional distance while she had been recovering. The two finally acknowledge their romantic feelings for one another.
* Antimony Price: Annie is living at home again, with Sam in tow. She shares Sarah's love of comics and all things nerdy.
* James Smith: James is settling into life in the Price family, and is starting to realize how weird they all truly are.
* Sam Taylor: Annie's boyfriend. He is terrified of cuckoos after growing up with stories from the carnival.
* Ingrid: Sarah's birth mother, who is determined to see Sarah become a Johrlac Queen.
* Mark: Sarah's primary contact among the cuckoo, who has some oddities and secrets of his own.

### Minor

* Angela Baker
* Verity Price
* Alex Price
* Elsie Harrington
* Kevin Price
* Jane Harrington-Price
* Ted Harrington
* TSA agent
* Christina and Susie, passengers
* Amelia and David, cuckoo couple
* Heloise, cuckoo (not to be confused with Heloise Tapper)

### Mentioned

* Sarah's adoptive human parents
* Amy, Sarah's childhood friend
* Dominic De Luca
* Shelby Tanner
* Rose Marshall
* Chief Smith
* Frances Healy
* Sally Henderson
* Cici

## Cryptids

* Fūri
* Johrlac
* Sorcerer
* Kairos

**Mentioned**

* Bogeyman
* Madhura
* Apraxis Wasp
* Tailypo
* Chupacabra
* Caladrius
* Lindworm

## Locations

* Cleveland, Ohio
	+ Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
* Portland, Oregon
	+ Roller derby warehouse
	+ Price family compound
* Ames, Iowa
* Roanoke, Virginia (prologue)

**Mentioned**

* Lowryland, Florida
* Columbus, Ohio
	+ Note: Sarah says the Bakers live in the suburb of Dublin. They actually live in Bexley, which is on the other side of town but has similar demographics.
* Queensland, Australia
* Manhattan, New York City
* New Gravesend, Maine

## Organizations

* Campbell Family Carnival
* Roller Derby Community/ Slasher Chicks

## Objects

* Anti-telepathy charm: tiny vial containing a disk of copper and a sprinkling of herbs, preserved in water and sealed with wax. Annie and James are very good at making them, after much trial and error and explosions. (Ch. 13)

## Continuity

* Sarah has been recovering from the events of Midnight Blue-Light Special for five years now.
* Shelby is getting close to her due date. (Ch. 2)
* Annie adopted James into the family.
* Mentions of Fran and Jonathan's encounters with the cuckoo

## Trivia

* Alex and Shelby are currently in Australia; Drew is in California. (Ch. 2)
* Sarah considers Antimony the most level-headed of the cousins, except when she was trying to show up her siblings. (Ch. 4)
* Alice works as a bounty hunter (Ch. 4, reflects Chaos Choreography)
* The family sometimes uses sign language to help Sarah and Angela understand what emotions they are expressing while wearing telepathy blockers. (Ch. 8)
* Verity was always at dance lessons when the other cousins were hanging out (Ch. 10)
* Verity prefers knives; Antimony prefers distance attacks; Alex and Artie prefer guns. (Ch. 13)

## Quotes

### Epigraphs

**Main Article: Epigraphs**

* Sarah's point-of-view chapters include quotes from Angela Baker, Jane Harrington-Price, Alice Healy, Mary Dunlavy, Evelyn Baker, Frances Brown, and Enid Healy.
* Artie's point-of-view chapters include quotes from Thomas Price, Kevin Price, Alexander Healy, Martin Baker, and Jonathan Healy.

## Pop Culture

* The Square–cube law is a mathematical principle, applied in a variety of scientific fields, which describes the relationship between the volume and the surface area as a shape's size increases or decreases.
* Artie hates the Happy Banana song (Ch. 7)
* Sarah enjoys playing 2048 (Ch. 10)
* Vincent Price movies are yet again mentioned in the context of the families current surname.

## Playlist

Spotify

YouTube