The Cryptids
Elana Gomel
Crystal Lake Publishing, 2023
Print page length: 402 ppg.
Print ISBN-13: 979-8399873015
There are some stories that are hard to believe unless you experience it for yourself. Some stories just have that “you had to be there” element. Like a cryptid sighting, for example. As a scientist, Sharon is not entirely sure if she believes a story about a cryptid kidnapping a man’s wife off of a beach, but she keeps an open mind about it. She also considers ALL of the possibilities of what would cause someone to think that they saw a cryptid. A REAL cryptid.
And if it’s real cryptids you’re after, then that’s exactly what you will get in the novel The Cryptids by Elana Gomel. In fact, the second half of this book is full of them.
But before the cryptid actually makes its grand appearance, Sharon does some investigating. She meets the man who claimed he saw the cryptid, which they call a thunderbird, kidnap his wife – and actually gets into a relationship with him after the days pass and everybody assumes that poor old wifey is dead. And during this time that she has this relationship with this man, Lester Choy, she meets his adopted father, Malcolm Choy. I really liked the character Malcolm Malcolm is a very level-headed and intelligent person who Sharon has a sort of kinship with because they are both intellectuals who see the bigger picture of what is happening with this cryptid business.
But Sharon’s relationship with Les helps her to learn that maybe he’s the reason why cryptids are suddenly roaming free on Earth now, because of something he invented.
Something on his quantum phone that accidentally sends Sharon plummeting into that other world.
After
recovering from the terror and shock of being in another world, Sharon is able
to ground herself and start to think logically. “She got to her feet. So here
it was, the plan. She had to find Dis. How? She had no idea. But the notion
that she had a goal cheered her up. And then there was the marvel and beauty of
this alien wilderness, which she now allowed herself to soak up. She had
fantasies of exploring Mars, Narnia, and Middle-earth as a child; now her
fantasies were coming true. The land was both achingly beautiful and
depressingly empty; both familiar and strange. She had left the wetlands behind
and was walking toward the misty mountains. Now she was passing through the
parkland, dotted with clumps of trees, many of them beginning to change color,
the gorgeous wine-red, dark-rose, and gold of the foliage vivid in the bright
sunlight.”
Sharon is a scientist at heart and while trying to wrap her brain around the
situation she was in, she is also able to be the scientist and study her
surroundings, observe and take it all in for the purpose of understanding it
better. She and her former lover, Mark, share this kind of thinking, for they
are both scientists. No matter how impulsively they want to turn away from and
not see what there is going on in that world, they force themselves to observe,
so that they can learn and understand. Still, it’s hard for her to accept
seeing things like frogs with human faces and dog-faced cats.
As I read about Sharon’s explorations, I was very impressed with just how creative it was. The author must have worked very hard in creating this world. It is certainly well-written and very well done. I also felt she did well in creating a cryptic method of communication which Sharon must decipher when communicating with the heads on the wall in one room and the Rat-King in another room.
The scene where Mark is with the king and queen was unnerving. While on one hand he is repulsed by it, it also helps him to understand better what is happening.
The story unfolds to the point where the grand scheme of things is revealed in all its glory, thanks to the logical thinking of our scientists. They realize that all of this is not just about the quantum phone opening a doorway for Mothmen to get through; it goes beyond this. Something is trying to conquer all of humankind. Mark witnesses for himself what would ultimately transpire if that doorway continues to exist. And having seen it myself through this part of the book, I’ll definitely pass!
There are things about humanity that this being fails to understand, such as the human’s capacity to be deceptive and the lingering rage of a woman scorned. These are things that cannot be erased, and certainly one of the things which definitely comes back to haunt a character later in the story.
The thing that both Mark and Sharon point out is that self-consciousness, self-awareness, is what makes us human. To lose this is to lose our humanity. To surrender to the whims of an evil entity is akin to surrendering to slavery. Doing so would mean for us humans that there is no self-identity, there is no autonomy. Only lives would be lived according to the rigors of another sentient being. In essence, all of humanity would be lost.
Yes, the being in charge of that other dimension does try to imitate life in our world, as well as copy the intricacies of animal and human behavior — perhaps in an attempt to make its world attractive to the humans in this world and easier for them to adapt to life there, but it only continues to fail in its attempts. Frogs with human faces, cannibalistic humans with wrong anatomy and creatures that are a blend of two or more animals. Even the anatomy of the Mothmen is incorrect! Whoever gave it the instruction manual for creating humans and animals on Earth must have been studying life in a different dimension because it certainly isn’t this one.
The climax of this story is awesome! I could just picture the whole thing happening. It’s amazing. The whole story is absolutely amazing and I highly recommend it! I absolutely loved the story’s resolution, too. My favorite quote from that part of the book: “A redeemed sinner is always more interesting than a spotless saint.” Which of the two shall make peace with what they went through remains to be seen, but at least they have a better understanding of each other, and of the world they share.
Reading this novel was not just escaping into the world of fiction but also exploring and learning about theories and ideas. The discussion about the noosphere (and just how much it can impact our world, especially through our dreams) gave me a lot to think about and it compelled me to explore these ideas and thoughts further online. I also liked how the mirror test is explained to readers, its fallacies in determining self-consciousness are explored, how good of a test it can be to see if a human is really indeed a human and even how the mere mention of it can allow those in certain fields of research explore its usage to gain further insight. And, finally, I also liked how, in this story, the Oneiroi (not to be confused with the mythological Oneiroi) can use dreams to interact and communicate with humans. It had me wondering just what other creatures from that dimension can do the same since the noosphere continues to exist, as well as any others the characters in this story may not know about or would expect to do so (I think the hint at the end is a pretty good indication!).
The Cryptids is a frightening tale of otherworldly monsters infesting our world in the first stage of a planetary takeover by something much more evil and monstrous bent on destroying humanity. Intelligently and insightfully written, it is a novel that will keep readers guessing, wondering and thinking about where the story will go next. The many surprising twists and turns offer an entertaining and captivating read, and it is a novel sure to withstand the test of time.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I purchased the Kindle version of this novel from Amazon and this review is completely voluntary.
