Science Fiction
The best thing in Bestiarium Cryptozoologicum is the creature feeling, not the list feeling. A title like that could so easily become a tidy set of entries with manners.
It doesn’t. It has more of a cabinet of curiosities mood, which is really what I wanted from it. Strange species and rediscovered things work best when they feel a bit unruly, like they might crawl off the page if you give them too much order.
Not every oddity needs a shock twist. Sometimes the pleasure is just in the unease.
It doesn’t. It has more of a cabinet of curiosities mood, which is really what I wanted from it. Strange species and rediscovered things work best when they feel a bit unruly, like they might crawl off the page if you give them too much order.
Not every oddity needs a shock twist. Sometimes the pleasure is just in the unease.
The danger with anything framed as a catalogue is that it starts behaving like homework. This one sounds better when the creatures are allowed to feel half-seen, or slightly misfiled. That’s usually where the interest lives anyway.
At about halfway through, I’m more taken with the atmosphere than the taxonomy. The best cryptozoological stories rarely feel neat. They feel like someone has opened a drawer they probably shouldn’t have.
At about halfway through, I’m more taken with the atmosphere than the taxonomy. The best cryptozoological stories rarely feel neat. They feel like someone has opened a drawer they probably shouldn’t have.