Picking up Symbiont after suddenly realizing one day that I had forgotten about Seanan McGuire‘s Parasitology series, I rather quickly realized why it slipped my mind. There’s just something not quite right about it, something missing… a lack of engagement. It kind of feels more like a set-piece than an actual story.
I happened to have pre-ordered Overgrowth, an unrelated novel by the same author, at the same time and that turned out much better. It’s basically a mix of elements from both the above series and her Newsflesh one and for the most part works extremely well. The only real stumbling block is the government abduction toward the middle, which fortunately doesn’t last all that long.