CBR14 Book 30: "Be the Serpent" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages

Rating: 4 stars

CBR14 Bingo: Series (this is book 16 in an ongoing series, do NOT start here). 

Spoiler warning! This is book 16 in the series. It's impossible to review the book without referring to events in earlier books, so if you want to remain completely unspoiled, skip this one. I'll try to avoid any big spoilers for this book.

October "Toby" Daye not only survived her wedding, but so did her husband, Tybalt, King of Cats, and all her friends and found family as well. She and Tybalt get to enjoy a brief period of wedded bliss before trouble comes calling once more. Rayselline Torquill is about to be woken from her elf-shot-induced sleep, and there are a lot of faeries who have a score to settle with the unstable young elf woman, including Toby, whose boyfriend died because of Raysel's actions. However, time (and a new husband) heals a lot of wounds, and Toby wants to make peace and for Rayselline to have somewhere safe to recover, so she shows up and demands service for a year and a day from the newly awakened woman (so that Rayselline can seek refuge in Toby's house rather than return to  old home and her parents' expectations and worries). 

While at court, it becomes very obvious that something very bad is happening or soon to happen to one of Toby's best friend's family. Stacy Brown is one of the changelings that Toby grew up with and part of her large and self-created family. For reasons no one entirely understands, Stacy and her husband Mitch (also a changeling) have several children who seem to be clairvoyant in some way. Two of them are at court with Toby, and both have horrifying visions at the same time. Something is threatening Toby's friend, and it turns out to involve very old and unpredictable magic. The honeymoon is most certainly over, and while Toby is brave and heroic and has faced a lot of dangers in the past, it seems unlikely that she'll get through this adventure without suffering some truly staggering losses.

In a long-running series like this (how is this already book 17? How long have I actually been reading these books?), there are some books that are more "adventure of the week" and some that focus on major events that shake up the whole series. From her author's notes, it's clear that McGuire has had a lot of things for this series planned from the very beginning, and keeps portioning out these huge plot changers with care. Now, after a few books where we've been building up towards Toby's wedding, McGuire now unveils another of her really big continuity events, and this one brings with it some pretty staggering losses for our heroine and her friends. So while there was a happy ending to the last book, be prepared for the fact that some bad sh*t goes down in this one and the ending especially is quite the mind f*ck. 

During the last few books, some of the big bads making existence difficult for Toby and her crew have either been neutralised or have made peace with her, so it makes sense from a storytelling perspective that some new (or possibly very old) enemies were introduced instead. The revelations in this book certainly open up for taking the series in some intriguing directions. These books still remain a high point of my reading calendar each year, and I'm always looking forward to a new installment. It helps that McGuire releases a new one every September. In contrast, after book 16 and 17 of Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files (which the readers had to wait more than six years for) I find that I'm rather bored of that world, and unsure of whether I'm actually going to continue when the next book eventually comes out. 

I can absolutely understand that a new reader could be a bit intimidated by the many books in the series and the fact that McGuire seems to have quite a few books left before she's done telling her story. With my current mental headspace, I don't think I'd embark on a similarly long series now. However, I've been a fan of these for books for over a decade and each new book feels like reuniting with old friends. I'd keep reading even if this book hadn't ended on a fairly big cliff hanger (which it does). Outside of the books of Ilona Andrews, these are my favourites. 

Judging a book by its cover: Whoever is responsible for the covers for the last few October Daye books is doing excellent work. As paranormal fantasy covers go, these are among the best out there. I really like seeing Toby in full defender mode. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR13 Book 52: "When Sorrows Come" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4 stars

CBR13 Bingo: Flora (there are a number of trees in the background and Toby appears to be holding a rose in her left hand. She also has a belt of roses on her dress)

Spoiler warning! This is book 15 (!) in the ongoing October Daye series. So very much not the place to start. There will be spoilers for previous books in the series in this review, although I shall try to avoid any big ones for the contents of this current book. Rosemary and Rue is the place to begin. 

It is finally time. October "Toby" Daye is going to marry her long-time fiancee, Tybalt, King of Cats and because she specifically asked everyone involved not to bother her with any details about the wedding, except when and where to show up, she is rather taken aback when she's told that she and all her friends will be travelling to Toronto, to the seat of the High King in less than 24 hours, for her nuptials to take place at the end of seven days. She is also very surprised to discover that Quentin, her loyal squire and pretty much adopted son at this point, has gone and changed not just his face by magic, but his entire self and faerie species, to be able to stand by her side at her wedding, without anyone at his home realising who he really is. Quentin's deal with the Luideag can only be reversed after he sees her duly married to Tybalt. They both have to stay alive and the event has to take place before the magic can be undone. The Sea Witch isn't going to let Toby find any further excuses to get out of her own wedding.

Of course, this is a major event involving Sir Toby Daye, hero of several realms, now known as a king-breaker in more than one capacity. Of course, the seven days before the wedding aren't going to pass quietly with Toby just having to attend dress fittings or try to figure out the various details involving strange etiquette that the ceremony will contain. Oh no, when Toby shows up somewhere, there are suddenly surprise insurrection attempts, people having been replaced by deadly doppelgangers, assassination attempts and so many bodies starting to pile up. Toby is forced to try to figure out who is trying to murder High King Sollys, the father of her beloved squire, not to mention try to steal his throne and kingdom. She also needs to make sure no one realises that Oberon, the King of all Faerie is one of the guests at the wedding (the Luideag insisted on bringing him along in disguise) or that the Crown Prince currently looks like a stranger. 

Toby herself is almost impossible to kill (she's not even sure she CAN die, at this point), but it would be nice to make it to her wedding day without anyone else in the wedding party being killed in the hunt for the traitors. It would also ruin the ceremony if the hosts, the High King and Queen (who also happen to be Quentin's parents) are dead and their rule usurped by some power-hungry rival. So Toby proceeds to do what she does best, investigate while trying to provoke as many people as possible, hoping to find the guilty parties before it's too late, and her own wedding is ruined. 

I'm not going to lie, the title of this book and the fact that McGuire has been finding reasons for this binding union between Toby and Tybalt to be postponed for so many books by now had me actually peeking at the last pages, just to make sure Tybalt actually survived long enough to make it to the altar. I was terrified that one of the "sorrows" of the title was going to be Toby becoming a widow before she was even a wife, and I was not ready to see Tybalt getting fridged. So SPOILER, I guess - Tybalt lives and he and Toby end this book as man and wife, which did not seem a given at the beginning of the story.

I also don't think Toby got disembowelled a single time in this book, which makes for a welcome change. She mostly manages to keep all of her blood inside her body. Aided by Tybalt, May, Raj, the disguised Quentin and a bunch of her other close friends and hangers-on, Toby is able to figure out who is replacing valued members of the High King's court with doppelgangers and trying to assassinate him before it's time for her to walk down the aisle (except faerie wedding ceremonies are a lot more complicated than the bride just walking down a straight stretch of ground). 

Because I had peeked at the ending, I was able to enjoy the book entirely, since I didn't need to worry that Tybalt, Raj or Quentin suddenly kick the bucket. There's a lot of different court officials for Toby to negotiate with to be allowed to do her job properly and my impression of the High Court of Toronto is that Quentin can't have had all that much fun growing up. There are some very touching scenes both between him and Toby and Tybalt and Toby in the book. Toby also has a very cathartic talk with her stepdad, Simon, now legally considered her father in all the ways that matter in faerie. 

There is also a novella at the end of the book, which really just acts as an extended epilogue, where we get to see what Toby and Tybalt's actual wedding feast is like. I'm guessing it was added as an optional extra to keep the page count of the novel within acceptable limits, but it's still a very fun read and it makes sense to just keep reading once you get to the end of the book proper. 

Since this is book 15, and storylines that were set up several books ago are finished off, this is not a book for beginners. If you're already a fan of the Toby Daye books, however, you should enjoy this installment as well. 

Judging a book by its cover: Upon first glance, I thought the cover was badly designed and inappropriate, for reasons I don't want to go into without spoiling some lovely details of the plot. Upon closer inspection, I can see that some of my objections are due to unfortunate colour choices when it comes to shading and the like for Toby's dress, and I may in fact have been completely wrong. It's a suitably dramatic cover, as always. I really like the cover art on these books. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR12 Book 72: "A Killing Frost" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 14 in an ongoing series. You will be pretty hopelessly lost if this is the first one you pick up. This is an excellent paranormal fantasy series, but the place to start is with Rosemary and Rue. Also, there may be plot discussion about events that have happened earlier in the series, so don't read the review unless you're actually caught up.

Official book description:

When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past.

October 'Toby' Daye has been engaged to Tybalt, the King of Cats for a long time now, but has at least gotten to the stage where she's tentatively looking at dresses. When Tybalt takes her out for a surprise dinner date, the couple is interrupted by Dianda Lordan, Duchess of the Undersea and her husband. They inform Toby that unless her step-father Simon Torquill is invited to the wedding, Simon himself, or someone close to him, like his evil liege Eira Rosenwyhr, could claim offense and use the slight as an excuse to set off a supernatural war. Simon's whereabouts are currently unknown and all his memories of his home have been removed (and consequently any sense of family or his conscience are also missing) thanks to a rather complicated spell. Although Toby's relationship with Simon had started to improve, he is still the ruthless villain who transformed Toby into a fish for fourteen years (a time period in which she lost her human fiancee and child, as they believed her to have abandoned them), and she's not exactly thrilled to be told he needs a cordial invitation to her upcoming wedding.

To complicate matters further, Toby realises that both Tybalt and her sister May knew about this sticky piece of faerie etiquette and kept it from her, so she's not exactly pleased with her nearest and dearest. She certainly has no wish to have Simon at her wedding, but cannot risk the consequences if he's overlooked. The spell Simon is currently under is a modified one originally placed on his daughter, Toby's half-sister August, who set off to locate and bring Oberon, the missing King of Faerie, back to his people. With no way to find her home until she fulfilled the quest, she was believed utterly lost, until Toby and Simon found her. Now it's Simon who can't find his way home until Oberon is located, but luckily Toby has a pretty fair idea of where he's currently holed up, thanks to some prophetic dreams from a young acquaintance of hers. Said dream showed Toby going on a quest, only accompanied by her squire Quentin and sister May, so Tybalt has to stay home, whether he likes it or not. If he comes along, the quest is doomed to fail.

Toby reluctantly sets off to locate what amounts to her own personal bogey-man, helped only by her impulsive teenage squire and her former death-omen, now sister. She knows that she may have to do what Simon already did, and take the amnesia charm upon herself to free him. Unless they happen to locate the centuries-missing Oberon and bring him home as a side effect of the quest, of course, but that seems unlikely.

I'm starting to get worried that while McGuire has Toby and Tybalt as the ultimate romantic end game for this series, she has no intention of letting them stay happily together and get married for a good while yet (I'm not sure how long she's planning on the series stretching, but according to Goodreads, there's at least three more books to come and from the brief descriptions of these books, Toby and Tybalt are still unmarried at the end of them). Their betrothal has lasted a very long while already, and there always seems to be yet another obstacle thrown in the way of their wedded bliss. More than one character over the course of this book confronts Toby about her fear of real commitment and her unwillingness to settle down. 

It's obvious that Tybalt, for all that he adores her, is getting rather impatient with the many delays, and I'm not sure how much longer he'll put up with Toby putting everyone else in danger (and there are so many varieties of danger that could threaten) ahead of their relationship. It took McGuire long enough to get them together, I'm not sure I'm interested in reading a bunch more filler books with faerie intrigue (in which Toby slowly loses what little is left of her humanity) before we get to the conclusion. I don't mind reading about committed and/or married couples - it works in a number of paranormal series. I will probably take an extended hiatus from the series if McGuire breaks them up for plot reasons. 

I really do like that this series focuses just as much on found/felt family as it does on blood ties. May isn't technically Toby's sister (she could, in fact, qualify as one of her children). Raj, Quintin, and Dean aren't actually Toby's kids or younger brothers, but they fulfill that role in her life. Considering some of the really rather unpleasant betrayals Toby has faced over the course of the series from her actual family (Amadine is personified Toxicity), it's good that she now has a wide array of people who love her and will risk their lives to help her. 

Having read this and Peace Talks fairly close together, I'm struck at how much more effortlessly McGuire portrays queer characters and relationships in her books. I was reminded in this book(because they are not a major supporting character) that one of the tertiary characters in Toby's life is trans. It's mentioned in passing, and not made a big deal out of. Bisexuality seems to be almost the norm among the faerie races and in this book, there is even one example of polyamory, with a m/m/f relationship treated just as matter of factly as if there were only two partners in the relationship. Representation matters, and having a wide variety of gender identifications and sexual preferences covered in your book, without it feeling forced or tokenistic, is sadly still unusual. Butcher certainly has a LONG way to go here.

These books are books I eagerly await each September. I will obviously be reading the next one, but am getting a bit fed up with the central romantic relationship being strung out the way it is. It may be time for a bit of a break...but I hope McGuire proves me wrong. 

Judging a book by its cover: At first, I was convinced that they'd yet again replaced the cover model portraying Toby on the book, but a closer perusal of the more recent books in the series at my local nerd bookshop disproved me of this notion. It's clearly the same woman, she just looks a bit more emaciated in this one than some of the more recent book covers. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR11 Book 71: "The Unkindest Tide" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 13 in a series, and really not the place to start. The first book is Rosemary and Rue, that's where you want to begin, if you're interested.

Official book description:
Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many people assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong.

When the Luidaeg—October "Toby" Daye's oldest and most dangerous ally—tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process, Toby can't refuse. Literally. The Selkies aren't the only ones in debt to the Luidaeg, and Toby has to pay what she owes like anyone else. They will travel to the fabled Duchy of Ships and call a convocation of the Selkies, telling them to come and meet the Luidaeg's price...or face the consequences.

Of course, nothing is that simple. When Dianda Lorden's brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea, when a Selkie woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, when everything is falling apart, that's when Toby will have to answer the real question of the hour.

Is she going to sink? Or is she going to swim?

The Luidaeg, or Sea Witch, may be feared across Faerie, but to October "Toby" Daye, she is her crabby aunt, and very much considered an important part of Toby's ever growing family. It's  also an undeniable fact that Toby would have died more than once without the aid of the Luidaeg, not to mention mourning her dead daughter. Toby owes the Luidaeg several tremendous debts and couldn't refuse if she wanted to when the sea witch shows up on her doorstep and announces that it's time for the Selkies to come to an end, and the Roane (a nearly extinct faerie species) to be born again, through the aid of Toby's unique magic. Since Toby's half-human, half-changeling daughter is now a Selkie herself, Toby is concerned about what is to happen, but has no choice but to accompany the Luidaeg to the Duchy of Ships.

Not that she will travel alone, that would never do for a legendary hero and faerie knight. Her fiance Tybalt, King of Cats, refuses to leave her side, and she can't really go anywhere without her loyal squire, Quentin. It turns out that others have an interest in this momentous event, so there are representatives from the Kingdom of the Mists as well.

Even if this wasn't a fraught and dangerous magical event on its own, it's not like Toby can go anywhere without getting into trouble. While at the Duchy of Ships (where they meet a new and unexpected Firstborn - the Luidaeg isn't Toby's only living aunt!), Toby not only has to ensure that the coup to seize the throne of the Undersea fails, in addition to solving a murder. As luck would have it, the two cases turn out to be connected, but before all the guilty parties have been brought to justice, Toby faces terrible danger and loses frightful amounts of blood. I'm assuming Seanan McGuire has some sort of spreadsheet where she logs how many different ways she's brought her heroine nearly to death's door now. When your protagonist is nearly invincible, you can take such liberties, but it's still just as gruelling as a reader to anticipate how Toby's going to find most of her insides on the outside at some point in the book (and then get all better).

The books in this series sometimes have very high stakes and move the arc forward considerably, while others are more "episode of the week", in a way. This one, book 13 in the series, is one of the ones where nothing too monumental seems to happen and it's not like the entire status quo shifts once more. It was still a very comforting read (the dangers to Toby notwithstanding). Seanan McGuire clearly has a lot more in store for Toby and the others populating the series, she's contracted for at least four more novels, and I for one, couldn't be happier about it.

Judging a book by its cover: Unlike most of Ilona Andrews' books, Seanan McGuire really tends to have great covers. I really like pretty much all of the covers in the October Daye series, and this is no exception. Toby looking out over the waters from the side of a ship, looking pensive, yet dangerous. I like the warm tones and light surrounding her.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR10 Book 88: "Night and Silence" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 12 in an ongoing series, it is NOT the place to start. There will be minor spoilers for previous books in the series, as it's impossible to discuss this book without mentioning things that have happened in earlier books. If you're interested (and you should be, this is one of the best urban/paranormal fantasy series out there right now), start with book 1, Rosemary and Rue. 

Faerie knight and champion, and former private investigator October "Toby" Daye is not doing so well. While her loyal squire is by her side, the aftereffects of her demanding mother's interference into her life are still reverberating through both her home and romantic life. Jazz, her sister's shapeshifting girlfriend remains traumatised, as is Toby's fiancee, Tybalt, the local King of Cats. To make things worse, he completely refuses to acknowledge the effects of being abducted and caged, and has taken to avoiding Toby completely, so as not to have to talk about his experiences with her.

Worried about the future of their relationship, Toby is ill prepared when Cliff, her ex-boyfriend and his new partner show up on her doorstep, demanding to know the whereabouts of Gillian, Toby's estranged daughter. Gillian appears to have been kidnapped from her university campus and Cliff suspects Toby is to blame. As Gillian is now completely human and very few individuals in the human world or Faerie should even know she exists, her disappearance is a mystery to Toby, but one she needs to help solve.

Once Toby starts following the trail of her missing daughter, it's very clear that someone in the Faerie world is involved, and that whoever is responsible wants to lead Toby on quite the goose chase to keep her occupied. Who has taken Gillian, why, and will Toby survive her quest to locate her before it's too late?

Now that the Kate Daniels series has come to an end, Seanan McGuire's October Daye books are the ones I will be looking forward to the most in the second half of every year. Each new September brings a new instalment in the series and they are always a satisfying, if occasionally slightly distressing, read. The events of The Brightest Fell were upsetting to me because I love Tybalt so very much, not to mention his interactions with and relationship to Toby. Because of Amandine's actions, he was missing for much of that book, now, having another book where he's "off screen" for much of it was obviously not exactly what I wanted. Luckily, over the course of the book, he seems to come to some realisations and I have high hopes that we'll get more of him in the next book.

Toby's quarter-human child Gillian has been abducted once before, which in turn resulted in her being turned completely human and made to forget everything about her experiences with Faerie. To protect her, Toby has stayed away from Gillian's father, her former lover, and is none to pleased when he and his less than supportive new wife comes to accuse her of having taken Gillian. Cliff is pretty much an a**hole and his wife isn't much better. Of course, nothing is ever simple in these books and as Toby begins investigating and tracking her daughter, she discovers that while Gillian might think she was human, someone close to her knew all about Faeries and spent a lot of effort warding the young woman to protect her. Wards or not, someone took Gillian, and as Toby keeps digging, it's clear that was done by someone holding a grudge against our favourite hero and knight of the realm.

While this was no doubt an emotionally harrowing day for Toby (most of the story takes place in less than 24 hours), it was an easier read than the previous book for me. Still, there are some pretty big revelations made about someone close to Toby, and further complicates her already pretty freaky family tree. The resolution to Gillian's kidnapping will clearly also have reverberations in books to come. So while this book was more straightforward, plot wise, it's clearly a bridging book, promising bigger, weightier things to come in future instalments.

Judging a book by its cover: I really should look up the name of the artist who does these book covers, because pretty much every year, they knock it out of the park. While Toby changes in appearance quite a bit over the course of the series, that just reflects the contents of the books, where due to her strange brand of magic, she keeps changing depending on how close to her human or fae heritage she is. I like the moody and atmospheric lighting in this cover as well.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR9 Books 89-90: "The Brightest Fell" and "Of Things Unknown" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 11 in the October Daye series, and because of this it is impossible for me to review this book without revealing spoilers for some of the earlier books. If you want to start at the beginning, the first book is Rosemary and Rue. If you're not entirely caught up, proceed at your own risk.

When the biggest of October "Toby" Daye's worries is whether she's going to be forced to sing karaoke during her bachelorette party, it's safe to say that things are so uncharacteristically calm and normal for her that danger must be right around the corner. Then her mother, Amandine the Liar, shows up on her doorstep imperiously demanding that Toby locate her missing half-sister, August, who has been missing without a trace for over a century. Toby refuses, at which point her mother seizes hostages to ensure Toby's cooperation, including Jazz, Toby's roommate and Tybalt, King of Cats and Toby's fiancee. Both individuals are shapeshifters and forced into their animal forms before the cruel Amandine cages them. Amandine claims she will keep her captives alive until Toby returns with August, but as her mother is not known for her kindness or mental stability and it's clear that Toby will need to act quickly, or risk losing the man she loves forever.

That August has been missing for over a hundred years certainly complicates Toby's mission, as does the fact that the only person who may have any ideas as to her whereabouts is August's own father, Simon Torquill, who is currently unconscious after being elf-shot. Simon is the elf who turned Toby into a fish for fourteen years, causing her to lose her human fiancee and daughter. He is also responsible for the abduction of his twin Sylvester (Toby's liege lord)'s wife and daughter and generally not a very popular individual in the faerie realms. Now Toby has to convince Duke Sylvester to allow her to wake Simon, to compel him to work with her to find August. Of course, she also has to overcome her fear and resentment of him for them to work together, as time is of the essence, and there is no telling how long Tybalt and Jazz will survive in Amandine's indifferent clutches.

Toby has managed the seemingly impossible several times before, but this time she really might be in over her head, and this time, it's not her life on the line if she fails.

I've been reading this series for a long time, and Toby has come a long way. Starting the series disorientated, confused and alone after a long involuntary enchantment, she has not only changed tremendously in a number of ways, but she's acquired a solid and very tight-knit found family. There's obviously Tybalt, King of Cats, who she's planning to marry at some point in the future. May, her Fetch (a former death omen) is now living with her, along with May's girlfriend Jazz. Bulking out the household is Toby's loyal squire Quentin, and more often than not, Tybalt's nephew and heir, Raj. While Toby's aunt, the extremely powerful sea witch, the Luideag, wants to seem ruthless and implacable, it's clear that she also holds incredible affection for Toby and would probably help her more if not bound by ancient promises and customs.

So having the antagonist of this book be Toby's actual family, her mother Amandine, is an interesting choice. The mysterious and powerful faerie has made brief appearances earlier in the series, quite often leaving Toby's life in more chaos than it was before, and Toby has gradually discovered more about herself and her mother, not always things she was happy about. For instance, it wasn't all that long ago that she learned that Simon Torquill, the man who turned her into a fish and left her helpless in the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco for fourteen years, was in fact Amandine's husband and the father of Toby's half-sister August. In her previous appearances, it's been clear that Amandine and Toby don't exactly have a very loving or even close relationship, but when Amandine now comes barging into Toby's life, her absolute disregard for her youngest daughter's wishes and the lengths she will go to force her into doing her bidding is surprising.

Toby is left with no choice but to ask the closest thing she's ever had to a father figure to go against all his instincts. Sylvester has to help her wake his twin Simon from his enchanted sleep, letting the man who so utterly betrayed Sylvester and irreparably hurt his wife, daughter and Toby go free. Sylvester puts a geas, a magical binding, on his brother to prevent Simon from in any way causing harm (or allowing others to harm) Toby, but can't actually compel him to assist her. Toby, of course, has to fight against everything inside her that screams that trusting Simon is a huge mistake. If she doesn't find her half-sister as quickly as possible, both Tybalt and Jazz are likely to end up dead. While May is close to losing it, Toby has to hold it together and get the job done - no matter what the cost.

It'll come as no surprise that she sees new sides to Simon and learns to see his perspective on things during their quest together. I like that all of McGuire's characters are so multi-faceted and complex, there are none who are simply purely good or unforgivably bad. Simon had reasons for all his despicable actions, whether Toby likes them or not. Now that she's in danger of losing the man she loves, she has to ask herself what she would be willing to give up or do to ensure his safety, and it's not a comfortable line of thought.

I can't remember the last October Daye book that wasn't a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting read. This series is one of my absolute favourites in the paranormal/urban fantasy genre and I pre-order each book months before the release date. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Of Things Unknown - novella: 3 stars

In this novella, included at the end of the book (probably to tempt fans into paying the increased price of the hardback), we get the POV of April O'Leary, who readers were first introduced to in book 2, A Local Habitation. She is something as unusual as a virtual dryad, transplanted by her IT genius adoptive mother inside a computer server after her original tree was destroyed. April's mother, January, lost her life to a serial killer in a series of rather bizarre and unusual murders (which Toby was called in to solve, and eventually did) and January's wife has done her best to raise the unusual young woman/entity since. Now April has been investigating and going through records and suspects she may in fact have discovered something rather remarkable, which would mean wonderful things not just for April and her step-mother, but several of the other individuals who lost loved ones to the serial killer. April just needs to call on Toby to help once more.

This was an ok little bonus story, and I suspect April's discovery might have repercussions later, but it didn't make all that much of an impact on me. I'm hooked enough on this series that I don't need added incentives to buy the books, but it was a nice gesture of Ms. McGuire to include it.

Judging a book by its cover: I normally really like the drawn covers for these books, but it appears they have a new cover model portraying Toby, who bears very little resemblance to the model on the last few books. While they've clearly changed the cover model's appearance in the past (just as Toby herself changes depending on whether her human or faerie background is more dominant in her genetic make-up), this woman looks like Natalie Portman wearing something resembling clown paint, which just seems wrong considering the contents of the book. The background is suitably atmospheric, but I the glossy-haired, overly made up "Toby" on this cover just doesn't work for me.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR8 Book 107: "Once Broken Faith" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 420 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is book ten in an ongoing series, and as such, REALLY not the place to start. While my review may not have too many spoilers about earlier books in the series, there is a whole lot of history in the books before that is required for this book to be fully satisfying to a reader. Start at the beginning with Rosemary and Rue. 

After changeling knight and sometime champion of the realm, October "Toby" Daye's adventures in the Kingdom of the Silences, there is now an actual functional cure for elf shot (poison arrows that make a pureblood fae sleep for a hundred years). Queen Arden Windermere pops up unexpectedly while Toby is hosting a slumber party for the various teens in her life. Arden wants Toby to be there while the elf shot cure is administered to the queen's seneschal, as well as her brother, both struck down by her enemies. It needs to be done before the High King can show up and forbid them to use the cure. As it happens, they manage to wake one of two, before High King Aethlin Sollys arrives and postpones any further awakenings until they've had a big conclave, discussing whether the cure should be allowed, or buried forever.

Toby is ordered to appear at the conclave and is none too pleased about it. With so many different faerie rulers and high powered dignitaries in one place, it is important that Tybalt assert himself fully as the independent and aloof King of the Court of Dreaming Cats. As the Court of Cats doesn't swear fealty to anyone, even the High King, Tybalt can't really associate publicly with Toby, a knight to with a very set allegiance to the Divided Courts. The enforced distance hurts and unnerves them both.

As well as more faerie royals in one place for over a generation, the conclave is attended by the oldest of the Firstborn, the Sea Witch herself (and Toby's aunt), the Luidaeg. She intends to bear witness to proceedings and brings along Karen, Toby's honorary niece, an oneiromancer (she can walk in and interpret the dreams of others). She's been tasked with speaking the opinions of Evening Winterrose, Toby's nemesis, and the original inventor of elf shot. While Evening herself is sleeping through a hundred years after being elf shot herself, she wants to make sure that her case is heard at the conclave and has no qualms about emotionally blackmailing a vulnerable teenage girl to enable it.

What initially seems to be likely to be a boring few days of pureblood faeries yelling at each other, turns a lot more sinister when one of the kings are murdered and the Duchess of Saltmist is unexpectedly elf shot in her quarters. As always, when Toby starts investigating, things get bloody and fraught with several near-death experiences, taking turns for the very bad before getting better again.

With Toby being almost invincible because of the gifts inherited from her mother, it seems as if Seanan McGuire needs to come up with new and horrific ways in which to injure our intrepid protagonist. While I'm not sure anything can top the book where she was disemboweled more than once (!), the pain and horror Toby has to suffer in this book is still pretty gruesome.

Being close to Toby is always dangerous and the people out to cause havoc will happily target those nearest and dearest to her if it means taking her out of the game, even temporarily. As I adore all of Toby's little found family and neither of them have the near-immortality that she does, I was absolutely terrified for a while when things were at their darkest in this. No matter how much I've enjoyed this series, and how much I look forward to each new instalment, there are some character deaths that will make me drop the series immediately, should they occur. Not only that, I will never read any of the other series she's written either. I can be deeply unforgiving if crossed.

Luckily, to my deep relief, I did not have to make this decision now, and hope I won't have to do so in future either. This is the tenth book in the series, and it seems from the preface that Ms McGuire has no intention of ending the series any time soon. As I love spending time with Toby, Tybalt, May, Quentin, Raj, Sylvester and the Luidaeg, I'm quite happy to follow wherever the story takes me next.

Judging a book by its cover: I don't know who the cover artist who makes these for Seanan McGuire is, but whoever it is, they are very good at their job. As always, Toby is featured front and centre, here in a clear defencive pose (which considering the events of the books is probably wise). There's nothing to get too excited about on this, but considering the awfulness of a lot of paranormal covers, this is still tons better than what I'm used to.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR7 Book 91: "A Red-Rose Chain" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is book 9 in the October Daye series. Standard disclaimers about spoilers if you're not caught up. Book one, Rosemary and Rue, is the place to start if this series is entirely new to you. It's also the September 2015 pick for the Vaginal Fantasy book club.

Just as October "Toby" Daye, changeling knight and hero of multiple faerie kingdoms seems to be catching a break, having things go her way for a change, there are unexpected developments in the court of queen Arden Windermere and Toby is sent as an ambassador to the neighbouring kingdom of Silences (located in Portland), with only three days to prevent a war. King Rhys of the Silences was given his throne by the former Queen of the Mists, who was ousted when Toby discovered she was an impostor and located Arden Windermere to take her rightful place on the throne. It's safe to say that he's unlikely to be very receptive to Toby's entreaties of peace, especially since he is also rumoured to hate and revile changelings.

While the Toby of old might have thrown herself into danger by herself, now Toby has friends, allies and a fiancee who isn't about to let her leave his side if he can help it. Toby travels to the Silences with the King of Cats, her squire Quentin, her adopted sister May, her pet rose goblin and Walther, a former resident of the Silences. While they think they are prepared for anything, what they find when they arrive is worse than they had even imagined and it's clear that their three days are not going to simple or peaceful ones. Toby is facing an enemy from her past she was hoping never to see again, and is going to have to use all her wits and allies to get out of the Silences alive.

It wouldn't be a very exciting Toby Daye book if all Toby did was sit around, flirting with Tybalt and planning her future wedding, bantering with Quentin and May and generally just going about her daily chores. Her sudden promotion to diplomat startles her, but as the Silences' declaration of war was to shoot queen Windermere's seneschal with elf shot (meaning he will sleep for a hundred years), and the new queen is young and new to the throne, there really aren't that many people around her she can trust and Toby has already proven her worth with a number of heroic deeds. Besides, it quickly becomes clear that our favourite changeling knight isn't being sent to negotiate so much as cause a distraction and stall as much as possible, while the kingdom of the Mists can prepare for imminent attack.

It's always fun to see the world of a beloved series expanding and while the Silences is clearly a faerie kingdom where there is a whole lot of badness and wrong going on, it was also interesting to see how it was being run and had been run in the past. Walther, Toby's alchemist friend, turns out to have ties to the former royal family, who were put out of commission when King Rhys took power. He really doesn't want to return there, preferring to stay at Berkeley to teach chemistry and working towards his tenure, but he can't really refuse a direct request from his friend either.

While I found the first couple of books in this series a bit slow going (I liked them a lot better when re-reading the series a few years back), I have been pretty much hooked since I was a third into book three, and for the last four years (maybe five now), I've been counting the days from when I finish one book until the next is released. It's one of my favourite series, both because of the interesting mix of paranormal and real world ideas, combined with an excellent protagonist and a wonderful supporting cast. The previous book in the series was one of those game-changer books that finished off a lot of plot threads and revealed a whole load of things that had been hinted at for years. This book is relatively quiet in comparison, but still a very good read. As in most urban fantasy, there is a good range of diverse and complex female characters, but there McGuire is very good at representation with regards to different sexual preferences and identities, without it being made any kind of special issue of. In this, there was even a trans-gender character, which isn't something I think I've come across in paranormal fantasy before.

Since I have to wait another year for Toby Daye 10, I really should check out McGuire's InCryptid series, which I've also heard very good things about.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 103: "The Winter Long" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 358 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars

This is book eight in the October Daye series, and as such, NOT a great place to start reading the books. If you want to start at the beginning, Rosemary and Rue is the book you're looking for. It is also, by this point, completely impossible for me to review the book without some spoilers for earlier books in the series. You may therefore want to skip this review until you've caught up, if you're worried about that sort of thing.

You'd think things would finally be looking up for October "Toby" Daye, changeling knight, rescuer of lost children. There is finally a Queen of the Mists that actually likes her, she's discovered the true identity of her squire and her relationship is just getting stronger. Then the man she's feared and hated ever since he abducted her liege lord's wife and daughter and transformed her into a fish for over a decade, ruining the life she once had, turns up on her doorstep and claims he needs her help. She also discovers that Simon Torquill is a much more significant person in her life than she ever imagined, and that he believes he was saving her life by merely making her a carp in the Japanese Tea Gardens. His mysterious employer actually wanted him to kill Toby.

Toby wants nothing to do with Simon Torquill and is terrified that his return means that her liege, Sylvester, or his family are in danger. As it turns out, unless she manages to identify who Simon's sinister employer is, all those she loves might perish. Her enemy is someone from her past, but much more dangerous and ruthless than Toby ever imagined.

In the acknowledgements at the beginning of the book, Seanan McGuire confesses that this is the book the entire series has been building towards. This is the first book in the series she had fully plotted, and all that's gone before has been leading to this point. It therefore has much of the same feel as Changes by Jim Butcher or Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews. So many characters and plot lines that I thought were finished long ago suddenly take on new significance. I actually managed to figure out who the villain was just a tiny while before it was revealed, but only because I racked my brain by going through all possible suspects.

I've always liked the covers for the October Daye books, and hadn't realised just how appropriate the cover for this book is until after I finished actually reading it. Fans of the series will know that Toby's clothes rarely survive for long without being soaked completely in her own or someone else's blood, and if you look closely, her t-shirt isn't actually naturally red. A gruesome and very accurate detail, in a genre where the covers are often cringe-worthy in their badness.

With every new book, Toby discovers more about herself and who she is. Her mother has never exactly been a steady presence in her life, but here Toby realises that there are more family secrets buried than she ever could have imagined. When members of her actual family can't be relied on, it's a great comfort to her to have her chosen family around her, in Quentin, May, Tybalt, Raj and the Luidaeg. It's obvious that while the series as a whole has been leading to this book, this is by no means the end, and it's going to be very interesting to see where Seanan McGuire takes her characters in the coming books.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR5 Book 114. "Chimes at Midnight" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is the seventh book about October Daye and as such, not the best place to start the series. If you like a paranormal series focused more on mysteries and adventure than on romance (not that there isn't romance too, once you get a few books in), then this is a good one. Go check out Rosemary and Rue if you haven't already. Also, as this is the seventh book, spoilers for previous books may occur.

As the only changeling (half human, half fey) knight in existence, October "Toby" Daye concerns herself with a lot of quests and issues that others don't bother with. Changelings are dying all over San Francisco from their addiction to goblin fruit. A fruit that's only pleasant and harmless to full-blood faeries, the goblin fruit is extremely addictive to changelings and humans, and the addiction gets so strong that they die from eating nothing else. Toby wants it off the streets and goes to the Queen of the Mists to have the problem dealt with, only to discover that the Queen is the one peddling the fruit, as she sees nothing wrong with changelings and humans dying. She also banishes Toby for her insubordination, giving her three days to remove herself from the kingdom.

Having started out a loner, with no recourse but to dive into danger by herself, Toby now has a squire and a boyfriend and a growing band of allies who can help her in situations such as these. When they discover that the Queen's claim to the throne isn't in fact valid, and that the children to the last King are still alive, but in hiding, Toby and her friends realise that they're going to have to stage a full scale rebellion. They just need to keep Toby alive long enough to succeed.

One of the features of these books is that Toby is normally in near to almost certain mortal danger at least twice over the course of each book. When I'd read nearly half of this book and nothing more serious than a banishment was causing her difficulties, I was starting to wonder what was going on. I needn't have worried, Toby is hit with a doozy of a challenge, which in many ways is made more complicated because of her unusual and unpredictable magic.

While a lot of the previous books focus on a mystery that Toby (who works as a private investigator when she's not a fairy knight) has to solve, or a quest she has to complete (usually involving missing children), this one is all about the removal of one false Queen to restore the rightful heir to the throne. As someone who tends to love a good gallery of supporting characters, I'm so glad that Toby now no longer has to solve her problems by herself. She's got a devoted and just achingly romantic boyfriend, she's got Quentin, her squire (who's parentage is finally revealed in this book, and I'm so happy that I called it at least three books ago!) and Raj, the Prince of Cats - her two teenage sidekicks. There's Luidaeg, the Sea Witch, and May, Toby's indestructible fetch (a death omen who now lives with her). Her liege lord, Duke Sylvester, only really makes a brief appearance in the book, but we get to explore exciting new locations, such as the Library of Stars (I want one!)

I now look back with envy to the days when I hadn't caught up with this series, and didn't have to wait impatiently for a whole year to read what comes next. The October Daye books, like Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books and Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson books are now books that I not only pre-order, but clear my entire schedule to have time to read. I don't want anything taking my attention away from the books. Now, having devoured the book in one day, I just have to settle in for the long wait for book 8. Sigh.

CBR4 Book 83: "Ashes of Honor" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Date begun: September 11th, 2012
Date finished: September 12th, 2012

This is the fifth book in the October Daye series, and this review may contain spoilers for events in previous books. It's also not the best place to start the series, go read the first book instead: Rosemary and Rue. My reviews of the other books in this series can be found by clicking the character name tag.

Sir October "Toby" Daye, changeling knight and private investigator, retriever and rescuer of lost children, has been grieving for year, due to the losses she incurred towards the end of One Salt Sea. While seemingly getting by, on the surface, fulfilling her responsibilities, training her squire, paying the bills, Toby is acting more and more recklessly, and her friends and loved ones are getting worried. When another of Duke Sylvester's knights show up on her doorstep, begging for her help to find his changeling daughter, Toby wants to refuse, but understands that she's the only one who can help him.

The very proper and correct Sir Etienne hadn't even realised he had a teenage daughter until his ex-girlfriend called him up, furious because she believed he'd kidnapped her. Etienne can teleport, and his daughter has the same power. Normally changelings are closely monitored by Faerie. Chelsea has incredible powers and none of the control that other changelings are taught. She's not only opening portals across huge distances in the mortal world, but opening realms that were believed sealed off and forgotten ages ago. If Chelsea keeps on opening the portals, it'll cause rifts in the walls between the worlds, and can endanger not only Faerie, but the mortal world as well.

Tybalt, King of Cats, has been keeping his distance, but Chelsea's out of control teleporting is endangering his realm and family as well, and he needs Toby's help to sort things out. However, there's dissention in the ranks at the Court of Cats, and while Tybalt may have nine lives, he's going to have to be very careful not to lose all the remaining ones to rebels set on stealing his crown.

While it took me a while to warm up to Toby as a character, and to the October Daye series in general (I didn't really get into it properly until book 3: An Artificial Night). She's tenacious, stubborn and very determined, brave to the point of idiocy and far too liable to throw herself into life threatening situations at the drop of a hat. She's less charming than some of the other paranormal fantasy heroines that I'm fond of, and therefore (at least to me) took longer to grow fond of. Now I absolutely love her, with all her flaws (even though I frequently want to reach into the book and slap her resoundingly). She's come a long way in six books, has the lonely half human, half-very powerful fae. She's learning, through trial and error, love and loss, and countless near death experiences, that she may not have to fight ever battle by herself. She has friends, and allies, and people who care deeply for her. In this book, she actually thinks before she acts, and willingly consults her little group of compatriots, and the book is all the greater for it.

The supporting cast are also great. Seeing the always supercilious Sir Etienne forced to humble himself  to Toby, who he clearly doesn't always like that much and becoming a more well-rounded character as a result, was good. Quentin, Toby's squire continues to be a delightful side-kick, and it's obvious that while McGuire finished off several major plot strands and a big arc with the last book, she's setting up a whole new set of them with intriguing hints about the rapidly maturing boy's absent parents. Raj, Tybalt's nephew and heir, is also central to the plot, and McGuire writes the different youths with distinctive voices and presences.

Tybalt, my absolute favourite character, really gets to shine in this book, which of course warms my heart. Having started out as almost an antagonist for Toby in the first book, Tybalt has gradually become an important friend of Toby's, always there for her when she needs him the most, yet confusing her with his cryptic remarks and sudden disappearances. A third of the love triangle of the series for a while, Tybalt was disapproving of Toby's childhood sweetheart Connor for a number of reasons, and now, having patiently waited in the wings, is ready to take centre stage. He's clearly willing to risk everything for Toby, the question is what she really wants.

There's no question that this is my absolute favourite of the ever-improving series so far, and I'm really sorry that it'll be another year until I can read the next book. Fans of paranormal fantasy should definitely check the series out. It takes a couple of books to really hit its stride, but when it does, it grabs your attention and refuses to let go. You'll be hooked, and you won't regret it.

Being a mystery, and also a paranormal, this fits nicely into the R.I.P VII genres. This will be my first review for that challenge.

CBR4 Book 15: "One Salt Sea" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: February 13th, 2012
Date finished: February 14th, 2012

This is book 5 in a series, so don't start with this one. Also, this review contains minor spoilers for previous books in the series, so if you mind that sort of thing, you may want to skip to the final paragraph.

After the events of Late Eclipses, Toby is trying to get used to her new role as Countess of Goldengreen, where most of the subjects who lived in the Tea Gardens now reside. She's dating again, and trying to get to grips with her new appearance. Sylvester talks her into taking Quentin as her squire, and she agrees once she realizes the young faerie wouldn't agree to squire to anyone else anyway. Things are seeming quite promising, when The Luidaeg (the sea witch) arrives to tell Toby that the sons of the Duchess of Saltmist, one of the Sea kingdoms, have been kidnapped. Unless the boys are found within three days, the Sea fae will go to war with the land fae, and no one wants that.

Having spent 14 years trapped as a fish, Toby is none too fond of water, but she has to get over that aversion to go to Saltmist to investigate the abductions. It doesn't take Toby long to rule out Duchess Dianda's main suspect, the Queen of the Mists. However, once she realizes who the real kidnapper is, she has to give her liege lord, Duke Sylvester, some very bad news. As her search for the boys continues, the stakes get higher, and much more personal for Toby as well.

With Late Eclipses, Seanan McGuire's books had really started to get their hooks into me. After finishing One Salt Sea, she's moved into pre-order territory. So many narrative threads set up in the previous books play into this one. Another fascinating area of McGuire's faerie world, the underwater faerie kingdoms, are explored. Toby is constantly adapting and developing and learning, and has to make some very big sacrifices in this book. The love triangle set up between Connor, Toby and Tybalt may also have been resolved, and while I've seen many people on the internet upset about the ending of this book, I can't really bring myself to be. I think it sets up an interesting new beginning for Toby, and am very much anticipating the next book, which unfortunately isn't out for another six months.

CBR4 Book 13: "Late Eclipses" by Seanan McGuire

Page count: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: February 6th, 2012
Date finished: February 9th, 2012

This is book 4 in the series of October Daye novels, and as a lot of the plot points in the book will make little sense without reading the previous ones, I would recommend starting with book one, Rosemary and Rue.

It's no secret that the Queen of the Mists hates Sir October "Toby" Daye, so it's rather a surprise to Toby and most of her friends when the faerie queen summons Toby and bestows the title and property of the Countess of Goldengreen upon her. Pretty sure it's some sort of elaborate trap, Toby doesn't really have time to ponder it, as someone seems determined to kill some of her nearest and dearest. Lily, the Lady of the Tea Gardens is dying, and shortly after, Luna, the wife of Toby's liege lord is also struck down by a mysterious poison. Then Tybalt reveals that several of the cats in his kingdom are dying. Toby is convinced it is the work of Oleander de Merelands (an evil faerie who helped conspire to turn Toby into a fish and stole 14 years of her life), but no one else believes her.

Rayselline Torquill, the insane daughter of Luna and Sylvester accuses Toby of the attacks, and the Queen of the Mists is only too happy to have Toby arrested. Luckily, Toby has friends who are willing to do pretty much anything for her, including risking their lives to break her out of faerie jail. Toby needs to prove who is poisoning her friends, try to find a way to save them and clear her own name.

While I've enjoyed the previous three October Daye books, and especially admired the world building, this is the first one I actually had trouble putting down. I kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading, and wanting to find out what happened next. While Toby takes a while to grow on you as a heroine, by this book, you're firmly on her side, and cheering on Connor, Tybalt and Quentin as they loyally refuse to abandon her. The surprising reappearance of Amadine, Toby's mother, and the discoveries Toby made about her identity also intrigued me, and explains quite a bit about events in previous books. The world building continues to be excellent, and I love how McGuire manages to combine modern life with cars, computers and mobile phones with magic, glamours, and a wealth of faerie mythology. The series has really got its hooks into me now, and I can't wait to see what will happen next.

CBR3 Book 102: "An Artificial Night" by Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Daw
Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: December 4th, 2011
Date finished: December 7th, 2011

In An Artificial Night, Toby Daye, half-human changeling and faery knight, has to face Blind Michael, the leader of the Wild Hunt, one of the oldest and most dangerous of faeries. Every hundred years, his riders go into the world and gather new recruits, stealing children from faeries, changelings and humans alike (the faeries to ride, the humans to be mounts). Toby's best friends call her in a panic when their two youngest kids go missing and their middle daughter won't wake up from a mysterious sleep. Tybalt, King of Cats, informs her that several of the cait sidhe children and changelings have gone missing too. He promises that her debt to him will be cleared if she finds his missing subjects.

Luna, Duchess of the Shadowed Hills, has a mysterious past Toby never even guessed at, as Toby discovers when she goes to tell her liege lord what has happened. She tries to warn Toby to let the issue go, as it's nearly impossible to get to Blind Michael's realm, and to enter it means either eternal enslavement or death. Toby is determined to save the children, though, and with the help of Luna, and the Luideag, the ancient and powerful sea witch who is Toby's friend and Blind Michael's sister, she is put on one of the three paths to his realm, with a magic candle and 24 hours to complete her mission.

If Toby seemed to blunder around and get herself into mortal danger a lot in the previous book, things escalate massively in this one. Even though the mission means near certain death, Toby is determined to complete it. She cannot allow the children to become the twisted members of Blind Michael's Wild Hunt, and she thinks nothing of risking her life to save them. Suffice to say, before the book is over, Toby will have been on all three of the roads to Blind Michael's realm, and I was actually amazed at how much she was able to endure in order to save not only the children of her friends, but as many other of Blind Michael's victims as she can.

While she may seem bullheaded and too foolhardy for her own good, An Artificial Night also shows all of Toby's very admirable qualities. She's brave to the point of idiocy, and determined to see her mission through, no matter what the personal cost to herself. It's easy to see why her diverse group of friends (Luna, Quentin, Duke Sylvester, Tybalt, the Luideag) are desperate to try to save her from Blind Michael, and herself. As in the last book, I thought parts of the story dragged, but the cast of characters is compelling enough that I will keep reading, if only to find out whether Quentin becomes Toby's squire, and therefore a more permanent sidekick, and also to see whether Tybalt is actually going to become a proper love interest, instead of just a frustratingly enigmatic charmer.

CBR3 Book 101: "A Local Habitation" by Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Daw
Page count: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: December 1st, 2011
Date finished: December 3rd, 2011

A Local Habitation is the second book in the October Daye series, and while it will make sense on its own, I would recommend reading the books in order.

October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, half human and half faerie. Unlike many other changelings, her magical abilities are quite weak, and it takes most of her energy to just maintain the glamour to hide her faerie appearance. She does, however, possess the same blood magic as her mother, enabling her to read a faerie's whole life in a drop of their blood. This helps her when she's working as a private detective, specializing in helping changelings and faeries. She's the only changeling faerie knight, and always feels like an outsider, but swears fealty to the Duke of the Shadowed Hills. So when he calls her and asks her to go to  the little county of Tamed Lightning, to check up on his niece, she can't really refuse.

Along for the trip comes Quentin, a young faerie fostering with Duke Sylvester, who's in training to become a squire. Toby believes the visit will be a brief one, but once she arrives in the little faerie county, it quickly becomes obvious that something is badly wrong. In the interchangeable corridors of the strangest IT company you'll encounter, the employees, all faeries or changelings, have been dying. Most of the staff have left, afraid that they'll be next. Duke Sylvester's niece, January, has been trying to contact her uncle for weeks, but none of the calls get through. As people keep dying, Toby and Quentin have to try find the murderer before January and her core staff get killed too.

I enjoyed the book, but Toby really doesn't strike me as that good a detective. She mainly stumbles around, nearly getting herself killed a lot, and more or less found out the identity of the killer through a process of elimination. When there are barely any people left in the company, one of them is pretty obviously going to be the killer.

The relationship between Toby and Quentin is an interesting one, and I'm assuming that McGuire is establishing a friendship that will lead to him becoming her squire in some future book. He's very eager to learn from her, sheltered and innocent in many ways, being a full blooded faery, who's not experienced the human world as much. My favourite character, Tybalt, a cait sidhe (cat faery) also makes an appearance. Toby is confused by his enigmatic behaviour, as before the events of the last book, he used to be deeply antagonistic towards her, and now he's positively friendly, and even quite protective of her. Whether this is just because she owes him a debt, and he wants to keep her alive until it's repaid, is uncertain.

So far, the October Daye series doesn't grip me as much as several other paranormal fantasy series that I'm following, but McGuire has created a very interesting world. While the stories don't always compel me as much as those of Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs or Nalini Singh, the cast of characters and skillful world building is enough to keep me curious to see how things develop, and I will keep reading them for a while yet. Reviews of future books on the internet seem to imply that the series gets better as it progresses, and that bodes well.

CBR Book 82: "Rosemary and Rue" by Seanan McGuire

Publisher: DAW
Page count: 358 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 6th, 2010
Date finished: September 8th, 2010

Private Investigator October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, a half-human, half-fairy woman, who feels out of place in both worlds. After a particularly nasty spell turns her into a fish for fourteen years, she has lost contact with her human fiancee and her daughter, no longer possesses a PI license, and is trying to lay low, far away from both fairy and human entanglements. This changes when her old friend fairy Countess Evening Winterrose leaves a message on her answering machine, charging her to solve her murder, and cursing her to make sure she cannot refuse. Toby will literally die if she is unable to solve Evening's murder in a certain amount of time.

So Toby has to come out of hiding, and start investigating. She needs to find out why Evening was murdered in the first place, and who could have been brutal enough to both shoot her with iron bullets and sever her throat with an iron knife. She has to get back in contact with a number of fairies, some less sympathetic to her cause than others, and solve the murder before the curse, or Evening's killer, catches up with her.

Toby is a cool heroine. It's easy to see why she would choose to isolate herself and try to stay far away from both fairies and humans who knew her, having been badly burned by both sides of her heritage. It is made very clear that the half-human changelings often have a hard time of it, never really being accepted fully in the fairy world. Toby had a surprisingly honoured position before she was turned into a fish on a mission, but feels she let her liege lord down, and has a hard time admitting that maybe she made some mistakes by cutting herself off completely from people who loved her upon being turned human again.

Unlike a lot of paranormal heroines, Toby is not that powerful. She has some magic due to her fairy mother, but it wears her out when she uses it, and isn't always helpful. She actually gets hit worse by Evening's curse specifically because she uses some of her magic, and most of the time she has to rely on brains and mundane weapons to fight her foes.

There are a number of fascinating characters in the book. Evening was clearly a very impressive lady, from what is revealed after her death. Toby also realizes that she only knew a tiny bit about her, and that she may have been overly judgmental about many things. Tybalt, the King of Cats, who loathes Toby because of her half-human blood, yet will keep his word to her anyway, was delightful, and the various fairy hideouts all over San Fransisco were very nice. Like Holly Black, Melissa Marr and a number of other writers of fairy-themed paranormal fantasy, McGuire manages to blend the Fay and Human worlds nicely, explaining why most humans never realize the supernatural world all around them.

The book was a bit slow at first, but as the action got going, I was hooked. I will be picking up the sequels to this to see if the series stays as good, or hopefully, gets even better.