Seanan McGuire
Rosemary and Rue (2009)
October Daye disappeared for thirteen years. When she returned, she refused to return to her life as a changeling knight or as a private investigator, but is instead trying to squeak by as a human. Unfortunately for her, Faerie refuses to let her go.
The Faerie from which Toby comes is the mercurial land of Faerie queens and kings who seem to rule as much by whim as by anything else. Toby doesn’t trust anyone from Faerie, and unfortunately she doesn’t have much reason to. Those with whom she has dealt in the past have most often either used her or ignored her–sometimes both (although not at the same time).
I like how Faerie is presented here. It seems to have all the edge and danger or folklore–never thank the fey, iron hurts and destroys, and the fey always want something in return for their help.
Yet things are not always as Toby expects–or as I expected either through folklore or Toby’s expectations. We did have the requisite boinking, but it occurred behind closed doors, and it actually had bearing on the story, which was nice.
Toby is a complex character, and although she has many faults, most of them are understandable, due to her past. Though I did wonder after awhile about her common sense (or lack thereof in some cases).
But mostly it was an interesting story, different from much of what I’ve been coming across recently, and I’m looking forward to more books in the series.
Rating: 7/10
A Local Habitation (2010)
Toby has gotten her PI license back, and has started taking cases in the mortal world, however, the big case that comes to her is from her liege, Sylvester: Go into the county of Tamed Lightening, and check on Sylvester’s niece. She gets to take one person with her–the fosterling Quentin.
Unfortunately for Toby, the situation turns out to be far more complicated–and dangerous–than either she or Sylvester expected.
As with the previous book in this series, the mystery was good, the story was interesting, and the majority of the characters were well done.
I did have a couple issues, however. First, some of the “twists” were extremely obvious to me. The other thing was that I thought the ironic foreshadowing at the beginning was a bit heavy.
One thing I particularly like about Simon Green’s Nightside series is that each book usually starts off with an easy case–something John Taylor solves that usually has nothing to do with the major story arc. However, when you don’t have a history of that, the main character talking about how easy the case is going to be is… annoying, and always strikes me as foolish. It’s not a big thing, but it is a peeve.
Regardless, I still highly recommend A Local Habitation and the prior book in the series, Rosemary and Rue.
Rating: 7/10
An Artificial Night (2010)
How many miles to Babylon?
Three-score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.
If your heels are nimble and light,
You will get there by candle-light.
Things are not going well for Toby Daye. She sees an unpleasant harbinger, she’s getting calls from Connor, and to top it off, children are being kidnapped. Oh, and the Wild Hunt is making its presence known. Toby, being the hero she is, cannot sit by while children are in danger, so she agrees to take on unknown and perhaps insurmountable danger to save those children.
And then she’s told that children’s rhymes are necessary to the rescue; Faerie always works in mysterious ways.
I’m thoroughly enjoying this series.
Besides the Babylon rhyme, there is a whole lot more folklore sprinkled through the story, waiting for you to stumble over them and recognize them for what they are.
And then there’s Toby. She’s a hero–she’s finally willing to admit that now–but that doesn’t mean her life is easy. Instead it seems only to make things more complicated, and to worry those who love her.
If you have not read any other books in this series, you should be able to start here with minimal difficulty. However, I always recommend going back to the start of a series, just on general principles.
Rating: 8/10
Published by Daw
Late Eclipses (2011)
Apparently the beginning of March is THE time for new releases. I received a TON of books I’d had on pre-order this week, and had a very difficult time deciding what I wanted to read first. C. S. Harris and Rob Thurman won that decision hands down. Additionally, I started Jim Butcher‘s Changes but got so pissed off at it I’m not going to read the whole thing until the NEXT book comes out in paperback.
That brought the Toby Daye up next on the list, although she almost lost out to Carrie Vaughan, Jeanine Frost, and Robert Crais (I really wasn’t kidding about the number of long-awaited new releases I’ve received).
As if her life wasn’t complicated enough before, things get even more so for Toby. First, she’s called before the Queen of Mists. Then, as she’s reeling from that meeting, she’s told that Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, is deathly ill, and no one understands how or why. Then, while she’s trying to solve those problems, things get really ugly.
So, wow. That was an awful lot to pack into a single book. Yes, most of the events ended up being related, but not all of them, and… wow. In fact, it’s rather difficult to talk about this story without giving away a major plot point or five.
Did I enjoy the book? Yes, very much. It was fast paced, the characters were good as expected, and once things tied, pretty amazing story-telling.
And although there are plenty of open threads for further stories in this series, she did a very good job finishing the story arc and creating a satisfying ending.
I do believe you could read this book without having read previous books in the series, however, there may be some things that would be extra confusing, so you probably want to start at the beginning and read your way forward.
Rating: 8/10
Published by DAW
One Salt Sea (2011)
Most fantasy series, the longer the series goes on, the weaker the stories get. Or perhaps the series remains strong, but for a book or two it seems like the author is struggling to figure out where they are going with the characters. Or, to work with the overarching story arc, we get a random cliffhanger ending (and we all know how violently I dislike cliffhanger endings).
Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye series is not following that path. Instead, the story and the characters seem to get stronger with each book, as the characters find their voices and their paths.
After the last book and the tremendous changes Toby was subjected to, I might have expected a slow book, perhaps a lot of discovery as she comes to term with her new self.
But no, here, Faerie is complex place, constantly changing and doing (to humans anyway) the unexpected.
Toby is now Countess of Goldengreen, in addition to being one of Sylvester’s knights, and still thoroughly hated by the Winter Queen.
I think one of the things I particularly like about this series is how not just mercurial many in faerie are, but how for some it seems as if the eternal time on their hands has driven them insane, as if the world truly has no meaning except as entertainment. Yes, others have explored this, but I think Seanan McGuire goes further. After all, eternity might well push anyone over the edge after several millenia of dealing with it. It’s an interesting thought.
I think the only thing I didn’t particularly like was Toby’s relationship with Connor, but that was more because I prefer Tybalt, so we’re just looking at a personal preference.
If you have not been reading this series, I would not recommend beginning here. Start at the beginning and work your way forward–you’ll be glad you did.
Rating: 9/10
October Daye: Rosemary and Rue (2009), A Local Habitation (2010), An Artificial Night (2010), Late Eclipses (2011), One Salt Sea (2011)
