Seanan McGuire (that has to be an Irish/Scottish name) is the author of the October Daye series. She has a great website with all sorts of fun “facts” about fantastical things.
October Daye is part fairy part human. It seems the fairies like to mingle with humans, leaving their off-spring to make it in the world as best they can. This series is full of racism and prejudice. The unfortunate halflings need to hide their fairyhood from the humans and are thought of as “less than” by the fairies.
What I like about the October Daye series is that Seanan knows how to write. I’ve already written about her “Newsfeed” books written under the pseudonym of Mira Grant. You’ll find the quality of writing is as good in these books. The Daye books are lighter in spirit. They are about the parallel magic world of the fairy. Humor and action abound and some romance gets slipped into the text as well. San Fransisco is Toby’s base and love.
I like Toby’s character. She’s quite different from a lot of the urban fantasy characters that are out there. Somehow she seems more believable
ROSEMARY AND RUE (2009)
We meet October (Toby) for the first time in Rosemary and Rue. Living with two cats, Cagney and Lacey, Toby is trying to make it on her own as a changeling in San Francisco.
After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, she’s retreated entirely from the fae community, spending her nights stocking shelves at a San Francisco grocery store and her days asleep in her apartment downtown.
Her days of trying to stay away from the fae community are about to end. When Countess Evening Winterrose phones Toby one evening trying to get help Toby is worried. But Toby wasn’t home when the Countess tried to get hold of her. Next time Toby sees Evening, she is dead. The gaes the Countess placed on Toby makes it inevitable that Toby finds herself yanked back into the world she thought she was leaving behind.
A LOCAL HABITATION (2010)
A Local Habitation is the second book in the series about October Daye. It’s important to Toby to maintain contact with her changeling friends. There are all too many of them who find themselves caught between two chairs, unable to fit in anywhere. Fortunately for Toby, she has friends who are part of the pure-blood fae world. One of them is Tybalt, the king of the Cait-Sidhe, and Duke Sylvester Torquill, her liege lord.
Sylvester comes by her apartment seeking Toby’s help. He needs her to go to Fremont, near San Jose. His niece, January, seems to have gone missing, and the Duke wants to know what has happened to her (if anything). January is the Countess of Tamed Lightning, making this something of a diplomatic problem – trying to avoid war with the neighbours. Fortunately, Sylvester does not expect Toby to go alone. Quentin, a teenage Daoine Sidhe, is sent to help Toby if she should need it. Off they go into the land of adventure.
AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT (2010)
Everything seems to be going well for Toby. Her PI business is busy, she visits with her friends and gets to sleep days. Then her friend (past lover) calls asking to meet her. When a fetch knocks on her door, Toby knows nothing but trouble is coming her way.
An Artificial Night brings Blind Michael into Toby’s life. The Firstborn son of Oberon and Maeve begins claiming the children of the Mists as his own – something he tends to do at regular intervals. Some of these children belong to friends of Toby and she is taking this quite personally.
Her fetch, May Daye, makes her worry about the success of her challenges. That is because fetches only arrive when you are expected to die, giving you the chance to set your life in order. But that will be difficult when Toby is running to one crisis or the other.
LATE ECLIPSES (2011)
Late Eclipses is the fourth book in the October Daye series. After her challenges in An Artificial Night Toby is trying to live as normal a life as she can. But with her fetch, May, living with her, that isn’t exactly easy. May is pretty much Toby’s opposite – bright and cheerful and fond of healthy living.
Then a messenger from the Queen of Mists arrives. Toby is expected in her presence immediately. Toby brings May and her troll friend Danny along to back her up. Even though the Queen is the reason Toby has ended up with her own knowe, she despises Toby for being a changeling. Warned by Tybalt that the Queen is out to get her, it comes as a surprise when the Queen of Mists actually installs her as Countess Winterrose. But Tybalt warns Toby that she is being set-up for something.
In Late Eclipses we learn more about Toby’s mother. There is also relation stuff between Toby and Tybalt/Connor – you know, the whole who will she choose thing. A close personal friend to Toby dies and that brings more loss into Toby’s life – and responsibility.
ONE SALT SEA (2011)
One Salt Sea begins as Toby is getting a grip on the management of her knowe. The Countess of Wintergreen is taking in refugees and letting changelings take an important role in dealing with the management of her knowe.
Then war threatens between the land and the sea. The sons of the Duke and Duchess of Saltmist have been kidnapped and the Luideag calls in her marker and tells Toby that she needs to find the boys before fighting breaks out. The Queen of Mists is suspected of being behind the kidnappings and Toby needs to both prove that this is not the case and to find the boys before their parents lose their patience.
One thing Seanan is good at is to show that not all consequences are fun for her characters. There will be a lot of that in One Salt Sea. I really liked the sadness along with the humor in this book.
ASHES OF HONOR (2012)
Toby is still recovering from the events of One Salt Sea. After having risked her life time and again, she finally realizes that she needs to ask people for help in doing things. And Toby does ask for help.
When Etienne comes asking for help, Toby brings the whole crew in on the job. His daughter has gone missing. The fact that he did not know of her existence is irrelevant to his wanting the girl back. Her name is Chelsea and she is around 15 years old.
The problem with Chelsea is that her fae side is strong. Her teletransporting is off the scale and it seems she has been kidnapped for nefarious reasons. It is up to Toby to solve the mystery and to recover Chelsea (hopefully alive).
Ashes of Honor was an easy read, like all of the October Daye books. Seanan’s writing is seamless, and that translates to flowing reading for me. I’m dragged down this river of words, not wanting to get off the river. Unfortunately, duty does call and sleep is more and more necessary as I age. Bummer.
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