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    Late Eclipses: An October Daye Novel
    Late Eclipses: An October Daye Novel
    Late Eclipses: An October Daye Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Late Eclipses: An October Daye Novel

    Written by Seanan McGuire

    Narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Two years ago, October “Toby” Daye believed she could leave the world of Faerie behind. She was wrong. Now she finds herself in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, sharing an apartment with her Fetch, and maintaining an odd truce with Tybalt, the local King of Cats. It’s a delicate balance—one that’s shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended.

    Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past as an enemy she thought was gone forever raises her head once more: Oleander de Merelands, one of the two people responsible for her fourteen-year exile. But if Oleander’s back, what’s her game? Where is she hiding? And what part does Toby’s mother, Amandine, have to play?

    Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher. For the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda, and there are more players in this game than Toby can guess. With everything on the line, she will have to take the ultimate risk to save herself and the people she loves most—because if she can’t find the missing pieces of the puzzle in time, Toby will be forced to make the one choice she never thought she’d have to face again.…

    “McGuire hits her stride with this fast-paced, sharply plotted, tense urban fantasy (Artificial Night).…” —Publishers Weekly

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateNov 1, 2011
    ISBN9781455848348
    Late Eclipses: An October Daye Novel
    Author

    Seanan McGuire

    SEANAN McGUIRE is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award–winning Wayward Children series, the October Daye series, the InCryptid series, and other works. She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant. Seanan lives in Seattle with her cats, a vast collection of creepy dolls, horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard. She won the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 became the first person to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot. In 2022 she managed the same feat, again!

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    Reviews for Late Eclipses

    4.5/5

    592 ratings29 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I loved this installment in the October Daye series! The storyline is exciting and we learn even more about October's background. There's more hints at the brewing slow burn romance. I'm hopeful something comes to fruition in the next book!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book overall. I’m a little disappointed by the revelation about Toby: Once Again in a Move Everyone Saw Coming From a Mile Away, the Heroine Turns Out to Have Unique and Special Powers that she obtained through her bloodline (because blood is important! It’s so important! Have these books emphasised that too much yes they have and I’m getting sick of it!) It’s a very tired trope, and it’s particularly wretched in Toby’s case because it’s easy to see how this will play out for the next twelve books, and detracts from a lot of what she had going for her as a character. She had few powers, so she had to be smart and ask for help and that was interesting. Asking for help forced her to realise how much her friends cared for her, and that fueled the character growth she needed. I really don’t understand why authors keep doing this, especially when they’re as clearly talented and dedicated as this one is. Nevertheless I enjoyed the storyline and the characters, and the author’s writing continues to improve overall. I am looking forward to the next book.
    • 4/5
      I've been yearning for urban fantasy ever since I finished all of Holly Black's books. This is the closest that I've come to finding something like Holly's work. It's no where near as special as a Holly Black novel but it's a thirst quencher for sure. I mean...I don't care as much about the characters as I care about Holly's...I'd prefer them to have more faults and be more 3 dimensional...perhaps as this author continues writing, she will improve upon her character development.
    • 5/5
      I'm addicted to this series. Reader is very good. Thank you
    • 5/5
      Incredibly engaging. The whole series is a joy to read.
    • 4/5
      This series just gets better and better. Can’t wait to read the next one.
    • 4/5
      Toby is in trouble again, Lily of the Tea Gardens and Luna of Shadowed Hills are ill, she's now the Duchess of her own realm (which had some political background for happening) and is accused of murder by her Queen. She has to deal with a lot and then her mother does something to her that will change things forever.Toby really isn't having it easy in this one and it looks like her life keeps getting complicated in interesting ways. She's learning how to be herself and how to accept the mantle of Hero. It's a mantle she keeps putting on despite her own protestations, a job she's eminently suited to. It was a compelling read.
    • 4/5
      If you haven’t read any of the previous books in this series then this review will contain spoilers. If that doesn’t bother you continue on, but I would really recommend reading the whole series, the more you get to know Toby and her world the better it becomes.

      At the end of An Artificial Night Toby escaped the clutches of Blind Michael and in doing so killed him. That goes against Oberon’s decree. Killing a purebred is forbidden. Of course it was in self defence and she was saving the children of many others, purebred and changelings alike, so it was more than justified. But that won’t stop the Queen of Mists. She is ever so slightly insane and she already really doesn’t like October. Any excuse will work.

      And not only that, but October keeps getting hints that Oleander de Merelands is back. No one else seems to have seen her though, is it all in Toby’s imagination? Is she going mad herself?

      This is my favourite of the series so far. Although that may just be because the more you read in the series the more you can immerse yourself in the character and the world. And this book is all about Toby beginning to understand who she is. Part of being a changeling is trying to balance two identities, the mundane world versus the fairy. Toby straddled that divide for as long as she could. Before the series began she had loved and had a child with a mortal man, but she had always had to hide part of her life from that family. But she could never fully embrace her fae side either, too much snobbery in fae society for them all to accept a half human.

      So she was constantly straddling that divide, as the series has progressed Toby has increasingly been pulled into the fae world. And now she is really beginning to reflect on what it is to be who she is. Not trying to be one or the other, but to be who she is.

      And of course who she is is a hero.

      She’s always had a bit of an issue with heroes. They don’t tend to live long. They get other people killed. She’s not that fond of either of those negatives. But they also do the right thing and save people. And that is what Toby is great at. Sure, she makes mistakes, but she learns from them. And she has learned a lot since the first book.

      She did have a lot to work her way through, being a fish for so long isn’t something you just brush off, nor is losing your family in that way. But she has come to terms, to a certain degree, with the past. She’s learned she can still have friends, and that you can make a new family.

      I’m looking forward to the next book, and the book after that
    • 4/5
      I finished this book in record time, also thanks to a rainy and cold Sunday, but I probably would have kept at it even if the sun had been shining.

      This time the threats Toby must face don't just concern people she cares about, but are part of an intricate plot to hurt her: there is a heavy sense of impending doom (or rather, heavier than in previous novels) as Toby must suffer loss upon loss and become more isolated and helpless until the conspirators are able to strike the final blow.

      Once more, as already happened in An Artificial Night, she is more than ready to sacrifice her life in order to avoid further harm to others: there is this almost-suicidal quality to her actions that clashes with her undeniable will to survive and the way she fights against foes and obstacles. This dichotomy makes me wonder if it's just a psychological trait or if it's something that goes hand in hand with her changeling (i.e. hybrid) nature. Whatever the reason, it makes for a fascinating character that grows with each new installment, to become more complex and layered.

      Contrasting impulses also dominate her emotional attachments, where Toby's yearning for an old flame is at war with a new (and IMHO much more interesting) attraction that plays in a complicated dance that's nothing short of fascinating.

      Together with the character-building there is an equally strong world-building that's firmly based in myth and fairy tales intersecting more or less seamlessly with our mundane world: the point of view of these creatures on our modern society offers many opportunities for intelligent humor that in its turn balances quite well the darker overtones of the stories.

      For someone who has always been wary of serialized books, I have to admit that I've become an October Daye addict. And no, it's not a complaint....
    • 4/5
      Late Eclipses
      4 Stars

      When Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, and Luna, the Duchess of Shadowed Hills, are both struck down by a mysterious illness, Changeling knight October Daye must race against time not only to find a cure but to capture the culprit before she, herself, pays the ultimate price…

      The first three books in the series are solid UF reads, but this installment takes Toby, her friends and her foes to a whole new level. There is some gripping action and suspense as well as a little romantic development (although not as much as I would like in a certain area) and some compelling revelations about Toby and her enigmatic mother, Amandine.

      McGuire’s interpretation of faerie lore is a highlight of the series and this book is no exception. The focus in this one is on the fae women who have it in for Toby for one reason or another: the despotic Queen of Mists, the psychotic Rayselline Torquel, and the sociopathic Oleander de Merelands … Of course, the question an everyone’s mind is which one is sick enough to target those closest to Toby.

      There is also some excellent character development both in terms of Toby learning more about her fae heritage and in terms of her personal life as the love triangle continues with the amazing Tybalt and the superfluous Connor. When will Toby see what is right in front of her face?!

      All in all, the strongest book thus far and there is a definite sense that McGuire is building toward something significant.
    • 4/5
      The series continues. Toby now gets to face the consequences of her actions from the previous books. Primarily her problem is that she killed one of the Firstborn, and the fae don't like being reminded of their own mortality. This is exacerbated when both her high ranked friends start to sicken, and she's accused of aiding in their attacks too. Much to both May and Tybalt's dismay she nearly dies several times before managing to work out what's going on and who is behind it. This was fun, but it felt short a very much a bridging novel, where the author realises they've got a series that can run, but now needs to set a few foundations that had previously been left speculative. Even if we're not quite sure, Toby now knows who she is and where she came from - it was quite a deux et machina, and I hope will subsequently be more explained. It also suffered from the common problem of having an enemy grandstanding about rather than getting on a doing the sensible thing. Toby spending large amounts of time not thinking clearly also didn't help move the plot along very much, and led to reactive responses, which is always a bit more dull than the protagonist being clever.Will see how they progress.
    • 3/5
      I started this book a year or so ago and read it most of the way through. I quit, when Toby Daye, the protagonist, was beaten, exhausted and nearly dead, and was suddenly in a position where she needed to rush off and face down the bad guy. That was a pattern I had seen too often in this series, as a way that the author raised the tension, and I was tired of it. I just didn't have any interest in reading farther.This time, I finished the book,and I have mixed feelings about the ending. After Toby rushes off into battle, weakened and underprepared, she does not manage to win against all odds due to her strength of will, blind luck, or the like. I don't want to give away a major spoiler, but she actually loses (!), and then her mother, insane and missing for decades, steps in. There are major revelations that follow logically from things in previous volumes. I give McGuire lots of credit for clearly having plotted this out. On the other hand, it does make some major changes in Toby that I'm not sure improve her as a protagonist. Mixed feelings, and I want to see where this goes before I decide what I think about it.
    • 5/5
      The first book in the series that really starts addressing the mystery of Toby's mother and the fish incident, and I find myself vastly appreciating Seanan Mcguire's ability to pace a series.

      The most common types of series roughly fall into into two categories. There's the stable, loosely linked ones with no set endpoint, just a protagonist and their buddies having adventures and growing or not over time. Or there's the three to five book series with a set endpoint, but each book barely stands alone as a story in and of itself. Series that fall in between - that manage both the set endpoint and the standalone interest - are much rarer, probably because they're having to juggle two different story pacings at once.

      I would have to say that this book convinced me that Seanan Mcguire may actually be one of the best writers currently writing that third type of series. Obviously, it will have to wait until she finishes a series that isn't a trilogy to confirm or deny this, but this book got me invested in the short term and long term story in a way that's rare for authors to really pull off. The last book in the series got me interested in what this series can do in a standalone book, but this one got me interested in where this series is going in a way that not many books manage.
    • 4/5
      The fourth book in the October Daye series begins with sad tidings and has Toby once again thrown into a much bigger battle than she's prepared for with old enemies returning and new enemies arriving. What make Toby make it through these (and other) impossible circumstances is not just her bravery and skills with knives, but the love and trust her allies have in her and their willingness to help. Actually, watching her friendships grow change and develop is one of the great things about this series.Like most of the October Daye books, there's a kind of zig-zag pattern to the plot with Toby going from here to there and back again in a kind of manic trying to figure things out. Sometimes it's a little too much action, action, action without much retrospection.But that's a minor quibble, because this series is so much fun and I can't wait to read the next book.
    • 4/5
      A disjointed start led to a stronger story than those previously in the series. This time more is revealed about October herself, the kinds of things that have been hinted at for a long time. There's a lot more Tybalt and a lot more intensity and a lot more stupidity on Toby's part in regards to the stupid and annoying love triangle.

      Much was wrapped up way too easily and deep seated emotions reversed completely in the space of a very short conversation on two occasions. Sometimes Toby could see what someone's expression was when he was behind her. And why doesn't she, as a knight, know how to use a sword? The reason given is lame.

      I'm also frustrated that the author thinks that a bad headache=a migraine. Sometimes a bad headache is worse than migraine pain. In fact, you can have a migraine without any pain although it's not common. But the pain is only one of the symptoms of a migraine, usually the worst. But when Toby starts to feel pain in both temples with no other symptoms, it's very unlikely it's a migraine. If she's going to have a migraine, give her a real migraine so people realize that it's do much more than just a bad headache. (Oh and her ubiquitous Tylenol doesn't work for a bad migraine.)

      Although I dislike how there's always a point at which no one likes or trusts Toby, the loyalty of her closest friends eventually makes up for it to the point where they risk everything for her. The action and peril in the second half kept me reading beyond "well past my bedtime" and since, as always McGuire left us hanging with Tybalt, I can't wait to read the next one.
    • 4/5
      Grudging four stars here. This book, LATE ECLIPSES, and the next in the series were more or less dropped in my lap and even though LATE ECLIPSES had the same roster of pluses and negatives that all the October Daye books do for me, it was still better than most of the other options available at the moment, and I'll pick up the next one soon. My rule with stars is three for a book that's fine but I don't want to read more from the author and four if I do. Since the answer is yes, four.

      I was on board with this one until the final third of the book, when I got a little antsy and bored as the climax rolled near. Now that I know that McGuire & Mira Grant are one and the same I keep looking for similarities in the style & they're surprisingly plentiful. Really, Toby and George are different versions of the same character. And both of them do a fair bit of grandstanding, but I like it in the Newsflesh series and feel impatient with the October books. Little things, like, there's a scene where Toby makes a big fuss about who's going to accompany her on a dangerous mission - Tybalt or Connor. And then the choice she makes turns out to be completely irrelevant and, personally, I felt let down. I wanted the payoff.

      I also get super irritated by the theme of heroism in the October books. It's so similar to the themes of journalistic integrity and moral justice that thread through the Newsflesh books, which I love. But here, whenever October includes the word "hero" in her inner monologue, I roll my eyes.

      Anyway. LATE ECLIPSES marks a major turning point for the series. If you think about it, the changes were inevitable. It's a universal law of urban fantasy series that the bad guys have to escalate in power from book to book, and Toby barely stood a chance against Blind Michael. Trying to tackle anyone more powerful than him would be sheer suicide, and, let's be honest, poor October Daye spends a healthy percentage of her books injured and incapacitated as it is. So instead McGuire goes back to the fundamentals of who October is and changes it up. The results are pretty interesting.

      Fans of the series are sure to enjoy it. Disgruntled fence-straddlers like me won't be won over, but I was glad to be reading a book that had solid writing, worldbuilding, plotting, and snark after suffering through a few duds. Anyone unfamiliar with the series should start with book one.

    • 4/5
      Gathering new and familiar allies around her, knight and investigator October Daye, a changeling who owes allegiance to the court of Shadowed Hills, finds herself locked in a race against time to locate the cause and find a cure for the mysterious illness creeping among the fae. It's first victims are close friends, and as the sickness spreads suspicion falls on Toby herself... can she find the source and clear her name in time?Toby's finally coming in to her own, but friends and family beware - fate sure isn't easy on her allies!
    • 5/5
      Another installment in the October Daye series, another great book. This time, Toby's fighting her old nemesis, even though no one quite believes Toby (not surprising, since she's not really sure herself). We get more character development and some interesting reveals. And, of course, when I finished it, I was just left wanting more.
    • 5/5
      Very complicated - for part of it, a narrator who's so unreliable she doesn't even trust herself. A lot of seriously weird plots. I caught a couple of the tricks before Toby did - she kept wiping her hand off like it didn't matter! And the solution for Lily's people was also obvious. On the other hand, what Amandine did was something I had exactly no clue about ahead of time - and the Luidaeg's info was just about as unexpected. Well. I meant to finish it tomorrow, but I couldn't put it down...very good story. And I have One Salt Sea for tomorrow. I forget, between times, just how good a writer Seanan McGuire is.
    • 4/5
      Good book, a definite improvement on the last couple by this author, and a return to form from the first novel in the series.
    • 4/5
      It’s hell to finally discover the secret about yourself that others have known all along. Not as bad, though, as watching the people you care about fall, one by one, at the hands of your arch-enemy.Exploring concepts (Scalzi’s “big ideas”) of family, governance, guilt, honor and love, McGuire keeps the stakes nearly astronomical for her Knight of Faerie, October Daye. Toby caroms from one crisis to another with barely time to catch her breath. This tale is so tightly plotted that revealing any one element unravels the rest, so I forgo a synopsis. Instead, accept my enthusiastic endorsement of this installment of the October Daye series.
    • 4/5
      After four books, October Daye is still going strong. "Late Eclipses" was even more enjoyable than the previous book and I think that says a LOT. IN "Late Eclipses", Toby has a personal threat she has to deal with. She thought her previous dealings which left her as a fish for fourteen years was done and over but it looks like one of the players, Oleander, wasn't happy with the fact that Toby survived. Now she is targeting Toby, trying to make her look responsible for the death of one character and the potential deaths of several others. The Queen of the Mists seems more than pleased to believe Toby is guilty of everything she is charged of and even more. Back on the table, is the fact that Toby killed Blind Michael, the child-stealer/torturer in the previous book, "An Artificial Night". (Never mind this was self defense and an act that saved multitudes of innocent children). Seanan McGuire really excels at writing. Her world is so detailed and so complex that I don't know how she keeps up with it! She must be one heck of a note taker! Also Toby is so much more likeable than many of her urban fantasy peers. If there is a flaw to her character it is that she is too self sacrificing and too quick to be down on herself. After awhile I want to yell at her to get some therapy and like herself more. The side characters also make this series. I love Quinton, Danny, and Tybalt. I didn't care for the introduction of Mae Daye in the last book. Mae is Toby's fetch, or her harbinger of death and doppleganger. I just plain didn't trust Mae....well I think I do now. And I think I kinda like her too! There is a potential love triangle being set up which I don't care for. This book has tons of overtones of a relationship between Connor, the son in law of Sylvester, Toby's liege and father figure. Also hard to miss in "Late Eclipses" are the feelings Tybalt, King of Cats, and Toby have for each other. Its so exciting and sweet that I am certainly on Team Tybalt. Conner is such a weak man. He never is the first to take action for Toby and he may be in the action scenes now and then but he is always off to the side and shows up mostly when the danger is out of the way. Also, he never stands up to his crazy wife and lets her use him which drives me batty. I don't even understand how Toby is attracted to Conner. (If there are Conner fans out there, please leave a comment and let me know why you are fans of Conner's character! I'd love to know what I am missing here if anything!) Also there is at least one very big change revealed for Toby in this book and I actually didn't care for it. I trust Seanan McGuire after four books to do whats best but I didn't see this coming and right now it doesn't sit well with me. However, from what I have read, there are two more definite Toby Daye novels and a potential of three more in the works after those! There are so many directions that the author could take with this series and I see no clues that this will get stale anytime soon. I really look forward to reading more of these books. These are just plain fun, high quality reads.
    • 5/5
      Okay. I love October Daye. Yeah, I just said that. There's just something about her witty comments, character flaws and general awesome that make her just so likable. Ever since I picked up the first book in this series, Rosemary and Rue, I've been a junkie. Toby is just one of those characters that it seems like you could bump into them on the street and want to go out to lunch with (I doubt it would be an ordinary lunch, but at least it would be a memorable one!). Okay, the other things in the October Daye novels are also pretty awesome. You know, that stuff like plot, description, world-building, secondary characters and so forth are handled incredibly well in every book and only seem to get better every time. Late Eclipses continues Toby's adventures in another highly satisfying spin of action and adventure.This time, Toby, our favorite half-human, half-fae and changeling, is summoned to the court of the Queen of the Mists, one of the most important fae in the San Francisco area, where she is called to speak about why she killed the fae Blind Michael. Soon after, Toby finds that her friends, as well as some of the movers and shakers in the fae court, are being targeted. Not only must Toby protect her friends, but also battle false accusations laid against her.One of my favorite aspects of these novels has always been the world-building. Author Seanan McGuire has done a fabulous job of creating a unique and complex mythology that's otherworldly while still grounded in reality. I'm particularly in awe of the amount of detail McGuire spins in her prose without seeming like it's sensory overload for the read or that it makes the pacing slow down. In fact, Late Eclipses boasts one of the quickest-moving plots of the series thus far, filled with non-stop mystery, action and awesome that kept me flipping pages until the very end.It's really hard for me to say anything bad about an October Daye novel. I really think these books are some of the best in the urban fantasy genre. If you're a fan of these types of books -you must read these books (I would suggest starting at the beginning, as it can be a little confusing otherwise). Late Eclipses delivers another great adventure for Toby and leaves readers desperately waiting for more.
    • 5/5
      This is the fourth book in the October Daye series by McGuire. The fifth book, One Salt Sea, is due out September of 2011. This series just keeps getting better and better. The book moves along at a great clip, adds further depth to Toby's world and was a very engaging and wonderful read.When Toby is awarded her own land, she knows that she now owes allegiance to the half-mad Queen and that things are going to get dicey. Then Lily (an undine water spirit) comes down with a severe illness and Luna collapses in illness too. Unfortunately for Tody she is present for both incidents and because of her changeling nature is suspected as being involved in their illnesses. Toby only wants to help and she thinks she senses the prescence of Oleander (the evil lady who turned her into a gold fish all those years ago) at the scene of these people's collapse. Now it is a race against time: Toby has to figure out what is happening before more people die and before she is arrested in connection to the illnesses.This is a very fast paced book and it was hard to put down. The world is complex and intriguing. This book thrust the reader deeper into fairy politics than any previous book. We get more insight into a lot of characters that we have meet in previous books and gain a lot of understanding of Toby's past.Toby is still confused about who she likes more Tybalt or Connor. Tybalt plays a pretty big role in the beginning of this book which was awesome because he is my absolute favorite character in this series. Then his role fades in the second half of the book and Connor plays a bigger role. We finally got to spend time with Connor and get to know him better, but for me he isn't anywhere as interesting as Tybalt is.We also got to see more of Toby and May making a life as roommates together. It was nice to see some of the more domestic aspects of Toby's life. This book really filled out May as a character and made her one of the characters that I really enjoyed reading about. Toby also undergoes some incredibly drastic and interesting changes and I am eager to see what they mean for her in future installments.The story wraps up nicely but there is a lot of room for more story in the next book. This book doesn't do more than touch on the fact that Toby now has a fairy kingdom all her own. There also isn't much progress or resolution on Toby's relationships with Connor and Tybalt; hopefully we will see some of that in the next book. I really enjoy McGuire's writing style it is very readable, has great description, and is incredibly engaging. I continue to enjoy how McGuire merges fantasy, mythology, and nursery rhymes into a cohesive whole.Overall a really excellent addition to this series. I loved spending more time in fairy and watching Toby unravel this complicated mystery. I love the characters more with each book in this series and absolutely can't wait for what will happen next. This was an incredibly engaging and fun to read book; the complex world and intriguing characters are a joy to read about. I can't wait for book 5, One Salt Sea, to come out in September 2011.
    • 5/5
      McGuire doesn't fail to disappoint, and I fall a little more in love with Toby Daye in each volume of this series. I read this entire book on a plane flight from Ohio to Texas, and found myself annoyed when I had to put it down now and then for things like landing and layovers. I feel like I'm repeating myself in my praise here, but I don't know what else to say: McGuire draws lovely, complex, fascinating characters and places them in a fantastic world that gives me chills and makes me daydream. The plot here is ridiculously simple: Fey who should not be able to die are dying of diseases no one can place. Friends and enemies are unclear, and it turns out that if Toby doesn't solve the problem soon, she's not going to survive to solve many more. It's a testament to McGuire's wonderful skills as a serial writer that a plot so simple and in some ways so mundane can be so terribly captivating. The story itself doesn't quite live up to the intensely creepy An Artificial Night, but it is solid and fun and had me worried more than once. More importantly, characters and relationships grow in this volume, several long-term mysteries are kicked up a serious notch, a few tantalizing secrets are revealed, and I turned the last page still wanting more, more, more. It's a good thing she writes so quickly.
    • 5/5
      The premise: ganked from BN.com: In October "Toby" Daye's fourth outing, following 2010's An Artificial Night, the half-Fae private detective is once again run through the wringer when problems plaguing the San Francisco Fae community strike home on a personal level. First, in an unprecedented, unexpected move, the Queen of the Mists promotes Toby to countess. Given that the Queen hates her, it's quite obviously a trap, but not something Toby can refuse or avoid. Subsequently, several of Toby's closest friends are struck down through poison and illness, and she's accused of murder. Has an enemy from Toby's past resurfaced, or is she losing her mind? Physically, emotionally, and magically drained, faced with tragedy and despair, Toby's forced to deal with the long-hidden truth behind her Fae heritage. In this tightly plotted adventure, McGuire mixes nonstop action with a wealth of mythology to deliver a wholly satisfying story.My Rating: Must Read: These books just keep getting better and better, and I thank everyone yet again who encouraged me to keep going after A Local Habitation. What's great about this series is how each book builds on those that came before, which means, of course, you really need to read this series in order to fully appreciate the story and the cast and all the development that goes into the series. This installment is my favorite to date, horribly difficult to put down. There's so many revelations in this book that really cast Toby and her purpose in a new light, and the cast is just delightful. I can't say more without gushing, so I'll shut up, and say that if you're an urban fantasy fan and you haven't at least read up to book three, An Artificial Night, you're missing out. And if you're already a fan, you definitely don't want to miss this one.Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. I'm doing an experiment and want to try really hard to avoid spoilers. Just for giggles. That doesn't mean, however, that I won't spoil books one through three. The full review is in my LJ for those of you interested, and as always, comments and discussion are most welcome.REVIEW: Seanan McGuire's LATE ECLIPSESHappy Reading!
    • 5/5
      Another amazing installment in the Toby Daye series! With Late Eclipses, McGuire continues the topnotch world-building that makes this series stand out from other urban fantasies. The realm of Faerie, with its multitude of races, courtly etiquette, and strange magic, has never been more interesting. I love getting to explore Toby's world. In this book, we even get a peek behind the shadows into the mysterious court of the Cait Sidhe.The tone of the story is just as dark and depressing as the previous novels, as people fight, die, get betrayed, lose loved ones, and question their sanity. However, the story does end on a hopeful note, and I greatly enjoyed getting there. There are some huge revelations about Amandine and Toby’s identity that both answer questions and raise a million more. Plus, we get some clues to other mysteries such as why the Queen hates Toby and what happened to Luna and Raysel when they were kidnapped. The ongoing mystery of Simon’s motivations and whereabouts is something I look forward to uncovering in subsequent books.The plot is action packed. Toby almost never gets a chance to slow down as she rushes from the scene of one crisis to another. Like in A Local Habitation, I figured out a couple of the mysteries long before Toby, but that didn’t make the story any less entertaining. There’s also some great romantic moments - nothing particularly steamy, but very heartfelt and cute. I’m a big Tybalt fan and this book only increased my fondness for the King of Cats. Connor is still in the picture as a potential love interest, and it’s annoying to see Toby even considering getting together with him. He’s such a wuss compared to Tybalt and it’s so obvious (at least to me) which guy is the real catch.One thing I didn’t understand, though, was why everyone who had a problem came running to Toby, expecting her to fix it. I know she’s a hero and all - she wants to help people and she’ll throw herself headfirst into danger to do it - but the problems people put on her shoulders seem so insurmountable that I found myself asking, “What do they honestly expect Toby to do about it?” As for Toby, she gamely promises everyone she’ll save the day even when she has no idea how to go about doing it. I guess I have to give her credit for that, even though it felt like she was pretty much winging it the whole time.All in all, I really enjoyed this installment. There’s room for improvement, but, in general, the characters, the action, the romance, and especially the world-building is awesome, as always. This is one of my favorite urban fantasy series and I can’t wait to read the next book, One Salt Sea, coming out September 2011.
    • 5/5
      The fourth book of the October Daye series brings together story arcs and reveals secrets that were just below the surface. At this point, its hard to review this book without any spoilers but it left me wishing to reread the entire series from the beginning to see how all the pieces fit together. For fans of Urban Fantasy and Faeries, the October Daye books are one of the best things out there, dark and complicated full of thoughtful uses of folklore and a love of the San Francisco Bay area.
    • 4/5
      Toby--changeling knight Sir October Daye--just can't catch a break. This time, powerful friends are being poisoned, and it looks like Toby might be at fault. Also, her enemy the queen wants to execute her for killing Blind Michael. As usual, things get a lot worse before they get better.This series is bleak, but good.