October "Toby" Daye is a changeling. Unlike the human
definition, among the Faye to be a changeling means being
neither wholly of Faerie, nor wholly human but stuck betwixt
and between, with a certain level of power but nowhere near
the level of a pureblood of your kind. It suits Toby,
though. Her powers have been enough to save
her bacon, if only by a frog's hair, and to save the lives
of those with much more power than herself; which can have
its downside. You might think having the Queen of the Mists
in your debt would be a thing to desire, but you'd mostly be
dead wrong, and maybe even mostly dead. Having a mad ruler's
attention focused in your direction is not a thing to be
wished on anyone.
After the execution of Blind Michael, the Fae of the San
Francisco Bay area seem to be settling back into status quo,
Toby has enough money to fill the pantry and she is enjoying
the novelty of not having anything in particular threatening
her life. Then a summons to the court of the Queen of the
Mists is tendered, Toby becomes the Countess of Goldengreen,
and thus is under the aegis of her mad Majesty. She doesn't
need the King of the Cat's warning to know owing allegiance
to a queen who wants her dead is a bad thing, but it is
comforting to know the sometimes fickle (but always
fascinating) Tybalt is on her side.
The October Daye series is gritty and glittering urban
fantasy at its best and LATE ECLIPSES is no exception.
McGuire skillfully blends the darker side of San Francisco
with the mists of Faery making both seem real and immediate.
The fascinating characters from the previous three books
play pivotal roles in this engrossing fourth entry, raising
hope of seeing them in the future as well. Seanan McGuire
has a brand new fan here in Michigan. (I'm off to buy the
older titles now.)
With Blind Michael and his Hunt safely behind her,
October "Toby" Daye is doing her best to settle back into
a normal routine—or as normal of a routine as she can
manage, with her personal Fetch now paying half the rent.
Still, things seem to be mostly under control...until the
events of a single night send everything reeling. Now,
with the Queen of the Mists watching her back and the Lady
of the Tea Gardens deathly ill, Toby has no choice but to
get involved, no matter how much she wants to avoid it.
The trials ahead will be some of the worst faced by Toby
and her strange band of allies, and not even Tybalt will
be able to escape totally unscathed. What's worse, the
Luidaeg is unavailable to help them. This time, they're on
their own. And people keep making Toby wear dresses, which
is just adding insult to dangerous injury...
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