Tag: Toby Daye

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #19
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 30, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 400 pg.
Read Date: September 5-8, 2025

What’s Silver and Lead About?

Queen Arden has a task for her hero–and she’s more than happy to take it on. During the recent…whatever you want to call what Titania did, several items were removed from the royal vaults. Dangerous items, naturally. Now, Arden had wanted to wait until Toby had given birth and recovered before sending her to find them. But at least one of the items has been used, and someone is dead. She can’t put it off any longer.

Toby’s tired, fed up, and annoyed by basically being under house arrest because of her worried husband during the last few months of her pregnancy. Yes, Tybalt’s worries are understandable, but he’s maybe gone a little too far. Toby’s glad for the excuse to get to work, and promises she’ll be extra careful. (Any guesses how that goes and how cooperative the people she’s looking for are going to be?)

Quentin–whose identity seems to be the worst-kept secret in all of Faerie–sticks with her every step of the way. This adventure brings us across many old friends and allies and reminds us of one old enemy.

Oh, I forgot to mention, before any of this happens, everyone’s favorite Sea Witch has a request–both sweet and terrifying–for Toby before any of this business with Arden starts.

All in all, this is not the way most people spend the last couple of weeks of their pregnancy. But of course, Toby wouldn’t do it any other way, and her readers expect no less.

Aftershocks

While we are not looking directly at what Titania did in these pages, we’re looking at the aftermath. We’re also learning a little bit about how her plan didn’t completely work. But I’m going to gloss over that (but you’re going to want to stop and muse about it while reading).

Quentin is trying to wrap his mind around the version of himself he saw and remembers, and cannot stand it. He’s overcompensating—and you can’t blame him for that—when he’s not letting it interfere with his thinking in the present.

Some of the ramifications of Titania’s work are seen in the motivations behind this novel’s primary villain. This doesn’t justify their actions (they’d have likely found another way to justify things), but it gives us an idea of all the unintended consequences of her re-write of Faerie. (unintended, but she probably wouldn’t care).

I really appreciate this–we’re not primarily concerned with her, nor have we just gotten a “it’s been a few months, stuff happened, life goes on” kind of thing. Faerie learned a lot about itself, they found some messes that need to be cleaned up. Yes, life goes on, but it’s different and will continue to be for a while.

So, what did I think about Silver and Lead?

So after a few novels with big, world-changing events at their core, it’s nice to get back to the bread-and-butter kind of novel. Yes, the stakes are important. Yes, there are life-and-death situations all around—and if Toby fails, it will mean bad things. But it won’t be the end of the world.

One of the advantages of a long-running series like this is that you can pluck a (seemingly?) random someone from an early novel, dust them off, and have them play a major role in the current book. Which is great—it also means that every random someone has the potential of being important. McGuire used that well in Silver and Lead.

While I enjoyed Raysel’s use here, I’m a little afraid that she’s being given some short-shrift overall, and the interesting storyline that seemed to have kicked off for her in Be the Serpent will end more with more of a whimper than it should. (Hopefully, this means that McGuire has something really big cooking).

Early on in the reading, I texted a friend, “a very pregnant Toby is fun.” She really is—and just as it was good to get back to a smaller stakes plot, it’s nice to be with the characters again, adapting to/preparing for this new stage of life.

McGuire’s humor and willingness to put her characters through the wringer for the entertainment of her audience shine forth. Toby’s determination (read: near-uncompromising stubbornness), grit, and humanity are on display for all. Tybalt and May are Tybalt and May (always good), and Quentin continues to develop into quite the man. The Luidaeg was fantastically used—particularly at the beginning. It was also good to see the rest of the cast, and I’m looking forward to seeing what life is like for Sir Mommy Daye.

Fans will be pleased with this one, and it might draw in a few new ones. Silver and Lead is just what we needed after the last arc.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Tor Publishing Group via NetGalley—thanks to both for this. Sorry it’s up late, it’s been one of those months.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Catching Up with Toby Daye

By HCNewton

On September 18, 2025

In Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

I’ve been thinking about this post since September of 2022, I just knew I couldn’t write about Be the Serpent without seeing what McGuire did next—my mind wouldn’t let me decide what I thought about it until then. And then after Sleep No More, I had to tackle The Innocent Sleep, and then…well, I kept getting distracted or busy. But I have to put something down about these three so I can intelligently talk about Silver and Lead, and I really want to do that. So, I’m trying a different kind of post than I’m used to.

Oh, I’m also suspending my typical no spoilers rule here. Read at your own risk, this is the only warning I’m giving.

Be the Serpent

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #16
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: August 30, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 305 pg.
Read Date: August 31, 2022-September 5, 2022; August 25-29, 2023

It felt like I was standing outside this scene and watching it unfold, like none of this had anything to do with me. Like I should have been able to smile politely, say, “No, thank you,” and walk away, leaving everything exactly as it was before I got out of bed this morning.

I don’t know how many friends of mine have stumbled on books 2 or 3 of this series and never kept going. Or stumbled and were pushed on (and were so glad they did). I sort of get that, but I didn’t have that reaction. I did stumble here on book 16, Be the Serpent. Obviously, by this point—it doesn’t matter, I’m going to shake it off and keep going. Toby, Tybalt, May, Quentin, and the rest (the list is getting ridiculously long) mean too much to me to be put off by one novel.

But I do have to wonder what was going on in McGuire’s mind for her to give us this book—I have no proof of this, but in my head-canon, she was so focused on the last pages of this novel and what she was setting up that she didn’t pay enough attention to the execution of this novel. That doesn’t sound like McGuire to me, but it’s the best I’ve got.

The opening is fantastic—and the way that Toby and Rayseline executed their plan was so well done, and the prospect of watching Raysel heal in the midst of Toby’s chaos seemed like a fun lark. And then the horrific happened—the scene where Toby finds Stacy’s kids dead or dying is possibly the most gut-churning thing she’s written (and that’s saying something)*

* If you want to argue that she’s topped that in some recent InCryptid novels, I won’t fight you.

The problems start a chapter or two after that. Once Toby realizes why Stacy killed her kids (because she’s not really Stacy, but Titania, realizing she’s Stacy all along. I don’t know a shorter way to describe it all), she sets out to destroy Titania—but she can’t. No matter how often she tells herself it’s not her, no matter that the “Stacy consciousness” tells Toby to do it, no matter how many frelling times she has that conversation with anyone (including herself several times)—Toby can’t just do it. That’s almost understandable.

But also, McGuire has to tell us several times how this whole thing is tearing Toby apart. But I honestly don’t “see” it happening. I hear about it—I see it when she’s interacting with Stacy’s surviving kids or husband. But otherwise? I really don’t.

I could’ve been satisfied with the ending had it ended 2 pages or so into the last chapter (because that was just a great moment).

But no…we’ve got to do the whole Titania comes back, puts the hurt on Toby, and then rewrites history—wiping Toby’s mind and rewriting her history—having (pretty quickly) found a loophole in Oberon’s decree (he must be pretty rusty from all the nothing he’s been up to for the last few centuries). Sure, the first two parts of that list were certain to happen eventually.

But I just hate, hate, hate the whole “we’ll rewrite history/perception/whatever” storyline. Buffy in the asylum, Picard’s whole other life in “The Inner Light” (although he at least starts off remembering reality), um…other examples I should have at hand, but don’t. At the time, I told friends (and maybe my readers in a WWW Wednesday post or a Saturday Miscellany) that I hate the ending, but trusted McGuire would make me come around to it in the next book (and prematurely resented her for making her eat my words).

In the end, that didn’t happen—I still am going to consider Be the Serpent as the low point of this series. However…I really liked the lemonade she turned this giant pile of lemons into. Which brings us to….

Sleep No More

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #17
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: September 5, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 310 pg.
Read Date: October 26, 2023-October 27, 2023; January 13-16, 2025

“Romantic love is not required to live a full and happy life, my seedlings,” Father had told us, watching carefully to be sure we took his message to heart, “but if you cannot love one who loves you truly in return, find friends, find companions, find people who will tell you the truths you cannot carry and unveil the lies you cannot see. Most of all, cleave to each other, for you will be the only sure support you have in all this world.”

We spend most of our time watching this Alternate Version of Toby make her way through this version of Faerie that we all can kind of recognize, but not really. A good deal of the “fun” of all this is seeing the ways that Titania’s rewriting of things is similar—but not quite—to our version of things.

Toby, for example, has all the niceness, the kindness, the happiness that we all know she’s capable of—but she rarely gets to express (or she can only express in certain ways). August is…wow. The best older sister, really (sure, it’d be better if she didn’t believe that changelings were lesser beings, but…at least she doesn’t treat them as trash). Quentin, on the other hand, is an entitled jerk.

Thankfully, we get to come into this world just before it starts unraveling, partially because of Toby. Even as she really doesn’t know what she’s doing (or who she is, most importantly), she keeps being Toby—which means taking apart the plans and machinations of her opponents. Everything I think McGuire got wrong in the previous book, she did right here. We even get to revisit some of the bigger moments of the past.

I really liked the story; I thought McGuire executed it as close to flawlessly as is possible. I liked the conclusion—it was exciting, tense, and you honestly (especially now) had no idea how things were going to turn out. Sure, we know that bigger and worse things are on the horizon than we just dealt with—but okay. That’s pretty much par for the course.

Best yet? October and August have a relationship now. Simon and Toby are closer than they were. Yes, things are messed up ,and everyone will need to recover and reset. But…we’ve gained a lot.

Sleep No More

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #18
Publisher: DAW 
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 314 pg.
Read Date: October 31-November 1, 2023; January 24-31, 2025

Love is a knife forever suspended an inch from your heart, and if it falls or you stumble into it, you can all too easily find yourself impaled and bleeding.

This felt like an incredibly unnecessary book. Sure, it seemed like a good idea—perhaps even entertaining just to see things from Tybalt’s perspective. But we already know this story. Why bother?

Oh, for so many reasons, it turns out. I ended up loving this book.Rather than picking up months later, like we did in Toby’s POV, we see this from the instant Titania did her thing—or pretty much. We get more than simply Tybalt’s POV—we get to see how all this nonsense is impacting the rest of Faerie—or isn’t, as the case sometimes is. We see just how far the range of the changes are. Most importantly, we see what happens to people who aren’t that close to Toby—the collateral damage.

And that damage is devastating—and is getting worse.

Then we get to see some of the specific incidents described in Sleep No More from Tybalt’s POV, or at least what others tell him. Still, it’s not Toby’s viewpoint. We come away from all of it with a greatly expanded understanding of everything that happened to the characters we know and love (or just know). Also, between the two books, we really learn so much more about Titania than we did before (naturally). And now we really want to see Maeve in action—as apocalyptic as that likely will be.

Could McGuire have done this as a larger-than-usual book from shifting POVs? Probably. But the pacing would’ve been weird, getting the different POVs on the same events would get tiresome (and hard to decide which POV would come first)…and, I think it’d have just been a mess. So much better this way.

My beef with this one—and I think it’s the only one I have in both Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep is Tybalt’s lack of emotional control. Yes, it has to be hard to see Toby like this, to see her not know you at all—but for crying out loud, man! You’ve been around for centuries, you know the whammy that magic can do to someone’s mind and body (you’ve experienced it first hand!!)—magic from one of the Three? Hold yourself together, know that you’ve got a chance to help everyone—especially Toby, and stop acting like a child when she’s around.

Do the greatness of Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep make up for Be the Serpent? No. Do they make it more forgivable? Ehhh, kind of. Mostly, I know for future re-reads to expect some rough riding, but that it’s worth it. As I said above, the lemonade she made from Be the Serpent is mighty tasty. And I’m okay with that.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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My Favorite Non-Crime Fiction of 2021

By HCNewton

On January 7, 2022

In Alex Verus, Benedict Jacka, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Jo Perry, Mike Chen, News/Misc., Roddy Doyle, Science Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

2021 Favorite Non-Crime
Back when I started this site, I knew the content would be largely “genre”-oriented. I’d have wagered the content would be roughly 1/3 Mystery/Detective fiction, 1/3 Urban Fantasy, and slightly less than 1/3 SFF, with “non-genre” fiction, humor, and non-fiction being enough to make my one-thirds just an approximation (honestly, if you asked me what I read regularly, that’s pretty much how I’d describe it today). Actual numbers show that’s wrong—it’s almost 40% Crime/Thriller Fiction, and Urban Fantasy has only topped 20% once in the last decade—it was 16% the last two years, SFF combined for about 14% in 2021.

Which is just a long-winded way to get to these two points: because Crime Fiction takes such a big chunk of my reading, it gets its own “Favorite” list, but none of the others really garner enough numbers for their own.

As always, re-reads don’t count—only the works that were new to me.

(in alphabetical order by author)

We Could Be Heroes

by Mike Chen

My original post
A super-hero and a super-villain become friends after meeting (as civilians) at a support group meeting and delve into their shared past to figure out how they got their powers and who they used to be. That old story. 🙂 In typical Chen fashion, the SF/super-hero elements are just an excuse to tell a story about friendship, memory, and identity. It’s a story about people, who just happen to be super-powered.

4 Stars

Love

by Roddy Doyle

My original post
This is about as close as you can get to a novel without a plot. You’ve got a pair of old friends, getting together for drinks (many, many drinks) and to catch up on each other’s lives. They end up revisiting their past (as you do), arguing about what really happened then, and seeing how it’s impacted where they are now. There’s more to it, but that’ll do for our purposes. The novel is primarily told through dialogue (although we do get memories and internal commentary from one of the men). As is to be expected from Doyle, that dialogue sings. You can practically hear it jump off of the page–I’m not sure I could conjure up a mental image of anyone in the book, but I know exactly what they’d sound like.

4 Stars

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

by Henry Fielding

My wrap-up post for the project
I read most of this in 2020, but didn’t finish it until 2021, so it goes on this list. Just for the (mostly rewarding) time spent on this book, it deserves a spot on this list. It’s not really the kind of book I thought it would be, but it’s so much more interesting. I’ve said enough about this book, I don’t really have it in me for more–it’s a classic, anyway, what can I say that hasn’t been said for hundreds of years?

5 Stars

All the Lonely People

by Mike Gayle

My original post
This is nothing but an all-out attack on the cockles of your heart. I described it to a friend, “Imagine a book by Fredrick Backman–but instead of a crotchety old Swedish man, it’s about a lonely man who left Kingston for London in the 50s.” It’s so heartwarming, so Capra-esque, so…eh, you get the point.

5 Stars

Not Awkward

by Matthew Hanover

My original post
Hanover’s third Wallflowers novel came out last year and shows real growth as a writer, while not losing any of the charm, heart, and likability of his previous novels. Just before his wedding, Scott goes to the funeral for his ex’s father, and somehow ends up spending a few days with the family. Not Awkward is a warm and heart-filled story about revisiting the past, finding healing (whether or not you thought you needed it), and embracing a future that doesn’t look like you expected it would (and is probably better). It’s the kind of book that’ll make you feel a little better about life for a while—and who doesn’t want to read something like that?

4 1/2 Stars

Risen

by Benedict Jacka

My original post
The twelfth and final book in the Alex Verus series blew me away. It’s one of the best series finales I remember reading. It was hard to say good-bye to this world and these characters, but Jacka did such a satisfying job with this novel that it took some of the sting out of it.

5 Stars

When Sorrows Come

by When Sorrows Come

by Seanan McGuire

My original post
If (and that feels like a big “if”) October Day is going to get a Happily Ever After, it’s going to be years down the road. Thankfully, she got a “Happy Right Now” by marrying Tybalt. That’s pretty much what this novel is–a big dollop of happiness (with Toby putting down a palace coup along the way). It was so nice seeing that.

5 Stars

Headphones and Heartaches

by Wesley Parker

My original post
Percy’s a teen who gets put into Foster Care after his mother’s latest OD. While she’s in a treatment program, Percy comes to trust and love his foster mother–a woman with a huge heart, who takes in this boy and gives him a safe place to be for the first time in his life. This is a sweet book, a touching book—an occasionally hilarious book (with some truly cringe-worthy beats)—I guess it’s best summed up as a very human book. Parker got me to feel all sorts of things for these characters, to a degree I didn’t expect or was prepared for.

5 Stars

Pure

by Jo Perry

My original post
(sure, you could make the case that this is Crime Fiction, but I don’t buy it) After Ascher gets quarantined in her late aunt’s retirement condo during the early days of COVID. She sneaks around volunteering for a Jewish Burial Society, and then becomes convinced that one of the women she helped with was the victim of foul play. So Ascher tries to figure out what happened and who is responsible–again, while sneaking around the retirement community’s quarantine. This is a mystery novel about something—it’s more than a whodunit (assuming there was something for a “who” to have “dun”). It, like pretty much everything Perry writes, is about death and how we deal with it as humans (and one neurotic and grieving Mini-Pinscher). THere’s more to chew on, too, but that’d be telling…

This is one that’s going to stay with me for a while.

4 Stars

In Ten Years

by Ian Shane

My original post
A contemporary When Harry Met Sally that makes me just as happy as the movie ever did. Tried and true plotlines that felt fresh thanks to Shane’s light touch and ear for dialogue. It contains what’s probably my favorite chapter of 2021–and more than a couple of my favorite lines. I wanted to race through it to see how it ended, and I wanted to slow down to savor it (the impulse control side lost–what do you expect from someone who tagged himself “Irresponsible”?).

5 Stars

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021

By HCNewton

On January 4, 2022

In Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Humor, Kevin Hearne, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Politics/Current Affairs, Rick Riordan, Science Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Tufa, Urban Fantasy

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021
Last year I kicked off my Year-End Retrospective with a look at my favorite audiobooks, I might as well repeat that this year. How do I keep this from being just a rehash of my other year-end lists? By focusing on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance? All of these books are/were good—but the audiobooks are a bit better because of the narrator and the rest of the people involved in the production.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Hum and the Shiver

by Alex Bledsoe, Emily Janice Card(Narrator), Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)

This was my third or fourth trip through this book (maybe, fifth, but I don’t think so). I’m not sure if that means it was easy for me to be impressed—or maybe it was really hard because I had high expectations. Regardless, Rudnicki and Card took me to Cloud County and the land of the Tufa. I could believe that these people lived, breathed, and walked around in this world—and yet were otherworldly, as they ought to be. I knew Rudnicki could make me believe in a Fantasy world—it turns out that he can make me believe in this one, too. Card was right there with him.

4 Stars

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

by Elle Cosimano, Angela Dawe (Narration)

My original post
This is on the list because of Dawe’s narration. The text was entertaining enough, sure, but her narration is what made sure I remembered the book during the list-making time. The novel was a tricky balancing act between the various tones and characters, and Dawe makes you believe it. She captured the comedic sense of the novel along with the tension and emotional moments. There were a few accents involved and she did a believable job with them, too.

3.5 Stars

A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry

by Charles Dickens, Tim Curry (Narrator)

My original post
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: all you need to know about this is: Tim Curry. This wasn’t the performance I expected—I figured I was in for something near to over-the-top, with Curry going to town with the text. Instead, we’re treated to a respectful, restrained performance giving Dickens’ classic just the right emotional weight, sentimentality, personality, and life.

5 Stars

In This Bright Future

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
Grainger and Jackson together have made this one of my Top 3 audiobook series, period. So my only question was how many of the books would end up on this list. I ended up limiting myself to one, and therefore it had to be this one—we get so little of our typical characters and settings, but Jackson is able to make Belfast as warm and homey as King’s Lake. There are elevated dangers and emotions in this book that we don’t typically get with D.C. Smith, but Jackson doesn’t miss a beat. Grainger puts D.C. through his paces, too. Both are at the top of their game—making D.C. at the top of his, too.

4 Stars

Ink & Sigil

by Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Even though a pro like Luke Daniels is constantly doing voices/accents for his characters and the narration is almost never his “natural” voice (assuming he even has one anymore), I have to think that maintaining a Glaswegian accent for as long as he did for this book (ten hours and change, I think) has to be an added level of difficulty. Not that you can tell from listening to this. I thought the novel was a rollicking good time and just the way you should introduce a new series. The audiobook version just cemented that.

4 1/2 Stars

The Unkindest Tide

by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal (Narrator)

This novel was the payoff (as far as we know so far, I wouldn’t put it past McGuire to turn it upside down later) to a storyline that had been lingering and building for years, I remember being stunned when reading it—just that aspect of The Unkindest Tide brought a great combination of anticipation, grief, suspense, and surprise. The story of the novel—the trip to the Duchy of Ships, the intrigue around Dianda, etc. was as solid as it gets, too. I remembered all this going in, so it was all teed up for Kowal—and she nailed it, it almost felt like I hadn’t read the book before and was discovering it fresh. A narrator who can do that is tops in my book.

4 1/2 Stars

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans and Comedy

by Kliph Nesteroff

My original post
As I was trimming down the list of audiobooks I listened to last year for this list, I didn’t expect that this would stay on the list. A history of Native Americans in Comedy, really? But I kept not deleting it…so I started thinking of it—there’s a social history, an entertainment history, with individual profiles mixed it—it has it all. What’s more, despite a pretty dry (but never boring) narration, and not using clips of original performances, the comedy of these individuals comes through. In the midst of hardship, suffering, prejudice, and hard breaks, there are some solid laughs. It’s hard not to keep thinking about that.

4 Stars

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods

by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator)

I started working on a post last year about contemporary myth retellings (and I intend on finishing it before my unconceived grandkids are ready to read it), and listened to this as part of that. In many ways, the book and the information didn’t fare well compared to things like Gaiman and Fry have recently produced. But this is here and they’re not—because as an audiobook this is a great experience. Bernstein is Percy Jackson here, and it felt like something ol’ Percy was sitting down and relating to future Camp Halfblood residents. It inspired me to listen to the original Percy Jackson series again just so I can listen to Bernstein perform this character.

3 Stars

You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism

by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

My original post
I’m still telling people about this audiobook/book nine months later. I can’t think of a book that made me angrier, sadder, or made me laugh as much in 2021 (or a few years before it, either). This did all three. Ruffin’s narration, Lamar’s stories, their hurt, and their optimism make this a must-listen.

4 1/2 Stars

The Salvage Crew

by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Nathan Fillion (Narrator)

My original post
This is a very strange SF story about a sentient AI (based on the memories and personality of an engineer). I think I’d have enjoyed the story had I read the novel, but it’s Nathan Fillion that brought it to life. That same charm that makes you like Caleb, Mal, Castle, and Nolan shines forth and makes you believe in this malfunctioning (at least eccentrically-functioning) AI and get invested in the AI’s survival and that of his ragtag crew.

4 Stars

10 Reasons You Should Read When Sorrows Come (& And With Reveling) by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On September 23, 2021

In Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

When Sorrows Come

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #15

Hardcover, 304 pg.
DAW, 2021

Read: September 15-16, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“Look, I know we’re a feudal system and everything, but we’re living in a modern world,” I said, exasperated. “My underwear has elastic. I have a phone. We can talk like normal people. No one’s going to take points off the final score if we stop sounding like we gargle with bad BBC dramas.”

“Yes, but where’s the fun in talking like normal people?” asked Aethlin. “Half the time I’m a King of Faerie. The other half, I’m standing in line at Tim Hortons and some asshole in a hockey uniform has just taken the last sour cream glazed. We have to wallow in the aesthetic when we get the chance.”

“I will overthrow your kingdom myself,” I threatened genially. Not genially enough: several of his guard reached for their swords. High King Aethlin sighed and raised a hand for them to stop.

“Your reputation precedes you, Sir Daye. Could you please not make jokes about sedition?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I said.

I am just not capable of doing my typical post about this book, period. Instead, I’m going to give you a list of reasons why you should read When Sorrows Come. But first…

The Dust Jacket Flap

Because it feels wrong to start talking about a book without some sort of description, here’s the information from the flap:

It’s hard to be a hero. There’s always something needing October “Toby” Daye’s attention, and her own desires tend to fall by the wayside in favor of solving the Kingdom’s problems. That includes the desire to marry her long-time suitor and current fiancé, Tybalt, San Francisco’s King of Cats. She doesn’t mean to keep delaying the wedding, it just sort of…happens. And that’s why her closest friends have taken the choice out of her hands, ambushing her with a court wedding at the High Court in Toronto. Once the High King gets involved, there’s not much even Toby can do to delay things…

…except for getting involved in stopping a plot to overthrow the High Throne itself, destabilizing the Westlands entirely, and keeping her from getting married through nothing more than the sheer volume of chaos it would cause. Can Toby save the Westlands and make it to her own wedding on time? Or is she going to have to choose one over the other?
Includes an all-new bonus novella!

The (only?) Reason to Not Read When Sorrows Come

bullet You haven’t read the first fourteen Toby Daye novels—or you didn’t like them. The former I completely understand, the number of supposedly great series that I don’t have time for is large enough that I can sympathize. The latter? I can accept that people like you exist, but I don’t know if I can ever understand it

10 Reasons to Read When Sorrows Come

(In no real order whatsoever)
bullet If you’ve read books 1-14, reading this is a no-brainer, and you probably don’t need to be reading this.
bullet You get to see an incredibly Canadian knowe. How Canadian? Think Alpha Flight, The Kids in the Hall, Bob & Doug McKenzie, poutine, Tim Horton’s coffee, and extraordinarily polite people saying “eh”. That’s how Canadian I’m talking about.
bullet Getting to see the Luidaeg terrify a whole new cast of characters.
bullet The fun in seeing who actually shows up to see the wedding. (Hint: Just about everyone)
bullet The chance to see if Toby can make it through her wedding without bleeding all over her wedding dress.
bullet You can see what you-know-who from A Killing Frost is up to.
bullet You get to see Toby channel Harry Bosch:

Everyone matters. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from how hard Evening and her ilk have tried to convince me I don’t matter it’s that everyone matters. The alternative is a world where no one matters, and since I know that isn’t true, “everyone” is the only option we have left.

bullet Quentin gets a jaw-dropping makeover.
bullet A hint about a new squire…
bullet You need some joy.

And With Reveling

I’ve never talked about one of the bonus novellas that come with a Toby Daye novel, for reasons too complicated to get into (and frankly boring to me). But I have to say something about this one.

First, this is my biggest complaint in this volume—it shouldn’t be a novella. It should be the last chapter (or chapters) of When Sorrows Come. At the very least, an extended epilogue. It should not be read separately from the novel, and the novel shouldn’t be read without out it.

Essentially, it’s about the wedding reception. Toby and Tybalt relaxing, enjoying their friends and loved ones. Receiving gifts, blessings, and well-wishes—including one gift for Toby that made me laugh out loud. And another that

I absolutely loved it. It was the thick, buttercream frosting on the perfect cake of the novel.

A Final Thought about When Sorrows Come

I mentioned joy earlier because, on the eve of its release, Seanan McGuire tweeted:

…the purpose of this book is joy. I wrote it in 2020. I needed joy. Very, very badly.

I need joy even more now. And if I can’t make it for myself, I can damn well give it to my imaginary friend.

So you can pan the book for being simple, but I have no regrets. I needed joy. I think you need joy too.

Hopefully, McGuire got enough joy to keep going from what she gave her Imaginary Friend—I know she provided this fan with some, I imagine I’m not alone.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

My Favorite Non-Crime Fiction of 2020

By HCNewton

On January 9, 2021

In News/Misc.

Back when I started this site, I knew the content would be largely “genre”-oriented. I’d have wagered the content would be roughly 1/3 Mystery/Detective fiction, 1/3 Urban Fantasy, and slightly less than 1/3 SFF, with “non-genre” fiction, humor, and non-fiction being enough to make my one-thirds just an approximation (honestly, if you asked me what I read regularly, that’s pretty much how I’d describe it today). Actual numbers show that’s wrong—yes, it’s about 1/3 Crime/Thriller Fiction, but Urban Fantasy has only topped 20% once in the last decade (usually hovering around 15%), SFF combine for about 20%.

Which is just a long-winded way to get to these two points: because Crime Fiction takes such a big chunk of my reading, it gets its own Best-Of list, but none of the others really garner enough numbers for their own. Also? The fact that this list is 50% Urban Fantasy makes me happy. I may not read as much of it as I think that I do, but it clearly resonates with me as much as I think it does.

So much for me 2-3 sentence intro, eh? This might be why it took me 5 days after settling the list to get it posted.

As always, re-reads don’t count (if for no other reason I could just cheat—don’t want to stress out about this list? Easy, each year read 2 Nick Hornby books, a couple of Troppers, Harper Lee, Changes by Butcher…and a couple of other standby’s and recycle the same list every year).

(in alphabetical order by author)

False Value

by Ben Aaronovitch

My original post
After wrapping up the overarching plotline from books 1-7, what do you do for book 8? Something completely different. If you were to draw a Venn diagram with circles for Charles Babbage/Ada Lovelace, Artificial General Intelligence, and Wizardry—the overlap is where you’d False Value. Who wants more? The mix of contemporary cutting-edge technologies and Newtonian magic is just fantastic.

Throw in more Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy references than is healthy and you’ve got yourself a winner.

5 Stars

Amari and the Night Brothers

by B. B. Alston

My original post
I’m a tiny bit worried that recency bias got this one on the list. But, I’m not going to lose sleep over it.

This is a delightful story about a young girl from the “wrong” part of Atlanta being recruited by her missing/presumed dead brother into a Hogwarts/MIB mashup, overcoming odds, making friends, saving the day by doing all the sorts of things that young teen protagonists have to do (with a little support from the grown-ups who are supposed to be stopping her), but mostly through grit. The book is written with a sense of joy and hope, while never losing sight of what Amari has to overcome in terms of her own circumstances as well as the specific villainy.

Also, and I can’t stress this enough, there’s a weredragon. What more do you need?

4 Stars

Peace Talks/Battle Ground

by Jim Butcher

My original Peace Talks post
It wouldn’t be fair to either book to just pick one of the two Dresden Files novels published in 2020, and these were originally written as one book, so this isn’t cheating. I laughed, I giggled, I got scared on behalf of fictional beings (and remain that way), I was awed, I was saddened, and I cried more than once. And I’m not going to think about that last bit anymore, because I have things to today.

They aren’t perfect, I know I’ve said I can’t read these books uncritically, but even I can see a problem or two with these books. But I just don’t care. Those problems don’t even amount to one bean in Rick Blaine’s proverbial hill compared to what I loved about the books.

5 Stars

A Beginning At The End

by Mike Chen

My original post
Chen makes his second appearance on this list in two years (and there’s a pretty good reason to think he’ll return). I’m sure he’d rather have not kicked off 2020 by publishing a novel about a global pandemic in hindsight, but it’s too late for that.

Chen’s trademark appears to be writing non-SF stories in SF settings. As society tries to rebuild itself after most of the world’s population was wiped out, we focus on four people trying to establish some sort of life for themselves. It’s about being trapped and defined by our past, and about making choices to change our present, with hope for the future. Told with heart, wit, and skill—Chen’s characters will grab you and won’t let you go.

I’m not sure these two paragraphs were helpful. Go click the link above and read a few more words about it.

4 1/2 Stars

One Man

by Harry Connolly

My original post
A PI story in a Fantasy world is becoming enough of a common thing to stop readers in their tracks by itself. Now, you have to make it a good PI story in a Fantasy world. This one works as a Fantasy and a noir PI novel.

A man haunted by his horrible past, just trying to get by, is pushed into a gang war by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and befriending the right little girl in need of an adult looking after her. Intricate magic, elaborate world building, horrible villains, tarnished (at best) heroes. This is a novel to chew on and relish.

4 Stars

Not Dressed

by Matthew Hanover

My original post
This is a dollop of sweetness on the other hand. The protagonist (Jake) we have here is in a stagnant (at best) long-term relationship that’s got a couple of pretty big things to work through; and is in a job situation that needs addressing. Then he makes a new friend who quickly becomes the only positive thing in his life. Jake’s life is basically begging to be shaken up, is Kaylee going to help instigate that?

This book is effortless to read. It’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s infectious, it’s engaging as anything I can remember. I cared about these characters and got invested in their lives faster than I typically do. And thinking about them now, over a year after I read the book, still brings a grin to my face.

4 Stars

Ink & Sigil

by Kevin Hearne

My original post
Yes, this is an Iron Druid spinoff and clearly exists in that world. But it’s nothing like an Iron Druid novel. You’ve got a cantakerous, aged, protagonist; fantastically designed and a-typical sidekicks/associates, with a magic system that I don’t has a predecessor in UF. If Aloysius MacBharrais isn’t one of your favorite characters in fiction right now, that’s only because you haven’t met him yet.

And it’s funny. Not to the detriment of action and drama, but filled with laughs. I’m not sure what else to say without going on for another 700+ words, so I’ll just leave it at that (and with the link above).

4 1/2 Stars

QualityLand

by Marc-Uwe Kling, Jamie Lee Searle (Translator)

My original post
The most realistic dystopian novel that I can think of. Also the most satiric, which helps you read it without despairing.

The Algorithm runs your life—it gives you what you want and need (even if, especially if, you don’t realize you need/want it), it determines your friends and relationships, it does everything for you but breathe and eat. Please rate it five stars. Or be prepared to suffer the consequences.

And it’s an election year. With an AI-generated candidate facing off against the incumbent. Which proves to be a lot more unpredictable than anyone could guess.

4 Stars

A Killing Frost

by Seanan McGuire

My original post
The number of on-going arcs that are resolved/permanently altered/kicked off in this one novel is mind-boggling. Particularly since at least one of them I didn’t expect to be really explored until McGuire kicked off her end-game for this series (so, clearly, I know nothing). She drops one of the (probably the) biggest bombs in the series—and keeps on going so much so that it’s not the climax of the novel!

It was a fun, thrilling, emotional ride even ignoring everything I just said. McGuire’s a writing monster, it’s just fun to watch her at work.

4 Stars

The Ghosts of Sherwood/The Heirs of Locksley

by Carrie Vaughn

My original posts are here and here
Like the Butcher books, I couldn’t see mentioning one of this duology (which needs expanding!) without the other, making my Top 10 a Top 14. I have a degree in Liberal Arts you can’t bind me with your mathematics!

These stories about Robin and Marian’s three teen-aged kids just filled me with joy. Vaughn gave us a present in these stories—what happens after Robin and the rest win and then settle down to have a normal life? What becomes of a legend after his work is done?

More interestingly, what’s life like for the kids of a legend? What do you believe about your father (who downplays everything)? What do you do with your life to try to live up to the standard?

4 Stars

Books that almost made the list (links to my original posts): Highfire by Eoin Colfer, Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell, and
Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood (I need to finish my post about this one).

A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire: McGuire’s Latest Will Satisfy—and Shock—All of Toby’s Fans.

By HCNewton

On September 14, 2020

In Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

A Killing Frost

by Seanan McGuire
Series: Toby Daye, #14

Hardcover, 302 pg.
DAW, 2020

Read: September 9-11, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

…I was about to do something monumentally stupid for the sake of potentially saving Simon.

Simon Torquill. The man I’d once considered to be be my greatest enemy The man I was now willingly risking everything I had for the opportunity to save. Faerie isn’t fair and the world doesn’t make sense.

“You sound scared.” [Danny said]

“I am.”

“If this is somethin’ that scares you…”

What’s A Killing Frost About?

Simon Torquill. Is there any name that promises as much upheaval to Toby Daye’s life as much as his? I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Actually, I could just answer my first question with his name and move on to the next section of this post…

Anyway, Toby takes a break from working with May to find a wedding dress that she a. likes and b. doesn’t mind getting covered in blood—because who are we kidding here, if Toby’s wearing it, it’s going to be covered in blood before the end of the day. She and Tybalt are out on a date, having a perfectly enjoyable time when they’re interrupted by Patrick and Dianda Lorden. The Lordens are worried that Toby’s lack of diplomatic training has opened her up to a problem.

See, if she doesn’t invite Simon Torquill to her wedding—thanks to some silly Faerie custom—she’s liable to create an opportunity for Simon or someone claiming to act on his behalf to attack her in a pretty grievous way. Of course, to invite him, she’s going to have to find him—and after The Brightest Fell, we all know that’s not going to be easy.

So, May, Quentin, Toby and Spike(!) head out to do the nigh-impossible, find Simon and get him to the wedding.

Wither art Thou, Tybalt?

Thanks to a warning from Karen, for everyone to survive, Tybalt can’t accompany Toby on this little quest. This is just about the most Tybalt-free book I can think of (second only to The Brightest Fell). When he’s around, it’s important that he is and he makes a big impact.

It’s strange to have him gone so much, but I think it worked pretty well as a change of pace and heightened the reader’s appreciation for him when he was around.

At one point, [name withheld] describes the relationship between Tybalt and Toby,

It’s clear to anyone with eyes how much he loves you, and I’ve held your blood on my tongue. Your love for him flavors everything you are.

In any other series, that might be disgusting/strange. But in this context? That’s one of the sweetest sentences I can think of.

There’s Just So Much I Can’t Talk About

Because I keep a pretty strict no-spoiler policy to these posts, there’s just so much that I can’t talk about that I really want to. Even if I spoiled things, I couldn’t talk about them too much because we’re going to need a book or five to figure out how things work out. McGuire’s one of the best at planting seeds and then seemingly ignoring them for several books just to have them spring up and bear fruit when you least expect it.

One of those forgotten seeds bears series-altering fruit here while she’s planting seeds relating to Walther and Cassie—but more importantly to Stacy. There’s a shattering scene with Luna and Sylvester. There’s something afoot with Rayseline, too. August does something surprising. Amandine’s furious by the end of the novel (that can’t be good). And we learn something blood-curdling about Eira Rosynhwyr that might make an enraged Amandine seem trivial.

And then there’s…yeah, you know what? I just can’t even hint at the rest. Go read it and we can talk.

So, what did I think about A Killing Frost?

This is not a book designed to welcome new readers to the series. I’m sure there’s enough to draw in someone who’s said to themselves, “I keep hearing about this series, I wonder what it’s about?” But really, it’s not a great entry point. If you’re one of those readers, drop a comment and I’ll try to give you a better entry point.

But for readers of this series? They’re going to be in hog-heaven. Take out all of the spoiler stuff I alluded to/avoided above, and you’ve got yourself a great Toby adventure, full of thrills, twists, grievous wounds, nasty curses, and heroism of all sorts.

Include the stuff I didn’t talk about? You’ve got a jaw-dropping novel full of so many heart-warming and heart-wrenching moments that it’d be hard to enumerate them. This isn’t McGuire’s best novel in the series, but it’s great. And fans will be discussing, dissecting and reveling in it for years.

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.