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When Sorrows Comeby Seanan McGuire Hardcover, 304 pg. Read: September 15-16, 2021 |
“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
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)
If you’ve read books 1-14, reading this is a no-brainer, and you probably don’t need to be reading this.
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.
Getting to see the Luidaeg terrify a whole new cast of characters.
The fun in seeing who actually shows up to see the wedding. (Hint: Just about everyone)
The chance to see if Toby can make it through her wedding without bleeding all over her wedding dress.
You can see what you-know-who from A Killing Frost is up to.
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.
Quentin gets a jaw-dropping makeover.
A hint about a new squire…
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.
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.
Twenty Palaces—the prequel to the whole thing 
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