Late Eclipses (October Daye Book 4)

Several months have passed since we last saw October when LATE ECLIPSES begins, ending whatever relative peace she enjoyed on her off-season. <------I like that tactic, by the way. It makes all the hullabaloo our MC experiences on page feel more realistic, if we know things calm down when we're not looking. *whispers* No one can live in complete chaos 100% of time . . .Regardless, it must be said that an appropriate alternate title for the fourth installment of Seanan McGuire's OCTOBER DAYE series might be: STUFF* ESCALATES.1. Hateful characters get more hateful.Most notably, Rasyeline Torquill, although the Queen of the Mists isn't far behind. Basically, if they've got an axe to grind with Toby, they're no longer content to passively nurse their grudge.SO. Be prepared to grind your teeth, b/c shiesty broads are shiesty.2. Boys will be boys . . . or cats . . . or USELESS CHICKENS (who literally HIDE their faces when people drive too fast).Okay, so there's a bit of a triangle. Not much of one, b/c there's a clear front-runner, so mostly it's frustrating that other dude is part of the equation.BUT.There were also numerous times when Front-Runner made my heart grow three sizes, b/c it's more and more obvious that he really, really likes our girl. *grins dopily* *giggles like school girl*So who cares about what's-his-name (the chicken)? #notthisgirl3. October's mysteriously mysterious heritage becomes MORE shrouded in mystery, even as we get answers.It's both frustrating and delightful. Truly. It's a talented author who can successfully walk the tightrope of enough-information-to-both-satisfy-and-intrigue, and McGuire manages that balance masterfully. *tips hat*In short, I was reminded over and over again of all the reasons why OCTOBER DAYE made it to my Top 5 UF Series list: a kick-ass heroine who refuses to quit, no matter the odds, a hilarious and entertaining cast of secondaries (Raf is my current favorite), a hotter-than-HAWT love interest #tybaltismyking, a fantastically fae backdrop, and the compelling plots that tie it all together. And considering that it was renewed for three more books (11 - 13), McGuire is clearly doing something right. Time for you to find out why, if you haven't already. Highly recommended.

There are some series that start out really strong and then start to lose momentum and then there are others that start out a bit slow but build over time to become better and better. I would say that the October Daye series definitely falls into the second category.This series seems to be a bit darker than some of the other UF series I’ve become attached to. There seems to be a slightly grimmlike quality to it and not all the characters that you thought of as staples to the series are going to make it out alive. But that is part of the reason I like this. No character is completely safe and Seanan McGuire might kill someone I care about off at any time.“What's the point of holding on if I can't save the ones that I can't afford to lose?”Still even with all the potential death looming in the air there is still a frivolity and hilarity to Toby. She has even made a new friend in an unlikely place…her Fetch May. Who else do you think would befriend her personal incarnation of death??? Only Toby I think. But I love the addition of May’s character. She might have all of Toby’s previous memories up to the time May was sent to guide Toby to her death but now she is her own person and she isn’t quite like Toby in many ways the most obvious is that she is really quite happy and full of witty retorts and fun observations.Toby has a few solid friends but she has also made plenty of enemies. It seems that one of them has decided to hit Toby where they think it will hurt the most by taking out her friends. When two of Toby’s friends that are never supposed to get sick fall deathly ill she is thrown into the mix trying to discover what is harming them. But with more enemies to count it is hard to discover who the main culprit behind this latest onslaught is.But when you are down and out it seems that everyone comes out of the woodwork to take a shot at you. The Queen has found it a perfect time to place a trap for Toby and maybe a few others from her past want in on the torture Toby fun.Still Toby soldiers on and finally we get a few answers and a lot more question about Toby’s mother and her true heritage.“Oh, my dear, what she did to you, what you didn’t know she was doing, and how you fought! Like a lion you fought, never knowing the battle.” Lily sighed. “You were the last of her protections against roses and crossroads and all they meant, and when you failed her, she didn’t know what to do. My foolish princess who thought she’d be a shepherdess, if only she could make you a sheep.”I will say that I’m really very invested in Toby and the overall arc of the Fae. I’m enjoying the world, the characters and the smaller book to book plots a lot better than the first few books. Overall everything has started to pick up some speed and it will be interesting to see going on what will happen with all the revelations and changes made in this book.Other great things are scattered throughout too. There is of course Tybalt and I'm still totally on the TnT train, that can't happen soon enough. Surprisingly though besides May I am really loving both Quentin and Raj. I have some new theories about who Quentin might be and I'm thinking maybe we have a future King lurking in our midst. I am completely loving the mentor relationship between Quentin and Toby and love how devoted he is to their friendship. We all need friends like that. Raj on the other hand broke my heart a little in this...like I said before anyone can die and some deaths hit me harder than others but Raj's reaction to one in particular might have hurt the most.On to the next one as I'm loving all of the stories more and more.

Warning: pretty sure some over-sharing is imminent. So far this series has captivated me in an almost frightening way. I’ve become immersed in at least the last two of these books, almost obsessively. Now, I’ve read a lot of science fiction in my life, focusing more and more on high concept SciFi and, lately, fantasy with exquisite world building. Maybe it’s the combination of great character development and a world that is full of contradictions, yet consistent, that pulls me in. And like the rest of McGuire’s work, this series always ends up disturbing me, addictively. Highly recommended.

Late Eclipses is the 4th Toby Daye novel. The Toby Daye books are one of the best Urban Fantasy series around today. Any fan of Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong or Patricia Briggs (To name just a few) will love these books.Book 4, Late Eclipses to a certain degree assumes the reader has read the previous books in the series. Toby, a half Human-half Fae Changeling has been quite the hero. Putting an end to the threat of Blind Michael, Solving numerous murders and generally annoying those who deserve it.Now, The Queen of the Mists (who has no love for Toby whatsoever) has decided to "reward" Toby for her deeds by making her a Countess! There's also the not so small matter of one of Tobys closest allies falling dangerously ill - and the re-appearance of a dangerous enemy.Secrets and lies swirl around the Mists as Toby must juggle one of her toughest cases with the added political intrigue of being a new landed noble of the Queens court.I've now read this book three times (as of August 2016) and each time I re-read it - I notice new things that will later develop and further the Toby Daye story in future books. I really apreciate how far in advance the author has plotted out this series, and I love every minute that I spend reading or re-reading these books.It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of these books. (I re-read the entire series in the run up to any new book release!) But as I've already said above, this series truly is one of the best in in SFF - let alone UF. Late Eclipses is a thrilling and gripping entry in the Toby Daye verse.

4.5 of 5 stars[...]Late Eclipses is the fourth instalment in the October Daye series and is a book packed with emotion and revelations. Without doubt this is my favourite of the series so far and this is a series that I’m now totally hooked on and thoroughly enjoying – it seems to get better with each book and clearly this has something to do with the fact that each instalment just adds yet more layers and depth to the characters and the world making it richer as you progress. This is a wonderful combination of great characters (both good and bad), mysterious goings on, would-be romance and fantastically dark urban fantasy with fae shenanigans that never become boring.If you haven’t read the previous books be warned that there may be spoilers contained below.At the start of the book Toby is called to the Tea Gardens where Lily seems to be seriously ill. No sooner has Toby rolled up her sleeves to get serious when more difficulties seem to strike and from there the problems just escalate. To be honest I don’t want to go too much into the plot, suffice to say, like each of the previous books there is a mystery going on, people are dying, and, as we know, Toby can’t help herself from rushing into the fray head first. Of course in this particular book what works really well is the sense of isolation that is built up around Toby. In this particular book we see the return of an old enemy of Toby’s who has been absent since the first book, Oleander de Merelands. Unfortunately, although Toby keeps suspecting that Oleander is behind things she has no proof and nobody else has caught sight of her which all lends to the view that maybe Toby is starting to succumb to the sort of madness that sometimes takes possession of changelings. On top of that Raysel seems to have cranked up her own rather nasty endeavours somewhat and as a leftover from An Artificial Night the Queen of Mists is also gunning for Toby. Things look fairly bleak and for a while there it almost felt like Toby was going to flounder. Of course that’s the really great thing about these stories so far. Toby has made a lot of enemies, she also seems to have enemies just purely by dint of her own parentage, but she’s also making some firm friends.By the conclusion of this story there are a number of eye openers. Revelations that are revealing and yet also not. Tantalising revelations if you like. You learn a little but you know that you’ve only seeing the tip of the iceberg and that if you just dipped below the surface a whole passel of further revelations would be waiting to spring out and surprise you. I think at the moment my biggest curiosity comes in the form of Toby’s mother Amandine. I have so many questions in that respect that I’m almost chomping at the bit to start the next book.I really loved Late Eclipses. It’s cleverly written, much like the other instalments, to give a tantalising glimpse of the world in which Toby lives. At the end of the tale we can see that Toby has moved forward in more ways than one and I think this is a good thing because I feel at the moment that a huge amount of trouble is going to come her way, I just can’t help thinking that there is eventually going to be some backlash from her previous encounters and hopefully she will be at least a little better prepared to meet it if it does occur.I highly recommend Toby Daye. It’s an excellent urban fantasy series. The main protagonist, well, she isn’t perfect, she makes mistakes but she is just great to get on with. The surrounding cast are well developed and whilst each story builds on the one that came before the stories have a standalone feel to them that, even if a few threads are left hanging, doesn’t leave you with that cliffhanger feeling.

From the back cover:"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 thought she'd never have to face again..."I think you would struggle with this if you hadn't read the preceding books - what's a Fetch, why does her niece Karen crop up, but only in dreams, who is Raj and so on. It's very much a continuation of a story in progress, and although it ends, in that there's no cliff hanging ending and the immediate problems are resolved, the story is clearly not over yet.The choice mentioned in the back of book blurb was interesting, and certainly had me nodding sagely, in an "so that's how she's going to sort things out" sort of way - I've been wondering from the outset how half mortal Toby was going to progress among all those wonderful immortals, and it's a fascinating development - I need to re-read with slightly less haste (I wanted to know what happened!) to really get this bit straight. I look forward to finally meeting Amandine in some later book.Good bits? Toby's iron poisoning was well described, Tybalt is opening up some more, and Toby has friends, really good friends who stick their necks a looong way out for her and without whom she'd be in serious trouble - always good when the ancillary characters get their time in the sun.Not so good bits? Well, speaking personally, if it comes to Tybalt versus Connor I'm afraid I'm an out'n'out Tybalt groupie, and while we get an impression of progress, it's in both directions, and circumstances change towards the end that levels up the playing field a whole lot - which I didn't want!Bad bits? None I can think of.This is a great part 4 of maybe 7, Seanan's web site lists another 3 to come, one this year and two next - and I'll certainly be waiting for 'em all! Highly recommended, but only if you read the first three (which I also highly recommend...)

It's several months after AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT. Toby now lives with her Fetch, May and despite residual psychological effects from her time with Blind Michael, life is good. But when the Queen of the Mists makes her a Countess, it's the beginning of a deadly game, one with uncertain rules. Before Toby can figure out her next move, her friend Lily is poisoned and as she grows weaker the Changelings who enjoy her protection grew more vulnerable.The poisoning is part of a wider plot. Oleander de Merelands has returned to strike at Toby's friends and allies, leaving Toby's loyalty to Sylvester in question and her life at the mercy of those who hate her. Unlocking the mystery means looking at her own past and her relationship with her mother, Amandine. The answers will force her to make choices, the result of which will change her world forever ...The fourth in Seanan McGuire's October Daye Series develops on the overriding arc, but while the character relationships are well handled the mystery element remains weak and the villains easy to guess.The big weakness remains with the mystery. Toby doesn't investigate - she charges from one scene to the next, constantly reacting rather than planning. Although she's called on this, it doesn't make it any less frustrating. I was also irritated by her self-identification as a hero. While she does do things no one else will, it's a self-aggrandizing rather than a tragic label and one that's undermined by the fact that Toby petulantly mouths off at authority figures.McGuire portrays friendships well, especially Toby's friendship with May and although I missed the Luidaeg, the Lily storyline carries real emotional punch. Unfortunately both Raysel and the Queen of the Mists are two-dimensional at best and the love-triangle with Connor and Tybalt bored me because it's so obviously skewered in Tybalt's direction. The best scene is one where Toby discovers the truth about her heritage and decides to take responsibility for other Changelings, which offers great potential for the future books and it was good to see characters and plot points from the earlier books coming into play here.The fact that the plot doesn't grab me and that Toby is too reactive is a big issue for me. While I liked the way McGuire builds on elements from the previous books, I'm not sure that I'm going to read on.

October learns that an old enemy is threatening her through her friends. She is unable to save everyone but can avenge them by putting a stop to the activities of the 'villains'. There is plenty of angst, plenty of action, and plenty of heroism. There is fascinating magic, and lot of detail about the workings of the fairy kingdoms. There is also a nice modern touch in the scientific research done by a fairy who, like October, lives in 'our' world most of the time.The series takes us deeper and deeper into the intricacies of the fairy kingdoms, and perhaps in this fourth book has reached the stage where the story would not make sense to the reader who has not been following October's adventures to date. This is by no means a criticism; Ms McGuire has built us a world of fantasy and urban violence which draws us in and makes us anxious to know more. Part of the strength of the books lies in the build-up of information about October's family and friends; this could not be developed in the course of one volume without resorting to clumsy 'info dumps' and is in any case part of the intrigue that turns readers into fans. As the series progresses October is learning more and more about herself and her background. The reader learns the details at the same time as October, giving a sense of immediacy and intimacy to the discoveries.This is a very satisfying novel in a series that gives urban fantasy a whole new layer of seriousness and delight.Highly recommended.