Tuesday 19 September 2017

Review: Chimes at Midnight - Seanan McGuire

Things are starting to look up for October "Toby" Daye. She's training her squire, doing her job, and has finally allowed herself to grow closer to the local King of Cats. It seems like her life may finally be settling down...at least until dead changelings start appearing in the alleys of San Francisco, killed by an overdose of goblin fruit.

Toby's efforts to take the problem to the Queen of the Mists are met with harsh reprisals, leaving her under sentence of exile from her home and everyone she loves. Now Toby must find a way to reverse the Queens decree, get the goblin fruit off the streets--and, oh, yes, save her own life, since more than a few of her problems have once again followed her home. And then there's the question of the Queen herself, who seems increasingly unlikely to have a valid claim to the throne....

To find the answers, October and her friends will have to travel from the legendary Library of Stars into the hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists--and they'll have to do it fast, because time is running out. In faerie, some fates are worse than death.

October Daye is about to find out what they are.

October Daye Series:
In Little Stars (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
Through This House (Short story in the Home Improvement: Undead Edition anthology)
One Salt Sea
In Sea-Salt Tears (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Ashes of Honor
Rat-Catcher (Free short story available on the Lightspeed Magazine website)
No Sooner Met (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Chimes at Midnight
Never Shines the Sun (Short story included in the print version of Chimes at Midnight)
Forbid the Sea (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Stage of Fools (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Voice of Lions (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Act of Hares (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Instruments of Darkness (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
With Honest Trifles (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
In Deepest Consequence (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Jealous in Honor (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Quick in Quarrel (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Winter Long
Heaps of Pearl (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Shore to Shore (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Write in Water (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Live in Brass (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Ambitious Ocean (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
And Thrice Again (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Fixed Stars (Free short story available on the Baen website)
A Red-Rose Chain
Full of Briars (Short story)
Once Broken Faith
Dreams and Slumbers (Short story included in Once Broken Faith)
The Brightest Fell
These Antique Fables (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Of Things Unknown (Short story included in The Brightest Fell)
Night and Silence
Suffer a Sea-Change (Short story included in Night and Silence)
The Unkindest Tide
Hope is Swift (Short story included in The Unkindest Tide)

Visit Seanan McGuire's website for more information

Review:
Toby's life has been pretty settled lately which is always a sign that things are about to go to hell in a hand basket! Her relationship with Tybalt is great, Quentin's training is coming along nicely and all her friends and allies are safe and happy so what could possibly rock the boat this time? Well, the increasing amount of Goblin Fruit in San Fransisco is what starts it all, Toby has been investigating and trying to shut down the supplier but when she gathers evidence that multiple changelings have been killed by their addiction she decides she has no option but to take it to the Queen of the Mists. Unfortunately the queen is holding a huge grudge against Toby and she's been waiting for something like this to happen so she jumps on the excuse to send her into exile. If Toby doesn't come up with a way to change her mind she has 3 days to pack up her stuff and leave the Mists for good.

There was just so much to love about this book! I have been shipping Toby and Tybalt for such a long time now that any scene with them together just gives me the all the warm and fuzzy feelings. The banter between them is great and there are more than a few heartfelt moments that just made me swoon. They really are the cutest couple! Add in fantastic characters like Quentin, May, Sylvester and so many others and this series has definitely become a favourite of mine.

There are lots of new things to love in this book too starting with a magical fae library that moves location on a whim - I want to see more of this in the future please! We've already met the Cait Sidhe and now we're introduced to a Cu Sidhe, yes, you guessed it dog fae! Madden was like an adorable walking, talking, human shaped puppy and I kind of want to adopt him. Expect, among other things, an evil pie, Luidaeg getting her scare on, rebellion, mayhem and a vulnerable side to Toby that we've not seen in a while. It's lucky she has a lot of great allies on her side because our girl is in for a bumpy ride in this book! Oh and we also finally find out who Quentin's parents are and let me just tell you now it's a doozy of a revelation (I had kind of guessed who they might be but it was great to get confirmation!).

The October Day series is going from strength to strength and I can't wait to continue my binge read!

My copy of Chimes at Midnight also included an additional short story called Never Shines the Sun, I'm not sure if all copies of the book include that or just the DAW Books mass market paperback so it's worth checking before you purchase.

Never Shines the Sun is a short story told from the Luidaeg's point of view and as I'm a huge fan of her character this was a really exciting one for me. It gives us a lot more insight into the Luidaeg's relationship with Toby's mother Amandine and raises a whole heap of questions about what Amandine was hoping to achieve by changing Toby's blood when she was a child. It also drops hints about how important Toby is in the grand scheme of things and just why the Luidaeg has been so interested in her since they met.

I have so many questions now about where Toby's journey is heading and I can't wait to see what Senaan McGuire has in store for her and her friends!

Source: Received from DAW Books in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

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