Saturday 14 October 2017

Review: The Winter Long - Seanan McGuire

Toby thought she understood her own past; she thought she knew the score.

She was wrong.

It's time to learn the truth.

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:
This series really does get better with every instalment and The Winter Long was a game changer in every sense of the word. So many revelations and answers to questions we've been asking since the very beginning but those answers raise a whole new set of questions and I can't wait to see what direction they take us in. This book is going to be a very hard one to review because there are so many things I want to talk about but can't because it would be a spoiler. I'm going to keep this deliberately short and vague because of that but trust me, if you enjoyed the first seven books you're going to love this one!

Toby has faced her fair share of battles already but this time she's going up against enemies that have already beaten her once before. Her allies are still out in full force but as she discovers that some people very close to her have been keeping major secrets she starts to wonder whether they are really the people she thought they were and whether they deserve the trust she has placed in them. I was a little heartbroken right alongside Toby when certain heroes fell from their pedestals but I'm so happy that most of the people she trusts have her back 100%.

Toby is incredible as always and she's learning more and more ways to use her magic which is fascinating to watch. The Luidaeg and Quentin are favourite side characters as always and we're starting to uncover more about all of their pasts which has been great. I'm still head over heels for Tybalt and think him and Toby are a perfect partnership, he's incredibly protective of her but at the same time he understands her better than anyone and he would never try to force her into anything. He knows that she needs to have the freedom to fight for both herself and the people she cares about and he'd never try to put her in a protective bubble no matter how much his instincts demand it. I love that they always have each other's backs and that they each bring different strengths to their relationship, Toby is an equal partner and isn't someone who sits around waiting to be rescued.

You can tell that Seanan McGuire has been building up to this book, so many threads are starting to come together now and I have a feeling that the shocks are just going to keep coming as the series continues. This really has become one of my favourite urban fantasy series and I can't recommend it highly enough.

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.

Paperback / Kindle:

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