Seanan McGuire: Complete October Daye Urban Fantasy Detective Series
“October Daye is what happens when you give a trained folklorist an urban fantasy series and no hard limits.” (Source)
A Campbell, Hugo, and Nebula Award-winning author, Seanan McGuire’s debut novel was 2009’s Rosemary and Rue, the beginning of the urban fantasy October Daye series. This New York Times bestselling series follows changeling knight and sometime P.I. Toby Daye through the streets of San Francisco and into the mercurial world of Faerie. Her fiction also includes the Zombie political thriller Feed series (under the pen name of Mira Grant) and the urban fantasy InCryptid series.
“I will always want to write about Faerie; yes, I will always be interested in writing stories about Toby; no, I will not always be writing about her. By the time we reach the end of her story—and there is an end—any of the characters who are still standing will have absolutely earned a break. I don’t like forcing characters to come out of even halfway-happy retirement. It seems unfair.” (Nightmare Magazine)
Reading Order for October Day Books by Seanan McGuire
1 Rosemary and Rue (October Daye Book 1)
Celebrating ten years of the Hugo-nominated and New York Times-bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series comes a new hardcover anniversary edition of the book that started it all, with a new bonus novella.
The world of Faerie never disappeared; it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Outsiders from birth, these half-human, half-fae children spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas...
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.
This edition features an all-new October Daye novella, Strangers in Court. Toby knew what she was doing when she threw her lot in with Devin, but when the time comes to get out, she has a little less of a clue. In order to win her freedom, she must do something to impress the local nobility—and the collapse of the Queen's knowe would seem to be exactly the opportunity she's been waiting for to prove herself! Set well before the events of Rosemary and Rue, this is a rare look at Toby's past as a changeling street rat, before she discovered her destiny as a Hero of the Realm.
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“I simply loved this book. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it.”—Book Smugglers
2 A Local Habitation (October Daye Book 2)
October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day, undertaking assignments for her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills.
Now Sylvester has asked her to go to the County of Tamed Lightning—otherwise known as Fremont, CA—to make sure that all is well with his niece, Countess January O'Leary, whom he has not been able to contact. It seems like a simple enough assignment—but when dealing with the realm of Faerie nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Toby soon discovers that someone has begun murdering people close to January, whose domain is a buffer between Sylvester's realm and a scheming rival duchy. If Toby can't find the killer soon, she may well become the next victim.
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“A fun and entertaining read…I’m hoping for a return to Toby’s home court (pun intended) in San Francisco in the next book and the return of some familiar faces.”—Fine Print
3 An Artificial Night (October Daye Book 3)
Changeling knight in the court of the Duke of Shadowed Hills, October "Toby" Daye has survived numerous challenges that would destroy fae and mortal alike. Now Toby must take on a nightmarish new assignment. Someone is stealing both fae and mortal children—and all signs point to Blind Michael.
When the young son of Toby's closest friends is snatched from their Northern California home, Toby has no choice but to track the villains down, even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm—home of the legendary Wild Hunt—and no road may be taken more than once. If she cannot escape with all the children before the candle that guides and protects her burns away, Toby herself will fall prey to Blind Michael's inescapable power. And it doesn't bode well for the success of her mission that her own personal Fetch, May Daye—the harbinger of Toby's own death—has suddenly turned up on her doorstep...
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“McGuire’s skill as an author and the facility which she creates a character who is so real that it seems like I actually know her has, for the third time in as many books (four, actually, if you count her novel Feed, under the nom de plume Mira Grant – but that’s a different series), succeeded in turning me into a sobbing mess.”—Discriminating Fangirl
4 Late Eclipses (October Daye Book 4)
October "Toby" Daye, changeling knight in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, finds the delicate balance of her life 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.
Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher, for the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda. With everything on the line, Toby 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 never thought she'd have to face again...
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“This book made me ship so hard. There were so many things to enjoy in this book.”—Will Read for Booze
5 One Salt Sea (October Daye Book 5)
October "Toby" Daye is finally doing all right—and that inevitably means it's time for things to take a turn for the worse. Someone has kidnapped the sons of the Duchess Dianda Lorden, regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must not only find the missing boys, but also prove that the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. She'll need all her tricks and the help of her allies if she wants to make it through this in one piece. Toby's search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves. But someone is determined to stop her—and whoever it is isn't playing by Oberon's Laws. As the battle grows more and more personal, one thing is chillingly clear. When Faerie goes to war, not everyone will walk away. Buy the book from Amazon (affiliate link)
“There’s plenty to love about One Salt Sea. It moves at a decent pace and I found myself saying I’d read “just one more chapter” before going to bed for about 5 chapters in a row because I couldn’t put it down.”—Fantasy Cafe
6 Ashes of Honor (October Daye Book 6)
It’s been almost a year since October “Toby” Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day’s sleep. She’s tried to focus on her responsibilities, but she can’t help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters.
To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne. Chelsea, a teleporter like her father, is the kind of changeling the old stories warn about: the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She’s opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there’s a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn’t stopped.
Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea…
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“ A must-read for urban fantasy fans.”—Fantasy Literature
7 Chimes at Midnight (October Daye Book 7)
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.
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.
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“I put it down to McGuire’s ability not only to write novels that bounce along at hectic, breakneck pace, but also to write well-rounded, wise-cracking characters who invite the reader’s empathy…”—Tor
8 The Winter Long (October Daye Book 8)
Toby thought she understood her own past; she thought she knew the score. She was wrong. It's time to learn the truth…
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“If you've read this far into the series, I think you'll love it. I certainly did.”—Russ Allbery
9 A Red-Rose Chain (October Daye Book 9)
Things are looking up. For the first time in what feels like years, October “Toby” Daye has been able to pause long enough to take a breath and look at her life — and she likes what she sees. She has friends. She has allies. She has a squire to train and a King of Cats to love, and maybe, just maybe, she can let her guard down for a change.
Or not. When Queen Windermere’s seneschal is elf-shot and thrown into an enchanted sleep by agents from the neighboring Kingdom of Silences, Toby finds herself in a role she never expected to play: that of a diplomat. She must travel to Portland, Oregon, to convince King Rhys of Silences not to go to war against the Mists. But nothing is that simple, and what October finds in Silences is worse than she would ever have imagined.
How far will Toby go when lives are on the line, and when allies both old and new are threatened by a force she had never expected to face again? How much is October willing to give up, and how much is she willing to change? In Faerie, what’s past is never really gone. It’s just waiting for an opportunity to pounce…
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“I enjoyed A Red Rose Chain very, very much, and I’m ready to celebrate book nr. 10 when it arrives – hopefully soon…”—Space and Sorcery
10 Once Broken Faith (October Daye Book 10)
Politics have never been October “Toby” Daye’s strong suit. When she traveled to the Kingdom of Silences to prevent them from going to war with her home, the Kingdom of the Mists, she wasn’t expecting to return with a cure for elf-shot and a whole new set of political headaches.
Now the events she unwittingly set in motion could change the balance of modern Faerie forever, and she has been ordered to appear before a historic convocation of monarchs, hosted by Queen Windermere in the Mists and overseen by the High King and Queen themselves.
Naturally, things have barely gotten underway when the first dead body shows up. As the only changeling in attendance, Toby is already the target of suspicion and hostility. Now she needs to find a killer before they can strike again—and with the doors locked to keep the guilty from escaping, no one is safe.
As danger draws ever closer to her allies and the people she loves best, Toby will have to race against time to prevent the total political destabilization of the West Coast and to get the convocation back on track…and if she fails, the cure for elf-shot may be buried forever, along with the victims she was too slow to save. Because there are worse fates than sleeping for a hundred years…
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“I love it! McGuire has, again, left me panting for more, as I skidded, slid, and flipped pages as fast as I could to discover what happens next!”—Books, Movies, Reviews, Oh My!
11 The Brightest Fell (October Daye Book 11)
Things are slow, and October “Toby” Daye couldn’t be happier about that. The elf-shot cure has been approved, Arden Windermere is settling into her position as Queen in the Mists, and Toby doesn’t have anything demanding her attention except for wedding planning and spending time with her family. Maybe she should have realized that it was too good to last.
When Toby’s mother, Amandine, appears on her doorstep with a demand for help, refusing her seems like the right thing to do…until Amandine starts taking hostages, and everything changes. Now Toby doesn’t have a choice about whether or not she does as her mother asks. Not with Jazz and Tybalt’s lives hanging in the balance. But who could possibly help her find a pureblood she’s never met, one who’s been missing for over a hundred years?
Enter Simon Torquill, elf-shot enemy turned awakened, uneasy ally. Together, the two of them must try to solve one of the greatest mysteries in the Mists: what happened to Amandine’s oldest daughter, August, who disappeared in 1906. This is one missing person case Toby can’t afford to get wrong…
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“Brightest Fell is a real breath of fresh air. We get to journey to some strange and magical places, deal with some dangling plot threads, spend time with some fantastically grey characters, and hopefully start moving in a more definite direction, with a main character who is at least caught up in a genuine crisis caused by a wonderfully hissible villain.”—Fantasy Book Review UK
12 Night and Silence (October Daye Book 12)
Things are not okay. In the aftermath of Amandine's latest betrayal, October "Toby" Daye's fragile self-made family is on the verge of coming apart at the seams. Jazz can't sleep, Sylvester doesn't want to see her, and worst of all, Tybalt has withdrawn from her entirely, retreating into the Court of Cats as he tries to recover from his abduction. Toby is floundering, unable to help the people she loves most heal. She needs a distraction. She needs a quest.
What she doesn't need is the abduction of her estranged human daughter, Gillian. What she doesn't need is to be accused of kidnapping her own child by her ex-boyfriend and his new wife, who seems to be harboring secrets of her own. There's no question of whether she'll take the case. The only question is whether she's emotionally prepared to survive it.
Signs of Faerie's involvement are everywhere, and it's going to take all Toby's nerve and all her allies to get her through this web of old secrets, older hatreds, and new deceits. If she can't find Gillian before time runs out, her own child will pay the price.
Two questions remain: Who in Faerie remembered Gillian existed? And what do they stand to gain? No matter how this ends, Toby's life will never be the same.
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“McGuire has some twists and reveals waiting for us. There’s a huge bombshell about a recurring minor character that draws on a famous tale from folklore and shakes up everything we thought we knew about Toby’s family, as well as shedding some new light on Oberon, his Queens, and why they’re missing from the world…”—Fantasy Literature
13 The Unkindest Tide (October Daye Book 13)
Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many people assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong.
When the Luidaeg—October "Toby" Daye's oldest and most dangerous ally—tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process, Toby can't refuse. Literally. The Selkies aren't the only ones in debt to the Luidaeg, and Toby has to pay what she owes like anyone else. They will travel to the fabled Duchy of Ships and call a convocation of the Selkies, telling them to come and meet the Luidaeg's price...or face the consequences.
Of course, nothing is that simple. When Dianda Lorden's brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea, when a Selkie woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, when everything is falling apart, that's when Toby will have to answer the real question of the hour. Is she going to sink? Or is she going to swim?
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“The narrative is still going strong and in some instances better. Pick up the October Daye series. She is a strong female character, great uses of magic, great world-building, diverse characters, and a world that keeps getting better and better.”—Before We Go Blog
14 A Killing Frost (October Daye Book 14)
When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past.
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“A Killing Frost was a dark and thrilling read, one that did justice to many characters who needed it, while laying the groundwork for bigger changes down the road.”—Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
15 When Sorrows Come (October Daye Book 15)
Toby's getting married!
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!
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“The story is action-packed, but also leaves time for Toby to reflect on how her relationship with Tybalt has grown over time, her relationships with the other members of her found family, and what might come next in the tangled world of Faerie. When Sorrows Come includes the humor and wit that feature in all Seanan McGuire books. I adore the writing!”—Bookshelf Fantasies
16 Be the Serpent (October Daye Book 16)
October Daye is finally something she never expected to be: married. All the trials and turmoils and terrors of a hero’s life have done very little to prepare her for the expectation that she will actually share her life with someone else, the good parts and the bad ones alike, not just allow them to dabble around the edges in the things she wants to share. But with an official break from hero duties from the Queen in the Mists, and her family wholly on board with this new version of “normal,” she’s doing her best to adjust.
It isn’t always easy, but she’s a hero, right? She’s done harder.
Until an old friend and ally turns out to have been an enemy in disguise for this entire time, and October’s brief respite turns into a battle for her life, her community, and everything she has ever believed to be true.
The debts of the Broken Ride are coming due, and whether she incurred them or not, she’s going to be the one who has to pay.
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“It’s almost impossible to review this without spoiling it, so I’ll tell you why you should read it (and the rest of the series, if you haven’t already). The series just keeps getting stronger. Each book builds on the one before it, and this one is the culmination of so many storylines. Each character is well-drawn, and is not merely a prop for Toby. The descriptions are lush, and there’s an appropriate sense of menace throughout. You know something bad has happened. You know something worse is going to happen.”—Red Hat Cat Book Blog
Seanan McGuire On What Inspired The October Daye Novels
“So I went to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park with some friends of mine, and I managed—being the graceful flower that I am—to get myself hopelessly stuck at the top of the Moon Bridge. Like, ‘I am not moving, I live here now’ levels of hopelessly stuck. So they’re trying to coax me down, and I’m looking down at the water, watching the koi. And the line ‘Spending fourteen years as a koi fish in Golden Gate Park’s Japanese Tea Gardens does very little for one’s outlook on life’ just sort of hit me in the head. I started thinking about that line, and finally, the desire to go home and write the story to go with it got me down off the bridge. I produced a fourteen-page short, said “Right, that was fun,” and went back to my regularly scheduled programming.
“Only one of the friends I’d shown the story to was convinced that it was the start of the novel she’d been bugging me to write. So she started saying “Toby wants a novel” every time she saw me. I think I started writing Toby’s novel out of self-defense. I like to say that my subconscious is a liar; I rarely understand the scope of an undertaking until it’s too late to back out. It was that way with Toby. I wrote a short story that was actually a novel, and a novel that was actually a series.” (Fantasy Magazine)
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