A Red-Rose Chain

October Daye, Book 9

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

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.

A Red-Rose Chain is the ninth installment in Seanan McGuire's urban fantasy October "Toby" Daye series.

©2015 Seanan McGuire (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Good book

Good book and a great series. Absolutely worth listening to. On to the next one

Enchanting...

I absolutely LOVE this series (read/listened to all the books). The world building is superior, different factions of Fae courts and the accompanying magic is explained and is shown as otherworldly, yet plausible - within each context. Toby, Tybalt, May, Quinn et al are vividly drawn characters, each with a unique personality, abilities and, as always a great sense of humor. Each has grown with every book, bringing another layer to propel the story-line. The genuine affection the core characters feel for each other really shines through, making you care to see them persevere in their quests. This series shows no signs of running out of steam or repeating itself. The Fae are so long lived and have such a rich and violent history that I can see the series continue for a long time (I hope).

Mary Robinette Kowal is an excellent narrator; impeccable timing, varied vocal range - male, female and "other". She also infuses just the right amount of snark to Toby, teenage petulance and naivete to Quinn, old world weariness, sarcasm and "poetry" to Tybalt, new found freedom and empowerment to May, anguish to Walther... Anyway, you get the point - she is just a perfect choice to voice this series.

Maybe the book is better?

I am really enjoying the series, but the performance really detracts from the characters. I feel October is read as an insecure person who bumbles her way thru these adventures which is contrary to the books.

Still great

I really enjoyed this one, although I get a bit tired of Toby constantly sacrificing herself stupidly (though mostly out of noble cause) but the story was satisfying and engaging as usual.

Exceptional series

This is one of the best urban fantasy series. I have listened to it more than once and it only gets better. Fully developed characters and the theme never falters. The reader is exactly right.

Brilliant as always

Brilliant as always Sir Toby and her chosen family are so dear to me. I cried and laughed😊 The characters grow with each book and the narration gives the book an extra experience.

Ignore the comments about 'virtue signaling'

There is no virtue signaling in this book. There is a revelation that a character is trans. There may be a total of a paragraph devoted to this development, NO MORE. there is no major plot that surrounds the trans nature or decisions. I have no idea why this has been so marked as virtue signaling.

Another reviewer mentions other revelations that occur in later books in this series, apparently claiming that because one character had a hetero relationship in one story & later becomes involved in a gay relationship, it's another case of so-called virtue signaling. You'd think by the homophobic reviewers here that the series has developed into constant hardcore gay erotica. Instead, some characters are revealed to be gay, others are exploring their feelings & may be gay or bi or straight, & this series is one of the least sexuallly graphic series of urban paranormal I've read. That's for any orientation-gay, straight, or multi.

The narrator definitely has some issues. She reads for the main character great. Since it is first person, that means it's often enjoyable. Unfortunately, for the main interest of the main character, the way the narrator voices him is nothing short of atrocious. Most other characters are okay, male & female, but for Tybalt, I want to claw my own ears. There's also a secondary female character that has become my fave, & the way the narrator reads for her is like she's using nails on a chalkboard.
She does these voices so terribly that I usually go back to reading the books to escape.

Most of all, I wanted to kill the reviews that are crying about virtue signaling, b/c this ain't that. It's seriously so far away from virtue signaling that the reviewers are clearly only homo/transphobic & are making a very good portrayal of life & love into something that is just flat out false.

The narration complaints, while not horrible across all characters, are so atrocious on a couple that I do recommend switching to the written version if that's possible, because the stories are great & the narration can be bad enough to detract from a wonderful experience.

Umm...

while I enjoyed this story so much, as I have all the previous ones, I am so disappointed in mrk's performance. since she is one of my favorite narrators that is really saying something. she pronounced a lot of important things differently and tibalt's voice was not quite the same. the same can be said for some of the others as well. also, this time, there was a lot more blood and gore, as well as more torture. it was pretty annoying, but not enough for me to stop listening. I really hope the next book is back up to speed ... I am really into these characters!

Excellent book series

I really enjoy listening to all of these books and I expect to listen to them all again. Great narration.

Keeps it interesting.

One more chapter in Toby's life as a hero with never enough Tybalt to satisfy!