Late Eclipses

An October Daye Novel (October Daye, Book 4)

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

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 never thought she’d have to face again.

©2011 Seanan McGuire (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“McGuire hits her stride with this fast-paced, sharply plotted, tense urban fantasy ( Artificial Night)....” ( Publishers Weekly)

Life is getting complicated for Miss October!

Do you ever read a book and love it so much you wish that your friends would read it to because you want to gush over how awesome the book is? That's how much I loved this book!

Late Eclipse opens with October sharing an apartment with her Fetch, May. A Fetch is basically a doppelganger/ a heads up from the magical world that you better get your affairs in order because you are about to die. The opening is strong, and it just keeps getting better from there!

In this book, author Seanan McQuire really comes into her own. In the first three books in the series, Toby (October) is basically an ammeter sleuth sniffing out a different mystery each time. But in book 4, she ties all the books together and things really get exciting!
October is forced to face her past. All her regrets, all her demons. Rather than focusing again on solving a mystery, all kinds of things are going on!
With its twists and turns , awesome faye creatures, mystery, and a splash of love interest,
i recommend this book to anyone looking for a great fantasy story. Especially one with Faye!

Best Daye novel yet

Finally getting back to its roots and moving October's life story forward, this book is my fav October Daye novel yet. All your favorite characters and lots of revelations.

Better And Better!

The third installment in the October Daye series, Late Eclipses has a lot of emotion, revelations, and hints to what could be jaw-dropping events in future books. Love this series! Performance continues to be very well done.

A great addition to the series.

I loved this book! Explanations finally made about Toby's nature and it's action packed!! This is a great addition to the series plus the narrator is excellent!!!

I guess I'm invested now!

I guess I can say I'm officially invested in this series (since I've now finished book four). Toby Daye is exactly what I need out of a protagonist, even if she really is kind of her own worst enemy. I can see her struggling with her identity through the first four books, and I'm interested to see what she does with her new bounty of heritage. There's this weird part of me that both accepts Rayseline's treason, but also in the future hopes for her to have a redemption arc of sorts. I do feel like "Nerium" was a "Disney Book on a Shelf" (You can tell which book is going to get picked off the shelf because it's very obviously different from the other books), but I still kind of appreciated it in the end. I will say I'm not completely thrilled about the overwhelming reliance on manipulation in this series, but I don't entirely know what else I would expect from Fae. I did accidentally spoil myself on a couple of long-shot details, so I know what's coming to an extent.. but there are things following this book I'm hoping to follow up on and hopefully enjoy experiencing while they happen. I will say that I hoped for some small twist ending where Lilly was revived or came back in another form (but there's still five books so maybe?) Not gonna lie. I might consider hitting Danny up for a ride and a barghest! I also really enjoy Mary Robinette Kowal as the narrator for this series, and I appreciate them keeping it consistent. She has a really nice cadence to her voice that I can absolutely associate with Toby, and I love the voices she gives to other characters as well. She gives a really stellar performance!

The plot thickens!

This book really took off! We learn so much more about the Fae, and about Toby herself!

Good story

For such short books, the fantasy culture and background is pretty rich. I look forward to listening to more of the series.

Poor, poor Toby...she's never going to get a break

Aaaaaaaand, now the overall story starts to come together. We learn what's up with the Queen ... Oh, those quirky, wacky Faerie Queens.

Oh Yeah. It's that kind of book. The kind that proves it can ALWAYS get worse.

Fanastic Series!

If you could sum up Late Eclipses in three words, what would they be?

Insanely Epically Awesome.

What other book might you compare Late Eclipses to and why?

This series give me the same delight that I get from the Harry Dresden Series. Well written, well scripted, funny, smart with just the perfect amount of drama, action and adventure.

Which character – as performed by Mary Robinette Kowal – was your favorite?

I'm a huge fan of the Tybalt.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You can live your life in "should" and never change anything.

Any additional comments?

I can't get enough of this series!

so good

I really enjoy listening to these books. the characters are well written and the hero isn't an idiot.