Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: September 5, 2017
Publisher: DAW
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban / Fantasy
The 11th installment of Hugo Award-winning Seanan McGuire’s New York Times-bestselling Toby Daye urban fantasy series. Now for the first time in hardcover!For once, everything in October “Toby” Daye’s life seems to be going right. But when Toby’s mother, Amandine the Liar, denizen of the realm of Faerie, appears on her doorstep and demands she find her missing sister, August, refusing the task seems only reasonable. August has been missing for over a hundred years with no leads, after all, and Toby owes their mother few favors. Then Amandine starts taking hostages, and refusal ceases to be an option. Not with Jazz and Tybalt’s lives hanging in the balance. But who could possibly know August well enough to help find her? Who, apart from her father? Enter Simon Torquill, elf-shot enemy turned awakened, uneasy ally. Together, they must try to solve one of the greatest mysteries in the Mists…and they must do it quickly. Amandine’s patience is short, and Toby’s world hangs in the balance. She’s never had so much to lose.
Also contains a brand-new novella “Of Things Unknown.”
Series Overview: 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.
The Brightest Fell, by author Seanan McGuire, is the 11th installment in the authors October Daye series. This is a series that follows changeling, knight, hero, and sometime P.I Toby Daye as she navigates the brutal world of Faerie. Things are finally slow for October “Toby” Daye. The elf-shot cure has been approved, Queen 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.
Perhaps one shouldn't look too far ahead to the future because in Toby's world, things quickly change. 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? Amandine's oldest daughter went on her own hero quest in 1906, and disappeared. This is one case that Toby can't afford to get wrong.
This is one of those story's that goes from it's all fun & games & laughs, as Toby and her amazing group of friends and allies celebrate her bachelorette party, to shock and awe damn it all to hell, when Toby's mother Amandine returns home. I dare say that this story is one of the strongest installments I've read in a very long time. Toby, Quinten, and a very unusual ally are forced to work together as they follow a treacherous path that may or may not end up with bringing back August who disappeared over a century ago. This book is not only filled with fantastic action and adventure, but it also brings back some characters you may have not heard from since Toby's adventure first began with Rosemary and Hue. Toby's story really is twisted.
Yes, she has Quinten along as an ally, and that's a good thing since Quinten has become family. But, it is the surprise character who brings that extra something to the story. You have to ask yourself if something is going to happen between the two of them, or can they finally put years of antagonism behind them in order to find and bring August home. There is a whole lot I don't want to talk about since I am reviewing this story before it actually releases. I will say that this story has its share of characters we haven't seen since Toby met Blind Michael.
On the other hand, I can say that I wouldn't want anyone to have the kind of mother that Toby has. I would be encouraging Matricide. I do hope that McGuire finds a way to have a final showdown between Toby and Amy soon. There needs to be some retribution on Toby's side of the ledger after everything she's been through. McGuire refuses to cut Toby any sort of slack. Next time someone knocks on her door for help, Toby needs to say, "I'm on vacation!" But, that's what heroes do. Heroes do the things they do because, on some level, they have no choice. Once heroism has them, they can't refuse when someone asks for help.
FYI, the story isn't 368 pages long. There's novella featuring April O'Leary in the back of the book called Of Things Unknown. It takes place about 3 weeks after The Brightest Fell. If you don't know who April is, she is the Dryad who was saved by January O'Leary. Now, April is more silicon roots, titanium and electricity than what she once was. The same January who Toby's liege, Duke Sylvester, sent her to find out what happened to. You can go back and read A Local Habitation for more information on Toby's adventure and what happened that has drawn Li Qin and April into trying something that has never been done before.
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