SLEEP NO MORE - Seanan McGuire


Just when I was beginning to think that the October Daye series had run it's course and maybe starting to get a little stale, author Seanan McGuire (the most prolific author I'm aware of) brings us the 17th book in the series and shakes up the reality of October's world.

October "Toby" Daye has finally settled into a comfortable life and routine, comfortable with her life and lineage. But throughout her life she's ticked off more than a few powerful people, including Titania, the Summer Queen and co-creator of Faerie.

No Toby is pulled into a new reality, a creation of Titania's. On the surface it might seem as though nothing has changed, but no thing and no one is as Toby knows it. Including her closest friends and allies. This isn't just a nightmare, this is the new reality the way Titania believes it should be. 

In order to survive and restore reality, Toby will need to navigate this hall of mirrors world, not knowing who to trust or to lean on, and break Titania's hold on the reality.

I think October had gotten just a little bit comfortable and had too many friends with strong personalities and powers, but now October is on her own once more ad forced to fend for herself (and the future of her friends).

Seanan McGuire is so adept at building a story and here she manages to clue us in on a familiar protagonist who is suddenly not so familiar and discovering herself and her world in a new way. Slowly we see Toby putting the pieces together and, because she's a hero (like it or not), she can't just accept the way things are.

I truly had been thinking that, with as many books as there are out there to be read, maybe the October Daye series was something I would stop reading for awhile.  And then this book happened, restoring my interest in the character and series.

It's important to note, I think, that the book ends with a cliffhanger - ie: it doesn't end. You will need to read the next volume to get the conclusion to the story, and I really dislike that. 

As with other books in the series, there is a short story/novelette at the back of the book that has some connection (albeit loose) to the main story.  This one is "Candles and Starlight" and tells the story of how halflings, who weren't supposed to exist in Titania's new world, managed to survive. It's actually a rather powerful and poignant tale.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next volume (already on my Kindle), but disappointed that this is only part of a story.

Looking for a good book? Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire is the 17th book in the October Daye series.  It's a strong, powerful story, restoring this reader's interest in the series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Sleep No More

author: Seanan McGuire

series: October Daye #17

publisher: DAW Books

ISBN: 9780756416836

hardcover, 368 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more