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

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