I don't write pro book reviews, but in celebration of 
seanan_mcguire and because she has given me and the band a place to crash for lo these many days, I have a few nice things to say about A Local Habitation.
When your boss, your liege, tells you to go, you go. In the pages of A Local Habitation,
written by Seanan McGuire and out now from DAW books, Duke Sylvester
sends heroine October Daye, Changeling Private Eye, to the tiny county of Tamed
Lightning to check on his niece, Tamed Lightning's countess, whom he's not heard
from in long enough to make him worry. Toby finds the countess hale and whole,
but that's where the normalcy ends. Very quickly, things turn dark and strange, and
Toby barely learns the whole story before anyone, and certainly not everyone, gets
out alive.
There's no doubt in my mind after reading this second October Daye novel that our
heroine is made of sterner stuff (mostly coffee, if we are in fact what we eat) than me,
and I do not envy her. Toby's pretty good at her job, but she can't stop people dying.
Not even her friends, not even her superiors among the immortal Fae. If you thought
she was strong in book one, Rosemary & Rue, you're not gonna believe all the crap
she has to go through to make it to the end of A Local Habitation in one piece.
Somehow, author Seanan manages to show us more of Toby's world, Toby's Bay Area,
by focusing mostly on a single location. It's an impressive trick, but then, when
the office building in question is a home-built Fae habitat, there will certainly be more
than meets the eye. Seanan's use of lore continues to delight me, as well; expect to
meet at least once race of Fae as yet unseen in a story of hers.
New characters mesh easily with those we've already met, which is not to say they
play well together: the King of Cats returns and continues to run on his own logic;
young Quentin plays a major role as, of all things, Toby's (willing) sidekick this time;
there's the usual assortment of crazy Changelings, which I find to be an oddly
comforting pattern in a book; and there's a dryad who lives in a server tower. Yup.
Just another day.
If you couldn't put the first book down, make sure you set an alarm for a dinner
break once you open this one. You'll need it. Once the action starts, it just
gets weirder (and darker; we're not messing around here), and it doesn't waste
any time. The only way in which A Local Habitation will do you wrong is that it will end,
and it'll end in a pretty mercilless way. But I find that, as with R&R, it's more than worth
the ride.
Once again, I'll be performing at Seanan's release party, at the Borderlands
Cafe on Valencia next Tuesday, and there will likely be cake.
Tuesday March 09, 2010 — 7:00pm
Seanan McGuire's San Francisco Book Release Party & Concert
Borderlands Cafe
870 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110 [Map It!]
Next door to Borderlands Books
(415) 970-6998
seanan_mcguire and because she has given me and the band a place to crash for lo these many days, I have a few nice things to say about A Local Habitation.When your boss, your liege, tells you to go, you go. In the pages of A Local Habitation,
written by Seanan McGuire and out now from DAW books, Duke Sylvester
sends heroine October Daye, Changeling Private Eye, to the tiny county of Tamed
Lightning to check on his niece, Tamed Lightning's countess, whom he's not heard
from in long enough to make him worry. Toby finds the countess hale and whole,
but that's where the normalcy ends. Very quickly, things turn dark and strange, and
Toby barely learns the whole story before anyone, and certainly not everyone, gets
out alive.
There's no doubt in my mind after reading this second October Daye novel that our
heroine is made of sterner stuff (mostly coffee, if we are in fact what we eat) than me,
and I do not envy her. Toby's pretty good at her job, but she can't stop people dying.
Not even her friends, not even her superiors among the immortal Fae. If you thought
she was strong in book one, Rosemary & Rue, you're not gonna believe all the crap
she has to go through to make it to the end of A Local Habitation in one piece.
Somehow, author Seanan manages to show us more of Toby's world, Toby's Bay Area,
by focusing mostly on a single location. It's an impressive trick, but then, when
the office building in question is a home-built Fae habitat, there will certainly be more
than meets the eye. Seanan's use of lore continues to delight me, as well; expect to
meet at least once race of Fae as yet unseen in a story of hers.
New characters mesh easily with those we've already met, which is not to say they
play well together: the King of Cats returns and continues to run on his own logic;
young Quentin plays a major role as, of all things, Toby's (willing) sidekick this time;
there's the usual assortment of crazy Changelings, which I find to be an oddly
comforting pattern in a book; and there's a dryad who lives in a server tower. Yup.
Just another day.
If you couldn't put the first book down, make sure you set an alarm for a dinner
break once you open this one. You'll need it. Once the action starts, it just
gets weirder (and darker; we're not messing around here), and it doesn't waste
any time. The only way in which A Local Habitation will do you wrong is that it will end,
and it'll end in a pretty mercilless way. But I find that, as with R&R, it's more than worth
the ride.
Once again, I'll be performing at Seanan's release party, at the Borderlands
Cafe on Valencia next Tuesday, and there will likely be cake.
Tuesday March 09, 2010 — 7:00pm
Seanan McGuire's San Francisco Book Release Party & Concert
Borderlands Cafe
870 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110 [Map It!]
Next door to Borderlands Books
(415) 970-6998
- Current Location:chez Halloweenzia
- Current Mood:
calm - Current Music:(internal) not tellin'
Comments
But perhaps you should! I think it's a darn good review of another great, can't put it down because it drags you though it Seanan book. There's only one problem with the book - the next one won't be out for another 6 months!