All of Seanan's books are fun, and I and my staff at The Portal Bookshop regularly get someone new hooked on the series

This is a novel in the October Daye series. (book 11)
It has a strong female protagonist.
The story is an urban fantasy in the San Francisco area.
It is mostly a thriller, with some romance, and faery characters.
Reading age range from 14 years old. (Young adult)
There is a quote from Shakespeare in the beginning.
The book features a list and description of faery creatures from English and Celtic lore.

Received as part of the 2019 Hugo packet for Best Series.

Fun urban fantasy originally read in paperback.

Received as part of the Helsinki Worldcon package. The Brightest Fell continues the Toby Daye series by elaborating on Toby's relationship with her mother, and is another eminently readable instalment in the series.

October Daye is always stuck saving people. This time, her motivation is emotional blackmail. (No one tell the rest of the Fae that emotional blackmail works). This book may make you change your mind about a couple characters.

"The Brightest Fell" by Seanan McGuire is the 11th book in the Hugo nominated October Daye series. Each tale in the series is exciting, vivid, and fun to read. Even better, each tale tends to escalate in scale and impact. "The Brightest Fell" delights on all counts. After a very normal, happy, and social beginning to the book, the astute reader realizes that this can not last and that something terrible is lurking around the corner. And, the astute reader will not be disappointed. Toby's cruel firstborn mother makes a surprise visit and makes an unrefusable demand that Toby undertake an impossible quest under dire threats. To say more about the threats here would be a spoiler. Likewise, to say too much about the epic quest that Toby and her squire Quentin undertake would also be a spoiler. Though it does provide a conclusion to questions and issues from previous books. And best off, it is an excellent tale filled with magic, danger, faerie law, improved relationships, destroyed relationships, betrayal, friendship, and a good cup of coffee.

The novella, "Of Things Unknown!" included at the end was simply fantastic. First off, we get a first person view into the mind of April O'Leary, the cyber dryad from previous novels in the series. And, the novella provides a warmingly satisfying conclusion to some of the situations left over from those previous novels. Of course, all of the expected elements are present, including danger, discovery, impossible challenges, the supernatural, and hot chocolate.

I'm baffled as usual as to how all the rest of the Fae never thought it worth mentioning to Toby the changeling that she had a Fae sister. This is the sticking point for several of the books in this series; another tale needs another previously non-existent family member, patched on from either the Fae side or the human side; neither side comes out well.

Toby is told the story by her strange mother Amandine; then she realises that in the tower where she grew up, there was a floor that had been sealed off and hidden by magic, sister August's empty bedroom. Amandine wants Toby, whom she dislikes, to find August. At this point I'd expect Toby to be asking all and sundry whether there were any more relatives she had yet to meet. Fae offspring don't come along that often, and they live a long time. Toby doesn't ask. What's the betting there's also a brother, and nobody thought to mention him either, on account of he got turned into a tree?

The tale starts with a karaoke as Toby gets ready to marry Tybalt. Of course we know that can't happen, because heroes can't have a happy wedded life. Sure enough the wedding gets postponed in the latest rush to find someone who has been missing for all Toby's lifetime.

The action, characters and complexity are all well managed, and anyone who has been following the tale will enjoy the action. For newcomers it might be a bit hard to follow.
I read an ARC from the Hugo Awards pack, thanks to Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

This starts off rather slow, but once it gets going it is absolutely superb, and it only takes about a quarter of the novel to get going. I have to admit, there has rarely been a character I have been more wrath with than Amandine, Toby's mother and one of the Firstborn. Her complete disregard for the feelings of anyone else is rather jaw dropping and if she weren't one of the most powerful magical beings on earth, I would strongly recommend slapping her. Toby found out a couple of books ago that her legal father as far as Faerie is concerned is Simon Torquill, otherwise known as the man who turned her into a goldfish for fourteen years of her life. Not only this, but that she has a sister, or at least had a sister. Said sister, August, wandered off on some hero quest a hundred years back and hasn't been seen since.

Until Amandine comes back onto the scene, demanding that Toby find her missing sibling and as collateral takes Toby's finance and her Fetch's lover as hostages. It seems like an impossible task and yet if Toby wants her lover back, she has no choice. And so, she runs to the last person she would have seen herself running to for help; the man who cost her a daughter and a husband and a normal, almost mortal life. Enter Simon Torquill, currently elf-shot and slumbering peacefully for potentially another hundred years. It's remarkably well done as it balances Amandine off against Simon, and the roles of villain and friend are reversed. We have always known that there is a coldness between Toby and her mother, but it has always been from a distance. It is only here that we really see just how cruel Amandine can truly be and just how far her way of thinking clashes with anything we would call reasonable.

The building up of the characters is well done here, and the removal of Tybalt takes away a crucial part of Toby's arsenal of weapons that she has begun to lean upon more and more as the series goes on. Almost immediately after the quest has truly gotten underway, her Squire is needed to do something else, removing another block of her foundations. So she is traipsing around the faerie and human world, accompanied only by a man she has just cause to hate, searching for a hundred year old trail. The distinct lack of our usual key players allows for some excellent additional character building here, and I was surprised by just well Simon in particular is presented. He has always been the bad guy, leaning slightly towards misguided perhaps, but it is known that he has done some truly awful things and yet, you can't help but have some level of sympathy for him. Gradually throughout this novel, his motivations and reasons come out and whilst they by no means excuse him, they certainly make it more understandable. This is also the first time we have spent so much time with Simon, and a lot of loose ends are tied up.

Another character I adored in this novel is the Luidaeg, although I will say straight up that I have always adored this character. Yet the more I learn about her and the more I watch her, the more in love I become. She has such an understanding of the other characters and the geas that was laid upon her by her mother is heartless in many ways. Powerful beyond belief, she cannot lay a hand on any descendant of Titania and it is as she reveals just what August asked her for, that the harshness of her role is displayed for all to see. No matter what she is asked for, she has to comply. Providing you are willing to pay the price. And sometimes the price is set so high in order to dissuade you from that course of action, but if you are bull-headed and foolhardy enough, you can take it upon yourself to pay that cost. As August did all those years before. Along with this, her reactions here demonstrate that true power, a raw power that we rarely see because actually the Sea Witch is on good terms with Toby. Again, McGuire has managed to show us a side of a character that we have heard about but rarely seen.

All in all, this is excellent. It is heart-breaking at points and undeniably funny at others, but you get to know characters who have lurked in the background for the better part of ten books now and it takes some of the scales away from your eye. The pure-blood arrogance is on view for all to see, but there is a softer side of many characters here as well. Even that arrogance is countermanded by some of the unexpected interactions, for example with the pixies. I enjoyed the early interactions with them, but it gets rather hysterical when August starts trying to throw her weight around. It turns out that the pixies really don't like being called vermin...

Thank you so much for making this book available for Hugo voters. I will always vote for Seanan as she’s my favourite author.

I am planning a Seanan book binge in the new year. After I have read this book I will submit my review to NetGalley, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Angus & Robertson, and Booktopia.

The Brightest Fell is book 11 of the October Daye series. You really need to have read the previous 10 novels to follow a lot of what happens here - but oh my there is so much happening!

October is forced into undertaking a quest. A lot of what follows sheds a LOT of light upon what makes Toby who she is. We also learn a lot about Simon (long time villain to Toby's Hero) and start to appreciate that there's a lot more going on with Simon and his motivations than ever suspected.

The Brightest Fell is the best October Daye novel yet. An emotional rollercoaster that carries you into what feels like a new era of the October Daye series. What's more - it also includes a new short story set roughly a month after the events of The Brightest Fell that returns us to see what's going on with April in the neighbouring duchy. (Spoiler: A LOT!)

A must read for fans of the October Daye series. If you haven't read any of this series before, please start with book 1, Rosemary and Rue.

October Daye series given by the author (/publishers/organizers) with the voters' packet for Hugo Nomination of Best Series in 2019. Reviews will be coming later, and likely posted first to GoodReads/Amazon/B & N as books are already released.

As this was part of the Hugo voting packet, I will not have time to read this and review before the archive date. I will try to update this review when I have read this book.

This book is utterly heartbreaking in many ways, and I have some quibbles with the pacing, but I'm so invested in Toby's world and her community that I was hooked. The scene of the Luidaeg singing "Poor Unfortunate Souls" at karaoke pushed the rating up to five stars.

I downloaded this as part of my Hugo Voter packet. Fantastic! My top nominee for Best Series. Seanan McGuire is a treasure.

No spoilers on this one. This book starts out with a karaoke bachelorette party and things are going great but this is a Toby book and that will not last. Amandine shows up and demands that Toby do her detective thing and find her older half-sister that she doesn’t know and has been missing for over 100 years. Things that have been hinted about for in previous books are stated outright in this one. There is a prophecy that has been hinted at in the series that is mentioned in this one. Toby’s mother will never win any awards as mother of the year and even with her saving Toby’s life in previous books you have to wonder even more about her in what she says and does in this book.
As much as I like Toby I think I like the Seawitch even more. Luidaeg has gotten the short end of the stick thanks to geas placed on her. She does what she can within the framework that she is bound to and she tries very hard in this book to do it.
I really need to do a reread especially on everything that Amandine shows up in. And for the reader there is a bit of a reminder of past books in this one. Actions from previous books always seem to shape the future stories in this series and that is a good thing.

There is a novella at the end told from the viewpoint of April O’ Leary and Toby does make and appearance in it. All I will say is reread A Local Habitation to remind yourself of things that happened to get the best out of this story. I do admit that I really like the extra stories at the end of the books lately and that they are a different viewpoint character in the series is just the cherry on top.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Synopsis: Life has finally settled down for October Daye. The cure for elf-shot has been approved, and is being used to bring back fae who were previously doomed to sleep for 100 years. The new Queen in the Mists has grown into her role, and the kingdom is running well. All Toby has to do is plan her wedding to the King of the Cats, and spend time with her family, who are all the more precious to her for having nearly been lost. Of course it’s too good to last: Toby’s capricious, negligent mother appears and demands her help in finding another daughter who’s been missing for over a hundred years — and she takes Toby’s loved ones hostage in order to force her unwilling cooperation. If Toby can’t find her half-sister, who disappeared in 1906, her mother will not hesitate to punish her failure by destroying everyone she loves.

What I thought: This is another satisfying entry in the series, which will almost certainly please fans but probably leave people who are unfamiliar with the books utterly lost. The author always manages to hit my sweet spot with just the right level of snark in this series, and I feel as though the major characters are part of my “gang”, even if I don’t always like them as people (for wildly varying values of “people”). I don’t particularly care for Urban Fantasy or Mythic Fantasy, and yet I still love this series.

October Daye used to be a private eye who worked for the fae in San Francisco, because being a changeling made that a natural choice – right until she got forced to spend nineteen years as a fish after an investigation went wrong. Once the curse was broken, she tried to go back to a normal life, only to get dragged back into murders and mysteries. Rosemary and Rue is a murder mystery with curses; A Local Habitation is supposed to be Toby as a political envoy, and then; and An Artificial Night is a missing persons case with shades of Tam Lin.

I think my problem with this series is that I was sold on it as a mystery series with fae, and it's really really not. It's an extended character study with a vague mystery to hang the character stuff on, which is fine when that's what I'm expecting (see also: Sunshine is great, fight me), but when I'm expecting a mystery it makes me really salty. Especially because the foreshadowing is a bit too obvious for me and tends to reveal the plot about a third of the book before Toby realises what the plot is – it's been suggested that this might be because I have a lot of genre savvy for mysteries, and that other people didn't have this problem so absolutely judge that for yourselves! It makes Toby look absolutely oblivious though, which is frustrating for me as a reader.

As a character study though, they're not bad! Toby is a mess who flings herself into all of her problems like they're the last thing she's ever going to do (I think because in most of these they literally are), and her problem solving skills are inventive. I love her friendship group as well, though she doesn't treat them well – which I thought she'd learned by the end of the first book but more fool me – but I enjoy reading about them and how much she is loved, and how she absolutely cannot process it. The voice the story is written in is really great, especially for how Toby explains the weird politics and magic of the fae. I love how her magic works, because the reliance on nursery rhymes to help her shape it really makes me happy. And the scenes that are meant to be horrifying are really well written – there is a scene with the night haunts in A Local Habitation that is delightfully creepy! I just... Hit a point in book four where I couldn't deal with how unrelentingly terrible everything is for Toby and the people around her anymore?

I feel like I should love these a lot more than I do, especially because I think everyone in my online social group adores them. It might just be a combination of trying to read a lot of them in quick succession before the Hugos, which meant that I burnt out on them, and that my expectations of what they were were mismanaged. If I'd come to it as an urban fantasy series where sometimes there are mysteries and sometimes there is going to other planes to fight a creature from nightmares, maybe I would have been okay and I would love it as much as everyone else does! Especially because, as it's been pointed out, I really like Human Disaster heroes, so this might be internalised misogyny showing up to steal my wallet. As it is, I am taking a break from the series until I feel brave enough to try again.

[This review is based off the omnibus provided by the publisher in the Hugo packet.]