Monday, September 8, 2014

The Winter Long-Seanan McGuire

The Winter Long
Seanan McGuire
Daw, Sep 2 2014, $7.99
ISBN: 9780756408084

In Muir Woods, King of Cats Tybalt coaxes Sir Toby Daye to attend the first kingdom-wide Yule Ball since Gilead’s murder.  Adhering to protocol, Toby pays her respect to her liege Duke Sylvester Torquil. 

After Toby and the gang return to San Francisco, Sylvester rings the door of her Victorian.  Only after she allows her surprising visitor to enter does Toby realize her guest is not her liege as Sylvester smells like dogwood flower and daffodil while his lookalike’s odor is that of smoke and rotten oranges.  Her personal bogeyman Simon has returned stunning her with his claim to have saved October’s life when he changed her into a fish.  Astonished by this revelation and other Simon assertions, Toby relooks at what she believed were indisputable facts.

The latest October Daye urban fantasy is a stunner as Seanan McGuire shakes up her universe with a Big Bang that takes us fans and the heroine out of our comfort zones after seven previous entries (see Ashes of Honor and Chimes at Midnight).  The shocked Daye obsessively soul searches needing to believe as John said: “…the truth will set you free” but hopes not by killing her or driving her insane.  This is a fantastic spin to a fabulous saga.


Harriet Klausner

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