A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire is the second audiobook in the October Daye urban fantasy series. October, “Toby” is asked to go to the County of Tamed Lightning—otherwise known as Fremont, CA to check on the countess… what she finds is troubling and things are about to get worse.
by Seanan McGuire
Series: October Daye #2
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Length: 11 hours and 48 minutes
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 5 cups Speed: 1.5x
New York Times-bestselling October Daye series • Hugo Award-winning author Seanan McGuire • "Top of my urban-paranormal series list!" —Felicia Day
October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day, undertaking assignments for her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills.
Now Sylvester has asked her to go to the County of Tamed Lightning—otherwise known as Fremont, CA—to make sure that all is well with his niece, Countess January O'Leary, whom he has not been able to contact. It seems like a simple enough assignment—but when dealing with the realm of Faerie nothing is ever as simple as it seems.
Toby soon discovers that someone has begun murdering people close to January, whose domain is a buffer between Sylvester's realm and a scheming rival duchy. If Toby can't find the killer soon, she may well become the next victim.
The book opens with Toby leaving a bar after an evening with friends. She is a little tipsy and walking home to her digs in the human world. I loved the scene with Tybalt, the King of Cats as he helps her get home.
Toby is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. She is the only one of her kind to earn a knighthood and while she lives in the human world and has a private investigator license; she takes assignments from her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills. He has lost contact with his niece, the Countess January O’Leary. Politics will not allow him to go personally, so he sends Toby and Quentin her teenage sidekick/ knight apprentice.
When Toby arrives at Tamed Lightning, she discovers things are definitely wrong. Several dead bodies are stored in the basement and January claims she cannot reach her uncle. Things are weird at the palace from the victims whose blood is void of emotions to the tech company January runs. Her AI daughter April is actually a dryad and creepy. It’s time to get your geek on.
The mystery felt like a weekend on an isolated island where victims keep piling up and the list of suspects is limited to those on the grounds. Something is very wrong, and the twists kept Toby guessing.
I loved the mystery aspect as the second half became more suspenseful and the danger increased. I loved the night-haunts and other fae creatures we encountered. McGuire weaved a tale that kept me engaged and left me eager for more time with Toby.
Mary Robinette Kowal narrates and does a wonderful job of capturing Toby’s personality and giving voice to this cast of characters.
Fans of urban fantasy, paranormal mysteries, the Fae and private investigations will get a kick out of A Local Habitation and the October Daye series. I recommend listening.
About Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire is a native Californian, which has resulted in her being exceedingly laid-back about venomous wildlife, and terrified of weather. When not writing urban fantasy (as herself) and science fiction thrillers (as Mira Grant), she likes to watch way too many horror movies, wander around in swamps, record albums of original music, and harass her cats. Seanan is the author of the October Daye, InCryptid, and Indexing series of urban fantasies; the Newsflesh trilogy; the Parasitology duology; and the "Velveteen vs." superhero shorts. Her cats, Lilly, Alice, and Thomas, are plotting world domination even as we speak, but are easily distracted by feathers on sticks, so mankind is probably safe. For now.
About Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of The Spare Man,The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers, and the Lady Astronaut Universe. She is part of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, four Hugo awards, the Nebula and Locus awards. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Uncanny, and several Year’s Best anthologies. Mary Robinette, a professional puppeteer, also performs as a voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), recording fiction for authors including Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi. She lives in Nashville with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters.
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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)
Love the idea of someone being named October and Toby for the nickname! Glad you enjoyed this one.
Greg
I’ve been wanting to try this series for soooo long…
Kimberly
I started reading them years ago and things happened. Finally I spent the past year using credits and sales to finally get them all on audio… am currently on the seventh audiobook and have zero regrets. They just get better.
Carole @ Carole's Random Life
I plan to start reading this series sometime soon. I have the first book ready to go and am thrilled to see that you enjoyed the second book.
Kimberly
I am on the sixth audiobook and enjoying the heck out of them.
Anne - Books of My Heart
I’ve always wanted to read this series. I’ve thought about making it a Read-along since the beginning. I’ve started to collect them on audio now.
Kimberly
I read the first couple, but lost track and decided to listen. I used credits and sales to collect the series and now I am on the sixth one…lol
Nadene
Love the cover on this one. The story sounds great.
Angela (Angel's Guilty Pleasures)
I’ve got the October Daye series on my TBR. This sounds great. I enjoyed the review.
Kimberly
You are in for a treat!
Lover of Romance
This sounds like such a great suspense to read! I love it when an author builds up the tension and suspense aspects of the plot just right that it keeps you on the edge the more you get into it!
Lovely review!
Kimberly
Thanks Renee!