One Salt Sea

Seanan McGuire ripped poor Toby apart again. She just doesn't give her even a moment of respite. What an intense, gripping and fantastic read!

Toby nearly died in last book, and here she is again, thrown into an attempt to stop the war between Land fae and Undersea folks, because the sons of Duchess of Saltmist are kidnapped.

October and her friends have only three days to solve the case, and Toby works almost non-stop especially when her own daughter gets involved and the stakes in this dangerous game skyrocket...

Oh My God, people! My heart just couldn't bear the tension! Poor Toby, poor parents, unbelievably tough choices and tragic losses. Very dark, bitter ending of the book.

October Daye has come a very long way and evolved so much show more from a simple changeling detective in the beginning to a powerful, ruthless player. I can not wait to read Ashes of Honor and see what comes next.

Hugely recommend this series! First two books are a bit shaky, but from the 3rd onwards it's pure awesomeness. show less

Much stronger than the earlier Toby books, this was a good, tense read - we had drama, we had threats, and while it was fairly quickly clear who was involved-- it still read well. I think this is a drastic improvement over the first three books, as both Toby improves in her role and McGuire improves in her craft. It's a far shot from the troubles I've had with some of her other works.

I'm not going to lie, though; while the major death in the book - Connor - was tearjerking and lead to some weeping on my part... I'm glad he died. The "two men" angle is played out already, Tybalt is a more interesting character, doesn't have the sins of past break ups (which was neatly pointed out by another character!) looming over him, and isn't a show more wishy-washy flop. I cried for him. I cried for October. But I'm not going to miss the guy.

I'm also pleased to see the resolution of Gillian and the question of her blood - it's a little fast, I think, and could have really been dragged out - but over all, it was well handled, and I think that closes the book on Toby's human life from this point on, which I'm glad for. It's never really gond anywhere in the previous novels, and to simply snip off those ends now is good enough for me.

About the only thing I could ask for is that the Queen of the Mists gets punched in the tit, because damn, I am tired of bitchy, inept rulers who manage to get by on Divine Right for way too long. Seriously. show less

These books keep getting better and better. Like Toby, I don't feel like I understand what is going on most of the time. Everyone is so dang cryptic. But the characters are growing, they're interesting and complex, and I cannot help but care about them, whether I like them or not. Warning: Bring Kleenex for this book. It can be a rough ride. (I know. Like the last one wasn't.)

Generalised spoiler warning in effect for the first four books, because, well obviously.

Toby has come along way since we met her back in Rosemary and Rue. Back then she was keeping her head down, avoiding her past, not thinking about her future. She wasn’t really doing much past existing in the present. But now she has friends around her again. She has risen, socially, to become a Countess. Which okay, maybe she wasn’t expecting and didn’t really want, but it has given her options. And she has hooked up with Connor. But as is usual in Toby’s life, things begin to take a turn for the worse.

She is summoned to the Queen of Mists, never good to be commanded to appear before a mad person with power who doesn’t like you, and show more discovers that someone has kidnapped the sons of Duchess Lorden, ruler of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. Toby, of course, begins to investigate. How could she not when there are children involved. Not only that, but if the boys aren’t found it will lead to war.

I’ve really enjoyed all of the Toby Daye books, but I think this is my favourite so far. Toby is far from a perfect hero1 but she does learn and change as the books progress. She isn’t stuck in the same mode all the time. Well, apart from her constant need for caffeine, that is unchanging. She now asks for help, she trusts people. That doesn’t mean she still doesn’t have issues, and being faced with having to *go* to Undersea, well, her time as fish makes her understandably wary of that.

This is an urban fantasy tale with a side-serving of action. The plot moves along at a fair clip and stuff keeps happening. Which isn’t to say that it feels hurried, because it doesn’t, the pacing works really well for me.

As for whodunnit? Well, you sorta know that, but its the process of uncovering, and proving it, that is so entertaining. We also get glimpses at different parts of the Fae world, and the Undersea is fascinating. I also really enjoyed the development of the Luideag and her storyline, plus her history with the Selkies.

Now, the love triangle aspect. Obviously Toby’s emotional life is important, so her love life is important, so the love triangle is important. But it is handled well by McGuire. There isn’t even a hint of Team Jacob v Team Edward, or whatever. Connor and Tybalt are both important to Toby, and to her investigations. They are very different characters and while it is clear that there is something between Tybalt and Toby, she also has a very strong and real relationship with Connor. The love triangle is there, but it never threatens to become all important. It is character development and character background, not the ultimate aim of the story.

If you’ve read and enjoyed the other books in this series then you’ve probably already read this one. If you haven’t you should. And if you’ve never read a Toby Daye book, well go pick one up. You’ll be perfectly able to follow the story in this one, if that’s what you choose, but I’d recommend going back to the beginning and starting with Rosemary and Rue. show less

Warning: slight spoilers for previous Toby Daye novels.

In this fifth installment of the Toby Daye series, Toby’s seemingly stable life takes a dramatic turn for the worse when the sons of the Duke and Duchess of Saltmist are kidnapped. Saltmist is a powerful Undersea duchy, and the frantic Duke and Duchess have accused the land fae of orchestrating the kidnapping. Sea and land fae are now on the brink of a war that will end in terrible slaughter, unless Toby can find the missing children and return them safely to the Undersea. With the help of her friends and allies, Toby may be able to save the day once again; but when her own long-lost daughter Gillian is threatened, she realizes that a happy outcome can only be achieved at a show more horrible cost.

So far I’ve enjoyed every book in this series, and this novel is another strong installment. Based on the plot summary on the back cover, I didn’t think the story would be particularly complicated, but McGuire manages to raise the stakes very compellingly several times throughout the book. The plot also opens up a lot of intriguing questions for future books in the series, regarding both Toby’s newly discovered skills and the wider world of fae politics. There are a lot of external changes to Toby’s world in this novel, but there’s not much internal character growth, so in that sense this book feels very transitional. Of course, that makes me all the more eager to see what will happen in the next installment, Ashes of Honor, which comes out next year! My only other complaint in this book is that there’s not enough Tybalt – but I have faith that I’ll be seeing more of him soon. All in all, you should definitely continue with this book if you’re already following the series; if not, start with book 1, Rosemary and Rue. show less

It's literally impossible to let go of these books: the story and the characters are crafted so well that I can't find the strength to take a break and read something else: once I finished this one I started on the next in line, despite the awareness that after I finish that too, I will have to wait with the rest of the world for the seventh and last book in the series.

For someone who looked at Urban Fantasy with some misgivings, I have certainly fallen hard for the genre... Or maybe it's just the author's fault for creating such interesting and believable characters – even those who belong more to the realm of the impossible than to the day-to-day world.

Private investigator (and fae changeling) October Daye grows with each book, her show more personality and personal history gaining more facets with every turn of the page, and with her grows the haphazard "family" she managed to gather around her: not a small accomplishment for someone who, at the start of book 1, was totally alone in the world and looked at with suspicion by both communities, human and fae.

October's best quality is her imperfection: she's flawed, and carries several chips on her shoulder, which makes for a gritty disposition. Yet she's also a loyal friend, ready to risk life and limb for those she cares about, and that's how her "family" forms around her – through loyalty and affection that often come to the fore in the most satisfyingly gripping way.

The unique – and well realized – blend of drama and humor is one of the reasons I like McGuire's books so much: the drama never slides into melodrama, and the humor is often dry or belongs to the gallows kind. In other words, the ingredients are right and perfectly balanced. show less

Again - I forget, between times, just how good a writer Seanan McGuire is. More plots and twists, and again Toby has to save the day - from a war between the land and the sea, this time. More stolen children, too, and again Toby gets hit close to home. Her position as Countess of Goldengreen becomes both a burden and a great help, here, and she learns a lot of secrets - things she didn't know she wanted to know, and things she knew she didn't want to know. Her assumption about Rayseline and the rocks is wrong, though, if one was collected that long ago. And there are some more permanent losses, including one that...well, it hurt her like hell but all I could think was that it greatly simplified matters. I've been reading slowly - show more reading for a little and then moving on to something else - through several books recently, but these two - Late Eclipses and this one - I started and couldn't put down, not even long enough to wipe my eyes and blow my nose, until I was done with them. Magnificent. And there are hints of the next story - one year away (in Toby's time, not real-world), Raysel, probably some more loose ends. Apparently two more books scheduled - yay! show less