I’ve seen that mixture of resignation and hopelessness before; its usually in my mirror.
After the events of Rosemary and Rue, Toby is back once again in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, lord of the Duchy of Shadowed Hills (outside of San Francisco, in the Mt. Diablo area.). As much as she doesn’t want to be, it’s apparently once a hero, always a hero.
I’m not a hero; if I’m lucky, I never will be. I just do my job
Sent to help Sylvester’s niece January O’Leary, the Countess of The Court of Tamed Lightning (aka Fremont, California), Toby and her intrepid (and mildly sulky) assistant Quentin don’t know what they’re walking into. Once they arrive at ALH Computing, where January is CEO, Toby and Quentin discover January is missing and there seems to be a spate of murders happening. Can they solve the murders, locate January, and answer one burning question: Is Toby ever going to go somewhere that doesn’t have a body count of at least one?
Coffee and corpses, that’s my life. Sometimes I hate being me.
This is the third time I’ve read this book and even with knowing what happens, it was a page-turner. The atmosphere is eerie for most of the book, partially because quite a bit of the time Toby is locked in a building, and “locked in large space with dead bodies and something (or someone) hunting me” is one of the things on my “fastest way to get wigged out” Bingo Card. (That’s probably why I had to read The Shining in broad daylight when I knew I wasn’t going to be alone for long periods of time.) Toby is one of my favorite characters in literature, mostly because she is just so real and relatable. Tired, sarcastic, coffee-addicted (though for me it’s more tea), not wanting to do the things that need doing but realizing that if she doesn’t who will; Toby is the reluctant hero we all could use as a role model. Having read the entire series out so far, it’s interesting to see how much she and everyone else changes as it goes on; there are characters in this book that I liked at the first blush of reading that now having read more, I loathe any time they appear on the page. Tybalt and the Luidaeg are not two of them; they stay darlings, and I want more of them. Quentin is slowly growing on Toby and I both at this point, and Toby is growing on Quentin. I think they are the surrogate aunt/little brother neither one of them knew they needed. This book continues the flirtation between Toby and Tybalt (which I am here for); it also unfortunately includes Connor, an ex of Toby (now married to Rayseline, Sylvester’s daughter), who I am most certainly not here for. I know what Seanan is going for, I just spent the entire book wanting to shove Connor out of the way and taking Toby and Tybalt and:
October—
You were sleeping so peacefully that I was loath to wake you. Duke Torquill, after demanding to know what I was doing in your apartment, has requested that I inform you of his intent to visit after ‘tending to some business at the Queen’s Court.’ I recommend wearing something clinging, as that may distract him from whatever he wishes to lecture you about this time. Hopefully, it’s your manners.
You are truly endearing when you sleep. I attribute this to the exotic nature of seeing you in a state of silence.
—Tybalt
April, January’s daughter is slightly unsettling to say the least; but I suppose with her backstory it makes sense. The other new characters are likable in varying degrees in their own ways; to be honest, most of them basically impacted on the surface.
Dramatic exits are the last refuge of the infantile personality, I said. Now drink your soda and help me think of nasty names to call her next time she shows up.
One thing I want to say to Toby though; January, April, January’s mother being named September…are you picking up on any hints here?
Repetition is sometimes the best way to deal with the Luidaeg: just keep saying the same thing over and over until she gets fed up and gives you what you want. All preschoolers have an instinctive grasp of this concept, but most don’t practice it on immortal water demons. That’s probably why there are so few disembowelments in your average preschool.
I’m enjoying re-reading the series up to this point, but after this comes the one that I had to push myself through the first time, never mind the second: An Artificial Night. Someone give me strength to get through it, because I have this insane need to not skip books in series.
“Family” really means the ones that can hurt you the most.