Welcome to September! The weather here is perfect for what, in my head, is really the true beginning of Fall. It's a marvelously crisp autumnal morning, and we have all the windows thrown open to let in fresh, cool air that lacks even a hint of the oppressive humidity that August brought. If Summer here only lasts one blistering month, I just might have to consider settling in for the long haul.
The other great thing about September is that it brings October, but in this case I'm not talking about the month of ghouls and candy corn--I'm talking about October Daye, the changeling (half-faerie, half-human) protagonist of Seanan McGuire's Rosemary and Rue, which releases today. At some point in the not-too-distant future, I imagine, her books will have a strict-on-sale date (which is usually imposed as an author becomes more widely known), but luckily for those of us who have been looking forward to this book, there was none for this release. I was lucky enough to find the book over the weekend; I devoured it on Saturday evening and have been pondering a review ever since.
This book is such an enormous amount of fun. Those who read a lot of fantasy--and especially the kind in which the magical world intersects with our own--will appreciate the author's technique. She's really done a fantastic job of fleshing out the world that Toby--short for October--lives in, but does so subtly, not bashing the reader over the head with the fantastic creatures and characters that pass in and out of her life. A lot of this has to do, I think, with a somewhat (wonderfully) nontraditional approach to the magical world she's introducing to us all. Many writers choose to have their protagonist also be a newcomer to the setting of their books, but McGuire's Toby is well-versed in the lore of her world--she's just been out of it for a while. It allows her to explain the rules to us by showing, not telling. It doesn't hurt that, much like the reader immersed in the book, Toby lives in both worlds--we can relate to her in this one and follow her into the other.
I appreciated the lack of stereotypical romance plots that many authors use to add another degree of conflict to their characters' lives. You know the kind: somewhere, a couple of pages before it happens, the dialogue changes ever-so-slightly, and already you're groaning because you can already tell that the author's going to throw these two characters together. I hope that if Toby is able to move on from some unfortunate events in her past, that things will continue to be reasonable in that regard, and not drag us through the Ranger, no--Joe, no--Ranger, no--Joe god-awfulness that Evanovich subjects her readers to every summer (and sometimes on holidays!). I think we can trust Seanan not to do that--she's altogether too clever at what she does for that tired trope.
I don't want to give a lot of spoilers here, so it's difficult to discuss the plot of the book, but I think it's fair to say that even if you think you know where the story's headed, you may be surprised to see how it gets there. Seanan is fearless. She doesn't put her characters up on some high shelf and make them untouchable. The bad guys don't suddenly develop Stormtrooper Syndrome when they're chasing Toby down a dark alley--and neither does anyone else. Bad things happen--though I have to admit, occasionally pushing the limits of plausibility in Toby's case, but then again she's a magical creature and has a lot of friends (and enemies) in high places, and so I was willing to accept the way things went in that regard.
There is such a high level of attention to detail in these books. Every character has a signature scent to their magic, which I find such a wonderful little tidbit, something that really enhances the world and my experience of it. We get a pronunciation guide to all the fun-but-obscure faerie names--and there are many types of faerie populating this universe. There are rose goblins--catlike creatures with thorns instead of fur--they're hypoallergenic! McGuire is clearly familiar with the realms, both mundane and magical, that Toby inhabits and gives us so much that it's so easy and enjoyable to climb on and go along for the ride.
One thing that I was left wondering about was the faerie world's sensitivity to iron, which is an established weapon against fae and their ilk both in and out of Toby Daye's universe. Iron is used in the book against magical creatures, even against Toby herself, to cause great harm, but Toby is also Daoine Sidhe and has some blood magic in her limited repertoire. Furthermore, Toby is part-human. Since iron is a fairly significant component of blood--at least, of human blood--it seems like there should be some problems there. I'm not sure if the signature copper scent of Toby's magic is supposed to be a hint that faerie blood is different, but if iron is such a powerful weapon against those of faerie, I'm curious how that might be resolved. Perhaps if faerie blood is different from human blood, the mixing of it would be one of the things that makes changelings weaker, and why Toby experiences painful backlash when she overexerts herself magically. I imagine that this will be addressed in future books--with several more already scheduled to come out or in the works (March and September 2010!) she can't put all her cards on the table just yet, after all!
Having read Seanan's blog posts for the past few years, it's easy to see how her personality really shines throughout the book, from the blaze orange text on the cover to Toby's real name, the dialogue's snarky wit and the appearance of wonderfully interesting takes on the typical faerie lore, not to mention the pair of Siamese cats and the San Francisco setting. She's done her research, added a fair measure of creativity, and stirred in a heaping helping of her own curious life; the result is completely captivating.
There's so much to talk about and I really don't want to give away too much, so I'll simply say this: if you enjoy urban fantasy, read this book. If you enjoy impeccably-crafted worlds rich with detail, read this book. If you like a main character you can relate to, read this book. If you love a good story, read this book.
While the "girl hero against the world" genre is ubiquitous, Toby Daye is no Stephanie Plum (though there was a car wreck that made me quirk my eyebrow--and doesn't Harry Dresden drive a Beetle?) and I don't expect to see the same formula but with different covers in future releases from McGuire. The October Daye novels show great promise, and I'm adding my voice to the already-growing list of reviewers shouting: read this book!
More about Rosemary and Rue can be found on Seanan McGuire's website, here, including a preview sample of the story. The sequel, A Local Habitation, is slated for March 2010.
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