Today is the final week of our readalong for One Salt Sea. I’m seriously loving this series and really loving sharing thoughts with others. I’m a bit late this week as I’m out of the country so apologies for the tardiness. Also due to lack of IT I’m not including all the links and finer detail but even so, please feel free to join in with the comments.  Also a bit of an apology for any mistakes!

This week’s questions are courtesy of Anya at On Starships and Dragonwings, and will cover chapter 30 to the end of the book. Please beware of Spoilers because they will be lurking. 

We find out a few tidbits about the Luidaeg’s abilities in this section, including a limit to her power when fighting Raysel. What do you think of these developments? Makes sense or an easy way of keeping Luidaeg out of some battles?

I guess in one respect this feels like a very easy plot tool. The Luidaeg can’t get involved because… but on the other foot if the Luidaeg could get involved every time that Toby gets into bother then there would be no suspense or drama because we would naturally expect her to rush in and defend Toby. So, whilst I think this is something of an obvious plot device I also can’t really fault it because it seems completely necessary. Otherwise this wouldn’t be the Toby Daye series but the Luidaeg series. And, as much as I like the Luidaeg I don’t want that to happen here (although a spin off surely couldn’t hurt!)

Gillian has to make the Changeling’s Choice. What did you think she would choose and how do you think her choice will affect the future books? Do you think we’ll see anymore of her?

To be honest I expected her to choose the life she is used to and comfortable with. Two things. Her introduction to the supernatural was hardly likely to entice her and her father has been her grounding influence (as sad as that may seem for Toby – she didn’t ask to be turned into a fish after all). What will happen in the series in this respect remains to be seen. It seems to me that there’s always the possibility of Toby’s enemies using Gillian as a means to an end. Part of me wonders if she might come to wonder more about her choices but even though I think that it does seem that her decision was final. 

Connor :(. How do you feel about the conclusion to his life and what this means for Toby’s life going forward?

Well. I had very mixed feelings really. I admit that Connor wasn’t my favourite. But. On the other side of that I always felt kind of a bit sad for him. I don’t think Toby should have ever started back up with him, it just felt too much like a comfort zone type of affair, and so because, for me at least, it felt wrong it felt almost inevitable that he would come to a sticky end. And what an ending! Saving Gillian! But then to die simply because the arrow had been left in too long. How incredibly sad and even more so because it was Toby making the choice about who to save and as much as it was inevitably going to be Gillian that still must make her feel enormously guilty. 

There are a lot of questions that Toby lists are the end: “What was the shallowing in Muir Woods? What did the Luidaeg mean when she told Elizabeth the bill was almost due? Who was Arden, and why would a shallowing care if she was alive?” Any ideas for any of them 

I confess I don’t know what to make of it all and need some time to digest it. Such a lot of ideas particularly regarding the Luidaeg. This one year ultimatum is obvioulsy linked to her helping the selkies originally. They must have had some sort of pact and obviously nothing is free. What they’re expected to pay back though I have no idea. Bring on the next book says I.