Read along week 1 | Books and travelling with Lynn

Late Eclipses (October Daye #4) Seanan McGuire readalong week No.1

Posted On 2 July 2016

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Late Eclipses, Read along week 1, Seanan McGuire

late eclipses October “Toby” Daye, changeling knight in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, finds the delicate balance of her life shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended. Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past as an enemy she thought was gone forever raises her head once more: Oleander de Merelands, one of the two people responsible for her fourteen-year exile.

Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher, for the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda. With everything on the line, Toby will have to take the ultimate risk to save herself and the people she loves most—because if she can’t find the missing pieces of the puzzle in time, Toby will be forced to make the one choice she never thought she’d have to face again…

Late Eclipses is the fourth installment of the highly praised Toby Daye series.

Today is week one of our readalong of Late Eclipses (October Daye #4) ) by Seanan McGuire) arranged by Lisa from Over the Effing Rainbow. This week Lisa is hosting the Q&A. And, wow, the book got off to a great start, I must confess that I’ve missed October and her friends.

The details are over here on Goodreads – the schedule is below. If you want to join in or jump in with the comments then please do so. Without further ado here are the questions and answers with a customary word of warning that spoilers will be lurking below:

Week 1: Saturday 2nd July, Chapters 1 to 9, hosted by Over the Effing Rainbow
Week 2: Saturday 9th July, Chapters 10 to 18, hosted by Lynn’s Book Blog
Week 3: Saturday 16th July, Chapters 19 to 27, hosted by Books By Proxy
Week 4: Saturday 23rd July, Chapters 28 to End, hosted by Hisham El-far

Where Toby goes, trouble soon follows… Lily’s fallen ill, and a blast from Toby’s past might be making an impact if signs are pointing where they appear to be. Do you think this is really Oleander’s work?

I’m not sure at the moment – there seems to be an awful lot going on. Part of me, apart from thinking there’s something rotten in Denmark – pretty much knows that there is. Lily falling ill, Luna, October being made a Countess – yes, things are going massively wrong.

If one unpleasant surprise wasn’t enough, Toby has two to deal with thanks to the Queen making her the Countess of Goldengreen. Given the timing, do you think this is a coincidence? What might the Queen be up to?

This is definitely not a coincidence. For once in my life I wish that the people surrounding Toby could actually speak plainly. For instance Tybalt, always turning up and saying ‘trust me’ – usually right before things go to hell in a hand cart -not helping Tybalt – really not. I don’t know wha the Queen has against Toby but given that she does have a grudge this whole Countess ‘thing’ feels a little bit like a hot potato.

Speaking of possible coincidences, this might be the first time Toby’s turned to the Luidaeg only to find her unavailable. What do you think Toby’s chances are of getting through whatever’s coming without her, for once?

You see, this just makes me even more positive that something is wrong. The Luidaeg not being available to speak to Toby. I also thought it was curious that reference was made, not only by the Queen but by the Luidaeg, to Blind Michael and the Hunt being now finished. I can’t help but wonder if that’s causing repercussions.

We get a look at Toby’s past, quite literally, as Karen visits her in a dream. Apparently Toby’s history with Oleander goes back further than she realises. What was your take on the ‘remembered’ encounter between Oleander and Amandine?

Well, assuming this recollection is correct, the most powerful feeling I took from this scene was the enormous strength of feeling that Amandine has for Toby – which has never really come across before? Or maybe I’ve just massively mistaken what happened, but it seemed to me that Amandine was throttling Oleander because she wanted her to stay away from Toby. I suppose the other thing from this is – were there plans involving Toby from a much earlier age? Was the whole attack on Toby (which resulted in her being turned into a fish) some sort of revenge?? Does Toby have more to her than we currently suspect??

I must say that I’ve missed Toby – it’s great sinking back into this world and the story just picks back up so easily!