Late Eclipses is the fourth installment of the highly praised Toby Daye series and I can seriously say I’m firmly hooked on this series now!

Today is week three 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 which is a slight change to the schedule.  I’ve been out of the country so my post is a little late – for which apologies.

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:

1. We get to meet a new character in the form of Walter, who’s got a rather unusual special skill among the Fae… What are your first impressions of our first faerie scientist in the Tobyverse?

I really liked Walter and I hope we get to see a lot more of him – he’s the perfect scientific accompaniment to Toby’s ‘detective’!  I think they make a great pair.  Well, I’m not saying that they’re going to become a pair necessarily but I like him and I think it would be good to see more involvement in future investigations.

2. “I choose the evil I know.” 

We finally get to meet Amandine (sort of) in the flesh, and she’s got one hell of a bombshell to drop… How surprised were you by the revelation of Toby’s bloodline, and by her second Choice?

I’m not totally sure I understand what Toby actually is if I’m being really honest – or what the revelation actually meant.  It seems that she’s more fae than was originally suspected – the scene with Amandine – I’m reading into that that the first time Toby was given a choice between her half fae self or a human life – the choice was in actual fact more difficult than that.  Amandine was hiding what Toby really was?  Is that how everyone else reads this as I’m not sure whether I’m on track or not here.  The only reason I can imagine Amandine hiding Toby’s real nature is that she maybe thinks she will be in more danger by revealing her true self?  I’m mixed up without doubt!

3. Rayseline’s reasons for hating Toby come out in the open, though that doesn’t put a stop to her efforts to have Toby removed from her position… Do you think she deserves more or less sympathy now, after their confrontation(s)?

I admit that I felt a degree of sympathy for Rayseline when she was explaining to Toby why she dislikes her so much.  I don’t agree with her reasoning but I think it makes things a little easier to understand from her point of view.  At least when she thought Toby was dead it was easier to accept that she hadn’t come to the rescue.  But, what also puzzles me about that is I can’t help wondering if she blames Sylvester as well?  So, yes, I think it made me feel sorry for Raysel but at the same time her reasoning isn’t sound.  Like I said last week, it sort of irritates me that everyone keeps beating on Toby for not coming to the rescue when she was turned into a fish.  She was just a teeny bit indisposed.

4. “We were peaceful while you were gone.”

Speaking of scheming to remove Toby, the Queen is handed a chance to lock her up and takes it – and she doesn’t waste much time or show much mercy. What do you make of her reasons for what she’s done? Is that all that’s driving her or do you think there might be something deeper and darker behind it?

I definitely think there’s something more to all of this but I don’t really know what.  Nobody seemed to really agree with the Queen’s verdict – in fact it was clearly unjust and made her look bad.  She’s unhinged for sure and maybe Raysel has been pouring poison in her ear and stirring things up.  Perhaps the two of them were planning some sort of pact.

5. And what about Oleander? It seems she isn’t a figment of Toby’s imagination after all – but how is she managing to stay so close without being found? Any guesses/theories/suspicions?

I really don’t understand how Oleander is doing this – the only thing I can think of, and it doesn’t really make sense, is that she’s being helped and the only person I can think is helping her is Raysel!  See, it really doesn’t make sense at all!  Raysel doesn’t seem to be too upset about what’s happening with her own mother, neither does she seem to be helping Sylvester – she seems to be making a play for power and the Queen seems to be helping her.  Not sure how that all feeds into what Oleander is doing – she seems to be omnipresent!  Or she’s stolen a cloak of invisibility from HP.  Maybe she can transform into inanimate objects!  Yeah, I have no idea.