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A Local Habitation
by
Seanan McGuire
urban fantasy in a paperback edition that was published by DAW Books on March 2, 2010 and has 377 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Rosemary and Rue, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, Discount Armageddon, Home Improvement: Undead Edition, “Never Shines the Sun”, Chimes at Midnight, "In Sea-Salt Tears", Indexing, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination, Half-Off Ragnarok, Midway Relics and Dying Breeds, Games Creatures Play, The Winter Long, Sparrow Hill Road, The InCryptid Prequels, Pocket Apocalypse, Black as Blood, Blocked, White as a Raven's Wing, The Ghosts of Bourbon Street, IM, "Good Girls Go to Heaven", A Red Rose Chain, "Full of Briars", Reflections, Once Broken Faith, "Dreams and Slumbers", Shadowed Souls, Chaos Choreography, Magic For Nothing, Indigo, Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, The Brightest Fell, "Of Things Unknown", Beneath the Sugar Sky, Night and Silence, "Suffer a Sea-change", The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, "The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork", Tricks for Free, That Ain't Witchcraft, "The Measure of a Monster", The Unkindest Tide, "Hope is Swift", Come Tumbling Down, Imaginary Numbers, "Follow the Lady", In an Absent Dream, "The Fixed Stars", "Forbid the Sea", "No Sooner Met", Across the Green Grass Fields, A Killing Frost, "Shine in Pearl", When Sorrows Come, "And with Reveling", "Singing the Comic-Con Blues”, "Candles and Starlight", "Such Dangerous Seas", Sleep No More
Second in the October Daye urban fantasy series set in San Francisco and revolving around Toby Daye, a private detective who happens to be half-human, half-faye.
My Take
Fascinating, but not as much fun as Rosemary and Rue. I suspect because it was so frustrating with people dying right and left, and we never got to empathize with them nor did we get many clues as to why people were dying. Oh, yeah, I picked up on one of the killers even as I did flip-flop as to whether they were one. But, it was mostly Toby and Quentin getting the brush-off from January and her people with some particularly vicious barbs from one employee. Even some veiled hints would have been nice. Elliot’s particular skill was interesting . . . I wouldn’t mind him showing up at my place every once in awhile!
With Toby’s success rate, I’m rather surprised Sylvester still wants her around. Toby seems to be developing an interesting relationship with the Luidaeg. She’s also pretty ticked off that Quentin isn’t getting any self-defense lessons at Shadowed Hills.
The Story
Sylvester is worried when he isn’t able to get hold of his niece, the Countess January O’Leary, so he sends Toby. Toby’s allegiances are vague enough that it shouldn’t stir up his enemy, the Duchess Riordan. But when Toby gets there, no one is cooperating. It takes forever to actually meet January and everyone is hostile.
Well, on some levels, it makes sense, Jannie is in a delicate position situated as she is between the Duchess Riordan and her uncle, Duke Torquill. Her county, Tamed Lightning, is the buffer zone between the two and there is no guarantee that Toby is who she says she is nor that she is on her uncle’s side.
Especially when you are using computers to accomplish something radically unorthodox . . .
The Characters
Sir October “Toby” Daye, released from a spell confining her to 14 years as a fish, is back in action as a private detective and on-call for Duke Torquill as one of his knights. She’s owned by two half-Siamese cats, Cagney and Lacey, with a bit of spice provided by Spike, a rose gremlin. Quentin is a page at Sylvester’s court, a blind fosterling, whom the duke sends with Toby that Quentin may learn how Toby handles things.
Tybalt, King of the Cait Sidhe and fascinated by Toby. He can’t resist teasing her and harassing her about her manners. At least, he can’t resist until Toby displays a most uncomfortable skill.
Sylvester Torquill, Duke of Shadowed Hills, and Connor, a selkie, is married to Rayseline Torquill, Sylvester’s daughter in an arranged alliance and he’s still in love with Toby.
January ap Learianth a.k.a., January O’Leary, is Sylvester’s niece and a computer programmer living and working in Fremont as the Countess for Tamed Lightning and the head of her computer company, ALH Computing. Employees include Elliot (a Bannick), Gordan (part Coblynau and able to handle metals), the dead Barbara (a Queen of Cats, Colin (a selkie), Peter (a pixy), Alex and his sister, Terrie, (both Gean-Cannah), and April (a dryad saved by January).
A spooky appearance by Dare (from Rosemary and Rue) in which we learn the true purpose of the night haunts; rather practical really and I don’t understand why McGuire thinks it’s such an icky thing.
The Cover and Title
Another rough pastel cover with a rather ugly, leather-clad Toby clutching Dare’s knife, glancing back in a dark space at the red, glowing eyes of a hooded creature.
The best guess I can make as to the title is that ALH Computing was A Local Habitation for this group of computer geeks perched precariously between rival counties.
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