The October Daye Series, Part 3
by Seanan McGuire
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted August 31, 2026
11- The Brightest Fell / 11.5- "Of Things Unknown" / 12- Night and Silence
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Even though I would like to, it is possible I will never find the time to re-read the October Daye stories. It will be hard enough keeping up with the later books, plus all the other things Seanan writes. The Brightest Fell is the 11th novel in this series. September 29 will see the publication of the 20th! book, plus Seanan has several other ongoing series, as well as writing under at least two pen names. We have seen characters recur several times, some being friends and allies of Toby's, others are antagonists. Toward the end of the previous page of reviews I said I was interested in learning more about Toby's mother, Amandine. Not sure about that now, since I don't like her, and Toby has a lot of animosity towards her. Many of the other fae refer to her as Amandine the Liar, but based on what happens in this book I am inclined to forever think of her as Amandine the Lying Bitch. Another of her family might have been mentioned before, but I can't recall it now, someone Toby had never met, but she gets the chance here.
Several books back, and I think several years in Toby's life, she and Tybalt became a couple. Unfortunately, different adventures came up, sometimes keeping them apart. If things would ever settle down (not likely) they might actually be able to take the plunge and get married. That's the plan of course, but… This book begins at Toby's bachelorette party, held at a local bar where many of the regular customers (but not all) are fae or changeling. When Toby and May (originally her Fetch, now her sister) get home, Toby wants to spend the rest of the night with Tybalt, and May wants to spend her time with her girlfriend Jasmine (Jazz). But then…Amandine happens. She wants Toby to find someone who has been missing a long time; her other daughter, August, the half-sister Toby has never seen. Apparently August had set out on a quest about 100 years before, an attempt to enter the deeper fae realm to find their progenitor, Oberon, in hopes of getting him to accept the rest of the fae back under his protection. Granted, Toby is a private investigator over and above being a changeling in service to her liege lord, Duke Sylvester Torquill of Shadowed Hills, and she has many skills of deduction, as well as more fae powers now than she ever thought possible. But Amandine is one of the Firstborn, a direct descendant of Oberon, and her sister Annie, aka the Luidaeg, is another Firstborn. If they couldn't find August what chance did Toby have?
Toby had gone to Luidaeg several times before when she needed information, and in most cases she got the answers she needed. Barely. I'm still not sure who was responsible, maybe Oberon himself, or perhaps Maeve, but Luidaeg is always limited in what she can reveal, and she can only give an adequate answer if Toby words the question the right way. Luidaeg says she does not know where August is, but she was responsible for sending her on the journey towards Oberon, even though she warned August against it. Anyway, long story short, Toby asks her question in such a way Luidaeg is obligated to reveal how she helped August. Toby is accompanied by her squire Quentin Sollys, along with another person she doesn't like, and is loath to trust. Sylvester's twin brother Simon, August's father. He is the one who turned Toby into a fish in the first book. They do eventually find August, yet she does not know Toby, thinks Toby is a liar when she says they are sisters, and on top of that, due to the magic Luidaeg initially performed, does not recognize Simon as her father. August gives them the slip, venturing back into the mortal world, but Toby tracks her down again. Something else I don't want to reveal is the reason Toby agreed to Amandine's demands, and the reason she is furious with Amandine when they return with August, since Amandine doesn't care about fulfilling her end of the bargain. As I said earlier, she is a bitch. She had barely had any regard for Toby before, and now that she has August back, Toby is again persona non grata..
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The novella "Of Things Unknown" is only available as a bonus feature with either the print or digital version of The Brightest Fell. It is another story featuring characters and situations encountered before, in this case from the second novel, A Local Habitation. January O'Leary was Duke Sylvester's niece, the Countess of Tamed Lightning, until one of her employees went rogue, which resulted in her death. Her "daughter" April has a plan to bring her back to life. April had been a dryad, but January had been able to extract her essence, her vitality (April is reluctant to use the word soul), from her tree, in order to store that essence within the digital realm of the servers at her ALH electronics corporation. At that time January was able to adopt April as her daughter. Due to the vagaries of fae law, April is the new Countess, rather than January's wife, Li Qin, April's other "mother." Toby is summoned to help in a ritual to bring back to life the other ALH employees who had been killed, but April is prepared to abandon them if she is not able to manage what she needs and wants the most, bringing her mother back to life. The problem with that lies in the fact January's body no longer exists, unlike the others whose bodies have been preserved in the ALH basement for several years.
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Posted September 17, 2026
The other day on Facebook I posted about not liking spoilers, and that I had stumbled across one early in my reading of the October Daye books. But I have been told I reveal too many things in my "reviews" (more like synopses), but I try not to reveal major things. I give you a road map of the path the characters take, but limit comments on everything they see and do along the way. One thing about this book series is that everything that happens is cumulative, one revelation building on previous events. I am just trying to tell you why you should read them if you haven't already. Toby Daye is a remarkable character, but not perfect by any means. She has made mistakes, but some of those are the result of lack of information, lies and evasions of the truth from so many she thought she could trust. Even before what happened in the previous novel, Toby knew trusting her mother was off the table. However, the major revelation in Night and Silence involves her mother, which not only blew my mind, it was just as startling for Toby. It also makes me wonder about so many other things I thought I knew. It is such a bombshell I don't want to reveal it, but still tell you why this is another great book in the series.
I skirted around a few things about the previous book, and don't want to go back on that now, except I will say it involved Tybalt and Jasmine, both of whom are absent through most of this book. I will need to re-cap some things about Toby's previous adventures, including how she was the victim of a spell that turned her into a fish, spending fourteen years in a koi pond before she could shake off that spell. When she returned to her previous home, her fiancé Cliff (I originally thought they were already married) rejected her, and their daughter Gillian hardly remembered her at all. Gillian was about three when Toby disappeared, so seventeen when she returned. I don't know how many years have passed since then, but Gillian is a student at UC Berkeley. She had been kidnapped (fifth book, One Salt Sea), and when Toby found her gave Gillian the Choice: remain part fae, or become totally human. Gillian chose to be human, to go back to her father and her stepmother Miranda. That did not settle all her problems, since there would always be those who have a grudge against Toby, and Gillian is one way to get to her. Early one morning Toby is awakened by loud knocking at her door. It is Cliff and Miranda, informing her that Gillian is missing again, and essentially accusing Toby of the kidnapping.
Toby preferred not going out during the day, mainly because her magical ability of camouflage was not as good then, harder to hide her fae appearance. Even though Gillian had rejected her, Toby would never abandon her daughter in time of need. At least she had the help of her squire Quentin, whose magic was better, as well as May, and she implores Queen Arden to let her seneschal Madden accompany them. Madden is a Cu Sidhe, a canine-like fae, useful as a scent tracker. They are led to several deceptive dead-ends, but eventually follow a clue to where Gillian might be, and by whom she had been kidnapped. It wouldn't really be a spoiler to say Toby is successful in finding her daughter, but I won't tell you why she has not yet been returned to Cliff and Miranda by book's end. The bonus novella for this volume backtracks a bit, revealing Gillian's reaction to her ordeal. I won't reveal the novella's title since it might be considered a spoiler too. Tybalt is part of the rescue, but he still suffers from previous trauma. Part of the wrap-up to the novel is a return to the Kingdom of Silences in Oregon, and Toby and Tybalt take a side trip to Portland. I suspected it was to elope, but they had other reasons. I haven't looked ahead for info on the next novel, but based on its title it might follow up on what Gillian is up to. I may get to it next month.
Related links:
Go back to the beginning of the series, October Daye, Part 1.
Then continue with Part 2.
A list of all my Seanan McGuire reviews
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