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"
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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 Maeve, 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, but 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 again, 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 basement for several years.
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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