A Killing Frost: October Daye, Book 14 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Book number fourteen of a sixteen book fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by DAW in 2021. I have the fifteenth book in the series and am reading that now.Many hundreds of years ago, the many of the fae left a far off land and landed on what would become the west coast of the United States. There they built their realms and fought their wars, both on the land and the sea. The humans do not know of their realms and their travels but, humans do not see everything. This is their story.October Daye (Toby), a Hero of the Realm, is getting ready to marry Tybalt, king of the cats. In order to get married, she must invite her legal father, Simon Torquill. But Simon has not been seen in years so Toby must find him.Please note that although the author and I share the same middle and last names, I do not know if we are related. We are McGuire's, there are many of us. I paid for my book and all of the books that I own written by her.

We have known for some time that Toby will have to find Simon. Simon was lost at the end of The Brightest Fell, when he sacrificed his way home in order to allow his daughter August to find hers. At the end of The Brightest Fell August demands that Toby bring Simon home. Toby refuses to do so immediately, but indicates her intention to do so eventually.Well, "eventually" has arrived. Patrick informs her that that unless she invites Simon, legally her father, to her wedding with Tybalt, she will be in a heap of trouble. So, that is the problem Toby needs to solve. And we know from The Brightest Fell that there are two difficulties. First, she needs to find Simon, who is an ally of her deadly enemy Evening Winterrose. Second, when he gave up his way home for August, Simon lost his memory of August, his wife Amandine, and his friendship with Toby. That will have to be fixed if he is to participate in a helpful way in Toby's wedding. Remember, the deal that August (foolishly) made was that her way home would not be restored until Oberon was found. Simon took on that obligation in her stead.Now, as usual in the October Daye books, the big mysteries are about the past. I will not reveal here whether Simon finds his way home.I was a little disappointed by A Killing Frost, and I can't really say why. It just seemed a little flaccid to me, somehow. I didn't feel the keen tension of curiosity that the earlier books aroused. Thus four stars instead of five.The book also contains the novella Shine in Pearl, which I will review separately.

So here we are at book 14 in the series. According to the blurb we know that:"When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past."Prepare yourself. Toby has to go looking for Simon, who has forgotten everything after trading places with August, which means he's also forgotten he loves Toby, and was none too thrilled with his service to the Winterrose.* Good times! Great way for a girl to prepare for her wedding! Going back onto the Rose Road is going to be loads of fun not just because of Simon's forgetting everything but because it means that Tobes gets to go ask her liege Sylvester's angry plant-based wife Luna for assistance that Luna won't want to give. And it all puts Toby on a path to a truly stunning series of events. The outcome of these events is going to track through quite a few novels ahead and for sure there will be a great deal of drama that stems from events herein. Even just the fact that Toby promises to expand Chez Daye for someone will have wild implications.This installment left me so happy for some of the characters I can't tell you. And it sealed my conviction that something is up with some other characters, too. Prepare for amazing things! Prepare for justice and happiness (for those who deserve it) and prepare to be amazed at what you never saw coming.*Full confession: A big part of me was glad that Toby goes looking for Simon because what happened to him really hurt my heart. He loves both his daughters and the unfairness of being so lost was pretty raw.I received a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I have no intention of spoiling this book for anyone. If you have enjoyed following the trials and travails of October Daye from the beginning, then you should read this book. If, however, you have not, then you should start with Rosemary and Rue.That's because this book (like the two before it) is immensely satisfying for existing readers, furthering the story while illuminating previously unknown parts of the world McGuire has built. However, it also mentions, builds on, or otherwise includes elements from previous books. While Toby does her best to signpost them in her narration (the book is told in first person), enough to remind loyal readers, I'm not sure that a complete newbie would get as much out of it.A complication of Faerie Law makes it imperative for Toby to find and restore Simon Torquill, the Fae noble who turned her into a fish before the start of the first book ... and who also happens to be the father of her half-sister, and who is currently half out of his mind and at large as the result of ... see, even attempting to summarise the main plot driver is complicated. Suffice to say she has to find him in order to get married, and sets off on a quest that rapidly becomes far more than she had planned for.But ignore my poor précis, and instead read this book because it has all the things that make this series so beloved: sparkling dialogue, complex plotting, multi-layered characterisation, and clever writing.I enjoy any chance to spend time with Toby and her coterie of friends and acquaintances, despite her tendency to bleed on everything ... and this latest book in the series is no exception.

I don't think there has been a book in this series that I didn't devour with absolute enjoyment and this one continues that tradition admirably.

Difficult to believe but after so many books, the story remains as fresh as ever and still has places to go.Loved and still loving the heroine and world building in this set of books.

as a kid, I devoured books constantly - sometimes multiple a day. nowadays, its very hard to find time for reading.for seanan mcguire I ALWAYS find the time.A truly amazing urban fantasy series. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Ich mag Octobers Abenteuer seit dem ersten Buch. Zum Inhalt von Kiling Frost sage ich nicht viel-will nicht Spoilern ;) Nach mittlerweile 14 Büchern sind manche Passagen langatmig, vieles wiederholt sich und manchmal fragte ich mich, ob man dies oder das nicht doch hätte etwas kürzen oder ganz weglassen können, dann wäre das Buch eventuell etwas zu kurz und natürlich ist es schwer für eine Story, die schon so lange besteht, noch genügend Überraschungen und neue Handlungsstränge zu finden.Manche Dialoge und Wortgefechte werden sooft wiederholt, dass sie leider schon an Witz und Unterhaltungswert verlieren und so manches kommt mir in diesem Teil zu gewollt und erzwungen vor.Nichts desto trotz habe ich auch dieses Abenteuer fast ohne Pause durchgelesen, manche Stellen halt schneller und nur überflogen ;)Immer mehr Geheinisse und Zusammenhänge werden aufgedeckt und machen neugierig auf unweigerlich folgende Konsequenzen und natürlich weitere Probleme, Verschwörungen und Verstrickungen. Toby stürzt sich Hals über Kopf und mit Galgenhumor in die nächste Gefahr um dem eigenen HappyEverAfter endlich näher zu kommen und ihre Liebsten zu schützen, nur um dann wieder in Blut, nicht zwingend ihr eigenes, förmlich zu schwimmen. Dabei kommt raus, dass manch gehasste Person mehr Opfer als Täter und am Ende sympathischer als manch eine der einst geliebten ist und dass ein paar vermeintlich unwichtige Randfiguren doch eine größere Rolle in der Geschichte gespielt haben/spielen als zuvor angenommen. Die Beziehungen zwischen den Figuren, nicht nur den Hauptfiguren, werden immer komplexer und lösen unweigerlich die Frage auf ob da doch noch mehr dahintersteckt?Dazu die gewohnt liebe- und fantasievoll beschriebene Anderwelt mit all ihren schönen und schrecklichen Wundern und Kreaturen-Ich freue mich schon auf (hoffentlich) noch folgende Abenteuer. :)

Note: this is an urban fantasy series with an elaborate world building, complicated relationships and family ties and I strongly recommend to start at the beginning with „Rosemary and Rue“ and read the books in the intended order.ReviewFirst I have to tell you that the „October Daye“ series is one of my favorite top three and, yes, I am a fan through and through. So when reading my review, you should take that into account: Seanan McGuire can literally do no wrong for me here.And again I loved Toby’s quest, how she dealt with it and how awesomely it turned out. It all starts harmless enough: Toby and May are mostly dealing with the wedding preparations, when Toby is made aware that she has to invite her father to her wedding or offering offense to him, his family and his line. According to faery law this would be Simon Torquill who is suffering from a curse he took over for his daughter August. She was able to find her way home and he lost it. He also lost the ability to remember that he tried to make it up to Toby and others, what he had done in the service of his First, Eira Rosynwhyr. He essentially became a villain. And yet Toby needs to find and invite him, because the consequences of Eira being able to claim offense against Toby would be bad. Really really bad.So Toby sets out to find Simon and due to one of Karen‘s predictions, she only takes May and Quentin with her. I can’t tell any more about the plot without spoiling it, but since it is Toby on a quest things go haywire pretty soon. And there were a few really scary moments that made the story all the more entertaining. The twist in the end I did not see coming and I’m excited about the implications for the future. On Goodreads I saw that there would be at least three more books and I’m so happy about that.