Chimes at Midnight is the seventh book in the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. While fighting the goblin fruit epidemic in the city, Toby searches for the rightful ruler of the Kingdom in the Mists.
| “ | We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow. | ” |
–William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part II | ||
Synopsis[]
Author's Description[]
POMEGRANATES FULL AND FINE
The goblin fruit problems in the Mists are getting worse, and changelings are dying. It's hard for October "Toby" Daye not to blame herself, especially since she still holds herself partially responsible for the death of her old mentor, Devin, who was once a major factor in keeping goblin fruit off the San Francisco streets. With him gone, there are no barriers. Something has to change.
But change is hard, and always comes with a cost. How much will Toby have to pay, and how many old bills will come due, before she can save her city—and more, before she can save herself?
Chimes at Midnight is the seventh book in the October Daye series, a modern urban fantasy set in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the Faerie Kingdom of the Mists which overlays Northern California. It was released in North America by DAW Books on September 3rd, 2013.
Back Cover[]
Things are starting to look up for October "Toby" Daye. She's training her squire, doing her job, and has finally allowed herself to grow closer to the local King of Cats. It seems like her life may finally be settling down...at least until dead changelings start appearing in the alleys of San Francisco, killed by an overdose of goblin fruit.
Toby's efforts to take the problem to the Queen of the Mists are met with harsh reprisals, leaving her under sentence of exile from her home and everyone she loves. Now Toby must find a way to reverse the Queens decree, get the goblin fruit off the streets—and, oh, yes, save her own life, since more than a few of her problems have once again followed her home. And then there's the question of the Queen herself, who seems increasingly unlikely to have a valid claim to the throne...
To find the answers, October and her friends will have to travel from the legendary Library of Stars into the hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists —and they'll have to do it fast, because time is running out. In faerie, some fates are worse than death.
October Daye is about to find out what they are.[1]
Plot[]
Chapter 1: Toby and her allies search the San Francisco streets for victims of goblin fruit. They find a changeling dead of overdose and wait for the night haunts to collect her body. Devin's night haunt berates Toby for allowing goblin fruit into the city. May tells him off and the night-haunts dismiss them all, even May, so they can eat.
Chapter 2: Toby takes Devin's words to heart, but the others reassure her. At home, Toby tells everyone to dress for a court visit, and she chats with Tybalt in her room while she gets ready.
Chapter 3: Though they all travel to the Queen's knowe together, Tybalt and Toby bypass the water entrance via the Shadow Roads. The Queen replaces Toby's gown with another but only changes the shoelaces on her sneakers. Toby begs the Queen to ban goblin fruit, but the Queen dismisses her because she herself is the distributor. She doesn't care about the safety of changelings. Toby argues, and the Queen banishes her from the Kingdom in the Mists; Toby has three days to pack up and leave.
Chapter 4: On the ride to the Luidaeg, Toby explains to Quentin her hate of goblin fruit. He notes that his father hates it as well. She and Tybalt make out after sending Quentin on a burrito run; he is disgusted to find them making out when he returns. When they reach the Luidaeg, they learn she hates goblin fruit for almost destroying the local Selkie community some years back. Although she cannot tell Toby directly how to get around her exile, she tells Toby to talk to people who knew King Gilad.
Chapter 5: Toby asks Tybalt about Gilad, but his knowledge is limited. She remembers that Gilad attended Patrick and Dianda's wedding. They visit Goldengreen and Dean happily summons his parents for them. Dianda easily states that the Queen is not Gilad's blood heir; she had no Tuatha de Dannan blood. Toby decides the best course of action is to overthrow the false Queen.
Chapter 6: They decide to find proof that the Queen isn't Gilad's true heir. May and Quentin vow to follow Toby into banishment if need be, while Tybalt says he would need to put affairs in order in his Court but would eventually follow her as well. Toby calls Li Qin to get access to the Library of the Stars, and Li Qin gives her directions. Toby, Quentin, and Tybalt meet the Librarian, Mags, who fetches them a pile of books on King Gilad.
Chapter 7: Mags reveals that she has met Gilad's true children, though no one consulted her when the Queen took the throne. Gilad kept his children and lover secret from most of Faerie to keep them safe.
When they return to the Luidaeg, they find the Queen's guards keeping watch on Toby's usual haunts. When the Luidaeg learns of their presence, she curses them to an indefinite slumber. Toby asks about Arden, who the Luidaeg named to open up the knowe at Muir Woods. The Luideag gives her charmed fireflies to help find the missing princess.
Chapter 8: Toby releases a firefly on the Shadow Roads so she and Tybalt can quickly find Arden's location. They are led to a coffee shop in Toby's own neighborhood that had been glamoured to be unnoticeable. They enter the store and are directed to the adjoining bookshop, where Arden is working as a store clerk. Arden rejects them, fearing they were sent by the Queen, but after Toby and Tybalt reassure her she takes them to a a secret room in the shop basement where she has been hiding. She claims she would rather stay in hiding where she is safer and tells them how both her parents died, not in the earthquake of 1906 as everyone believes, but murdered, likely by Oleander. She shows them her brother Nolan, who the Queen had elf-shot after he considered rising up against her. Arden says she has no allies to form a revolution, but Toby happily disagrees.
Chapter 10: They take Arden and Nolan to Goldengreen, introduce her to the Lordens, and meet the reinforcements from Saltmist.
Chapter 11: They leave Arden to speak with the Saltmist delegation. Toby bribes the pixies to scatter her hair ribbons, left over from visiting the Queen, across the city to mislead the Queen's spies. Toby and Quentin travel to Shadowed Hills. Before they can enter the knowe, someone hits Toby in the face with a goblin fruit pie and she passes out.
Chapter 12: Karen tries to wake Toby up in a dream, but Toby won't listen. Connor appears in her dreams as well. After some time, Karen encourages Toby to draw on her own blood for power, which finally allows her to wake up. She learns that while unconscious, she has shifted her own blood to be almost fully human in order to get a better high from the goblin fruit. Toby tries to shift herself back, but is too weak.
Chapter 13: The next time she wakes, Sylvester is at her bedside and Quentin is relieved to see her as well. Tybalt, on the other hand, had been sent away by Sylvester while Toby was out. Toby yells at Sylvester and struggles to get up. She calls May and learns that May and Tybalt weren't even told what was wrong with her and have been worrying for nearly half a day. Toby is furious with Sylvester. Tybalt arrives and bodily threatens Sylvester, who allows him to vent. Tybalt is surprised to find Toby nearly human but quickly adjusts.
Chapter 14: Toby, Quentin, and Tybalt head to the Library, but the Shadow Roads hurt Toby and she has to soothe their worries over her. Tybalt must carry her through the glamour hiding the Library because she cannot see through it herself. She updates Mags, and her explanation of Amandine's bloodline serves as her payment for the information they gather at the Library. Toby is horrified to realize she no longer craves coffee; the goblin fruit has become the greater addiction. Toby looks for information on hope chests, needing a way to turn herself fae again, and realizes the key Evening had given her years ago would have opened Evening's hope chest.
Chapter 15: Tybalt takes Toby to visit Walther, who is experimenting on open containers of goblin fruit in his lab. Toby must use her own blood as a distraction from the fruit. Walther takes a sample of her blood and crystallizes it into lozenges that she can use to stave off the addiction, then promises to work on an antidote.
Chapter 16: They revisit the Luidaeg, who cannot tell Toby where to find a hope chest but makes blood lozenges of her own for when Toby's cravings get really bad.
Chapter 17: Toby asks Tybalt to search for Amandine in case they can't find a hope chest to turn Toby fae again. She also needs some distance from his worry and protectiveness if she's going to do her job. Reluctantly, they part.
Chapter 18: Toby uses a firefly to help her see past basic illusions since she is so weak. She takes a couple blood lozenges to stave off her hunger. She and Quentin return to Goldengreen, and the crossing into the Summerlands nearly debilitates her. Once she recovers, she learns that the Queen has arrested Dianda for treason, Arden fled, and Nolan is also missing. Patrick promises to keep Dianda's arrest quiet long enough for them to attempt a rescue and prevent war with Undersea.
Chapter 19: Danny drives Toby and Quentin to Borderlands, using another firefly to see the shop. Toby is starting to get withdrawal tremors and takes another blood lozenge, this time one of the Luidaeg's. She sees a glimpse of memory of the Luidaeg arguing with Amandine over shifting the younger Toby's blood.
Before the enter the store, Toby realizes they are being watched by the Queen's guard. She orders Quentin to cast a hide-and-seek, then for them to scatter and run. She calls May and asks Jazz's flock to mob the guards; they arrive quickly to help and Toby's allies enter Borderlands undetected.
Chapter 20: They go to the basement and are confronted by Madden. Arden portals in and threatens Toby with a knife. Danny grabs Arden, but Toby makes him release her. Toby pleads with Arden to rejoin the coup, but Arden is freaking out about Nolan being taken by the Queen. They argue until Quentin jumps in and declares that he understands the responsibility of being royal because he is the Crown Prince of the Westlands. Arden still objects, but accidentally shows loyalty to "her" kingdom, and Toby declares that she is still invested in this fight.
Madden senses intruders and Toby realizes she is being tracked by the shoelaces the Queen gave her, which she had never bothered to remove. Arden teleports the sneakers far away while the others hide in the secret room. Madden intercepts the intruders as a friendly dog and they eventually go away. Quentin explains his history to Toby, who is shocked that his parents trust him in her care after all the danger she's put him in. Arden agrees to reclaim the throne in order to rescue her brother.
Chapter 21: Toby introduces Arden to her housemates and picks up supplies at home. Tybalt greets Toby passionately and says Amandine is missing, her tower completely closed up. He asks if Toby would prefer to remain as a near-mortal, pledging to stand by her either way, but Toby recognizes that she has created a meaningful life for herself in the world of Faerie. As they all gear up, Toby explains her plans to retake Muir Woods and overthrow the Queen. Quentin affirms that the High King would support Arden's claim. Toby sends Jazz and Quentin to the Library for safekeeping. She also encourages Tybalt's cats to act as an early warning system in Muir Woods, although they cannot interfere directly in matters of the Divided Courts. She also asks him to update Sylvester, which he initially resists given their most recent conflict.
Chapter 22: May remembers Gilad from when she was a night haunt; his children were a loyally-kept secret among his servants. Toby is getting antsy from withdrawal so May doses her with a goblin fruit sandwich. Toby bites May to ground herself in the blood before the high takes her too far. Their arguing finally convinces Arden that Toby is genuinely the daughter of the Firstborn Amandine. Arden shares that Oleander sent Gilad on a quest to find Amandine right before he died, but he failed and the earthquake resulted.
They arrive at Muir Woods. The knowe resists Arden at first, but she gives it blood to prove her claim. They disable an assortment of traps and reclaim the knowe.
Chapter 23: They clean up while they wait for reinforcements, identifying traps and preparing the receiving room. Melly and Ormond arrive to help and Sylvester swears his fealty and support to Arden, with Tybalt advising her on royal protocols. Arden sends a challenge to the false Queen.
Tybalt and Toby travel to the Queen's knowe to rescue Nolan. The Shadow Roads are rough on Toby, but Tybalt too is hurt when they arrive; carrying a near-mortal through the Shadow Roads violated their internal rules, and he is dying. The night haunts arrive and Toby bargains with them to wait to take Tybalt while she searches for the hope chest.
Chapter 24: Toby finds Dianda's and cell breaks her out, though Dianda doesn't trust her at first with her changed face. They encounter several sets of guards and take them out, Dianda switching to merrow form to fight. Toby finds the hope chest and eats a few of the Luidaeg's blood lozenges before passing out.
Chapter 25: Toby is faced with another Changeling's Choice, this time administered by her subconscious, to see whether she can shift herself fae enough to survive the goblin fruit. Toby, not liking to be forced into binary decisions, chooses both fae and mortal, putting her at a roughly even distribution. When she wakes, she can no longer bear the touch of her iron knife and flings it away.
Toby runs the hope chest to Tybalt where the night haunts are still watching over him. Connor's haunt shows her how to feed Tybalt the chest's magic, and he wakens. They encounter more guards facing off against Dianda and Tybalt releases some of his pent-up tension in the fight. They defeat the guards and persuade them to change allegiances.
Chapter 26: The guards show them Nolan's cell, and deep pit lined with iron that is practically a death sentence. Toby is the only one who can handle entering, and even then it is difficult. She loses her strength as she brings Nolan back up the stairs. Tybalt joins her to help and a guard shuts them in, pledging loyalty to the false Queen.
Chapter 27: Tybalt cannot access the Shadow Roads surrounded by so much iron. He asks Toby to use the hope chest to turn herself mortal and save herself, but she refuses. Instead, she tastes Nolan's blood to absorb enough of his Tuatha de Dannan powers to teleport them all out.
Toby contacts Mags to ask about curing iron poisoning, from which all three of them are suffering. Mags suggests a magical artifact rumored to be in the Queen's treasury. They succeed in curing themselves and then find Dianda, who has subdued the double-crossing guard sand turned the rest to their side.
Chapter 28: Lowri, a guard who originally came from Silences, drives them to Muir Woods. The false Queen's men are guarding the knowe but easily let them all enter. Toby leaves Lowri guarding Nolan outside with a promise to recommend her to Arden for her loyalty. As they enter the knowe, Tybalt becomes almost robotic and Toby realizes the Queen is using her Siren powers of control. Toby quickly plugs her own ears and confronts the Queen, who has control of all Toby's gathered allies. The Queen orders May to slit her own throat and Toby can only watch, trusting that May is truly indestructible. Then the Queen orders Toby's allies to attack her.
Chapter 29: Toby grabs Arden and uses Arden's blood to teleport them both to another part of the knowe. Melly and Ormond help them plug Arden's ears and they return to the receiving room, where Toby sneaks up on the Queen. She accesses the Queen's blood and removes the Siren from her heritage. She considers removing more to make the Queen truly harmless, but considers it too much of a violation. When she returns to her own awareness, the Queen's spell has been broken and she is defeated.
Chapter 30: Toby and allies attend Arden's coronation, and the High King and Queen publicly support Arden's claim to the throne.
Characters[]
Major[]
Allies[]
- October Daye: Dóchas Sidhe changeling, blood balance in flux but settles roughly evenly. Knight to Shadowed Hills. Hero of the Mists.
- Quentin Sollys: Daoine Sidhe, blind foster to Shadowed Hills, squire to Toby, Crown Prince of the Westlands.
- May Daye: Toby's Fetch and roommate, called Mai by the night-haunts
- Tybalt: Cait Sidhe King of Cats, Toby's boyfriend
- Arden Windermere: Tuatha de Dannan, exiled princess of the Kingdom in the Mists
- Luidaeg: Firstborn, sea witch, lives in San Francisco. Also called Antigone of Albany.
Antagonists[]
- Queen of the Mists: Banshee/Sea Wight/Siren(removed), deposed
Minor[]
- Sylvester Torquill: Daoine Sidhe, Duke, father-figure to Toby
- Melly and Ormond: Hob servants
- Grianne: Candela knight
- Jazz: Raven-maid, May's live-in girlfriend
- Magdealena Brooke, called Mags: Puca, Librarian in the Library of the Stars
- Spike: rose goblin, Toby's pet
- Karen Brown: oneiromancer, Toby's adoptive niece
- Danny MacReady: Bridge Troll, Toby's ally
- Raj: Cait Sidhe Prince of Cats, Tybalt's heir, Toby's unofficial squire
- Cagney and Lacey: Toby's mortal cats
- Nolan Windermere: Tuatha de Dannan, Prince of the Kingdom in the Mists, elf-shot
- Madden: Cu Sidhe, Arden's loyal companion
- Jude: human shopkeeper
- Ripley: mortal hairless cat
- Lowri: Glastig, former guard of the Queen of the Mists, formerly of the Kingdom of Silences, allegiance shifted to Arden
- Dean Lorden: Merrow/Daoine Sidhe, teenage Count of Goldengreen
- Marcia: thin-blooded changeling, seneschal of Goldengreen
- Dianda Lorden: Merrow, Duchess of Saltmist, Dean’s mother
- Patrick Lorden: Daoine Sidhe, Duke of Saltmist, Dean’s father
- Li Qin Zhou: Shyi Shuai, acting Countess of Dreamer's Glass
- Devin (deceased, night haunt): Toby's old mentor
- Oleander de Merelands (deceased, night haunt): Toby's old foe, assassain
- Connor (deceased, night haunt): Toby's old boyfriend
Mentioned[]
- Connie: Danny's mechanic
- Samson (deceased): Cait Sidhe, Raj's father
- Aethlin Sollys: High King, Quentin's father
- Maida Sollys: High Queen, Quentin's mother
- Amandine: Firstborn, Toby's mother, "Last Among the First"
- Blind Michael (deceased): Firstborn, stealer of children
- Eira Rosynhwyr: Firstborn, possessed a hope chest
- Gentle Annie: Firstborn
- Black Annis: Firstborn, also called
- Gilad Windermere (deceased): Tuatha de Dannan, former King in the Mists
- Arden and Nolan's mother (deceased): a servant in Gilad's household
- Treasa Riordan: Daoine Sidhe, missing Countess of Dreamer's Glass
- Evening Winterrose (deceased): Former Countess of Goldengreen
Places[]
- High Kingdom of the Westlands (North America), ruled by Aethlin and Maida Sollys
- Kingdom in the Mists, ruled by the Queen of the Mists
- Shadowed Hills, ruled by Sylvester and Luna Torquill
- Court of Cats, ruled by Tybalt (mentioned)
- San Francisco
- Goldengreen
- Borderlands Books and Cafe
- Muir Woods
- Toby's house
- Luidaeg's home
- UC Berkeley
- Kingdom of Silences (mentioned)
- Kingdom in the Mists, ruled by the Queen of the Mists
- Faerie
- Amandine's Tower (mentioned)
- Shadow Roads, accessible by Cait Sidhe
Continuity[]
Debts[]
- Toby owes the pixies three bags of cheeseburgers and fries per week for the next month for helping her confuse the Queen's guards.
- Presumably paid off by her next adventure, four months later[2]
- Li Qin is banking more favors from Toby for an as-yet-unspecified request.[3]
- Toby owes Li Qin for helping rescue Chelsea; Li Qin owes Toby for the acquisition of Dreamer's Glass. Li Qin seems to feel that the second outweighs the first, and is happy to do Toby more favors so she can shift the scale more to her side.
- Toby considers Sylvester indebted to her and Tybalt after keeping Tybalt away from her bedside.
- Toby is indebted to the night haunts for waiting to take Tybalt. They may ask anything of her except for murder.
- Toby remains indebted to the Luidaeg for previous favors.[4][5] The Luidaeg's favors in this adventure - the fireflies, the blood lozenges - seem to be absorbed into her running tab, but the Luidaeg is still keeping score.[6]
Current Book[]
- Quentin's heritage
- Quentin has hints of a Toronto accent.
- He says he has met princesses before, "not here."
- Toby's coffee addiction is especially strong during this adventure, until...well, it isn't.
- Toby passes out a lot during this adventure
- Hope chests have names. Evening's was called Goldengreen.
- Cait Sidhe and Raven-maids both protect their thin-blooded changelings better than the rest of Faerie
- The Luidaeg notes, "Right now, you're basically a merlin. Ten, maybe fifteen percent fae." when Toby visits her in Chapter 16.
- Goblin fruit "wreaked hell" with the Selkie community two hundred years ago.
- Mags blushes to hear the Luidaeg is in San Francisco. They used to know each other.
- Tybalt knows what it's like to try to refuse a throne. He still ended up claiming it.
- The Queen has always been identified as Banshee/Siren mix. Presumably, she kept the Sea Wight aspect secret until Toby rode her blood.
- Quentin and Dean greet each other rather stiffly, though they met when Dean was rescued from Rayseline and Oleander.[7]
Past Books[]
- Toby was hunting for goblin fruit in the months after Connor's death.[3]
- Devin didn't allow it into San Francisco; he kept it out for 100 years.
- Toby's car has been repaired after the Alfanc incident.[3]
- Toby recieved her iron dagger from Acacia,[4] and her silver dagger from Dare.[8]
- The iron knife is now lost somewhere among the Queen's treasury.
- Raj and Quentin essentially lived in Goldengreen while it belonged to Toby and explored it thoroughly.[7]
- Toby tries never to break a bargain with a pixie, who often tip their spears with poison.[8]
- Call back to Evening's murder investigation and watching over her hope chest.[8]
Future Books[]
- The Luidaeg can't come out of retirement whether or not she wishes to.[9]
- The Queen went to war with the Kingdom of Silences because they protested her treatment of changelings.[10]
- The Firstborn scattered and broken after what happened to their parents.[11]
- The Luidaeg remembers kissing a blond woman on the beach.[12]
- August:[6]
- A silvery-red-haired girl visits Borderland books.
- Toby is the only niece the Luidaeg is currently speaking to - but not the only one who exists.
- Amandine had compelling reasons for threatening the Kingdom in the Mists with an earthquake a hundred years ago.
Suspected foreshadowing (unconfirmed)[]
- "I was pretty sure that the day I saw the Luidaeg's true form would either be the day she killed me, or the day when I had much bigger things to worry about."
- The Queen fears that an unspecified "she" will kill her for having lost the throne.
Quotes[]
Cultural References[]
- "We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow." -William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part II
- Refers to staying awake through the midnight bells and experiencing impressive adventures. Spoken by Falstaff, who has created himself a false story of heroism.
- The Queen of the Mists created a false story of herself as Gilad's heir, though her deception is now falling apart.
- "Better to float away like Ophelia, each to their own private river, and drown in peace, rather than living such troubled lives." -Queen of the Mists
- The Queen justifies letting changelings die from goblin fruit because they are such wretched creatures. Basically, eugenics.
- Barbies, the Labyrinth, Alcatraz
Concerning Toby[]
- “Is there any time in your life when you do not feel the need for caffeine?" "Sure. Sometimes I'm asleep.”
- “When you decide it's time to up the ante on getting into deep shit, you don't mess around, do you? You're just like, hey, what's the worst that can happen? That's the worst that can happen? Great. Let's do that.” -Luidaeg
- “Half the things I’ve accomplished in my life have been because I was too pissed off to realize that they weren’t possible.”
- “You got out of bed. The universe does seem to take that as a personal affront.” -Tybalt(?)
- “You know, I did not sign up for a crazy fairy tale scavenger hunt this week.”
- “Prove it’s you.” / “I’m the one who stole all the peppermint brownies before the Midwinter Festival,” I said, without hesitation. / “Which year?” Ormond shot back. / “Uh, every year.”
- “Believing in you is not your job,” said Tybalt mildly. “It’s ours.”
References[]
- ↑ http://seananmcguire.com/cam.php
- ↑ The Winter Long
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ashes of Honor
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 An Artificial Night
- ↑ Late Eclipses
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Brightest Fell
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 One Salt Sea
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Rosemary and Rue
- ↑ Chimes at Midnight, ch. 4
- ↑ A Red-Rose Chain
- ↑ Chimes at Midnight, ch. 19
- ↑ In Sea-Salt Tears