Late Eclipses is the fourth book in the October Day October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. Toby races to save her friends from a mysterious illness and learns secrets about her own family.
| “ | These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us: though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by the sequent effects: love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide: in cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked twixt son and father... | ” |
–William Shakespeare, King Lear | ||
Synopsis[]
Author's Description[]
IT'S DARKEST JUST BEFORE THE DAWN
With Blind Michael and his Hunt safely behind her, October "Toby" Daye is doing her best to settle back into a normal routine—or as normal of a routine as she can manage, with her personal Fetch now paying half the rent. Still, things seem to be mostly under control...until the events of a single night send everything reeling. Now, with the Queen of the Mists watching her back and the Lady of the Tea Gardens deathly ill, Toby has no choice but to get involved, no matter how much she wants to avoid it.
The trials ahead will be some of the worst faced by Toby and her strange band of allies, and not even Tybalt will be able to escape totally unscathed. What's worse, the Luidaeg is unavailable to help them. This time, they're on their own. And people keep making Toby wear dresses, which is just adding insult to dangerous injury...
Late Eclipses is the fourth 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 March 1, 2011.[1]
Back Cover[]
Two years ago, October "Toby" Daye believed she could leave the world of Faerie behind. She was wrong. Now she finds herself in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, sharing an apartment with her Fetch, and maintaining an odd truce with Tybalt, the local King of Cats. It's a delicate balance—one that's shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended.
Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past as an enemy she thought was gone forever raises her head once more: Oleander de Merelands, one of the two people responsible for her fourteen-year exile. But if Oleander's back, what's her game? Where is she hiding? And what part does Toby's mother, Amandine, have to play?
Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher. For the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda, and there are more players in this game than Toby can guess. With everything on the line, she will have to take the ultimate risk to save herself and the people she loves most—because if she can't find the missing pieces of the puzzle in time, Toby will be forced to make the one choice she thought she'd never have to face again…
Plot[]
Chapter 1: Toby, May, and Danny shop for groceries; May has unofficially moved in with Toby now that Toby’s death seems less-than-imminent.
Chapter 2-3: Toby is summoned to the Court of the Mists. The three stop at home to disarm before racing to the Queen’s knowe, where they find the full court waiting for their arrival. Tybalt greets them and preemptively apologizes before kissing Toby on the mouth. Toby enjoys the moment before Tybalt breaks the kiss and loudly claiming their accounts settled; he did not want to appear allied to her given what was about to occur. The Queen arrives and asks Toby to recount the fall of Blind Michael. She appoints Toby Countess of Goldengreen in recognition, and then Walther arrives to announce that Lily is deathly ill. Toby makes a scene by slapping Tybalt, and then then May and Tybalt publicly argue so that Toby can slip away.
Chapter 4-5: Walther takes her to the Tea Gardens, where he and Marcia are at a loss. Lily is fading back into water and makes Toby promise to take care of her subjects when she is gone. Toby calls the Luidaeg for advice, but the sea witch can only give her limited information. Marcia is touched by Toby’s dedication, especially after being a prisoner in the Tea Gardens for so long.
Chapter 6-7: Tybalt takes Toby home via the Shadow Roads, and Toby wishes she could call upon the absent Amandine for help. Karen visits her dreams to show a memory of Oleander visiting Amandine, Oleander threatening Toby and Amandine returning with a threat to change the balance of Oleander’s blood. When she wakes up, Toby checks in at the Tea Gardens and the Brown home before getting ready for the Beltane Ball. May magically alters the dress made by the Queen, having more magic than Toby as a technical pureblood, and the two head to Shadowed Hills.
Chapter 8-10: At the ball, Quentin accompanies Toby and May introduces Jazz, her date. A servant hands Toby a drink before she dances with Sylvester and then Connor, but she pauses the dance at the scent of Oleander’s magic. Toby follows the scent to the balcony and finds only Luna, who collapses. Toby calls for help and they take Luna to Jin. She learns that Connor never alerted the guards and was knocked out to prevent him from going for help. Sylvester's knights don’t believe that Oleander is the culprit, suspicious of Toby instead, and Sylvester has a panic attack at the combination of Luna’s condition and the thought of Toby confronting Oleander alone. Jin magically subdues him, but isn’t sure how to treat Lily or Luna. Toby is given leave to investigate further, although the Ball is ended and the guests dispersed, making investigation much harder. Toby has a headache even though she hasn’t been using much magic.
Chapter 11: Rayseline accuses Toby of harming Luna and points out that Toby could be executed for killing Blind Michael. She banishes Toby from Shadowed Hills, knowing her father is too distraught to counter the order. Quentin defends her, but Toby tells him to stay safely in Shadowed Hills.
Chapter 12-14: May glamours the car, and Toby is feeling off-balance as she drops May off at home before visiting the Tea Gardens. A pixie hands her an oleander flower, and she spots the woman herself. Toby chases Oleander through the park, contemplating killing her, but when she slows she finds no footprints indicating Oleander’s passage. Tybalt arrives and confirms that there was no one else, Oleander or otherwise, around, but he believes her when she says she was chasing Oleander. He points out Toby’s exhaustion and volunteers his help.
They find Marcia and learn that Lily has gotten worse. All Lily’s people are gathered, frightened. Lily thanks Toby and Tybalt for their help. She says that she and Amandine had parted ways over Toby and Amandine’s time as a Faerie Bride. Lily passes away, her body returning to water, and Toby allows Tybalt to comfort her. Marcia and Lily’s subjects worry about their future, and Toby sends them to Goldengreen for safekeeping. She also makes plans to visit Walther’s lab.
Chapter 14-15: When she arrives home, May is distraught. Her appearance has reverted back to mimicking Toby’s, suggesting that both their deaths are near. After Toby gets a nap, Connor checks in to tell them that Rayseline is out for Toby’s blood. Tybalt calls next, and Toby notices that Spike is extra sleepy. Manuel visits her home demanding the return of Dare’s knife and blaming Toby for Dare’s death; Toby refuses and Manuel threatens her before leaving. With a killer headache, Toby heads out to meet with Tybalt.
Chapter 16: At Golden Gate Park, Toby hides her car with a marsh charm but gets a disproportionately high magic burn that makes her throw up. Tybalt takes her deep into the Kingdom of Cats, an act that would be treason were he not their King. He shows her a room full of ill Cait Sidhe, the vulnerable subjects who cannot hunt for themselves, who have been poisoned with bad meat. Some have died. Toby collects some meat to get tested by Walther and dismisses Tybalt’s pledge of owing her for it, believing this is the same culprit who is targeting Lily and Luna. Raj brings her a meat sample and reveals that his mom has died; Toby comforts him and is pleased that Tybalt didn’t tell him he’s not allowed to cry.
Chapter 17-18: Oleander confronts Toby at her car and they trade insults, but when Toby tries to grab her Oleander seems to teleport a few feet away. She taunts Toby to tears, telling Toby she’s getting the changeling madness. Tybalt slaps Toby out of her panic and swears Oleander hadn’t been near Toby. Toby asks Tybalt to kill her if she really is going crazy, and he vows to do so.
Chapter 19: Marcia gives Toby first aid before Toby goes to visit Walther. One of his students directs her to his office, where he orders a fingerprinting kit and sets up a poison-testing station. He confirms that the Cait Sidhe were poisoned with oleander extract and that he can brew a cure. He notes that Toby has elevated pulse and breathing and a takes a blood sample of hers to test as well, discovering that she has been mildly poisoned with a hallucinogenic compound that makes her more susceptible to glamour.
Chapter 20-21: Shadowed Hills is deserted and the roses are dying. She goes with Quentin to check on Luna but Etienne stops them, suspicious, and it seems Rayseline’s opinions are shared by the people of the knowe. Rayseline berates Toby and reveals that while she and Luna were in captivity, Luna kept promising that Toby would save them. Rayseline fully intends to blame Toby for Luna’s death even knowing she didn’t do it. She has Toby arrested on order of the Queen of the Mists. Etienne and Quentin protest, but Dugan and Manuel produce Lily’s damaged pearl as evidence against Toby. Sylvester negates Rayseline’s orders, freeing Toby, but says he might not be able to protect her next time. Toby cautions Quentin to lay low from Rayseline’s wrath.
Chapter 22: May calls to say Spike won’t wake up and Toby rushes home, realizing Spike’s health is connected to Luna’s. She asks Walther to meet her at Shadowed Hills with the Cait Sidhe antidote. Since her headaches are still bothering her, May drives them to the knowe. Toby asks Walther to take soil samples, and he discovers the gardens have been salted. Luna and Spike can be cured if the spoil is flushed out. Walther gives a direct dose to Spike, pushing the salt out of it using magic, although this solution won’t work for a mammal like Luna.
Chapter 23: Oleander calls Toby through a payphone and taunts Toby for falling for her contact poison, which she left on Toby’s wine glass and car door. Oleander threatens Luna, and Toby races to the ducal rooms. Before they can enter, an assassin attempts to shoot Connor with elf-shot. Toby knocks him out of the way and is hit instead.
Chapter 24: Toby has a vision of herself as a child. Amandine tells her she must choose: remain a changeling and die of elf-shot, or claim her fae heritage. She says Toby has made the Changeling’s Choice at least three times before, but that Toby refuses to remember. Toby rejects both options and sees a vision of her father. She asks his advice, and he tells her to follow what matters most to her. Toby declares herself a hero of Faerie, Amandine kisses her forehead, and Toby is flooded with pain.
Chapter 25: Toby awakes. Luna is okay, and Sylvester confirms that Amandine had truly visited while Toby was in danger. Toby slowly realizes that the balance of her blood has shifted to be more fae, and learns that Amandine used her own magic, not a hope chest, to do it. Amandine and Toby are both Dóchas Sidhe, not Daoine Sidhe, and are very powerful bloodworkers. Toby senses that her fate is no longer tied to May’s. She also realizes that Tybalt had known some form of the truth ever since the incident at Tamed Lightning.[2] Sylvester has always known, but Amandine had him keep it a secret.
Chapter 26: Dugan and Rayseline arrive to arrest Toby on behalf of the Queen of the Mists, charged with murdering Lily and attempting to murder Luna. Toby is taken into custody and roughly transported to the Queen’s knowe. The full court is gathered, including friends like Mitch and Stacy. The Queen charges her with murdering Blind Michael, murdering Lily, and attempting to murder Luna; by including Blind Michael Toby will irrefutably found guilty of breaking Oberon’s Law. Rayseline and Manuel both speak against Toby while her friends speak in her defense. The Queen sentences Toby to death in three days by the Iron Crossroads, the most brutal sentence in Faerie justice.
Chapter 27: Toby is imprisoned in an iron cell. The Queen visits and declares that she doesn’t care if Toby is guilty or innocent, she just wants her punished for stirring up trouble. After two days, Toby is rescued by Quentin, Tybalt, and Connor while May creates a distraction outside. Connor has uncharacteristically removed his seal skin to bear the iron of the prison and get her out. Tybalt takes them all through the Shadow Roads to safety, and Toby falls asleep in his arms, still suffering iron poisoning. Tybalt calls Toby back to consciousness and explains that back when she was trapped in the pond, she changed the balance of her blood enough to break the koi transformation, making her smell different and causing Tybalt’s suspicions. He says Amandine must be Firstborn, that Toby can change the balance of her own blood, and that humans cannot get iron poisoning. She shifts her own magic, and eventually wakes in the Court of Cats.
Chapter 28: She encounters an ill Julie, who still blames her for Ross’s death. Toby apologizes that he died but refuses to take the blame. Julie, in turn, tells Toby not to get herself killed. Toby wanders the court until she finds Raj, who is overcome to see her okay. Walther has been making healing potions for her as she slept for two days. Raj takes her to Tybalt, reuniting with Quentin on the way, and she also has a private moment with Quentin and Connor each.
Chapter 29: The Cait Sidhe are recovering, but Luna is still getting worse. Toby ignores everyone’s objections and decides to start hunting Oleander. Her allies don't want her to set off alone, but she doesn’t want them implicated in her escape. She does take Connor, who has legitimate reason to be at Shadowed Hills and is familiar with the knowe. They get a ride from Danny They update Danny on the way, and he points out that Toby has survived a ton of things that a normal Daoine Sidhe would have died from. They notice they have a tail, and they use magic and manic driving to evade their pursuers. Danny’s magicked car creates a portal to Amandine's tower in the Summerlands. Danny prepares to distract their pursuers as Toby and Connor race on to Shadowed Hills.
Chapter 30: They hide in the kitchens with the help of Ormond and Melly, where they pause long enough to share a kiss. Toby realizes that one of the Hobs, Nerium, is actually Oleander. Toby and Connor are caught by Etienne.
Chapter 31: They reason with Etienne, who is willing to give Toby the benefit of the doubt. Toby and Connor hide again while Etienne fetches the Duke. Manuel tries to sneak up on them with a poisoned dagger, but Toby catches him and he reveals he is working with Oleander for revenge against Toby for killing his sister. He also shares that Rayseline is the one who salted Luna’s gardens, though Manuel hadn’t realized it would be fatal. They realize that Rayseline and Oleander/Nerium are currently alone with Luna.
Chapter 32: Manuel leads them through servant passageways and Toby asks the knowe directly for help. They find Luna, alone and reverted to Blodynbryd form, and race to find Sylvester who is being held up by Rayseline and Oleander. Oleander tries to stab Sylvester but Manuel intercepts the blow; after Rayseline and Oleander flee, Sylvester names Manuel a knight of Shadowed Hills so that he can die with honor.
Chapter 33: Toby and Sylvester embrace before seeking reinforcement. Sylvester arms Toby, but when Etienne arrives with guards he thinks she is going to attack Sylvester; the Duke must play referee. Sylvester also declares that he will forgive his daughter many things, but never for intentionally harming her mother.
Chapter 34-35: With the help of Sylvester's knights they search the knowe, Garm glamouring Toby so she’ll be less of a target. Toby finds a blood trail, and she and Connor are separated from the larger group while tracking it. They follow the scent of blood and Oleander’s magic, and find her and Rayseline facing off. Rayseline stabs Oleander before using a borrowed spell to teleport away. The dying Oleander is an illusion, however, and as Toby nears her to investigate the real Oleander attacks. Toby and Connor subdue her and Oleander, not recognizing Toby through her glamour, refuses to tell them anything until Toby identifies herself. Oleander rants about Amandine and hints that Toby has lost more than she realizes. Sylvester’s team arrives as Oleander dies of her injuries.
Chapter 36-37: Ten days later, Toby visits the Luidaeg looking for answers. The Luidaeg gives her three questions and tells her that as Amandine’s daughter Toby is also the Luidaeg’s niece, and that Amandine lied in order to save Toby from Amandine’s enemies.
The Luidaeg sends Toby to Lily’s knowe where Toby offers Goldengreen as shelter for Lily’s subjects. The Tea Garden knowe is no more.
Rayseline has disappeared. Luna recovers, though she permanently lost her Kitsune skin. The Queen sends for Toby, but Sylvester refuses to hand her over so that Toby can hide out in Shadowed Hills until she is ready to go on her own terms. All Toby’s allies meet her at Court, and Sylvester announces that the High King and High Queen have pardoned Toby for Blind Michael’s death, leaving Toby free to go.
Characters[]
Major[]
Allies[]
- October Daye: Dóchas Sidhe changeling leaning toward fae, knight of Shadowed Hills, Countess of Goldengreen.
- Quentin: Daoine Sidhe blind fosterling, page
- Sylvester Torquill: Daoine Sidhe, Duke of Shadowed Hills, Toby's father-figure
- Luna Torquill: Blodynbryd disguised as Kitsune, Duchess of Shadowed Hills and known for her roses.
- Connor O'Dell: Selkie, in a political marriage to Rayseline, attracted to Toby
- May Daye: Toby's Fetch and roommate
- Tybalt: Cait Sidhe, King of Cats and Toby's ally.
- Lily: Undine, Lady of the Tea Gardens
- Luidaeg: Firstborn, sea witch, resides in San Francisco. Toby's aunt.
- Amandine: Firstborn, Toby's mother
Antagonists[]
- Queen of the Mists: Banshee/Siren, moon-mad, hates October
- Rayseline Torquill: Daoine Sidhe, Sylvester and Luna's daughter, Connor's wife, insane following captivity for most of her childhood.
- Oleander de Merelands/Nerium: Peri/Tuatha de Dannan, kidnapped Luna and Rayseline in 1995.
- Dugan: Daoine Sidhe, servant, resents Toby for getting ahead in the world as a changeling
Minor[]
- Etienne: Tuatha de Dannan, knight who trained Toby
- Grianne: Candela, knight
- Garm: a fae with powerful illusion magic
- Jin: Ellyllon, healer
- Manuel Lorimer: Formerly of Home, now in the Duke's service
- Jazz: Raven-maid, May's girlfriend
- Danny MacReady: Bridge Troll, cab driver, ally
- Karen Brown: A young oneiromancer and Toby's honorary niece
- Mitch, Stacy, and Kerry: Toby's childhood changeling friends
- Bucer O'Malley: Glastig, formerly of Home, deals in sketchy jobs and information
- Jack Redpath: human, Walther's graduate assistant.
- Spike: rose goblin, Toby's pet
- Opal: Cait Sidhe
- Gabriel: Cait Sidhe warrior
- Julie: Cait Sidhe changeling, formerly Toby's friend from Home
- Raj: Cait Sidhe Prince of Cats, Tybalt's heir
- Marcia: thin-blooded changeling, works for Lily
- Walther Davies: Tylwyth Teg, chemistry professor at UC Berkley and transient member of the Tea Gardens
- April O'Leary: Countess, techno-Dryad, Sylvester's adoptive niece
- Elliot: April's seneschal and employee
- Paul Thornton - a mortal runner in the park
- Iggy and Lou: Barghests, Danny's pets
Mentioned[]
- Dare (deceased): One of Devin's kids from Home, hero worshiped Toby
- Devin (deceased): Toby's former mentor
- Jonathan Daye (deceased): Toby's mortal father
- Ross (deceased): Roane changeling
- Blind Michael (deceased): Firstborn, stole children away every hundred years. Killed by Toby.
- Acacia: Firstborn, Luna's mother
- Oberon, Titania, Maeve: The Three Creators of Faerie, long-missing
- Aethlin Sollys: High King of North America
- Maida Sollys: High Queen of North America
- The Puck
- Simon Torquill: Daoine Sidhe, Sylvester's twin brother, worked with Oleander and turned Toby into a fish in 1995
- Evening Winterrose (deceased): Daoine Sidhe, former Countess of Goldengreen
- Dawn Winterrose (deceased): Daoine Sidhe, Evening's sister
- Connie (unnamed): Danny's Gremlin mechanic
Places[]
- North America, ruled by the High King and Queen
- Kingdom of the Mists, ruled by the Queen of the Mists
- Duchy of Shadowed Hills, ruled by Sylvester Torquill and Luna Torquill
- Golden Gate Park, divided into independent fiefdoms
- Tea Gardens, ruled by Lily
- Court of Cats, ruled by Tybalt
- Toby's apartment
- Luidaeg's apartment
- Safeway
- UC Berkeley
- Kingdom of the Mists, ruled by the Queen of the Mists
- Faerie
- Amandine's Tower
- Shadow Roads, accessible by the Cait Sidhe
- Rose Roads, accessible by the Blodynbryd
Continuity[]
Debts[]
- The Queen of the Mists settles the debt of the hope chest / finding Evening’s killer [3] by naming Toby Countess of Goldengreen. Toby is not pleased.
- Tybalt says helping cure the sick Cait Sidhe is a debt he can never repay, but Toby dismisses him; she thinks the illness is related to Lily and Luna.
- Tybalt still owes Toby for saving the Cait Sidhe children from Blind Michael.[4] Conversely, Toby is indebted to Tybalt for asking him to kill her if she goes changeling-mad. Presumably, these debts cancel out and they end the book on even terms.
- Toby is still in debt to the Luidaeg for the help with Blind Michael.[4]
Current Book[]
- Toby realizes how many people she’s come to trust since returning from the pond: Walther, Tybalt, May….
- With her blood shifted more fae, Toby is much better at doing small spells and doesn't experience nearly as much magic burn from them.
- For some reason, Toby knows what Luna’s fingerprints look like.
- Raysel calls Oleander her auntie, reinforcing Simon’s relationship with Oleander.
- The Undine were created by Titania's tears when Oberon left her for Maeve.
Previous Books[]
- Goldengreen belonged to Evening before she died.[3]
- The Queen of the Mists tends to redress Toby in more courtly attire.[3]
- Tybalt finally explains why he followed Toby around so doggedly after she returned from the pond. [3]
- Toby’s leather jacket has become a sort of armor for her.[2]
- Luna’s Kitsune form[4] was destroyed while she was ill; she can only take her Blodynbryd form now.
- Danny still has his Barghest rescue [4]
- Toby is on car number four of the series.[3][2][4]
Future Books[]
MAJOR SPOILERS!
- Toby is now Countess of Goldengreen.[5]
- May is delighted when Tybalt kisses Toby in the Court of the Mists, and has intimate knowledge of how Toby feels about Tybalt.[6]
- Oleander knows more than Toby about Toby’s family history.[7]
- "He" sent Oleander to check on Amandine when Toby was a child. She calls Toby a replacement.
- Oleander complains about Amandine’s children, plural.
- As Oleander is dying, she reaffirms that Toby still doesn’t know her whole past.
- Toby calls searching for the missing Three Creators of Faerie “a quest for some other idiot.”[8]
- Quentin’s true parentage[9] is alluded to several times:
- Raysel: “Your parents have no power here" (a lie, incidentally)
- Quentin: “My parents would be so proud if I get kicked out of the Kingdom of the Mists.”
- Toby’s remarkably speedy pardon for killing a Firstborn
- Elf-shot will be a continuing problem.
- Walther isn’t the only one at UC Berkeley.[7]
- “Uncle” Sylvester is more than just a courtesy title, though it’s a little complicated[7]
- The Luidaeg can’t say (though certainly knows) the Dóchas Sidhe’s purpose in Faerie[8]
- According to the Luidaeg, mothers are allowed to make mistakes. [5][8]
- Etienne’s squire recently graduated to full knight.[5]
- Dugan and Rayseline will team up again against Toby.[5]
- Amandine to Toby: "...Beware the Lady of the Lake, because she’s never forgiven your story, but to be more afraid by far of Morgane.”[7]
Suspected Foreshadowing - Unconfirmed[]
- Oleander to Toby: “You’ll see the end of us all, and you won’t be content until you know the gates are locked and sealed; your own death will refuse you. You’ll destroy your beginnings and forsake your heart’s desire, and there will be nothing for you but what’s already been turned aside…”
Trivia[]
- Late Eclipses was originally titled "Late Eclipses of the Sun and Moon," and later "These Late Eclipses." It's final version is the only two-word title in the main series.[10]
Quotes[]
Cultural References[]
- "Late eclipses...love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide: in cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked twixt son and father..." -Shakespeare
- Rayseline commits treason; Toby discovers the truth of her mother Amandine's actions
- "It's like the haunted halls of Elisnore in here."
- The castle where Hamlet is set, where the old King haunts his son
Concerning Toby[]
- “Etienne gave me lessons. Three of them. Then he said I was a menace and refused to teach me anything more for fear that I’d slice his head off.”
- “What's the point of holding on if I can't save the ones that I can't afford to lose?”
- “Better cranky and alive than cheerful and dead.”
- “As often as men slam me into things, you’d think I’d get laid more.”
- “I wasn’t sure whether I was overreacting, underreacting, or doing both at once.”
Concerning the Fae[]
- “We are handed the balance of our blood and the shape of our lives and told to do something with them.”
- “Poison doesn't break Oberon's law unless somebody dies. There are circles where putting your enemies to sleep for a thousand years is perfectly normal.”
- “Raysel, you told me yourself that your father wasn't my liege anymore. I don't have to obey his wishes, spoken or unspoken, and so I can finally say this: go drown yourself, you self-righteous little bitch.”
- “She said she'd been in relationships with way bigger problems than one of us being a transitory manifestation of impending doom. Like this one girl who liked her computer more than she liked her girlfriend, and another one who smoked.”
- “It was never your fault; you carry the sins of your mother as she carries the sins of hers. Try not to blame her. She didn’t mean to lay those sins on you. She tried to take them back, when she thought she could.”
- “Herding the fae really is a lot like herding cats, only pointier and less rewarding.”
- "The first time Oberon left Maeve for her pretty sister, she didn't understand, and she nearly died of sorrow.”
Miscellaneous[]
- “In the end there's never a sanctuary. You run until there's nowhere left to run to, and then you fight, and then you die, and then it's over. That's how the world works, and if there's any way to change that, I hope someone's eventually planning to let me know.”
- “I'm sorry to go, but its all right. Rivers dry up; tides ebb; the sea goes on.”
- “You can live your life in "should" and never change anything."
- “No matter how bad the world gets, you still have to feed the cats.”
- “He was a hero once, and it's the nature of heroes to throw themselves headlong into impossible odds, believing that somehow they'll come through them alive. The problem is that it's also in the nature of heroes to die.”
- “I dreamed all day of children who’d never break their mother’s heart, because they were born from nothing but tears.”
References[]
- ↑ http://seananmcguire.com/le.php
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Local Habitation
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Rosemary and Rue
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 An Artificial Night
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 One Salt Sea
- ↑ Ashes of Honor
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Winter Long
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Unkindest Tide
- ↑ Chimes at Midnight
- ↑ https://twitter.com/seananmcguire/status/1383787221786890240?s=20&t=UFXMdvIyE042Q4ADck99zw