Ashes of Honor (October Daye #6) – A must read for fans of the series.

Ashes of Honor, Book 6 in the October Daye series, takes place about a year after One Salt Sea.  Toby has loved, lost, and is now trying to get back to normalcy. Of course, in Toby’s world “normalcy” includes solving cases and facing danger head on.  And those who love her most fear that her luck could run out.

She takes on a case for Etienne to find his teenaged daughter, Chelsea, a changeling whose been kept a secret from Etienne for all of these years.  However, without her father’s tutelage to harness her powers, she inadvertently wreaks havoc on Faerie, and Toby and her friends are at the front lines to help.

This was a great book for character development.  Being the cat lover that I am, I was particularly interested in the politics surrounding the Court of Cats and their growing disdain for Tybalt’s decisions.  Toby and Tybalt have always had a complicated relationship, so the consequences have caught up and everything plays out accordingly.  Romance or no, I find the books are always better when he’s gracing the pages, and this time there was a satisfying dose of him.

The adventure to find Chelsea was a little flat for me, though it ended well.  I think Seanan McGuire has created an amazing world, so to go from the previous book where we took a trip to the Undersea where we could see Toby in all of her mermaid glory and compare their politics to land fae, this wasn’t quite as interesting for me.

Toby gets banged around a LOT here.  Having self-generating abilities has its pluses, but I feel like at least a quarter of the chapters end with Toby passing out or getting knocked out, which came off as a bit too repetitive.

Even still, it’s a quality read and a very important installment to the series. It’s probably my favorite at this point. I always appreciate a series that gets better with age.

This article has 7 Comments

  1. For me, this was far and away the best book of the series, which is saying a lot. And I will frankly admit it is because of Tybalt. Tybalt, Tybalt and more Tybalt. FINALLY the scales have dropped away from Toby’s eyes and she sees what has been there for her all along. Speaking as someone who could not stand the wimpy, manipulative Connor, this book couldn’t get here fast enough, and I couldn’t READ it fast enough. I loved every word of it, and can’t wait for the next one. Long rule the King of Cats!

    1. Tybalt is better but I thought Connor was pretty cool and I liked the Selkie background with him. And considering the sacrifice he made for Toby in the prior book, I don’t really have any ill will toward him. I’m just glad it wasn’t a love triangle situation.

      As I said in my other post, I actually got through this one the slowest of them all because I ended up getting a copy of the Ever After ARC after I’d already started, and as good as this series is, it doesn’t touch Hollows High for me.

  2. My problem with Connor was one of honor. He didn’t have the courage to stand up to his parents and marry Toby, but he was forever whining around trying to make time with her, anyway. I thought he was a coward and a wimp, and would have been happy to have her on the side if she had gone along with it. For me, the only good thing he ever did was in that last battle, and I was so glad to be rid of him, I couldn’t even work up any pity for his death. Tybalt, on the other hand, has had Toby’;s back since the first book, and is one of my favorite characters of all time.

    I can’t compare Rachel’s world to Toby’s. I like them equally for very different reasons. I like the complicated Fae politics in Toby’s world, and of course, I love Tybalt. But I adore Trent, too, and am eager to see how their relationship works out. For me, he has been the only real choice for Rachel all along, being the only male character anywhere near as strong as she is. I am hoping that she will be the force that helps him save his people and patch up things with the demons. But there are quite a few characters in Rachel’s world that rub me the wrong way. I don’t like Ivy, for one, (major creep factor with her) and I have actually disliked every single Rachel’s been with except Kistin, who was sweet, but so not right for a long-term relationship. However, Jenks, Al, Bis and Trent more than make up for the ones I don’t care for. And of course, Harrison’s writing is very strong, too, which always makes any plot better.

    I read Ashes of Honor in two sittings and ended up jumping up and down on my chair (not a pretty sight) fist-pumping and yelling Yes, Yes, YES by the end. I could read about Tybalt all day long. He, Rowan MacKenzie from Spellcast, Trent Kalamack, Cal Leandros, and Harry Dresden are characters I will never forget, for various reasons. I just picked up the paperback of A Perfect Blood today so I could read the extra Chapter from Trent’s POV. Who cares if I already have the hardback, and a Kindle version! And I’m halfway through Into The Woods, too, which is very good, even though I had read most of the the Hollows short stories before. I’m enjoying the heck out of Million Dollar Baby.

    1. Conner wasn’t as interesting as Tybalt and the chemistry with Toby wasn’t as strong. That was my biggest issue with him. The Fae are pretty ruthless, so I don’t really know if I fault him too much for being compliant politically. Doesn’t make him a strong as Tybalt, but Tybalt’s a king.

      I started Toby just this month and have been reading The Hollows since 2005 so for me I’m just way more attached and I doubt there’ll be anything else I love more.

      And I’m sure you’ll be jumping up and down on your couch after reading Ever After like you did for Ashes of Honor, lol!

  3. I can’t WAIT for Ever After. I am soooooo hoping for the Trent Connection to finally take place. They don’t have to make it all the way to the HEA, if there is still another book or two. But I really NEED to see them take some steps in the right direction, and realize what they could have together. I mean, how formidable would they be? Wow.

    I have been finishing up Million Dollar Baby tonight. Almost done. And I love Trent more now than ever. I always believed he was more than what Rachel saw on the surface, and I love seeing his doubts and insecurities, and his worries about what Rachel might think of him, even if he doesn’t know why he cares about that, yet. And I love that he is so conflicted over the people he has been forced to kill. I just love this vulnerable side of him so much. I’m saving the POV chapter from A Perfect Blood to read as soon as I finish this. Probably tomorrow. And then I’m counting the days for Ever After. I won’t read the bonus chapter from it, though. I HATE tiny little teases. I want the whole book in my hand. (Tiny teases vs a Big Gulp?).

    I’ve been reading Toby since Book 1 and have had a long time to become attached to that whole world, which I find so interesting. But for me, it’s an apples/oranges thing. I can’t really pick a favorite from my most loved Urban Fantasies. They are each special in their own ways and have brought me many hours of pleasure. If the characters have been made real for me, they remain in my mind forever.

    I understand your point about the Fae being ruthless, but for me, I just couldn’t forgive Connor for not standing by the woman he loved. And even worse than that, he wouldn’t give her up, either. I felt like once he had made his choice, he should have let Toby go, so she could find someone else, rather than constantly trying to seduce her. He just seemed selfish, wanting to have his cake and eat it, too, and so dishonorable. I couldn’t imagine Tybalt ever doing such a thing. He wouldn’t giveToby up, even when his relationship with her threatened the Court of Cats, or weakened his position. Honor. I like it.

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