A Local Habitation

An October Daye Novel (October Daye, Book 2)

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

October “Toby” Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood.

Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, most changelings are second-class children of Faerie, spending their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day, undertaking assignments for her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills.

Now Sylvester has asked her to go to the County of Tamed Lightning — otherwise known as Fremont, California — to make sure that all is well with his niece, Countess January O’Leary, whom he has not been able to contact. It seems like a simple enough assignment — but when dealing with the realm of Faerie, nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

January runs a company that produces computer fantasy games, and her domain is a buffer between Sylvester’s realm and a rival duchy whose ruler is looking for an opportunity to seize control. And that is the least of January’s problems. For Tamed Lightning has somehow been cut off from the other domains, and now someone has begun to murder January’s key people. If Toby can’t find and stop the killer soon, she may well become the next victim.

©2010 Seanan McGuire (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Love this series!

Really enjoyed the charter and world building! If a writer can create characters that I could see myself living next to...in a world I believe...SCORE! Not many can do this and I rank McGuire with Patricia Briggs, Faith Hunter, and Kim Harrison. Can't recommend this series highly enough.

Better than the first book

I was less than impressed with the first book, but on a recommendation, picked up the second and was happy that I did. The rough edges of the first book in the series are smoothed out and the story is much better for it. The main character is still rough, but she is getting more 3 dimensional and competent. I am really looking forward now to reading more of this series.

Longtime Toby fan, but I cannot with the narration

Fair warning, this review is from the perspective of someone who first read the book 10 years ago, so it's mostly about hearing it on audio for the first time.

A Local Habitation does a lot to set up Toby's world, but that means that when you go back to reread it, the plot can kind of... drag. It's a whodunnit, and if you already know who did it, you're left just watching the characters go around in circles.

This is mostly a problem because it gives you a lot of brain space to focus on the narration. I did not like it. The voices for October and Connor were fine. Jan's voice verged on a parody of a valley girl in a way that took away from emotional moments. I'm dreading future books because I honestly hated Tybalt's English drawl and the Luidaeg's gutteral croak. I've read every book as of the 2023 releases, and these voices are not going to work as the characters develop more.

This is only book 2, so I'm going to give the audio team another chance on book 3; that's where the world really comes together, and I'm hoping the narration also gets into gear.

Great Story, Ehh Narration

This is my second October Daye book, and frankly, upon finishing the first, I was hoping that the second and following books would have a different narrator. Unfortunately, where other books have okay text and a under-expressive narration, this one has great text, and a hugely overacting narrator. It'd be great if she pulled it back by about... oh.. 25-50%. I love the stories, but it's hard to concentrate on the text itself when -every- -single- word is so overly emphasized. Thankfully, it doesn't ruin the whole experience of the book per sé, but it is off enough that (to me at least), it takes away from the actual writing a good bit.

Overall, love the characters, love the quality of the writing, love the atmosphere, everything. And if she could just pull it back a bit, I'd love the narrator too. But as it is, I'd love somebody different. The ever-brilliant John Glover, perhaps..? :D
♥

Daye after Daye

The second in the series and not my favorite but on that note we find our heroin doing a job for her liege ,she and Quinton are of to solve a murder mystery at his niece's work ALH a computer company in a shalowing ,an great cast of characters which again the fantastic narrator keeps up with( hat's off) I love all of these books and cant wait for the next one to come out ,if you want a good heroin you cant go wrong with Toby.

Great book, good narration

Seanan's urban fantasy is always a pleasure, and this is no different. The narrator is good but not as much into voice acting as I prefer. Overall a great audiobook and I'll be buying the rest of the series.

A fae office whodunnit

Interesting mix of tech and fae with Toby and a familiar cast solving the mystery of office murders. Lagged a bit in places but overall quite engaging. Narrator does a great job giving the story and characters life.

Really Good Book

I really like this series. Seanan McGuire is an excellent author and this book is no different. I liked all the characters in this story and I can???t wait until her new book comes to Audible!

A continuation for a great series!

Very great performance of a great book! I hope the next are as entertaining, please!

Murder in a Fae Tech Startup

“Oak and ash and willow and thorn are mine; blood and ice and flowers and flame are mine.” I pressed my lips to the cut, taking a mouthful of blood and swallowing. It burned all the way down. “Mine in turn are those who hold me, hurt me, bend me to their ends; I have bled and burned here, and I demand the return of what is mine.” And October Daye is back for book 2, "A Local Habitation".

Toby is back into her life in fairy. Working as a knight and PI for Sylvester Torquill,
clubing with her changeling friends, and even having a Cait Sidhe follow her home. But one morning the unthinkable happens, Her liege, Duke Sylvester Torquill shows up one morning and sends her to Feemont! "one of the most boring places in California".

With only young Daoine Sidhe page, Quentin they travel to Tamed Lightning, the fairy county in Freemont. It is sandwiched between the Duchies—Shadowed Hills and Dreamer’s Glass run by Sylvester's niece January, making it a political powder cake.

But this is not a simple diplomatic assignment as things are not what they seem. Tamed Lightning may seem like just a high tech fae company, where the staff curse in Klingon, but they are hiding something.