A Local Habitation

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.

What a fantastic book!

This is a great read! Fantastic addition to the genre--October Daye is a different kind of protagonist and her world is quite unique! I'm looking forward to reading more from this series. The only thing I am disappointed with is finding out this is the SECOND book in the series and audible only has this one so far.

8 people found this helpful

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
♥

6 people found this helpful

Silicon Valley Faeries

Seanan really hits her stride here, and the series gets moving.

OK, Look. Seanan ENJOYS torturing her characters. Toby gets run ragged from the first minute to the last. When it looks like something good is about to happen to her - It's not.

And I LOVE it.

It's a good mystery, with enjoyable characters and my favorite narrator on Audible (sorry Evil Wil Wheaton). I really enjoy this series.

4 people found this helpful

What A Story!!

A Local Habitation is the second installment of this series (which should definitely be read in order). Another amazing story with narration that is well-done and consistent with the first book. I can't recommend this series enough! I am already anticipating the the third book that is releasing in September.

3 people found this helpful

excellent urban fantasy

This is the second book of the October Daye series. Where the first book was good, this book is excellent. Seanan McGuire builds upon the world she created in Rosemary and Rue, and delves deeper into subplots and the mystique of that world.

Similar to the first book, this book is both urban fantasy as well as a story of mystery and suspense. Toby is an investigator after all. In this book she is investigating mysterious deaths in the Fae knowe of Tamed Lightning.

There is a bit of brilliance in how McGuire combines magic and tech in this book. The two don't seem to blend. However, in this book it feels natural. Meanwhile, Toby and her Scooby gang continue to develop and mature.

As for the narration, Mary Robinette Kowal not only captures the practical tones that suit Toby's character, but she breathes life into the entire cast of characters making them distinct and memorable.

2 people found this helpful

Unique urban fantasy series with softer feel

What other book might you compare A Local Habitation to and why?

This is a very unique urban fantasy series in that it had a much softer feel than most UF. Toby is more mature, and the focus is more on growth and plot than on mindless action or sex.

What does Mary Robinette Kowal bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration has a soft mature tone that matches the story. The accents and voices used for all the characters were great. Quentin sounded like a teenager, and the accents on Sylvester and Tybalt were simply amazing.

1 person found this helpful

Enjoyed this second book

Gifted this series to my sister and she is enjoying the series as much as I am.

1 person found this helpful

Thank the lord, she improves

What did you like best about A Local Habitation? What did you like least?

I like the author's prose style, but I was screaming at the characters to pick up the hints.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Thank the gods the narrator learned how to pronounce kitsune. On the other hand, she's still not great at accents. On still another hand (oh snap, too many arms), she doesn't attempt any foreign accents, just valley girl (which is annoying, but not cringe-inducingly inaccurate).

1 person found this helpful

Good but....

It's good and the narrator does a good job on the voices but it broke my heart a little bit. She kills people I wish she wouldn't.

Fearie is not a nice place.

1 person found this helpful

Not As Good as the First

As my title says, this one was not even close to being as good as the first in this series. The first was well written. This one seemed formulaic. I won't be listening to more, I suspect.

1 person found this helpful

Narrator is the main problem with this title

I love the series of Toby Daye and was excited to get them on audiobook for my long commutes. However I perhaps should have chosen the 3rd title and not the 2nd. The 2nd is a misstep. Ms McGuire spent the first book setting the scene for our protagonist and then promptly moves her to somewhere we don't know with people we don't care about. I perhaps could have muscled through if the narration hadn't been sub-par. The narrator used weirdly child-like voice for Toby and at the beginning of the title got her characters mixed up and was using the wrong voices. She also mis-pronounces words which drives me absolutely nuts.

Real struggle to finish

I found this book really boring and a struggle to finish. October is supposed to be more mature, but her personality and sleuthing skills are more akin to a 12 year old. She is the worst PI ever! And the romantic interactions are like a young teenager too. I don’t mean because there’s no sex, but rather the emotional maturity is completely absent. The narrator’s choice for voices for some of the characters were so incredibly annoying too. No idea why this book has such a high rating.

Yet another great story

....and the narrator's accents were better.
I'm still waiting for the obvious jokes, I'm sorry but a story about the fair folk set in San Fransico needs at least one obvious, awkward pun otherwise you may as well set in in Los Angeles.

1 person found this helpful