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Aug 07, 2011

The Holy Terror rated it:

Holy repetition, Batman! I'm beyond frustrated with this series. On one hand I love the world and the characters. Her ideas are fantastic, but the way the characters go round and around and back again is ridiculous. How many times can Toby make a trek to the same place? How many times can she almost die? How many times does she have to say she's NOT A HERO? How many times do we have to be told that you're not supposed to say, "thank you," to the fae? Apparently over and over and OVER A More...

28 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

The Flooze (Michelle M.) rated it:

“You mean well, but you’ve never been all that bright.”

So the Luidaeg says of Toby, and wow, is she right. She also claims that all heroes are idiots and that October is the most passively suicidal person she’s ever met. The sea witch’s opinions echo my own.

Previous books established Toby as a lousy detective. I’d hoped An Artificial Night would run more smoothly since it focuses on Toby as knight rather than P.I. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The book More...

33 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Alice rated it:

My husband won an ARC of this book from the author, so I was lucky enough to read it before the release date. Sadly, that means I have to wait that much longer for the next one. Late Eclipses doesn't come out until March 2011, and I'm already impatient to read it.

This book introduces May Daye, an exact double only in memory and appearance to October (Toby) Daye. As her name being a spring month might imply, though, she's quite different from Toby. For starters, she may look like a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2011

Mlle. rated it:

Sigh. I shouldn’t have bought this book. After A LOCAL HABITATION disappointed me, I stopped reading the October Daye books. But the more recent installments have been getting rave reviews, and I wondered if I’d made a mistake. So I bought AN ARTIFICAL NIGHT and it irritated me every bit as much as A LOCAL HABITATION.

The theme for AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT appears to be heroism – October is a hero and does that make her foolish or admirable? Does she take risks for good reasons or be More...

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Feb 01, 2012

Fangs for the Fantasy rated it:

The Hunt is riding again. His hunt rides forth every 100 years and before it does it gathers new riders and steeds into the fold. But the source for these new recruits are children – fae children to ride, mortal children for horses and the nights before Samhain Michael recruits new steeds and riders from their homes.

And in comes October Daye. Her best friends have lost their children, the Court of Cats have lost children and her friend Quentin has lost his girlfriend to the Hunt and Oc More...

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Oct 21, 2011

Kathy rated it:

Third in the October Daye urban fantasy series based in San Francisco and revolving around a half-fae, half-human private detective, Toby Daye.

The Story
Something is stealing children in the night and Toby becomes involved when three of Stacy and Mitch's kids disappear—in one way or another. When she learns that five young ones from Tybalt's people and Katie, Quentin's human love, are also taken, the serious level goes way up. Then Toby's Fetch, May Daye, shows up.

To say More...

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Apr 22, 2011

Paradoxical rated it:

The third novel of the October Daye series, An Artificial Night, has the heroine go off on a quest (of sorts) to find several missing children who have been abducted by Blind Michael, the leader of the Wild Hunt. There are conditions surrounding this journey, such as no road being taken more than once and never asking for help--Toby can only get help if she doesn't ask for it.

I adore books with the Wild Hunt, and this book takes the same basic premise and gives it its own spin. I ha More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Deborah rated it:

I've been enjoying Seanan McGuire's "October Daye" novels since the beginning. They're definitely a cut above the usual elves-in-San Francisco, solidly written and with a nice mix of the genre-familiar and interesting new elements (like Tybalt, King of Cats). Often, series lose momentum, repeat the same unresolved romantic and other tensions, and generally reflect the author's having exhausted the subject. Sometimes, the world and characters just aren't well enough developed to sustain More...

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Feb 24, 2011

Tracy rated it:

~* 3.5 Stars *~
When October "Toby" Daye answered a knock at the door and came face to face with her Fetch, she knew it was going to be a rough week. Fetch are harbingers of death and when they look like you and have your memories, you can pretty much kiss your butt goodbye. After a frantic phone call from her friend Stacy about her missing kids and another who won't wake up, a confrontation with the King of Cats about missing Cait Sidhe children (kittens?), a painful healing at Li More...

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Feb 16, 2011

Twiggy rated it:

This was a real return to form after book 2. The fae setting is further developed in an imaginative manner and the author has invested considerable energy in creating her characters world. The story is based on the ancient legends of the Wilde ride. in this story the Ride is controlled by Blind Michael , who every 100 years steals both fae and human children. Of course Toby comes to the rescue as she is determined to free the children from Blind Michael. This involves putting her life on the More...

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Dec 29, 2010

Karissa rated it:

This is the third book in the October Daye series by Seanan Mcguire. The 4th book, Late Eclipses, will be out in March of 2011. Right now there are seven books contracted for this series. This was a great installment in this series. The book was different from the previous books in that most of it takes place in the Summerlands and it is more of a questing/adventure type of story. I loved it.

October is contacted when a variety of children go missing. It's not just fairy More...

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Dec 24, 2010

Ferrous rated it:

An Artificial Night is an underdog story in which the protagonist confronts an almost unkillable force. Except it doesn't do that very well, since the heroine's method of dealing with problems is simply to first go to the Luidaeg for help and then charge blindly into danger - the trickery and cleverness that makes an underdog story compelling is missing.

Toby comes across as too stupid to live. She's slow to figure out a puzzle given to her at the beginning, and she consistently char More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 29, 2010

Marcia rated it:

I would like to suggest that McGuire reboot the series, turning it into The Adventures of Tybalt and the Luidaeg. Because I would totally read that book.

Okay, in an effort to be a more positive person than my usual cranky self, I'll start with the good. The world-building remains detailed, and it's clear that the author really understands her own world. The actual writing is strong, and unlike so many other authors in this genre, McGuire avoids repetitious descriptions, so most passa More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2010

Joshua rated it:

How many miles to Babylon?

An Artificial Night is the third book in the October Daye series. Rosemary and Rue was the first and introduced us to the October Daye faerie universe. A Local Habitation, the second book in the series, drove us deeper into that world with a locked door mystery. An Artificial Night, the third book, pits October Daye against one of the first-born, Blind Michael. In this book, there is no question who the villain is. The book is all about how is October Daye g More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2011

Tina rated it:

I won't write a long review. My feelings for this book fall along the same lines as the previous two. So instead of repeating my self over, I'll keep this short.

Same fun world.
Same bad investigator, Toby. At least in this book she admits it. But does her investigating skills improve, not really.
Same non existence of any kind of romance. Even though there are hints to something. Why leave tiny hints when nothing is coming to fruition? Frustrating! I was rooting for Tybol More...

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Jan 02, 2012

Kc rated it:

I enjoyed this story more than the previous one (A Local Habitation). We see more of the fae side of Toby's life, as opposed to the small snippets from the previous books in the series. Though Toby has a knack for stumbling on the answer rather than intentionally discovering it, we don't quite get stuck and dragged through the events as much as in her previous adventures.

And oh the adventures. There was more going on this time around, and no time to stop and think things through. To More...

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Dec 01, 2011

Maria rated it:

“An Artificial Night” by Seanan McGuire is the third book in the October Daye series and I really can’t tell you how much I loved it! From the beginning of the series I knew I found my new favorite author! Seanan McGuire has create a perfect world with fae and every book is a journey into something unique and beautiful. This book is very dark and it has a feeling of fear. Something like a very scary fairy tale. Of course, it has more adventure and drama than the first two.

The plot i More...

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Nov 13, 2011

Lmb rated it:

I really wanted to love this series but I gotta be honest, I'm not getting what the big appeal is so far.

I'm trudging through the series because I have heard books 4 & 5 upend things but I have to say I don't trust the author to do that just as much as she doesn't trust the reader to grasp the concept of Toby being a HERO. Seriously, that old chestnut is being shoveled so far down my throat I want to gag every time I hear Toby or one of the other two-dimensional characters bring it up More...

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Mar 28, 2011

Mia rated it:

Let's see, a heroine who is smugly dismissive of things outside her understanding, who is whiny, and shows no ability to think independently, plan, show any degree of wit, humor or insight; a villain whose motives are unexamined, but who is defined only by his disability (which is made part of his name, no less) -- and I assume this is meant to be all the depth required, "He's blind; of course he is evil, his land is dark and deteriorating, and he must manipulate others in a child-like way. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2011

gigi rated it:

Here is what Amazon.co.uk says:

October "Toby" Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae-and the only one who has earned knighthood. Now she must take on a nightmarish new challenge. Someone is stealing the children of the fae as well as mortal children, and all signs point to Blind Michael. Toby has no choice but to track the villain down-even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm, home of the Wild Hunt-and no road may be taken m More...

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Oct 15, 2010

Jenn rated it:

meh, meh, meh, meh....

I am really beginning to wonder why I continue to read this series. There is really nothing remarkable about it. You would think by the third book in a series that the author would have developed the characters better. October is still pretty flat and she never spends enough time with any of the other characters so there's really not any relationship building with them. I see no point in Connor except to push some convoluted love triangle that the author doe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 30, 2010

Chichipio rated it:

Huh. The last third of the book redeemed a lot of the problems I had with the rest. For that, and the cool storyline, it gets a 4, but I'm definitely rounding up.

Unlike the disaster that was book 2 with Toby's horrible attempt at being a detective, here, we see her walk the willing hero's path. It has more action and it's straightforward enough not to make you groan every other page at Toby's (un)deductive reasoning. However, writing a hero is not the easiest thing, it imposes certai More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Lissibith rated it:

Whereas the first book in the series felt flat, and the second too obvious plot-wise, this book worked a lot better for me. Plot-wise, the pacing was a huge improvement over the first and was far less transparent than the second. The ideas continue to be awesome (especially as a fan of some of the original myths that this particular story is drawn from) but I still find myself disappointed by this series.

I still like Toby but wish the narrative were more clear about her - she works a More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Laura rated it:

Again, this book reminded me of Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series because of the gruesome bloody scenes. The madness permeating the land of the fae, the summerlands, added to the connection to Meredith. After a while, I had to let go of reality and just accept the story... or give up.

I hung on and enjoyed the ride. Of the three books, I found this one most satisfying. Although it felt like the ending of a trilogy, the author obviously already knew a fourth book was on the wa More...

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Mar 14, 2011

Lielabell rated it:

Okay, so this book did wonders in the moving-Toby's-character-development-along category. And it had brilliant moments for Quentin and the rest of the motley cast and crew, but it wasn't all it could have been.

Once again Toby spends the entire book reacting to things. And she gets kicked to hell and back. Again. And is patched up and sent back into the fray. Again. Where she misjudges things. AGAIN. All the clues have to be put into her hands, spelled out in the most obvious More...

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Oct 06, 2010

April rated it:

This is the most solid book to come out of this series yet.
And the creepiest. and topping "A Local Habitation" for chill factor was quite the feat in of itself.

I am attracted to the grotesque, the twisted and tainted, in books. I like antagonists who walk a fine line between evil and skewed, bits of humanity showing here and there, making the reader think. Blind Michael is an amazing example of this. Here is a creature so Old and so terrifying, who warps children into More...

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Feb 20, 2011

Susan rated it:

I really liked this third adventure of October Daye. This book starts out with a bang with the introduction of a new character, May Daye, who happens to foreshadow Toby's death but ends up taking on a personality of her own. The main story in this outing is the taking of immortal and mortal children. Toby finds herself needing to be a hero once again although she doesn't deliberately want to choose this role when her niece and nephew are taken and another niece lies in a coma. Some favorite More...

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Jan 21, 2012

Carol rated it:

Dear October,

Let me give you some sisterly advice. First, take charge of your life. Admit you are choosing to do what you are doing, not being forced to by Stacy, the Luidaeg, Lily, or Blind Michael, or anyone else. Own it. If you are the only private investigator for the fae, demonstrate some initiative and actually investigate; ask questions and stop acting like a child by whining "tell me, stop giving me riddles!" Since you of all people are constantly telling us such f More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Sunil rated it:

Whereas the first book (Rosemary and Rue)was a Chandleresque noir and the second (A Local Habitation) was a locked-room sci-fi mystery, this book is a fantasy thriller. I continue to marvel at how different each book is, tonally and structurally.

By now, Toby's world is fairly well established, and we have a cast of recurring characters that can both get into trouble and help Toby out of trouble. This adventure sees Toby trying to track down a slew of kidnapped children, but, unlike the More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Flail rated it:

I think most of my issue with this book stemmed from not knowing where the hell the Fetch came from and what its purpose was. Outside of just being an 'omen' of death... why was May around?? Why would the world create a copy of a person just to show them that if they stick on their current path they are gonna die? I've finished the whole book and I STILL don't know the reason May was there, other than marking off yet another month that Seanan McGuire has used as a name. (Pretty sure I read a More...

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