I just got back online after midterm break with a late review of Seanan McGuire‘s Late Eclipses. The book arrived a couple days before I did and I started in on it Monday afternoon and finished it at about three o’clock in the morning on Tuesday. So about twelve hours, including numerous breaks to bounce about the house with sheer giddiness.
Late Eclipses is the best of the series so far. The mystery is more urgent and more personal, the character relations are tight and functional (though I admit Quentin got less air time this book) and Toby is finally realizing just how deeply immersed she is in Faerie.
What’s best about this book, I think, is the flow of it. Usually, when I’m reading a book I’ll use Post-It flags to mark my favorite character quotes* and bits of prose I find particularly well-crafted or moving. Late Eclipses only has four flags. Not because there isn’t a lot of awesomeness in this book, but because the whole book is so good that only a few things stand out above the rest. From the very beginning to the very end, this book has the usual rises and falls in pace and excitement, but it’s consistently good. There are only four places that really stand out and say “hey, re-read this!” on their own, because everything else fits so seamlessly that I can’t reread it without rereading the entire book.**
After An Artificial Night I thought McGuire was getting better and more comfortable in her world but I was afraid to hope it would last. Now that I’ve read Late Eclipses I’m convinced that, if it’s even possible to make a better Toby Daye book, the next one will surpass the others. It’s really growing as a series. So now I’m dying for September and the release of One Salt Sea*** because I know it will surpass the others. McGuire will deliver some of the best urban fantasy around. That said, if you have any interest in UF, you should be reading this series. If you don’t, you should buy it anyway and give it to someone who does.
Eagerly awaiting the next installment,
Phantastic Student
*I am a bit of a Tybalt fan. He’s snarky and he’s gorgeous and his conversations with Toby are always hilarious. For example, my copy of A Local Habitation is bristling with flags, the vast majority of which highlight Tybalt quotes.
**Which is why I left it at home when I came back to school. If it were here, I’d reread it constantly instead of doing any work. This is, in fact, the only reason I’m not listing the four flags by page and line number (I could probably type up the actual quotes from memory, but then there’d be spoilers).
***I had to force myself not to read the excerpt at the back of Late Eclipses to retain what little remains of my sanity. I already can’t wait for September and the next book because I know that if there is any possible way to make a better Toby Daye book, the next one will surpass the others.
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