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This thread is open to discuss Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire.



Synopsis
It’s been almost a year since October “Toby�� Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day’s sleep. She’s tried to focus on her responsibilities—training Quentin, upholding her position as Sylvester’s knight, and paying the bills—but she can’t help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters.

To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne, who didn’t even know he was a father until the girl went missing. Her name is Chelsea. She’s a teleporter, like her father. She’s also the kind of changeling the old stories warn about, the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She’s opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there’s a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn’t stopped.

Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. But danger is also stirring in the Court of Cats, and Tybalt may need Toby’s help with the biggest challenge he’s ever faced.

Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea.

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who else kind of forgot all about this in the excitement with the new challenge coming up lol i can probably still start later today though

lol I kind of forgot too!! I'm excited about the upcoming challenge! I don't think I will be able to start today. Should start tomorrow though.

I just read the first couple chpts and am glad that some time has passed since the last book so we don't have sad/depressed Toby. She says she's more reckless after Connor's death so it is still affecting her but I can't imagine how much more trouble she will get into!

haha if there's one thing toby can always do it's escalate the amount of mortal peril she's in

Devann wrote: "haha if there's one thing toby can always do it's escalate the amount of mortal peril she's in"

Oh geez...

I started and enjoying the story. The case Toby is on is interesting. I am learning more about changelings and the rules. Glad there is more Luidaeg, Tybalt and Quentin in this installment.

i read chapters 1-9 today

whenever i start these it always takes me awhile to remember which book is which. like for the first chapter i thought 'oh good we're at the goblin fruit one' but nope, it's actually the teleporting changeling one lol

also it's such a minor thing but i think one of my favorite moments in the whole series is when they go to the luidaeg's house and she doesn't have time to 'get ready for company' and it's revealed that she's been purposely making it look messy to make herself seem scarier the entire time XD i love her so much and that's just so good.

This is the 1st one in this series that I just could NOT put down! I read thru Chpt 18 last night and can I just say how much I love Tybalt?!?!?!?!?! That scene with him and Toby <3 <3 <3

(view spoiler)[And poor Raj. Surprised his father talked him into going after Tybalt after that last scene when his father hit him. Raj stood up for himself so didn't think he would have much sway. Samson needs to go down...

And Riordan didn't seem crazy so wonder what her endgame is with Chelsea? (hide spoiler)]

Devann wrote: "i read chapters 1-9 today

whenever i start these it always takes me awhile to remember which book is which. like for the first chapter i thought 'oh good we're at the goblin fruit one' but nope, i..."

That was hilarious at the Luidaeg's!

i also read up through chapter 18 and UGH, MY SHIPPER HEART! IT'S TOO MUCH! i'm glad we're finally at this point in the series though because i've just been sitting here waiting and trying not to say anything about it even though i think most people saw it coming lol but toby and tybalt are one of my favorite book couples and seanan is one of the few authors who i think writes good M/F relationships where the guy isn't a douchebag [which unfortunately still seems to be all the rage these days].

Yea I figured it was a matter of time but didn't expect it to take THIS long! Connor was a temporary distraction so now it's to the good stuff :) I can't wait to see how Tybalt "courts" Toby (& her in return)! I could totally see them turning into another fave book couple.

It's starting to gear up toward the climax of the story & I'm feeling super anxious (read just past Chpt 21)! (view spoiler)[Samson working with Riordan, what?!?!?! Grrr these villains...

Though I can't see what the point of opening all these doors in fairy is. It's not like they need money to sell these random things - like the goblin fruit from earlier in the book. Though your comment makes me think that will come up again. But I just don't get it! To create chaos? (hide spoiler)]

Yeah Tybalt 'courting' Toby is just so great because he's so proper and she's just ...Toby. They're adorable though.

I started reading My Best Friend's Exorcism so I'll probably wait to finish this tomorrow.

i'm working on finishing up the book this morning and tybalt just made her ham and cheese sandwiches with steak sauce and STRAWBERRY JAM AGAIN. what is with these people???? i guess one or the other i could see, but not together. i'm starting to think seanan just has some weird strawberry jam sandwich preferences and she's pushing it off onto her characters.

aaaand done!

not that anything riordan is doing is like ...okay or anything but i do think she has a point in that they're always going on about 'well oberon said this' blah blah but he ran out on them centuries ago so like ...are they ever going to pull themselves out of his ass lol. i'm wondering if the series is building up to the point where toby is literally going to go find oberon and bring him back but sometimes i think they might be better off without him if they could only like get their shit together and take some responsibility. although that doesn't seem to be most of the purebloods' strong suite so it's probably too much to ask for.

also if there's two things i love it is 1. toby rescuing tybalt and 2. her carrying him around in her coat in cat form. i don't know why but it's just so adorable. so glad they're finally together!

also there's two shorts that come between this book and the next one. no sooner met is free on the author's website but rat catcher is part of an anthology [however you can still find it with some google-fu lol]. i definitely recommend both of them as the free one is toby/tybalt focused and then the other one is background info on tybalt. i'll probably be re-reading those soon.

Strawberry jam on ham and cheese! Yum! LOL Faeries definitely have terrible taste buds.

I finished and it was another fun, exciting story. But I gotta ask, how many lives does Tybalt have!?? He keeps going through them like crazy!

Things definitely heated up for Tybalt and Toby in this book. I tentatively approve. I am not totally over Connor yet. It’s only been 2 weeks for me. LOL But I agree as far as Tybalt goes, he is sweet. I have trouble with books by Ilona Andrews because most of her men are jerks at times and the couples usually bicker way too much. To the point it irritates me. LOL

The story ended well, I thought. A happier ending for Chelsea and Entienne than Toby and Gillian.

Looking forward to the next book!

I thought the same thing - what is with those flavors together (steak sauce & strawberry jam)? It sounds so gross.

I finished last night, and also read the short stories. This is the 1st 5 star read in this series for me, this one tipped it over into love territory :) When they left Annwyn I thought it was so messed up that they left the Officer there! They couldn't have yelled out to him or something?! He wasn't all that important and he could've messed up things for them in the long run, but he was human! Hoping Luidaeg can somehow save him just because he didn't deserve that. Is that the last we hear of him?

You're right about Oberon. BUT I wonder if he's like the fae king in the Fever series and is actually around but keeping himself hidden.

The Changeling Choice that was given to Chelsea - okay sort of figured she would pick faerie. Glad they were able to keep not only her, but her crazy mother, safe. Awww Etienne really does have a heart :) But it had me thinking about all those other Changelings in time - only Gillian and Chelsea had Toby there to change their blood based on their choices. For all those others, if they chose human, they would still have the fae blood in them and would still have the fae abilities right (if they had any to begin with)?

For the short stories, the 1st one can be found . "Rand" just does not suit him as much as "Tybalt". But loved that he picked that name from his love of the theater. Crazy to read how Tybalt became king. But I want to know how he came over to San Fran, if he ever saw Colette again. I want to know so much more about Tybalt! The other ss was Toby & Tybalt's 1st date. It was cute.

It's going to be hard waiting 2 weeks to read the next one...

Geri wrote: "Strawberry jam on ham and cheese! Yum! LOL Faeries definitely have terrible taste buds.

I finished and it was another fun, exciting story. But I gotta ask, how many lives does Tybalt have!?? He ke..."

I hated Curran the 1st couple books. Funny how much I loved him by the end though!

@Geri i was wondering that about tybalt too. i mean if we're going with the whole 'cats have nine lives' thing then he's gone through a few just in the past couple of years and he's around 500 years old i think. although general proximity to toby probably makes him die more often lol

also agree with what you said about ilona andrews. i only read the first kate daniels book and i'll probably never read another book by her again because i hated what werelion dude so much. like at one point he literally threw her into a wall and i'm just like ???? i'm supposed to be okay with that ???? no thanks. on this reread i was a bit more bothered by how much of a dick tybalt was at the beginning of the series but at least he was never physically violent with toby. it sucks that the bar is apparently that low but welcome to urban fantasy i guess lol

@Cathy i was also surprised that they left the officer behind because i did not remember that. i don't remember if they get him out somehow later or not but yeah surely etienne could have grabbed him or something.

and i think toby can take the fae completely out of anyone's blood no matter what kind of faerie they are, if that's what you were asking.

i agree that rand is a weird name for him. although i guess tybalt is also technically a weird name but it just fits him really well so it's like you don't notice so much.

I'm not going to lie I just started reading his last night and read chapters 1-10. I am already sucked in and enjoying myself. I'm just popping in to comment without reading anything you guys have posted since I'm sure everyone is ahead of me but I just had to say that I didn't think Etienne had it in him. Like I knew the book was about his changeling daughter but was super surprised that he was so not on top of this situation and had unknowingly exposed faerie.

haha i know, it's like instead of making many tiny mistakes he saves it all up to make one HUGE one

Cathy M. wrote: "I thought the same thing - what is with those flavors together (steak sauce & strawberry jam)? It sounds so gross.

I finished last night, and also read the short stories. This is the 1st 5 star re..."

So I finished the book this morning.

I agree about the weird sandwich combinations. I also agree that I was a bit horrified that they left the cop behind. Honestly, though I think with everything going on they got distracted and just forgot him. I wondered if he will be back and if they will be able to save him. Then I started thinking of the implications of a human left behind with murderous fae and figure he is either dead or wishing he was.

I was happy that Chelsea had a happy ending as I was worried she was gonna end up dead.

I spent so much of this book falling in love with Tybalt. He was honestly the best in this book. Learning more about his past was also really great. I can't wait to learn more.

On your theory that Oberon is actually around but keeping himself hidden, i think that would be a huge plot twist and pretty cool.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next book.

i was thinking about the police officer more the other day and i'm actually kind of confused how he could like ...see / process everything that was happening i guess? i mean we see people like marcia who have very little fae blood need fairy ointment for their eyes to see certain parts of faerie but here's a fully human guy who apparently had no problem seeing things. maybe it's different when you are actually in a fae world instead of in the mortal realm? just a little inconsistency i never picked up on before

Devann wrote: "i was thinking about the police officer more the other day and i'm actually kind of confused how he could like ...see / process everything that was happening i guess? i mean we see people like marc..."

I think no one was wearing a glamour so he actually saw them as they really are. I think that was the whole reason he started freaking out and trying to get away from everyone. And I think maybe since he was actually in a section of faerie that no one was controlling no one was keeping it hidden from mortal eyes.

yeah but i thought the fairy ointment wasn't to see through glamours and stuff, i thought it was like literally so you could see different parts of faerie. but i guess i'll just believe that it isn't applicable in the deeper realms since a human who got taken there would definitely have to know something is up anyway lol

So when do we start the next book?

the 15th, i put in the request for a thread earlier today so hopefully it'll be up soon

Sooo I finished this days ago and forgot to post!!

I will start the next book probably tomorrow!