Title: A Divided Duty
Series: October Daye, #20
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication date: September 29, 2026
Print length: 400 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Seanan McGuire’s New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated October Daye series finds Toby Daye torn between caring for her newborn daughter and keeping the world of Faerie―and her found family―safe.

October “Toby” Daye is settling into life with a baby, remembering the ins and outs of motherhood, and trying to find ways to balance her work with her desire to keep her baby safe at home and away from all the terrors Faerie has to offer. Her whole household is pitching in, from May all the way down to Raysel, the estranged daughter of Toby’s liege lord who is currently serving out a term of offense in Toby’s home.

Naturally, as everything is beginning to find a balance, it’s time for Raysel’s term of offense to end, and Luna Torquill very much wants her daughter back.

But Toby has been helping Raysel get the help she desperately needs, from giving her a safe place to hide all the way to finding her a licensed therapist who works with the fae, and Raysel isn’t ready to leave. Luna isn’t taking no for an answer, and before anyone can realize what she’s planning, she steals her own child away to Blind Michael’s lands.

Not even Luna knows all the terrible secrets her father and his works hid from the world, and not even she can protect her daughter from the monsters in their lineage. All too quickly, Toby must race the clock to save Raysel―before it’s too late for her to ever come home.

It’s been years, but now the question will be asked again: can she get there and back by the light of a candle?

October Daye is back, and going strong! The 20th book in an ongoing series is clearly not the place to jump in… but for readers who’ve been along for the ride so far, A Divided Duty hits all the high marks we’ve come to love and expect from Seanan McGuire’s brilliantly detailed fantasy world.

In short: Toby, a hero of the realm, is also a new mother. Her baby girl Miranda is fully fae, although it’s still too early to know how much of each of her parents’ magical lineages she carries. Toby and her husband Tybalt are sleep-deprived but happy, as are the rest of the assorted people who make up their quirky household.

One of these is Raysel, daughter of Toby’s liege, recovering from a tormented past in which she committed major crimes and offenses. Toby offers her the space to heal, but her officially sanctioned time in Toby’s household is coming to a close, and Raysel’s mother wants her back — but going home to Luna would be terrible for Raysel, and she’s desperate to stay where she is. The law of the realm backs Raysel’s wishes, but Luna refuses to accept the Queen’s ruling, and steals Raysel away to a land of darkness and terror, where she believes they’ll be untouchable.

Toby and Tybalt must set out on yet another dangerous, practically impossible quest to rescue Raysel, leaving baby Miranda at home while they attempt to bring back the stolen member of their found family — and hoping with all their might that they won’t end up leaving Miranda an orphan.

A Divided Duty is another excellent adventure for Toby, and a terrific showcase for the dynamics of her relationship with Tybalt. The two have navigated tremendous ups and downs over the course of the series; it’s fascinating to see all the ways in which they balance one another, recognizing their individual strengths and vulnerabilities and how they work best in tandem.

The characters in Toby’s world are still in recovery from the traumatic events of books 16 – 18, which upended their lives and the entire fae world in ways still having ripple effects. The author skillfully shows how the various characters have experienced life-altering changes due to those events, and how the traumas continue to linger and reverberate even after the main threats have been dealt with.

A Divided Duty wraps up well, and of course leaves plenty more issues and conflicts to explore. Central mysteries of the series remain unresolved, and it feels as though there are endless more adventures ahead for Toby, Tybalt and the rest of these beloved characters.

At this point, the world of the October Daye series is vast. In addition to the twenty main books, there are novellas (often included as bonus sections in the main books) and countless short stories, including many on Seanan McGuire’s author website and on her Patreon. Some of these provide older histories, while others fill in the gaps between main novels, and honestly, it’s overwhelming (for me, at least) to even attempt to keep up. I’d love it if someone published/maintained a directly of all of these, including where they fit into the main stories chronologically and in which characters’ story arcs. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll have enough time on my hands (ha!) to actually do a deeper dive!

In any case… A Divided Duty provides a compelling next chapter for Toby and Tybalt. The danger and drama are terrific, as are the lighter character moments. As always, quirky moments and quippy banter provide entertainment, and it’s always a pleasure to spend time in Toby’s world.

I’ll close with my typical statement about the October Daye series: Starting at the beginning is a must. Pick up Rosemary and Rue — you won’t want to stop!

As I mentioned, main books in this series tend to include a novella at the end. For A Divided Duty, the novella is But by Degrees, narrated by Toby’s squire Quentin, a complicated young man who finds himself at a loss after the events of books 16 – 18. In those books, Quentin — along with everyone else — found himself living in an alternate version of reality, and now that the real world has been restored, he’s struggling to reconcile the person he’s always believed himself to be with what he saw himself become in that alternate world. But by Degrees is a moving character study, and I appreciated the insights into Quentin’s emotional state as well as this look at the lingering effects of unresolved trauma. It’s a fitting closing piece for A Divided Duty and works well as a companion to the main novel.

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