Book Review: Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14) by Patricia Briggs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14)
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: June 18, 2024
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions in this exhilarating entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.

My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.

But I’m not alone anymore.

Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problem much bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world. . . .

Mercy Thompson has been one of my favorite fictional heroines since the moment I read the very first book in the series, Moon Called. I love this series and the world Patricia Briggs has created, with its complex characters and dynamics, dangerous supernatural beings and mysterious powers, and deep, meaningful personal connections too.

You can imagine how much it pains me to give a Mercy book fewer than four stars. Not that Winter Lost isn’t a good book — it just doesn’t measure up to how great I know this series can be, and it left me feeling uninvolved for far too long of the story.

Probably needless to say, but the 14th book in a series is not a good starting place. I’ll talk about this book, but I’m not going to explain the entire backstory of the series. (But seriously, give yourself a treat and pick up Moon Called, if you haven’t read it yet!)

The events of Winter Lost feel quite separate in many ways from the main through-stories of the series, especially given the way the plot unfolds. The series as a whole is very firmly rooted in the Tri-Cities region of Washington State. Community matters a lot in Mercy’s world. And yet, in Winter Lost, Mercy and her husband Adam spend most of the book away from home, journeying to the wilderness of Montana to remove a curse from Mercy’s brother (and, along the way, try to stop the world from ending).

In “interludes” sprinkled in between the main chapters, we get glimpses of what’s going on back at home, as well as the actions of other (new) characters who have a part to play in the central action of the story. The chapters focus on Mercy and Adam as they travel to the mountain lodge, learn more about what they’re dealing with, and then (of course) save the day.

Beyond the action of this particular quest, Mercy and Adam are also dealing with the fallout from the last book, Soul Taken, which left Mercy with a cosmic sort of damage that’s slowly eating away at her soul and her magic. She has a mystical band-aid of sorts, thanks to the intervention of a fae who cares for her, but long-term, this damage will kill her if they can’t fix it… and fixing it seems like something beyond the skills of anyone in their sphere. This fear underlies every moment, adding a sense of urgency to everything Mercy and Adam do, but especially to their more private moments together.

The plot of Winter Lost just didn’t captivate me the way I’ve come to expect from Mercy books. The plot is an adventure story, but it happens far from home, isolated from much of the ongoing story threads of the series. The adventure concludes at the end of the book, and the pieces are mainly reset — so except for one key element, nothing is all that different from where we picked up at the start of the book. (Keeping it vague… no spoilers here!)

I think one reason I didn’t love Winter Lost quite as much is the distance from Mercy and Adam’s home. I love them as characters and will follow them anywhere, but their stories are always much richer when they’re set amidst the world of their pack, their extended family, and their various and sundry allies and acquaintances. Mercy and Adam can carry the story by themselves, but I missed being around all the rest of the characters we’ve come to know and love.

Winter Lost is a quest story, and I was much more engaged for the last third or so… but still, I can’t wait for the series to move back home and let us see the entire pack back together and back in action.

Despite my 3.5 stars for this particular book, my love for the Mercy-verse remains strong! According to the author’s website, next year will bring a new book in the spin-off Alpha & Omega series (yay!), and so I assume it’ll be 2026 until we see the next Mercy book… and I have a feeling I’ll be doing at least a little rereading between now and then.

10Jan2024

Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Author: Heather Fawcett
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publication date: January 16, 2024
Length: 342 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

Emily Wilde is back! Last year’s Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was a smash hit — it seemed like everyone was talking about it! Book #2 picks up relatively soon after the first book ended, with Emily and Wendell back in Cambridge, immersed in the world of scholarship and academic competition.

And while Emily is still herself, putting her studies above everything else, she now has Wendell to temper her scholarly obsessions. Her gorgeous Faerie king (and university colleague) is determine to keep Emily comfortable and do what he can to take care of her, even when she clearly doesn’t care much about being pampered. She does care about Wendell, though, and her qualms about accepting his marriage proposal have nothing to do with whether she loves him and everything to do with how dangerous she knows the Fae to be.

When Wendell’s life is threatened and Emily starts receiving mysterious visitations, they set off to the Alps to chase down a lead, hoping to finally locate Wendell’s missing door back to his own Faerie realm. Nothing is easy, though, and there are dangers galore… along with an interesting assortment of both adorable and hideous magical creatures.

This second book is a total delight, living up to the promise of the first and delivering a terrific mix of nerdy scholarship and enchanting magic. Emily is a wonderful main character, following her own path no matter where it takes her, never willing to compromise when a new discovery beckons. (Who knows, maybe she’ll even write a paper about it!)

The adventure is lots of fun, the writing is funny and fast-paced, and the overall atmosphere combines a throwback to Victorian times with a heaping dose of magical intrigue and dangers. I did feel that the climax and resolution of the quest came about almost too quickly, after a lengthy build-up, but I still felt satisfied and engaged when I got to the end, and will definitely be back for more.

The Emily Wilde books are oodles of fun, with terrific characters, a novel approach to storytelling, captivating magical worlds, and plenty of geeky delights. If you enjoy the fantasy genre, you’ll definitely want to check out these books.

31Jan2023

Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Author: Heather Fawcett
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publication date: January 10, 2023
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love, in this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones–the most elusive of all faeries–lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all–her own heart.

In this tale of professors and faeries, Emily Wilde is an introverted scholar who’d much rather be left to her own devices than be forced to (gasp!) chitchat with the locals at the tavern. Much to her dismay, this is exactly the situation she’s forced into when she travels to the land of Ljosland to study the Hidden Ones – the final type of fae she needs to document in order to finish her masterpiece, an exhaustive encyclopaedia of all types of faerie.

Emily’s antisocial tendencies initially cause offense among the locals, but when her colleague Wendell arrives to join (or take credit for?) her studies, he immediately charms everyone and smooths over Emily’s blunders. He’s gorgeous and charming and sets Emily’s teeth on edge, but he soon transforms their rented hovel into a cozy cottage and gets access to people’s help and their stories which had previously been denied her.

While Emily’s goal is to study, not interfere, she soon becomes aware of trouble in the little village. A couple lives in torment, and Emily soon realizes it’s because their true child has been replaced by a faerie changeling. What’s more, abductions of village youth by the fae are on the rise, and the villagers have given up hope of ever seeing their loved ones again. As potential romance blooms between Emily and Wendell, Emily decides to set things right with the village by seeking out and confronting the dangerous Faerie King — but her chances of walking away from the encounter are very doubtful.

Told through Emily’s journal, we read about her arrival in Hrafnsvik, the initial enmity of the villagers, her first contact with a helpful brownie, and the complications that stem from Wendell’s arrival. As time passes, she documents her research success and challenges, her interactions with the people of Hrafnsvik, and the irritation (and secret attraction) she feels for Wendell. We also see her document her risky forays into the faerie kingdom, as well as the dismay she feels as she becomes ensnared by enchantments and loses track of time… and perhaps loses track of herself as well.

Although the beginning is a bit slow, eventually Emily’s story picks up steam. Her actions are very determined and brave, even while taking foolhardy risks. Although Emily depicts Wendell in her journal with a great sense of annoyance, it’s easy to see through her irritation and to find Wendell just as charming and delightful as she secretly sees him.

I enjoyed the inventiveness of the story, the setting, and the characters very much. I did feel that the device of telling the story through Emily’s journal became a hindrance in the latter half of the story. There’s a lack of suspense in the storytelling — if Emily is writing the story of a dangerous escape in her journal, then we know right away that she DID escape… so while the details may be exciting, there’s no question about the outcome. (I also felt confused after the big climactic moment — because Emily’s description of the event ends after she leaves the scene, yet I wanted to know what happened next in the scene she left! Sorry, being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers…)

Overall, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a captivating, entertaining read. I wished for a bit more in spots, but still enjoyed reading it. There’s a planned sequel, and since several plot points are left unresolved at the end of this book, I’ll be on the lookout for #2!

21Aug2022

Book Review: Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13) by Patricia Briggs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13)
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: August 23, 2022
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must face her greatest fears in this chilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

The vampire Wulfe is missing. Since he’s deadly, possibly insane, and his current idea of “fun” is stalking me, some may see it as no great loss. But, warned that his disappearance might bring down the carefully constructed alliances that keep our pack safe, my mate and I must find Wulfe—and hope he’s still alive. As alive as a vampire can be, anyway.

But Wulfe isn’t the only one who has disappeared. And now there are bodies, too. Has the Harvester returned to the Tri-Cities, reaping souls with his cursed sickle? Or is he just a character from a B horror movie and our enemy is someone else?

The farther I follow Wulfe’s trail, the more twisted—and darker—the path becomes. I need to figure out what’s going on before the next body on the ground is mine.

The Mercy Thompson series is one of my very favorites, and Mercy herself is one of my all-time favorite characters! As you can imagine, waiting 2 1/2 years for a new release felt like torture. But never fear, our long wait is over — a new Mercy book is here, and it was very much worth the wait.

Mercy is brave, strong, and fiercely devoted to her mate Adam, to their werewolf pack, and to anyone she sees as under her protection… which, as of several books ago, now extends to anyone (human or supernatural) living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington.

The pack has a sometimes smooth, sometimes uneasy pact with the local vampire seethe, and when their most dangerous vampire goes missing, it’s a sign that great evil is potentially at play. The fact that this vampire also has an unhealthy obsession with Mercy just makes it that much more important that he be found before very bad things start to happen to the people Mercy loves.

As in the rest of the series, there’s plenty of action and danger, and of course, Mercy and Adam end up with their lives in peril… repeatedly. The specifics of this book’s plot won’t make a ton of sense to someone who hasn’t read the rest of the series, so let’s just say that high points include a big reveal about a secret identity, some questioning about the trustworthiness of an old ally, and the reappearance of a deadly foe.

I love Mercy, always, and I especially love her in her quieter moments with Adam, when we see the depth of their connection. I also love every opportunity to see the pack spending time together, whether in battle or playing silly video games (and we get both in this book).

There’s also a brief mention of a continuing plot point from the Mercy-verse’s other series (Alpha & Omega), because these two series take place in the same world and there are characters who appear in both. (Just FYI, if you’re wondering why it’s been 2.5 years since the last Mercy book, it’s because there was an A&O book released in between). It’s only a small scene, one that doesn’t impact this book’s plot significantly, but it’s tantalizing enough to make me eager to see that story pick up again too.

A new Mercy book is always a treat, and Soul Taken made me incredibly happy, except for the moments when I was quaking with fear when a beloved character was at risk (which, let’s face it, is on and off throughout the entire book).

The plot was perhaps a little slighter and/or more opaque than some of the others in the series, but it does move certain characters and situations into interesting new positions for whatever comes next… and whatever comes next, I am absolutely here for it!

And now, it’s back to waiting for the next new release, hopefully in no more than a year… and meanwhile, I can always go back and re-read my favorite moments from the rest of the series!

PS – As always, a note of love for the awesome cover art by Daniel Dos Santos, whose work is just always so beautiful!

22Mar2020

Book Review: Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson, #12) by Patricia Briggs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson, #12)
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: March 17, 2020
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, faces a threat unlike any other in this thrilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
I am Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman.
My only “superpowers” are that I turn into a thirty-five pound coyote and fix Volkswagens. But I have friends in odd places and a pack of werewolves at my back. It looks like I’m going to need them.
Centuries ago, the fae dwelt in Underhill–until she locked her doors against them. They left behind their great castles and troves of magical artifacts. They abandoned their prisoners and their pets. Without the fae to mind them, those creatures who remained behind roamed freely through Underhill wreaking havoc. Only the deadliest survived.
Now one of those prisoners has escaped. It can look like anyone, any creature it chooses. But if it bites you, it controls you. It lives for chaos and destruction. It can make you do anything–even kill the person you love the most. Now it is here, in the Tri-Cities. In my territory.
It won’t, can’t, remain.
Not if I have anything to say about it.

A new Mercy book is always cause for celebration! Twelve books in, the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series is still going strong. Long may Mercy reign!

Mercy, our favorite VW mechanic and mate of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack Alpha, is tough, strong, determined, loyal… and also easily hurt by anything that damages the bond between her and Adam.

And, in a move that absolutely broke my heart, author Patricia Briggs kicks off this newest adventure in the series by letting us know that something is very, very wrong with Mercy and Adam’s mate bond. He’s holding himself apart from Mercy, and it’s tearing her heart to pieces.

But there’s other trouble as well. A dangerous new enemy is taking over people’s minds and making them do terrible things. A group of outsider wolves are trying to invade Adam’s territory. And the scary vampire Wulfe seems to be newly obsessed with Mercy.

In typical Mercy fashion, she never backs down when her loved ones are in danger, and she throws herself into the fight against everything threatening her marriage, her friends, and her pack.

I won’t say too much about the plot, but I loved the answer to the riddles about the bad guy’s identity, and I was thrilled when a certain magical artifact makes an appearance after being gone for a while.

I tend to give all Mercy books 5 stars because I just love this series so much! But, relative to some of the other books in the series, I’d put Smoke Bitten as maybe a smidge less earth-shaking, so I’m being a little stingy here and only going with 4.5! Still a great book, but not quite the best of the best!

As I said, a new Mercy book is always cause for celebration… but also sadness, because now that I’ve read the newest, it’ll be another year of waiting for the next installment.

For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of reading this series yet, jump in! I love the characters, the world-building, the relationships… just really everything. Mercy is an amazing lead character — you’ll love her too!

29Jan2020

Book Review: The Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air, #1)
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: January 2, 2018
Length: 370 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

The Cruel Prince is a book that practically everyone but me had already read. But now…

I’m in! I finally read The Cruel Prince, and I can see what all the fuss is about. Call me late to the party, but guys! This book is good!

The book starts off with a horrifying, sad scene: In a normal suburban home, 7-year-old twin sisters Taryn and Jude and their older sister Vivi are lounging about watching TV, when a strange man enters, murders their parents, and steals them away. The man is Madoc, and he is Vivi’s biological father. The mother of the three girls used to dwell in Faerie with him, but she ran off years earlier with the mortal man who became the twins’ father. Now, years later, Madoc has taken what he considers his.

The girls are brought to Faerie and raised among the fae gentry. Vivi, half-fae herself, fits in pretty well, but the twins are always aware of how other they are. They’re mortal, and have no powers. Even worse, they have no innate ability to fight off the magical compulsions and other torments directed at them by their fae classmates.

As the story kicks in, Jude and Taryn are seventeen, still trying to find a way to belong. Madoc has raised them with riches and privilege, but they can never forget that he murdered their parents. Jude wants strength — she wants to prove she belongs in the fae court by becoming a knight. Taryn, on the other hand, wants to secure her place through marriage. And Vivi? She, the one who should belong, wants no part of it at all, instead preferring to sneak back to the human world whenever she can to see her mortal girlfriend and plan a future with her.

Jude and Taryn are constantly tormented by their classmates, especially Prince Cardan and his cronies. But when the king decides to step down and pass along the crown, the intrigue and the danger escalates.

I’m not going to go further into the plot, but let me just say… I was hooked! I could not put this book down once I started. I loved the depiction of Faerie, its beauty and wonders, and how utterly alien and hostile this world would feel to children who didn’t belong.

The casual cruelty of the ruling class is scary and heartless, and I felt awful for Taryn and Jude for having no defenses and no way to stand up for themselves in any meaningful way. And even when some of the crowd appear to be more inclined to be friendly, it seems obvious that no one can be trusted.

Jude is our hero, and she’s awesome. She’s smart and brave, and refuses to scrape and bow, even when that’s the most obvious way to get the bullies off her back. She’s devoted to protecting her family, and doesn’t take the easy way out. I like how she goes through the book having to figure who to trust, and even when forced into pretty bad situations, how to turn those situations to her advantage and achieve her goals.

I definitely want more! I’m really looking forward to reading book #2, and feel pretty safe in predicting that I’ll want to read straight through to the end of the trilogy!

**Save

I also really enjoyed The Lost Sisters, a novella that tells about some of the same events from The Cruel Prince, but from Taryn’s perspective.

It’s really interesting to get the other side of parts of the story, and I’m glad I stumbled across it!

And now, on to The Wicked King!Save

Save

23Oct2019

Shelf Control #188: Firebird by Mercedes Lackey

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Firebird
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Published: 1996
Length: 352 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

In Mercedes Lackey’s Firebird, Ilya, son of a Russian prince, is largely ignored by his father and tormented by his larger, older brothers. His only friends are three old people: a priest, a magician, and a woman who toils in the palace dairy. From them Ilya learns faith, a smattering of magic, and the power of love–all of which he will need desperately, for his life is about to be turned upside-down.

The prince’s magnificent cherry orchard is visited at midnight by the legendary Firebird, whose wings are made of flame. Ilya’s brothers’ attempts to capture the magical creature fail. When Ilya tries to catch the Firebird, he sees her as a beautiful woman and earns a magical gift: the speech of animals.

Banished, the young man journeys through a fantastical Russia full of magical mazes, enchanted creatures, and untold dangers. As happens in the best fairy tales, Ilya falls in love with an enchanted princess, but to win her freedom will be no easy task.

How and when I got it:

Yet another find at a library book sale! No idea when — but probably in the last two years at some point.

Why I want to read it:

I’ve never read anything by Mercedes Lackey, and I know I should! She’s one of those authors whose books I’ve been wanting to read, yet there are so many that I never know where to start. Any suggestions? I grabbed Firebird when I saw it, and I do think it sounds great — but as someone new to this author, I wonder if this is representative of her works, or if there’s a different book (or set of books) that I should try first. Any recommendations?

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments!
If you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

20Apr2019

Character obsession: Three cheers for Patreon, Seanan McGuire, and Tybalt, King of Cats

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

As I’ve probably mentioned once or twice or a thousand times, I’m head over heels in love with the fantasy world of the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. And among the rich assortment of amazing characters, one who truly stands out is Tybalt, King of the Cait Sidhe, ruler of the Court of Dreaming Cats (of San Francisco), formerly King of the Court of Fogbound Cats (of London).

This week, I indulged in a glorious Tybalt-fest, and it was SO MUCH FUN. First I re-read two stories about Tybalt’s origins:

In Rat-Catcher, we learn about Tybalt’s youth as a Prince of the Cait Sidhe, when his name was Rand. In order to evade notice by his sadistic adopted father, he hid out in the Elizabethan-era theaters of London and played the foolish fop when forced to be at court. Eventually, Tybalt is forced to challenge his father and assume the throne, but it’s never an easy fit for him. We see his early days as king in Forbid the Sea, when a brief break from London enmeshes him in a romantic affair with someone in hiding from a very different fae family.

The stories are available to read online: Rat-Catcher can be found here, and Forbid the Sea is available for download from the author’s website, here.

As good as these stories are, I’d read them already. The true joy for me was reading nine (NINE!!!) Tybalt stories via Patreon… And for those not familiar, Patreon is a platform where artists can offer their works to subscribers for a sponsorship fee. In my case, I’ve joined at the $1 level, which means that once a month I’m charged a dollar on my credit card, in exchange for which I get access to Seanan McGuire’s newest Patreon-exclusive content. It’s awesome. Check it out, here.

The Patreon page banner

I’m relatively new to Patreon, and had only read the stand-alone pieces by Seanan McGuire so far (including a super scary piece about viruses and a creepy horror story involving marshmallows — yes really, marshmallows!). This month’s new story was a Tybalt story, and I decided to dive in, find all the earlier Tybalt pieces on Patreon, and read them in order. And so I did. And they rocked.

The titles are (in publication/story order):

Stage of Fools
The Voice of Lions
The Act of Hares
Instrument of Darkness
With Honest Trifles
In Deepest Consequence
Jealous in Honor
Quick in Quarrel
Of Strange Oaths

The stories follows Tybalt through the years of his reign over the Court of Dreaming Cats. As I started these, I wondered how Tybalt ended up leaving London, because when we meet him in the modern-day world of October Daye, he’s king of the Cait Sidhe in San Francisco. This question is answered by the 9th of these stories, although there are plenty more questions to be answered in what I hope will be many more stories to come!

I’m so glad to have read these. Tybalt is a beautiful, loving, moral being with an iron will and the ability to rule a kingdom — and with the arrogance and ease of a cat. These stories show us the family he loved, back in the early years after his ascent to the throne, and the sacrifices and sorrows he endures to keep his loved ones safe. There’s tragedy, but also joy in seeing Tybalt’s devotion and unconditional love. Sigh.

I’m feeling all happy and content at the moment, having just finished the 9th story… and also strangely unsettled, because I want more, dammit — and right now, there isn’t any more!

Here’s hoping that the author-lady graces us with more Tybalt before too long, because I absolutely need to know what happens next! And meanwhile, there are all sorts of Toby-related works for me still to explore… so here I go!