Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: DAW (5 Nov 2009)
ISBN-10: 0756405718
ISBN-13: 978-0756405717
Reviewer: Cara
Copy: Bought online
From the back of the book:
The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie’s survival – but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October “Toby” Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery… before the curse catches up with her.
Rosemary and Rue is the first in a promising new Urban Fantasy series from Seanan McGuire, newly announced winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Hugo Awards, 2010). Instead of the usual vampire or werewolf type novels in this sub-genre, this features the world of Faerie which exists parallel with our own world. As I love anything related to the Sidhe and similar Celtic mythology I was immediately attracted to this book. Knowing, from the cover blurb, that it was also a murder-mystery increased it’s appeal.
October “Toby” Daye is a half-human, half-Daoine Sidhe changeling. Looked down upon as a half-breed by the Sidhe and obliged to hide her Faerie features from humans, Toby has some issues with her identity. Events some 14 years prior to the main storyline (told in the Prologue) have led her to reject her Faerie heritage and hide away in the human world of San Francisco, living a lonely nocturnal existence as a supermarket. The brutal murder of the Countess Evening Winterrose of Goldengreen pulls Toby back into Faerie as she is bound by a powerful spell to investigate her friend’s death. This forces Toby to renew her alliances in the world of Faerie and resume her former career as a private investigator, something she had hoped to avoid.
From the outset we are thrust into the hidden world of Faerie and Seanan McGuire has created a detailed society, complete with its own traditions and culture which draws heavily from existing Celtic mythology. There are varying ‘races’ in Faerie, the Daoine Sidhe being the aristocracy and rule fiefdoms within San Francisco from their ‘knowes’, under the overall control of the Queen. We also encounter Cait Sidhe (cat shapeshifters), Undines (water spirits), Selkies and Kitsune, amongst others. The worldbuilding is excellent and, for me, enhanced the murder-mystery plot, giving it a additional dimension.
Toby’s investigation into the murder of Evening Winterrose was very well done – I didn’t guess who was behind the killing at all, though with hindsight there were several clues along the way. It served as an excellent introduction to several characters who I suspect will feature heavily in future novels in this series. Toby is a liege of the Duke of Shadowed Hills, Sylvester Torquill and his wife, Luna, is an endearing and sympathetic character. Their daughter, Rayseline is married to Connor, a Selkie who has some possible romantic history with Toby. My favourite of all is Tybalt, King of the Cait Sidhe, whose disdain for Toby is very apparent, yet he also seems to care for her wellbeing. Although only a minor role in Rosemary and Rue, my guess is that we will see a lot more of Tybalt in future novels.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading Rosemary and Rue and Toby is a strong, yet troubled lead. The quality of writing and style is better than many current urban fantasy offerings and Seanan McGuire shows much promise as a writer to watch, this view being supported by her recently receiving the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Hugo Awards, 2010) As the first in a series, much of the book was setting the scene and providing us with basic history of the various characters and locations as well as introducing us to the hidden world of Faerie, it’s culture and mythology. I have now ordered the next two October Daye books and look forward to reading more of her adventures and exploring the world of Faerie further.
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Style: 8
Rating: 8/10
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