In A Local Habitation, the follow-up to wonderful Rosemary and Rue, author Seanan McGuire gives us a sequel that is different not only in scope but also in plotting from the first book. This is not a bad thing. We like new stuff. We like when authors don’t follow predictable patterns. In Rue, we followed along with October Daye as she investigated the murder of Countess Evening Winterrose. This time around, October is asked by Silvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills–her liege–to look into what is most likely a family squabble but with enough political implications that his sending another person could send the wrong messages. So, October is off to discover why a clever young business owner is no longer communicating with her family. What she finds is nothing like what she expected.
Sylvester sends her to Fremont, California (which is also the County of Tamed Lightening in Faerie) to discover why his niece, Countess January O’Leary, and her fantasy game production company aren’t communicating anymore and to make sure that all is well. January’s company is located on a piece of land directly between the lands of Sylvester and another Faerie duchy, and seems to be a bone of contention between the two duchies; thus there are political difficulties. Sylvester is afraid that someone representing the other duchy has either sabotaged the company or kidnapped January. October isn’t sure what to expect when she gets to Fremont, but what she gets was never even in the running. I don’t really want to summarize the plot because much of it is unknown at first, and it would be difficult to avoid spoilers. Once there, October has lots of difficulties because she does not have all of the pertinent background on January and her company, and because the people she is trying to help are not being forthcoming with information. Some just don’t want to talk, some have secrets that could get themselves and the company in trouble, and some just don’t realize the damage not mentioning something can do.
I found this second book in the series to be a very quick, fun, and interesting read. I really enjoy October as a character, because she isn’t perfect and she knows it, and she works around her limitations as well as the expectations others have of her. Another little treat is McGuire’s use of Shakespeare in the titles. Both Rosemary and Rue and A Local Habitation are from Shakespeare, and they are both very fitting for the books they title. (I would tell you why they are fitting, but I found it very fun to do the research and find the original quotes and read the surrounding text and get why the author chose them as the titles. Trust me, it won’t take long to find out and you’ll have fun along the way.)
By the end of A Local Habitation, October has also discovered that family is not necessarily only those people bound by blood–it is the people who stand by you, care for you, understand all of your quirks and habits, and accept you just as you are. She begins to realize that she has more family than she ever knew. I am very anxiously awaiting the forthcoming third in the October Daye series, which is titled An Artificial Night and is coming out in early September. If you have not begun this series and you are a fan of urban fantasy without the vampires and the leather-clad femmes fatale, you definitely should check it out.
