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A review by dajoyofit
An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire
5.0
This is a great new series! I can't get enough. I think (up to this point) this is my favorite book in the series. October has to go up against the boogyman. On the heels of a death omen, October’s call to adventure comes when children begin to disappear.
(queue dramatic drum roll)
Enter the boogyman. This book in the series is darker - hello, we're dealing with the boogyman. October is asked to investigate and learns that Blind Michael, the fairy version of the bogeyman, has stolen them. Every hero that has ever tried to go up against him has lost. Lily, the Undine, one of several guides October will have, tells her, “You will go on your errand, and Tybalt’s, and all the others who haven’t time to reach you. You will go, because you must."
I think what most critics of this series (up to this point) bump up against is October's reluctance to accept her destiny - to accept what and who she is. October is struggling with her identity and SM isn't rushing toward the finish line to get October to that place of 'wisdom and/or self-knowledge'.
SM is making Toby have to go through the rites of passage that every hero in mythology has had to travel since the beginning of time. And like every hero's quest, nothings ever simple nor a straight line - it wouldn't be a rite of passage if it were, right. I think its the zig zap path of Toby's quest in this story that some modern readers find frustrating.
Not to mention that October is flawed (which I personally think makes her that more interesting). Yet despite her flaws and that she's scared, she undertakes her quest because her heart compels her. She admits, “I didn’t want to go. I’m not a hero; I never have been. I just do what has to be done.” And so, Toby goes on her quest and in the process undergoes a symbolic rebirth.
After a lifetime of denying who and what she is, she states, “In the end, I’d proved myself as a child of Oberon’s line, no matter how much I tried to deny it; I was a hero, and I was dying like one, and that was all right, because it was how things had to be.”
Aside from Toby's quest and the personal growth she undergoes in this story, SM does a wonderful job at bringing to life the world of October Daye. I enjoy how SM has intertwined and reinvented Irish mythology for a modern audience. The entire cast of supporting characters are brilliantly written.
(queue dramatic drum roll)
Enter the boogyman. This book in the series is darker - hello, we're dealing with the boogyman. October is asked to investigate and learns that Blind Michael, the fairy version of the bogeyman, has stolen them. Every hero that has ever tried to go up against him has lost. Lily, the Undine, one of several guides October will have, tells her, “You will go on your errand, and Tybalt’s, and all the others who haven’t time to reach you. You will go, because you must."
I think what most critics of this series (up to this point) bump up against is October's reluctance to accept her destiny - to accept what and who she is. October is struggling with her identity and SM isn't rushing toward the finish line to get October to that place of 'wisdom and/or self-knowledge'.
SM is making Toby have to go through the rites of passage that every hero in mythology has had to travel since the beginning of time. And like every hero's quest, nothings ever simple nor a straight line - it wouldn't be a rite of passage if it were, right. I think its the zig zap path of Toby's quest in this story that some modern readers find frustrating.
Not to mention that October is flawed (which I personally think makes her that more interesting). Yet despite her flaws and that she's scared, she undertakes her quest because her heart compels her. She admits, “I didn’t want to go. I’m not a hero; I never have been. I just do what has to be done.” And so, Toby goes on her quest and in the process undergoes a symbolic rebirth.
After a lifetime of denying who and what she is, she states, “In the end, I’d proved myself as a child of Oberon’s line, no matter how much I tried to deny it; I was a hero, and I was dying like one, and that was all right, because it was how things had to be.”
Aside from Toby's quest and the personal growth she undergoes in this story, SM does a wonderful job at bringing to life the world of October Daye. I enjoy how SM has intertwined and reinvented Irish mythology for a modern audience. The entire cast of supporting characters are brilliantly written.