October “Toby” Daye is finally doing all right. She’s settling into her new role as the Countess of Goldengreen; she’s actually dating again; she’s even agreed to take on Quentin as her official squire. Life is looking up all around - and that inevitably means it’s time for things to take a turn for the worse.

Someone has kidnapped the sons of Duchess Dianda Lorden, regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must not only find the missing boys, but also prove that the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. She’ll need all her tricks and the help of all her allies if she wants to make it through this in one piece.

Toby’s search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves, and her deadline is firm: she must find the boys in three days’ time, or all of the Mists will pay the price. But someone is determined to stop her - and whoever it is isn’t playing by Oberon’s Laws....

As the battle grows more and more personal, one thing is chillingly clear. When Faerie goes to war, not everyone will walk away.

Listening Length

12 hours and 39 minutes
Author

Seanan McGuire
Narrator

Mary Robinette Kowal
Audible release date

November 1, 2011
Language

English
Publisher

Brilliance Audio
ASIN

B0061YWF16
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 39 minutes
Author	Seanan McGuire
Narrator	Mary Robinette Kowal
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	November 01, 2011
Publisher	Brilliance Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0061YWF16
Best Sellers Rank	#31,747 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #566 in Urban Fantasy #872 in Classic Literature (Audible Books & Originals) #876 in Women Sleuth Mysteries

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LA in Dallas

Toby levels up

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2021

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One Salt Sea is the fifth book of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series. The previous book, Late Eclipses, was a big breakthrough that revealed a lot of new information about Toby. We learned that Toby's mother, Amandine, is not actually Daoine Sidhe as Toby believed. Amandine is one of the firstborn, meaning her father was fairy god Oberon. (I call him a god because the fae literally swear by him, as we would say "By God", they say "By Oberon".) That makes Amandine's descendants a new race, the Dochas Sidhe. Currently there are, aside from Amandine herself, only two Dochas Sidhe: Toby and Toby's unfortunate daughter Gillian. Toby's father was human, making her a half-fae changeling. Gillian's father was also human, so she is a quarter-fae changeling.

In the very first book, Rosemary and Rue, we learned that a changeling is not necessarily a changeling forever. Oberon created magic artifacts called Hope Chests that can make a changeling into a pureblood. We also learned in Late Eclipses that Amandine is a kind of a living Hope Chest -- she can, through her personal blood magic, modify a person's inheritance. She did this to rescue Toby after Toby was poisoned with elf-shot, which would kill a changeling. At the same time, she gave Toby an upgrade, not to full pureblood status, but to greater magical strength and power.

The hero of One Salt Sea is thus a new Toby, Toby 2.0, with greater abilities and stronger magic. Fortunately, her sarcasm superpower is backward-compatible. And we have the feeling that Toby doesn't yet know all the new stuff that got installed with the 2.0 upgrade.

The story takes off when it is revealed that the two sons of Dianda and Patrick Lorden, the Duchess and Duke of Saltmist, have been kidnapped. Saltmist is an undersea realm -- Dianda (the ruling monarch) is a Merrow = mermaid, while her consort Patrick is Daoine Sidhe. Dianda and Patrick suspect that the Queen of the Mists, head honcho of the San Francisco Bay Area Fae, has a hand in the kidnapping. Dianda declares war. Fae legalities require a three-day notice on declarations of war, so Toby has three days to find the kidnapped boys and prevent the war.

Thus Toby has a mystery to solve, and in this book, like some but not all novels in the series, solving the mystery is most of the plot. It's not a bad little mystery, and Toby gets to be a little bit clever, so that's good. I liked this book mainly because of its further exploration of Toby's world and her abilities.

Helpful

Michael D. SweeneyTop Contributor: Violins

Ducked the Honor Harrington bullet

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2017

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SPOILERS (I'll try to keep them to a minimum)

I was a little worried when Toby got made a Duchess, discovered she was daughter of a Firstborn, and had her blood "clarified" to make her more magical, more powerful, and more Fae. But that hasn't changed her basic equation. She's still a cocky upstart, a street-smart brawler who gets by on luck and a certain stubborn grit. She is still moving up in the world, but with her it is always three steps forward, one step back. She doesn't always win, and the failures of her past throng in increasing numbers to (sometimes literally) haunt her.

The first book started with her working nightshift at Safeway and considering herself a discarded member of the downtrodden "Changeling" class. Her Changeling identity is still part of her as is her awareness of the class conflicts in Fae society. But all the help and support she refused to accept in the first book is now hers. And she hasn't had to scrounge for dinner in a while.

My main complaint, in fact, is that all this help is a little too easy. Tybalt, King of Cats is still a little spooky and a very yummy kind of dangerous, but the edge is gone here (any day now Toby will finally figure out how he feels). The Luidaeg has also lost a lot of her sharp edges; she's no longer a credible threat to other than to Toby's dignity (or any offered limbs). Heck, even her walking Banquo's Ghost in pink Riot Girls t-shirt is retired now. I liked when the people she had to go to for help were credible threats to her and every time she reached out to them she had to make real sacrifices (as well as face a very real chance of bloody death for having annoyed them once too often).

So why five stars? Because the series has really hit its stride. On a curve of all books everywhere it might be a three or four, but in this series this is where they should be and giving it less than full points is unfair. (When a rating system is inflated you have to grade everything on a curve.)

It's a total page-turner. The characters are engaging, and each book deepens the mythology (the revelations about the selkie in this one....oooh.) There's lots of color, the fae are often amusingly down-market, the mortal San Francisco manages to show off every now and then. And then there's the scene Rayseline's room -- deeply moving emotional revelations delivered through the mute poetry of her possessions.

For that scene alone I'd recommend the book (just make sure you've read at least one of the previous ones, because a moment like that needs the proper setup.)

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

K. Bird Lincoln

best book yet where Toby comes into her blood magic powers and some squires :)

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2020

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4.5 stars actually.
Okay, here’s the book I was promised by all those October Daye and McGuire fans. It took until book #5 in this series, but FINALLY we are getting the pay off for sticking with October through all the running around from Shadowed Hills to Ludaieg to other places with people trying to kill her all the time. I mean, in this book Toby gets to ride a mermaid queen in a wheelchair down a San Francisco hill with goblins in pursuit. She also gets to interact with her daughter, and finally come into her blood magic powers as Amandine’s daughter.

She also acquires a squire…actually two squires. And when they jelled together as her flunkies, and we got some more of the Ludaieg, as well as an ending of sorts between Toby and Connor, that’s when I felt this series really gathering steam. I mean, how clueless can Toby be about Tybalt? Really?

Toby gets to save the day not only for land fae, but also for the undersea. But she has to call in all her chips and friends to get it done, and there’s still tragedy. To avert a fae war, Toby must find the kidnapped princes of the undersea before an old enemy (finally rid of her, good riddance I say) kills them.

I’m excited for the next book because I’ll keep reading if its as good as this one and Toby goes in the direction of side stepping the Queen’s attempts to undermine her and rallies her crew to fight evil and get stuff done.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Hisham

The threat of war. A kidnap case. Toby faces some inner fears.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2016

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In book 5 of the Toby Daye series, One Salt Sea - Our hero must take action to solve a Kidnapping. She has just three days to find the victims alive or watch as her Kingdom is led into a war it cannot win!

From the streets of San Francisco to the deep waters of the Undersea, Toby must face up to elements of her own inner demons as well as her past in order to save the day and prevent a terrible war. Unfortunately for Toby, not everyone wants to see her prevent the war - A war that may see Toby's own Goldengreen a target! Toby is about to have a very bad few days!

One Salt Sea beautifully expands upon the world building fans of the Toby Daye series have come to love. If you've read the previous books in this series - you need to keep going! The Toby Daye series is a thrill ride that continues to excite the imagination.

lynnsbooks

Another great instalment - the series that keeps on giving!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2016

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Another 4.5 star review - I simply love this series.
[...]
The Toby Daye series has fast turned into a must read series for me and one where I’ve become very attached to the characters and One Salt Sea is another instalment that just ladles on the love. Yet again McGuire builds on the world, telling us more of the rules that bind the land of Faerie and introducing us to yet more characters whilst strengthening the relationships of those that we already know. One Salt Sea manages to be a winning combination of fast paced plot and great characters. Firstly, please beware of potential spoilers for previous books in the series.

So, One Salt Sea, unsurprisingly, takes us to yet another land of the fae. The Undersea. Not to get ahead of myself, at the start of the story Toby is called before The Queen of the Mists – never a pleasant experience for her to be honest – and she discovers that two young boys have been kidnapped. Sons of the Duchess of Lorden, who rules the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. Now, knowing Toby as we do, she’s going to go rushing into the fray and try to find the boys – which is all good but, she needs to find the boys fast, prove that the Queen of the Mists was not involved in their abduction and, by doing so, prevent a war between the land and the sea fae. Wars between the fae never go well!

Now, I can’t really go too much into the plot, similar to my other reviews for the Daye books – Toby has an investigation to undertake, she has a timeframe and she has someone trying to stop her – someone who isn’t abiding by Oberon’s Laws.

For me the absolute best part of this series is the way that McGuire adds layer by layer with each new book. Every time you pick one of these up you know that something else will be revealed. At the start of this series Toby is at rock bottom. She’s estranged from her family, she has no friends, no real prospects, she’s in a seriously dark place. Over the course of the past five books though what a transformation McGuire has wrought. Toby is now surrounded by people who care about her and want to help and some of these people are pretty high up on the ‘don’t mess with me’ ladder. The Luidaeg. I love this character. The Sea Witch that every one is scared of and yet here she is in Toby’s corner. We have a fetch that is no longer a fetch! May, who not only isn’t a harbinger of Toby’s death but has been actively involved in keeping her alive. Then of course we have Tybalt and the slow burning romance that exists between Toby and the King of Cats – even though they’re both in denial about it. On top of this – we get to visit the Undersea, we uncover some rather massive secrets and things get very dark indeed culminating in a shocking and emotional conclusion.

Another great instalment. If you’re looking for a new urban fantasy then give this a try.

Paul Lynch

Great job, eager for more

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2011

Verified Purchase

Seanan is doing a great job with the Toby Daye series. Here we have a character who grows with each novel, making believable changes as events impact her. This has to be something almost unique in fantasy, and especially in modern urban fantasy.

The author has created a very original "fae" type world, with some great ideas behind it - techno-druids being one of the most minor examples that sparkles on the page. A lot moves forward in this book for the overall series, as we learn things about Toby, her mother, her fetch, and other players, setting the scene for the next, and possibly last, book in the series.

For some strange reason this series hasn't really taken off in popularity, which I find very perplexing. So if you read any of the current batch of modern urban fantasy by female authors, or even if you haven't, try this - the story telling and characterisation and quality is really great: you'll thank me for it.

2 people found this helpful

Tink

Absolutely brilliant this trilogy is some of the best books I ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Absolutely brilliant this trilogy is some of the best books I have ever read and I am a mature lady and have read many books in my time can't wait for September for book 11

SAT 18

One Saly Sea by S. McGuire

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

Good story. I could not put the book down. I loved the series and would encourage others to read it, if you like supernatural or shifters, fairies and other supernatural beings.

Book arrived in good time, and in good condition. Will us them again.

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One Salt Sea: An October Daye Novel, Book 5 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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