Thursday, October 14, 2021

Wedding Bell Blues

 Seanan McGuire's When Sorrows Come finally completes the long time coming nuptials of Tybalt, King of Cats, and October Day, one of three known Dóchas sidhe, albeit by a human father. Given how long this plot has been simmering, it's nice to see a payoff on it.

Mind you, the wedding's in Toronto, and just about everyone who's not dead, imprisoned in a deep fairie realm, or in enchanted sleep shows up for it, just in time to get suckered into an attempted coup on the High King of the West by doppelgangers acting under orders from another shadowy figure. 

Which means we're basically reading Buffy the Vampire Slayer Gets Married. Which is not a bad thing, as Buffy (despite Joss Whedon's recent revelations) remains some of the best TV made. 

But, it does mean that much of the narrative is essentially a case of let's solve a mystery while we get to the grand event at the end, which climaxes with Toby and her wedding party facing down archers while wearing formal dress. It's an awesome spectacle, cheesy as can be, but none the less deserving of a bucket of popcorn and cheering. And the sheer numbers of cameos throughout the main book (and the novella at the end, which is less a novella and more an epilogue, since Toby narrates the reception), bring a lot of plots covered in the prior 14 book back to the forefront, showing Toby how her unusual choices have lead to better outcomes for people who would otherwise not have had them. 

As to where this goes next, I cannot say. McGuire has stated she knows where October's story ends, but this seems much more of a resting point than a finale. I look forward to how this continues.

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