Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

As we wait for the release of the seventh installment of the October Daye Series, Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire on September 3rd, here is the A to Z for the first book Rosemary and Rue, were all the fairy-adventure begins. Who knows, maybe, the person next to you is Fae in disguise and you don’t even know.

Rosemary and Rue

A: Ashes – One of the four sacred woods of faerie, for balance.

B: Bound – Evening bounded Toby with a curse so she would solve her murder and protect the Hope Chest. By riding Evenings blood to see her memories, the bound with the curse grew stronger on Toby.

Branch – Another faerie sacred wood. Characters usually say, “Root and Branches.”

C: Changeling – Referred to the person who has mix blood (fae and human). One is not changeling until it has less that a 1/16 of human blood, changelings are undervalued by purebloods. Changelings have to go through the Changeling Choice where they’re asked if they want to be fae or human.

Cait Sidhe – (kay-th shee) A type of fae. They are cat shapeshifters whose courts are separated from the others because Oberon decreed it, the Shadows are theirs.

D: Daoine Sidhe – (doon-ya shee) Type of fae. They’re the blood workers and are usually in the high ranks who always want power. By riding the blood they can see the memories of the whom it belongs to. They are descents of Oberon and Titania.

Devin – A changeling that rules over the Fiefdom that is Home for changelings. Toby thinks that he may have Lamia blood. He was her first mentor and also a lover.

Dare – Dare Lorimer a changeling Piskie/Tylwyth Teg whose magic smells like apples and lives at Home with her brother Manuel.

E: Evening Winterrose – Evening Winterrose also known in the human world as Evelyn Winters is a Pureblood Daoine Sidhe, she is the Countess of Goldengreen a small Fiefdom of San Francisco and is the first person Toby calls after her spell broke because Evening never changes her phone number.

F: Fish – When Simon finds Toby trailing him, he casts a curse on her and turns her into a Koi fish leaving her to die. A men say her and put her in the pound where she stayed for fourteen years and two days.

Fae – Are types of beings with magic powers descendents of Oberon, Mauve and Titania who used to live in Faerie. They are able to cast illusions to blend with the humans. Night is theirs but when dawn approaches it burns the illusions and the return to their true forms.

Faerie – The place beyond the Summerlands behind the door. It is the place where fae was created, a universe with many realms but was closed by Oberon a long time ago.

G: Grass and Copper – Toby’s magic smells like cut grass and copper. Every fae has a magic signature in which their magic has a certain kind of smell.

Golden Gate Park – In the Tea Gardens of the park exist an independent Fiefdom that Lily, the Undine, rules.

H: Home – The Fiefdom of Home is where changelings without parents or someone to help them go to. They rob, steal among other things. “Home was where everyone stopped. Home was where they didn’t care what color your eyes were, or that you cried when the sun came up, or that your hair was brown like your father’s when the Daoine Sidhe are supposed to be brightly colored and fair. Home was willing to have me, and I knew I could earn myself a life there, if I was fast, clever, and heartless. I could earn my own way”

Hope Chest – Carved by Oberon’s own hands from the four sacred woods of Faerie interlocked, carved with knives of water and air—oak and ash for bracing and balance, rowan and thorn for pattern and protection. It is said to be twelve of them.

I: Iron – Iron is poison to faeries, the purer they are the more it poisons them. A pureblood can die of iron poisoning.

J: Juliet – Is a Cait Sidhe changeling and a childhood friend of Toby. She was in love with Ross and now blames Toby for his death.

K: Key – Toby is let a key to the Summer Roads by Evening before she died. Toby pays the information the Luideag gave her by given her the Summer Roads key.

Kelpie – A type of water fae. It looks like a horse with red eyes, smells like blood and seaweed.

L: Lily – Lily is an undine that lives in the tea gardens in Golden Gate park. She was a close friend of Toby’s mom, Amadine, and took care of Toby. She is Toby’s oldest friend.

M: Manuel – Manuel Lorimer is Dare’s brother. He is also a changeling Piskie/Tylwyth Teg. He blames Toby for Dare’s death and ends up living in the Fiefdom of Shadowed Hills.

N: Nogal – Paso Nogal is where the Duchy of Shadowed Hills is, ruled by Sylvester Torqill. It is the largest Duchy in the Bay Area consisting of the area around Mt. Diablo.

O: October Daye – October Daye, also known as Toby by her friends, is a changeling and main character of the series, she has a daughter named Gil that lives with her human father, Cliff.

Oberon – Oberon King of all Faerie, father of all fae. Fae descent from him and the Queens: Mave and Titania. After the disappearance of the Queens, Oberon sealed the doors to faerie and disappeared, too. They say that heroes have only been Oberon’s children, those he recognized.

P: P.I. – Toby worked as a private investigator at the beginning of the book. On her last case, she was looking for Luna and Rayseline Torquill. While following Simon Torquill, who was believed to be the kidnapper, he noticed her and cursed her.  After being released she didn’t go back to be a P.I. because it had taken her life from her, but after Evening’s case Sylvester helps her get her P.I. license back.

Pureblood – Pureblood are all the fae that don’t have human blood or at least have less that 1/16 of it. They feel superior and mistreat the changelings, they are protected by Oberon’s first law: “the prohibition against killing Purebloods except in formally declared war.”

Q: Queen of the Mist – She is the monarch of North California, who became Queen in 1906 when San Francisco’s earthquake took out half of the fae in the city including her father, King Gilad. Her heritage is a strange blend of Siren, Sea Wight and Banshee. No one knows her name or where she grew up, beyond the fact that she is the Queen and her word  is the law. Her magic signature is rowan and damp sand.

R: Rosemary – Rosemary and Rue is the name of the first book in the October Daye series. After the death of Dare, Toby visits her tomb and leaves her a bouquet of Rosemary and Rue.

Ross – Ross Hampton, is a changeling that serves Lily. He is a quarter Roane fae. Juliet and him were escorting Toby to a taxi out the park but is killed by a hitman paid by Devin.

S: Sylvester – Sylvester Torquill is the Duke of the Fiefdom of Shadowed Hills also known as the Duchy of the Roses. He is a Pureblood Daoine Sidhe and is married to Luna, his daughter is Rayseline.His brother is Simon Torquill, they had a sister but she is dead. His magic signature is daffodils and dogwood.

Simon – Simon Torquill is a Pureblood Daione Sidhe, twin brother to Sylvester. He kidnapped Luna and Rayseline, with the help of a fae named Oleander. He cursed Toby when she was following him trying to find whereabouts of her friends.

T: Tybalt – Tybalt is the king of the local Cait Sidhe of San Francisco. He is a Pureblood Cait Sidhe, who picks on Toby calling her little fish. Toby gives him the hope chest to hold telling him that if he guards the chest she will owe him a favor. His magic signature is pennyroyal and musk.

The Luidaeg – The Luidaeg (the lou-sha-k) also known as the Sea Witch. She is a FirstBorn, daughter of Oberon and Maeve, she is mother to the Roanes.

U: Undine – The Undine (Un-deen) is a race of fae which descent from Maeve, they are a water type fae that are always bound to the water source from what they live. The myth says that when Oberon left Maeve for Titania, Maeve cried and her tears turned into the Undine.

V: Vermin – The Luidaeg calls the rose goblin, Vermin, when Toby goes to see her.

W: Wake up – Toby wakes up to find the message from Evening, message that bounds her to the curse and the case that gives her a new beginning to her life.

X: piXie – (Pix-ee) Is a type of fae, they’re a little humanoid shape fae, who fly in packs. While Toby was in the pond, she didn’t see any pixie of will-o-wisp there.

Y: Yarrow – Is a plant that is used in incantations or curses. Toby says “Oak and yarrow, Eve, what did you get yourself into?”

Z: piZZa – After Simon’s curse was broken, fourteen years and two days pass. Toby is found and taken to the police station. Evening is called, takes her to a motel and orders pizza for dinner.

Are fans excited for the release of Chimes at Midnight?