A 2nd Review of "One Salt Sea" by Seanan McGuire

(While I'm battling with my brain I'm reading. So have a book review! I love the Toby Series, and even though One Salt Sea came out last year (9-2011) I wanted to review it again because it astounded me just as much the 2nd read. Enjoy!)

There is a distinct possibility that I reviewed this book before, probably sometime last year when I first grasped this book with that feverish giddiness that comes with something new and glorious. I read it, and was drawn into a fantastic story that I loved. It’s an amazing book.

The thing is I struggle with reviews. They’re hard to do, and even harder to do when you read a book for the sheer joy of loving the series, because once it’s over you’re still riding that rush of new words and dazzling adventures, reeling from the climax, while simultaneously wandering around stunned for the release date of the next book.

A really good story yanks you out of reality, takes you on an adventure that makes you feel and see a different world, and when done well, the drop back to reality, back to this world, is a sudden crash, body rudely tossed from a getaway car that speeds off without you.

This time, the second time I've read the book, it’s simpler to come out of it and see all the details that made me love it. It’s easier for me to explain why it was amazing. I can only hope it encourages you to read it too.

This review will contain spoilers. If you’re worried that might make it impossible to enjoy reading the book, please read no further. 

Still here?

I can say without bias that Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors, because she takes her world building seriously. Ever since I found my way to her blog, and later her Toby series, I've been delighted to see through her website, her blogging, and the questions she’s willing to answer that she didn't just set out to write a story in a world that gets built as the story progresses, she built an entire world history to solidify the world that she created, and now runs Toby’s adventures through.

The history and customs of the fae feel real and consistent. They have genealogy, and local histories as well as broad ‘back to the beginning of time’ history, and the facts she made up are so entwined with real ancient folklore that it all makes sense and it all feels legitimately real. It’s the sort of world you’d want to believe in… Up until you ran into the nasty side of faerie and ran screaming for the hills. If you were lucky.

In ‘One Salt Sea’ the fifth adventure in the Toby series, life has improved a bit for Toby since her fetch is no longer a death omen and bound to die with her, she might actually get to keep living for a while longer. She also has the added joy of having a boyfriend. Finally after their oft divided history, she’s found a way to be with Connor. It’d be nice if she could enjoy a breather, but after two boys get kidnapped from the undersea, Faerie stands on the brink of war, and Toby alone can save the kids and maybe stop the war.

What I love about a series like this, is that by the fifth or sixth book, you wind up with a little pile of clues from earlier books that start to both tie into new clues, or help make sense of new mysteries. (This is why I love a good book, TV so rarely expects the audience to be intelligent enough to grasp a clue without making them all painfully obvious.) By the time Toby starts on this case we have an old enemy to contend with (Rasyeline), a few more strange secrets muddying the waters between Connor and the Luideag, and a whole new undersea kingdom filled with amazing new creatures and fae.

I particularly loved the way the sea fae lived in three dimensions in the water, without being limited to the floor by gravity. With seats and tables on the ceiling or walls, and no need to stay glued to the floors as they moved. Perfectly beautiful.

The ending of the story came fast and hard. In a way the story is even more heartbreaking the second time, because you know the end is coming, and you know how it’s coming, and that makes every step toward it all the more tenuous and painful. Yet even in the final drama, we’re left with more questions, about the living trees, and about the history of the forest they tread.

The final battle comes fast and chaotic and a flurry of violence that ends in tears. It’s heartbreaking. I wept the first time I read this book. The second time I cried even harder. But I didn't feel cheated. There have been stories I've read where bad things happen and it led me to anger. Not at the characters, but at the writer. They didn't convince me it was necessary. They didn't prove to me that it was the only way. Seanan knows what she’s doing, and even as she shatters your hopes, you can’t help but know that it was the only way. It wasn't a cruelty even if it was a loss.  

There’s something truly magnificent in a book that can make you cry without making you hate it. It’s amazing to feel so much, for people who feel so real, when they only exist in a story.

That’s why more than anything, I’d rank this book 5/5. Even 10/10. It’s a beautiful tragedy, and an amazing tale. I can’t wait to get through the next book.

You can find everything about Seanan McGuires books at www.seananmcguire.com . Her October Daye series begins with Rosemary and Rue, and the sixth book Ashes of Honor (released 9/4/12) is available in stores now.