Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: geeky
  • Music: Dar Williams, "We Learned the Sea."

It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea...

I promised you a treat to celebrate the impending release of Ashes of Honor, and here it is:

A brand-new story about the Luidaeg, "In Sea-Salt Tears," has been posted on the equally brand-new Toby Daye short fiction page. It is available in ePub, MOBI, and PDF formats, and is free for download. (So far, this is the only free Toby-universe short story. We'll be adding listings for the published-in-books shorts in a little while, but it's not hyper-high priority.)

This story is best read after One Salt Sea, and it further details the relationship between the Luidaeg and Elizabeth Ryan, the Selkie clan leader we met at the very end of the book. Please download rather than trying to read locally; my server will thank you.

Cover graphics are by Tara O'Shea. All short story electronic conversion thus far has been done by scifantasy. As both of them are awesome, we applaud them now.

Go forth, read, and please feel free to use this as a discussion post, which means there may be spoilers in the comments. Tread carefully.

Enjoy.
Tags: ashes of honor, short fiction, toby daye
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sdelmonte

August 24 2012, 12:31:01 UTC 4 years ago

Read it on my iPhone on the subway. First time I've ever read a PDF that way. I will be squinting for hours, but it's worth it.

The Luidaeg continues to be the wild card of wild cards, doesn't she? Why do I have the feeling that in the end, she will be far more important to solving the mysteries of Toby's life than Toby suspects even now.

kyrielle

August 24 2012, 15:47:09 UTC 4 years ago

You may want to get the Kindle app for that iPhone - it's free, and in Kindle (mobi) pubs, you can resize the text. More pages, less squinting.

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2012, 16:54:03 UTC 4 years ago

I'm glad it was worth it!

B.e. Sanderson

August 24 2012, 12:58:10 UTC 4 years ago

Cool. Thanks, Seanan. =o)

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2012, 16:54:11 UTC 4 years ago

Very welcome.

Lost_Violet

August 24 2012, 14:59:59 UTC 4 years ago

Beautiful. Heart wrenching. Love it. Thank you!

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2012, 16:54:19 UTC 4 years ago

So welcome!

kyrielle

August 24 2012, 15:45:48 UTC 4 years ago Edited:  August 24 2012, 15:46:37 UTC

Oh God. Poor Liz, and poor poor Luidaeg.

Question, which you may not be able to (or want to) answer...but if Liz's mother had held strong, or if Liz had...would the Luidaeg ever have told Liz who she was or how the selkies were made? Or would she just have enjoyed her not-selkie love, and let her stay happily ignorant?

(Edited to add: this was LOVELY. It punched me in the gut so hard, so effectively, that I completely forgot to SAY. Also, I just want to hug and comfort them both, and it's a good thing they're fictional, because I think that urge would just piss the Luidaeg RIGHT off.)

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2012, 16:55:00 UTC 4 years ago

No, she wouldn't have, because she wouldn't have been allowed. The Luidaeg is even more constrained by tradition and by rules than the rest of Faerie; some things she simply cannot say.

kyrielle

4 years ago

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ironed_orchid

August 24 2012, 17:15:23 UTC 4 years ago

You are the best!

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2012, 17:17:39 UTC 4 years ago

Thanks, honey!

thedragonweaver

August 25 2012, 03:07:32 UTC 4 years ago

I'm very glad for her choice of father of her child. She couldn't help but break the Luidaeg's heart, but at least she could choose not to break it harder.

seanan_mcguire

August 27 2012, 18:01:43 UTC 4 years ago

Diva will never need to choose.

amanda_nye

August 26 2012, 00:20:21 UTC 4 years ago

oh, still sniffling and letting the tears fall. That was beautiful and haunting and perfect. Love her. Love you.

seanan_mcguire

August 27 2012, 18:01:54 UTC 4 years ago

Love you, too.

bookwyrm172006

August 26 2012, 08:08:00 UTC 4 years ago

Dangit woman! You made me cry...

seanan_mcguire

August 27 2012, 18:02:03 UTC 4 years ago

Yay!

yellowblackhaze

August 26 2012, 22:18:50 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you so much for this, Seanan. It was wonderful.

seanan_mcguire

August 27 2012, 18:02:20 UTC 4 years ago

You're very welcome.

methylviolet10b

August 27 2012, 16:52:31 UTC 4 years ago

This was gorgeous and wonderful and such a fantastic treat. Definitely made me forget the lingering aftereffects (including headache) of my summer cold while I was reading it, which nothing else has done. Thank you thank you thank you!

One question, if I might be so impertinent: I notice Liz refers to both the Roane's eyes and Annie's eyes as green, not blue. Does that mean Selkies see colors (or Roane) differently than Toby? It would make sense (and be utterly cool) if different bloodlines saw colors/aspects of different Fae in different ways.

Thank you again for sharing such a marvellous story! And oh, the Luidaeg...she deserves all the hugs in the world. Even if she'd eat me for saying so.

seanan_mcguire

August 27 2012, 18:03:04 UTC 4 years ago

It'd be awesome, but no. I fucked up the color of Diva's eyes. The Luidaeg always does the green. Full-blood Roane tend to have green eyes, changelings tend to be blue. Toby's never met a pureblood.

methylviolet10b

4 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

4 years ago

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ohari

August 27 2012, 18:30:47 UTC 4 years ago

You made me cry in public.
Again.
Meanie.
:)

seanan_mcguire

August 27 2012, 18:59:25 UTC 4 years ago

Aw.

mathnerd

September 1 2012, 09:30:52 UTC 4 years ago

Just read the short story and am crying. Poor, poor Luidaeg. She gave her heart yet again to a Selkie and it was broken yet again. Because the fae, when compared to the Firstborn, are shorsighted and impatient and greedy and selfish. Oh, my poor Luidaeg.

seanan_mcguire

September 16 2012, 05:37:40 UTC 4 years ago

She tries.

She tries so hard.
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