October Daye
#1104.20 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 19 books Status Ongoing 2009–present Reading commitment High Seanan McGuire Last reviewed 2026-08-12
Overview
Seanan McGuire's long-running urban fantasy series following October "Toby" Daye, a half-fae private investigator in San Francisco -- distinct from McGuire's Wayward Children. The series opens with Rosemary and Rue (2009), in which Toby returns to detective work after a fourteen-year, unexplained disappearance and is drawn back into the politics and old feuds of Faerie, whose hidden realm exists alongside the city's ordinary streets. Across nineteen novels and more than forty accompanying short stories and novellas published since 2009, Toby gradually rises from a marginalized changeling investigator to a figure with real standing among fae royalty, repeatedly clashing with powerful figures such as the Firstborn Eira Rosynhwyr along the way. The series has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series six times (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2026), with individual novellas also drawing Hugo nominations, and has placed on the New York Times bestseller list, making it one of contemporary urban fantasy's most consistently decorated ongoing series.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (19 works) counts toward ranking
October Daye Seanan McGuire
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Rosemary and Rue | 2009 | 1 | core | 3.78 (40,804 ratings) |
 | A Local Habitation | 2010 | 2 | core | 3.90 (21,289 ratings) |
 | An Artificial Night | 2010 | 3 | core | 4.18 (21,351 ratings) |
 | Late Eclipses | 2011 | 4 | core | 4.27 (20,459 ratings) |
 | One Salt Sea | 2011 | 5 | core | 4.32 (20,519 ratings) |
 | Ashes of Honor | 2012 | 6 | core | 4.37 (18,892 ratings) |
 | Chimes at Midnight | 2013 | 7 | core | 4.36 (16,271 ratings) |
 | The Winter Long | 2014 | 8 | core | 4.38 (14,441 ratings) |
 | A Red-Rose Chain | 2015 | 9 | core | 4.30 (11,704 ratings) |
 | Once Broken Faith | 2016 | 10 | core | 4.36 (10,745 ratings) |
 | The Brightest Fell | 2017 | 11 | core | 4.36 (9,395 ratings) |
 | Night and Silence | 2018 | 12 | core | 4.37 (8,349 ratings) |
 | The Unkindest Tide | 2019 | 13 | core | 4.34 (7,639 ratings) |
 | A Killing Frost | 2020 | 14 | core | 4.33 (6,600 ratings) |
 | When Sorrows Come | 2021 | 15 | core | 4.42 (6,167 ratings) |
 | Be the Serpent | 2022 | 16 | core | 4.45 (5,311 ratings) |
 | Sleep No More | 2023 | 17 | core | 4.34 (4,148 ratings) |
 | The Innocent Sleep | 2023 | 18 | core | 4.18 (3,310 ratings) |
 | Silver and Lead | 2025 | 19 | core | 4.30 (2,387 ratings) |
Long-running urban fantasy series; the main novel sequence only. Distinct from McGuire's Wayward Children. Numerous companion novellas/short stories exist and were not researched.
Quick answers
- How many books are in October Daye? October Daye's Core Canon is 19 books.
- What is the reading order for October Daye? Publication order, starting with Rosemary and Rue. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is October Daye finished? Ongoing (2009–present).
- How much reading does October Daye take? High reading commitment (estimated from 19 Core Canon books · ~7,188 pages).
- How is October Daye ranked? #110 in this site's official ranking, based on 249,781 reader ratings across 19 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #110?
Ranked #110 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.20 across 19 core books.
- Backed by 250k reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.78 to 4.45.
- Less than 0.01 behind #109, Till We Have Faces (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 19 books · Ongoing · 250k ratings · Ranks #110 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running urban fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (19 Core Canon books)
- Rosemary and Rue (2009)
- A Local Habitation (2010)
- An Artificial Night (2010)
- Late Eclipses (2011)
- One Salt Sea (2011)
- Ashes of Honor (2012)
- Chimes at Midnight (2013)
- The Winter Long (2014)
- A Red-Rose Chain (2015)
- Once Broken Faith (2016)
- The Brightest Fell (2017)
- Night and Silence (2018)
- The Unkindest Tide (2019)
- A Killing Frost (2020)
- When Sorrows Come (2021)
- Be the Serpent (2022)
- Sleep No More (2023)
- The Innocent Sleep (2023)
- Silver and Lead (2025)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2017: nominated: Silver and Lead; Series-level nomination, recorded against the series' most recent Core book at the time, per this canon's series-award convention.
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2019: nominated: Silver and Lead; Series-level nomination; see the 2017 entry's note on this canon's series-award convention.
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2021: nominated: Silver and Lead; Series-level nomination; lost to The Murderbot Diaries.
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2023: nominated: Silver and Lead; Series-level nomination; lost to Children of Time.
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2024: nominated: Silver and Lead; Series-level nomination; lost to Imperial Radch.
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2026: nominated: Silver and Lead; Series-level finalist; result not yet announced (2026-08-12) -- ceremony scheduled 2026-08-30. Recorded as 'nominated' pending that result; revisit and correct to 'won' if it wins.
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Suggestions computed from what October Daye and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Hollows Urban fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.30
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- The Iron Druid Chronicles Urban fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.21
- Chronicles of Elantra Urban fantasy / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.17
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.20 across 249,781 ratings on 19 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: October Daye admitted; Core Canon = the 19-novel main sequence, in progress accepted 2026-08-12
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12
Rule: Core = the 19-novel main sequence published to date (2009-2025); admitted in progress per Article 2. Companion novellas/short stories not researched this pass.