October Daye reading order
Seanan McGuire’s October Daye novels in publication order, where the between-book novellas sit, and why you still start with Rosemary and Rue.
Start here
Rosemary and Rue
McGuire’s own Toby page begins here (2009). Later novels assume that first case and that first debt. Do not start with a mid-series novella. Do not start with Wayward Children.
A long urban-fantasy case file. Publication order is the only path. Novellas sit between novels; they are useful and still not secret book ones.
The novels
| # | Title | Year | Notes | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rosemary and Rue | 2009 | Start here. | Amazon |
| 2 |  A Local Habitation | 2010 | Amazon | |
| 3 |  An Artificial Night | 2010 | Amazon | |
| 4 |  Late Eclipses | 2011 | Amazon | |
| 5 |  One Salt Sea | 2011 | Amazon | |
| 6 |  Ashes of Honor | 2012 | Amazon | |
| 7 |  Chimes at Midnight | 2013 | Amazon | |
| 8 |  The Winter Long | 2014 | Amazon | |
| 9 |  A Red-Rose Chain | 2015 | Amazon | |
| 10 |  Once Broken Faith | 2016 | Amazon | |
| 11 |  The Brightest Fell | 2017 | Amazon | |
| 12 |  Night and Silence | 2018 | Amazon | |
| 13 |  The Unkindest Tide | 2019 | Amazon | |
| 14 |  A Killing Frost | 2020 | Amazon | |
| 15 |  When Sorrows Come | 2021 | Amazon | |
| 16 |  Be the Serpent | 2022 | Amazon | |
| 17 | Sleep No More | 2023 | Amazon | |
| 18 | The Innocent Sleep | 2023 | Companion novel in the same stretch. After *Sleep No More*. | Amazon |
Later numbered novels continue to appear. When a new Toby book is published, it goes on the end of this table, not the front. Check McGuire’s Toby page for a title newer than this list.
Novellas
McGuire publishes novellas between many of the novels (Full of Briars, Of Things Forgotten, and others). House rule: read the novels in order. Insert a novella if you have it and it is labeled as sitting after the book you just finished. Do not start the series on a novella because it is shorter. Do not postpone Rosemary and Rue until you have hunted every chapbook.
InCryptid and Wayward Children are other McGuire shelves. See Wayward Children. They are not Toby prequels.
Common mistakes
- Starting on book eight because someone said the series “gets good later.”
- Mixing Wayward Children into this table.
- Reading The Innocent Sleep first because it is a companion.
- Using a wiki chronology that starts with a short about someone else’s war.
What to read next
- The Dresden Files (Jim Butcher) — If you want another long supernatural case file with a thinner first book on purpose.
- Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch) — If you want the police job in a city that is the case.
- Wayward Children (Seanan McGuire) — If you want her shorter door books instead of a 18-novel file.
- [InCryptid is a different McGuire family.] Do not treat it as Toby 19.
- Stop after five if the voice is not for you. You do not owe eighteen novels.
FAQ
Do I have to read the novellas?
No. They help. They are not secret novels.
Is the series finished?
No. Start anyway.
Sleep No More or The Innocent Sleep first?
Sleep No More, then The Innocent Sleep.
Sources
- Seanan McGuire, October Daye — author series page. Opened 2026-09-13.
- Penguin Random House, Rosemary and Rue — publisher page for book one. Opened 2026-09-13.
Same shelf
