Scan barcode
lunchlander's review against another edition
3.0
I'm now coming into the Finder stories I haven't already read, and I'm liking the book more and more as it goes on. McNeil's writing style is still a bit more meandering than my general taste prefers, but this one is a more focused meditation on books and love of stories, filtered through characters we know from the first two books.
Ironically, while I found the first three Finder books plot-light and character-strong, this one flips that, with a very strong plot through-line and some excellent character work, but much less of an ensemble feel than the rest of them. Even strong personalities like Jaeger fade into the background as we get everything from Marcie's point of view. Which is, no doubt, a deliberate choice, as hinted at in the annotations, it's just that Marcie never quite comes alive... her love of books and stories is sort of it, as a defining characteristic, making her the perfect narrator for this story, but sort of one-note at the same time.
As always, the artwork is gorgeous.
Ironically, while I found the first three Finder books plot-light and character-strong, this one flips that, with a very strong plot through-line and some excellent character work, but much less of an ensemble feel than the rest of them. Even strong personalities like Jaeger fade into the background as we get everything from Marcie's point of view. Which is, no doubt, a deliberate choice, as hinted at in the annotations, it's just that Marcie never quite comes alive... her love of books and stories is sort of it, as a defining characteristic, making her the perfect narrator for this story, but sort of one-note at the same time.
As always, the artwork is gorgeous.
jwells's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
I read this as a standalone, with no knowledge of the Finder series, on a recommendation from my brother, who knows how much I love reading and writing. I wasn't disappointed 🥰
magnetgrrl's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this slim volume. It hit a lot of points for me that I tend to melt over, like the love of reading and the solitary nature it requires and fosters, and the way we remember books that we had read as kids - even if that memory is nothing like the reality of the book itself. I can relate to the strong desire to recapture that nebulous experience, and the disappointment that can follow if, as is often the case, it cannot be done.
Talisman is, on the surface, about Marcie, an adolescent girl, and her attempt to locate a precious book thrown out by her mother. Her mother thought it nothing more than a useless antique; in this world all books are digital and most people are 'jacked in' to a network and receive information that way - the preferred method of entertainment not being books at all but simulated experiences. But the book was given to Marcie by her mother's estranged lover years before, at a time when their family was more vulnerable and the young man, Jaeger, helped hold them and especially Marcie together. Through the searching she finds that the book itself wasn't as important as how it made her feel, which is something she decides to hold onto, and recreate by writing her own book.
Talisman is the fourth volume of the Finder series, but though the main Finder character, Jaeger, makes an appearance and centers on Marcie, the youngest of the three Grosvenor-Lockhart daughters, it works fine as a stand-alone for those who've never read the series. I read Talisman and started reading the rest of the Finder series from the beginning after.
Finder is a comic often called "aboriginal science fiction" that is set in a futuristic world that has elements of both fantasy - like magic - and more traditional technological science fiction. Finder has been nominated for seven Eisner Awards and has won one Kim Yale award and two Ignatz awards.
Talisman is, on the surface, about Marcie, an adolescent girl, and her attempt to locate a precious book thrown out by her mother. Her mother thought it nothing more than a useless antique; in this world all books are digital and most people are 'jacked in' to a network and receive information that way - the preferred method of entertainment not being books at all but simulated experiences. But the book was given to Marcie by her mother's estranged lover years before, at a time when their family was more vulnerable and the young man, Jaeger, helped hold them and especially Marcie together. Through the searching she finds that the book itself wasn't as important as how it made her feel, which is something she decides to hold onto, and recreate by writing her own book.
Talisman is the fourth volume of the Finder series, but though the main Finder character, Jaeger, makes an appearance and centers on Marcie, the youngest of the three Grosvenor-Lockhart daughters, it works fine as a stand-alone for those who've never read the series. I read Talisman and started reading the rest of the Finder series from the beginning after.
Finder is a comic often called "aboriginal science fiction" that is set in a futuristic world that has elements of both fantasy - like magic - and more traditional technological science fiction. Finder has been nominated for seven Eisner Awards and has won one Kim Yale award and two Ignatz awards.
More...