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A review by reidob
Finder Library Volume 1 by Carla Speed McNeil
5.0
This is quite simply a remarkable achievement. Carla Speed McNeil, over a period in excess of 20 years, has written and drawn a world and characters as unique as they are relatable. These stories feel more sculpted than written, more crafted than drawn. This is a labor of love and it shows.
It truly is not possible to summarize the story being told here; good thing, then, that plot is not the most important thing about Finder. What matters is the emotional investment McNeil has put into the characters and how that translates into our ability to empathize and imagine ourselves into their skins. These are strange characters (and in some cases downright pathological) but the magic of her writing is that we feel ourselves thoroughly into these lives. I honestly don't believe that a story written over a shorter period of time could have had the same impact; the years McNeil spent crafting these lives shows so clearly in the slow and graceful development of people we come to know and love.
To give a taste of what you are in store for here: the Finder is Jaeger, a man without a tribe or home who pops in and out of the lives of Emma, her children, and their father, the estranged and very strange Brigham. This is a futuristic time in a world perhaps our own world, perhaps not, but with many recognizable characteristics and people. For the most part they live in domed cities, outside of which life is harsh and punishing. They have divided into distinct tribes and for the most part do not intermingle and nearly never intermarry, though Emma and Brigham are an exception to this rule, which makes them and their children outcasts in both tribes. Yet they make their way in the world which, when you get right down to it, is the best most of us can expect to manage.
At the risk of overstating my case, though, I would not want to give the impression that the setting, while alluring, is the true attraction of Finder. What makes it unique and compelling is the people we get to know, love, loathe, appreciate, and grieve for. No matter their physical form, these are very human creatures and as they open their hearts to us, we respond with love and deep fellow feeling. There is humor here, too, on every page, pathos and obscure references aplenty (which McNeil extensively explicates in her endnotes), but we come to Finder and remain because of our connection to these very real, complex people.
It truly is not possible to summarize the story being told here; good thing, then, that plot is not the most important thing about Finder. What matters is the emotional investment McNeil has put into the characters and how that translates into our ability to empathize and imagine ourselves into their skins. These are strange characters (and in some cases downright pathological) but the magic of her writing is that we feel ourselves thoroughly into these lives. I honestly don't believe that a story written over a shorter period of time could have had the same impact; the years McNeil spent crafting these lives shows so clearly in the slow and graceful development of people we come to know and love.
To give a taste of what you are in store for here: the Finder is Jaeger, a man without a tribe or home who pops in and out of the lives of Emma, her children, and their father, the estranged and very strange Brigham. This is a futuristic time in a world perhaps our own world, perhaps not, but with many recognizable characteristics and people. For the most part they live in domed cities, outside of which life is harsh and punishing. They have divided into distinct tribes and for the most part do not intermingle and nearly never intermarry, though Emma and Brigham are an exception to this rule, which makes them and their children outcasts in both tribes. Yet they make their way in the world which, when you get right down to it, is the best most of us can expect to manage.
At the risk of overstating my case, though, I would not want to give the impression that the setting, while alluring, is the true attraction of Finder. What makes it unique and compelling is the people we get to know, love, loathe, appreciate, and grieve for. No matter their physical form, these are very human creatures and as they open their hearts to us, we respond with love and deep fellow feeling. There is humor here, too, on every page, pathos and obscure references aplenty (which McNeil extensively explicates in her endnotes), but we come to Finder and remain because of our connection to these very real, complex people.