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Did you ever have a book you loved when you were a child, lose it, and then forget what it was called so you could never find it again?
Marcie did. It was a paper book in a world where those are scarce, which a family friend, Jaeger, read aloud to her before she knew how to read. It had a werewolf who is never entirely wolf or entirely man, mists and monsters, and a queen of the forest. When her mother, not understanding what it meant to her, threw it out, Marcie set out on what would prove to be a lifelong quest, first to find it and then to recreate it.
This is the fourth book in this series, but the first that I read. It’s an easier entry than the first book – almost all of the story is there on the page, and what isn’t is either not necessary to understand the plot or can be roughly figured out from context. For instance, her father is brain-damaged and helpless, but also violent and terrifying; why he’s like that is covered in Sin-Eater, but all you need to know in Talisman is the effect that has on Marcie.
Probably every writer and most readers have been Marcie to some degree or in some part. Unlike other books I’ve read which deal with similar themes, Talisman doesn’t end with Marcie’s decision to become a writer, but follows her as she struggles to translate the images and ideas in her head into words that convey their beauty and vividness to others.
The art is a little bit simpler in this book than the other Finder volumes I’ve read, more like a children’s book illustration. It’s very evocative, as is the entire story.
The hardcover edition is currently selling for $6! Great deal.
Finder: Talisman
Marcie did. It was a paper book in a world where those are scarce, which a family friend, Jaeger, read aloud to her before she knew how to read. It had a werewolf who is never entirely wolf or entirely man, mists and monsters, and a queen of the forest. When her mother, not understanding what it meant to her, threw it out, Marcie set out on what would prove to be a lifelong quest, first to find it and then to recreate it.
This is the fourth book in this series, but the first that I read. It’s an easier entry than the first book – almost all of the story is there on the page, and what isn’t is either not necessary to understand the plot or can be roughly figured out from context. For instance, her father is brain-damaged and helpless, but also violent and terrifying; why he’s like that is covered in Sin-Eater, but all you need to know in Talisman is the effect that has on Marcie.
Probably every writer and most readers have been Marcie to some degree or in some part. Unlike other books I’ve read which deal with similar themes, Talisman doesn’t end with Marcie’s decision to become a writer, but follows her as she struggles to translate the images and ideas in her head into words that convey their beauty and vividness to others.
The art is a little bit simpler in this book than the other Finder volumes I’ve read, more like a children’s book illustration. It’s very evocative, as is the entire story.
The hardcover edition is currently selling for $6! Great deal.
Finder: Talisman
