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Finder #9
Finder: Voice
Designed as a jumping-on point for new readers, Voice follows Rachel Grosvenor as she navigates the high-pressure social gauntlet that is her clan's "conformation" process, competing for knighthood in an attempt to win security for her mother and sister. (Lynne, however, can take care of himself.) But when the heirloom that's key to her eligibility is stolen, Rachel faces the impossible task of recovering it from the sprawling layer-cake maze of Anvard � and fast! She's certain wandering family friend Jaeger Ayers would know where to start... but where do you turn when you need to find a "finder"? And what if you dig up one of the stray cat's payback-minded enemies first?
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
December 1, 2017
[Edit: I am finally reading the first volume and enjoying it a lot, although I still find the fake-Indian stuff kind of iffy. Also noted that at the beginning they were actually called "Indian" and then she switched to naming them Ascians.]
I don't know how or when I ordered this (drunk?) nor did I know reading that it was volume 9 (not indicated anywhere in the text itself) but it is fascinating and bizarre and despite not being my usual sort of thing it was very well-executed in general and would have gotten another star had it not been for the "Ascian" minority being an offensively cliched portrayal of North American Indians with some Caribbean thrown in.
I don't know how or when I ordered this (drunk?) nor did I know reading that it was volume 9 (not indicated anywhere in the text itself) but it is fascinating and bizarre and despite not being my usual sort of thing it was very well-executed in general and would have gotten another star had it not been for the "Ascian" minority being an offensively cliched portrayal of North American Indians with some Caribbean thrown in.
June 6, 2020
Collects the Finder: Voice series covering the time Rachel aspires to prosper within the complex clam system of the detailed and well thought out 'Finder' world McNeil has created. A nice piece of social science fiction. 6 out of 12.
January 22, 2022
It's been five years since I've read a Finder book, but the second I opened this one I was immediately sucked back into Carla Speed McNeil's fantastically drawn and written world of clan intrigue and aboriginal culture. The most shallow of the Grosvenor sisters, Rachel, takes center stage in a coming of age tale as she competes in a beauty pageant to earn full citizenship in the Llaverac Clan, which places high value on looks, fashion, and gender ambiguity. When a mugging separates her from the ring she needs to prove her qualification to compete, she sets out on a search through the seamier sections of the city for an old family friend, Jaeger, who might be able to track down the ring for her. Hissy fits, adventures, and personal growth ensue.
And after the story, McNeil treats us to an in-depth writer's commentary with over a dozen pages of notes, explaining page by page how people and scenes fit into the tremendous tapestry of world-building that they have done over the years. This is the ninth book in the series, so it is obviously not a great place for new readers to begin, but I highly encourage everyone to seek out the early collections. Most are available in two big Finder Library omnibuses.
And after the story, McNeil treats us to an in-depth writer's commentary with over a dozen pages of notes, explaining page by page how people and scenes fit into the tremendous tapestry of world-building that they have done over the years. This is the ninth book in the series, so it is obviously not a great place for new readers to begin, but I highly encourage everyone to seek out the early collections. Most are available in two big Finder Library omnibuses.
March 19, 2016
[March 19th, 2016] ...UNSURE WHAT TO SAY FOR THIS ONE
1.5 stars.
Perhaps it's the lack of context and background I have for this series but it was alright. The story feels more like a mix of falling down a rabbit hole and waking up in some random place you almost have no idea about. Very nice art style but I felt lost as I navigated the story and only had a general vague idea what it was trying to present to us, however one message is clear is that blood is important and can decide on your future, class and more. It follows the story of Rachel, a half blood, as she strives to find something important that could decide her very future, but where does one look for something or someone that doesn't want to be found?
1.5 stars.
Perhaps it's the lack of context and background I have for this series but it was alright. The story feels more like a mix of falling down a rabbit hole and waking up in some random place you almost have no idea about. Very nice art style but I felt lost as I navigated the story and only had a general vague idea what it was trying to present to us, however one message is clear is that blood is important and can decide on your future, class and more. It follows the story of Rachel, a half blood, as she strives to find something important that could decide her very future, but where does one look for something or someone that doesn't want to be found?
April 19, 2024
Nice drawing, really skilled comic work (the way the pages and panels flow, all reminds me of Terry Moore), but the YA sci-fi beauty pageant story feels underdeveloped, could have gone in a really interesting direction or been given more depth. I get the feeling McNeil could write/draw something amazing about three comic books from now, [edit, just found out...] considering this came out in the 1990s, is ongoing now three decades later and she has a cult following, I'll go back to this and keep reading.
August 12, 2012
Rachel Grosvenor is a young lady faced with a set of challenges: To get anywhere in her world, she has to win a beauty contest for which she is ill suited, and the night before the finals she is mugged, thereby losing the ring she must have to stay in contention. Her attempt to cajole a judge into giving her a replacement ring by doing him (or her) a favor comes to naught, and the one person who might be able to find the ring, an ex-boyfriend of her mother’s, is elusive, if not evanescent.
I should say first off that (1) I do not typically read graphic novels – this is only my second -- and (2) I have here jumped into the middle of a series. So, discount what I have to say accordingly.
To me, the most enjoyable things about this book are the author’s imagination and her apparent enthusiasm for the work, both of which come through in the design of the world she has imagined and in her, uh, storyboarding (or whatever the term is to describe the geometry of action on the page). The world is rather like Earth displaced perhaps 50 years’ worth of IT into the future, but with a culture knocked sideways to allow for a society so obsessed with the female form that even men acquire imitation boobs and no one is quite sure of other people’s true gender. The intricate social context, with its competing and specialized clans and their sponsored gangs, is espaliered on a vertically oriented city whose nether quarters are always dark.
As I say, McNeil’s imagination also shows in her artistry—the deployment of content across her panels, the play of light and dark, the care taken with architectural background and context, the insouciant halving of a character when something else in the frame deserves more space, the wildly exaggerated shouting emphases on words that sometimes can’t even fit in their bubbles. The book repays attention to detail.
These pluses helped make up for a story line that seemed to me somewhat lacking in dramatic focus and drive. As I’ve already indicated, quite a bit is hung out there in the early going—whether Rachel will win her contest, which is dependent on whether she’ll find the ring, which is dependent on her finding someone who’ll help her find it. So there’s a good deal of potential for suspense, but little materializes, because so much of the book is spent on her seeking the finder, and it doesn’t seem like she’s getting that much closer.
On a deeper level, apparently, this is supposed to be something of a coming-of-age story, in which Rachel finds her “voice,” as it were. But our hero is such a cipher in the early going that it’s a little hard to understand where she’s coming from, which obscures her growth into someone different (different from what?).
So, if I couldn’t track the change in Rachel, how did I know this was a coming-of-age story? Because McNeil told me so! The book concludes with a set of notes, which I found helpful in some respects: They provided some useful background on the society, its technology, and some of the characters, and clarified the occasionally obscure plot point. But enough would have been enough. These notes address nearly every page of the book proper. It took me almost as long to read them as it did the comic. I’m not a fan of authors’ jabbering on about their work, not in detail, at least. If they yield to the temptation anyway, then the less said, the better. No reticence here! McNeil, apparently not confident enough to let her story do the talking, favored me with interpretation (“There are five chapters in this book, and I hope to suggest Rachel’s progress with them”), handy cues for reactions I suppose I should be uttering (“Boing.” “Zing!”), and at least one disarmingly apt insight (“There are fewer notes for this book than for previous books because I did a better job of getting the good stuff into the story”).
So, you say, I could’ve skipped the notes? What? No way! A book isn’t finished till it’s finished!
I should say first off that (1) I do not typically read graphic novels – this is only my second -- and (2) I have here jumped into the middle of a series. So, discount what I have to say accordingly.
To me, the most enjoyable things about this book are the author’s imagination and her apparent enthusiasm for the work, both of which come through in the design of the world she has imagined and in her, uh, storyboarding (or whatever the term is to describe the geometry of action on the page). The world is rather like Earth displaced perhaps 50 years’ worth of IT into the future, but with a culture knocked sideways to allow for a society so obsessed with the female form that even men acquire imitation boobs and no one is quite sure of other people’s true gender. The intricate social context, with its competing and specialized clans and their sponsored gangs, is espaliered on a vertically oriented city whose nether quarters are always dark.
As I say, McNeil’s imagination also shows in her artistry—the deployment of content across her panels, the play of light and dark, the care taken with architectural background and context, the insouciant halving of a character when something else in the frame deserves more space, the wildly exaggerated shouting emphases on words that sometimes can’t even fit in their bubbles. The book repays attention to detail.
These pluses helped make up for a story line that seemed to me somewhat lacking in dramatic focus and drive. As I’ve already indicated, quite a bit is hung out there in the early going—whether Rachel will win her contest, which is dependent on whether she’ll find the ring, which is dependent on her finding someone who’ll help her find it. So there’s a good deal of potential for suspense, but little materializes, because so much of the book is spent on her seeking the finder, and it doesn’t seem like she’s getting that much closer.
On a deeper level, apparently, this is supposed to be something of a coming-of-age story, in which Rachel finds her “voice,” as it were. But our hero is such a cipher in the early going that it’s a little hard to understand where she’s coming from, which obscures her growth into someone different (different from what?).
So, if I couldn’t track the change in Rachel, how did I know this was a coming-of-age story? Because McNeil told me so! The book concludes with a set of notes, which I found helpful in some respects: They provided some useful background on the society, its technology, and some of the characters, and clarified the occasionally obscure plot point. But enough would have been enough. These notes address nearly every page of the book proper. It took me almost as long to read them as it did the comic. I’m not a fan of authors’ jabbering on about their work, not in detail, at least. If they yield to the temptation anyway, then the less said, the better. No reticence here! McNeil, apparently not confident enough to let her story do the talking, favored me with interpretation (“There are five chapters in this book, and I hope to suggest Rachel’s progress with them”), handy cues for reactions I suppose I should be uttering (“Boing.” “Zing!”), and at least one disarmingly apt insight (“There are fewer notes for this book than for previous books because I did a better job of getting the good stuff into the story”).
So, you say, I could’ve skipped the notes? What? No way! A book isn’t finished till it’s finished!
April 10, 2012
Any volume of Finder is easier to read then it is to describe. Shaenon Garrity characterized the series in The Comics Journal, as being 'simultaneously straightforward and labyrinthine, genre-based and uncategorizable. It’s solid sci-fi of the kind they were making in the 1970s, Ursula Le Guin/Vonda McIntyre type stuff that’s all about anthropology and world-building and a little bit of the old feminism. McNeil calls it ‘aboriginal science fiction'.’’ Truthfully, reading Finder is more fun than reading about it. Nonetheless, there are some things that should said about it.
For starters, "seek and ye shall find" is the fitting epitaph McNeil chose for this volume, which contextually fits in with the others or can stand alone. It harkens back a little bit to Finder: Sin-Eater, where Jaeger’s relationship to the Grosvenor family is most clearly depicted. Voice revolves around Rachel Grosvenor’s quest to formally join her mother’s tribal clan, the Llaveracs. To do so, she must participate in the clan’s Conformation pageant to be judged for beauty and conformity to the purity of the clan’s standards for androgynous presentation. At the start of the book, the pageant is already underway, but Rachel and her sister Marcie get mugged on the way home from the first night of the competition, and Rachel loses the heirloom ring she inherited from her mother. Unfortunately the ring serves as her passport into the competition. She can’t participate without it, and so begins her quest to find the ring and baring that, to find the Finder (Jaeger) who could likely find the ring. However, it quickly becomes obvious that this particular Finder might not want to be found, and Rachel may just have to fare for herself.
Being of mixed clan heritage, Rachel feels pressured to succeed because doing so can make all the difference for her and her siblings who’ve had a hard time fitting into either of their parent’s tribes (though frankly neither Lynne nor Marcie share their older sister's aspirations). Therefore, it’s ironic that her quest to join high society takes Rachel to the depths of Anvard, the city-state where the story is set. Anvard is a rich mix of clans (all as different as apples and oranges), gangs, traditions, and technology. Part of the city remains in complete darkness all the time, literally as well as figuratively. Through her wanderings we’re immersed in a rich culture and a wide variety of settings within it, from desolate bus stops, seedy bars and illicit businesses to the glamor of fashionable nightclubs and the pageant itself. We’re treated to wide array of characters too, including a vampire cowboy (see McNeil’s endnotes), made men (think Sopranos), and pair of androgynous realtor queens (think Queer as Folk).
As always, McNeil’s artwork is gorgeous, reminding me more of Jaime Hernandez’s work than his brother Gilberto’s; but all three have an amazing eye for detail (little things on the page that end up lending a whole lot of meaning) and such skill in depicting gestures and facial expressions that are unhampered by the consistency in the way they draw their characters. Rachel's transformation from pawn to victim to sidekick to femme fatale seems to lift right off the pages.
Finder: Voice is comprised of some memorable scenes. One of my favorites is a confrontation with her "sister" Lynne early on and another is her accidental involvement in a sacred ceremony of the nomadic, outsider Ascians. There is a lot of stuff packed into not so many pages, and it takes genuine talent to pull that off.
For starters, "seek and ye shall find" is the fitting epitaph McNeil chose for this volume, which contextually fits in with the others or can stand alone. It harkens back a little bit to Finder: Sin-Eater, where Jaeger’s relationship to the Grosvenor family is most clearly depicted. Voice revolves around Rachel Grosvenor’s quest to formally join her mother’s tribal clan, the Llaveracs. To do so, she must participate in the clan’s Conformation pageant to be judged for beauty and conformity to the purity of the clan’s standards for androgynous presentation. At the start of the book, the pageant is already underway, but Rachel and her sister Marcie get mugged on the way home from the first night of the competition, and Rachel loses the heirloom ring she inherited from her mother. Unfortunately the ring serves as her passport into the competition. She can’t participate without it, and so begins her quest to find the ring and baring that, to find the Finder (Jaeger) who could likely find the ring. However, it quickly becomes obvious that this particular Finder might not want to be found, and Rachel may just have to fare for herself.
Being of mixed clan heritage, Rachel feels pressured to succeed because doing so can make all the difference for her and her siblings who’ve had a hard time fitting into either of their parent’s tribes (though frankly neither Lynne nor Marcie share their older sister's aspirations). Therefore, it’s ironic that her quest to join high society takes Rachel to the depths of Anvard, the city-state where the story is set. Anvard is a rich mix of clans (all as different as apples and oranges), gangs, traditions, and technology. Part of the city remains in complete darkness all the time, literally as well as figuratively. Through her wanderings we’re immersed in a rich culture and a wide variety of settings within it, from desolate bus stops, seedy bars and illicit businesses to the glamor of fashionable nightclubs and the pageant itself. We’re treated to wide array of characters too, including a vampire cowboy (see McNeil’s endnotes), made men (think Sopranos), and pair of androgynous realtor queens (think Queer as Folk).
As always, McNeil’s artwork is gorgeous, reminding me more of Jaime Hernandez’s work than his brother Gilberto’s; but all three have an amazing eye for detail (little things on the page that end up lending a whole lot of meaning) and such skill in depicting gestures and facial expressions that are unhampered by the consistency in the way they draw their characters. Rachel's transformation from pawn to victim to sidekick to femme fatale seems to lift right off the pages.
Finder: Voice is comprised of some memorable scenes. One of my favorites is a confrontation with her "sister" Lynne early on and another is her accidental involvement in a sacred ceremony of the nomadic, outsider Ascians. There is a lot of stuff packed into not so many pages, and it takes genuine talent to pull that off.
January 6, 2012
The skill with which Carla Speed McNeil weaves the world of Finder never ceases to amaze me. Every installment in this series brings out new information, new cultural information, and elaborates upon old characters that we may only have met for a second three volumes before. McNeil's imagination is vast, and I feel truly blessed to be given the chance to delve into it through these volumes.
Unlike previous volumes, Voice focuses more heavily upon the Llaverac clan and the way in which one becomes a full member of it. Rachel is the focus, much as Marcie was the focus of Talisman and the Llaverac beauty pageant is something that would put Toddlers in Tiaras to shame. The questions of beauty, of authenticity, and of personal identity are all delved into.. as are certain questions of societal mores. The footnotes that I love so in these comics also have grown more confident, and elaborate.
Also: how can't you love a comic book that questions why society is increasingly finding it all right to wear underclothes as normal day to day clothing (i.e. t-shirts.)? I love that she thinks of these things.
Unlike previous volumes, Voice focuses more heavily upon the Llaverac clan and the way in which one becomes a full member of it. Rachel is the focus, much as Marcie was the focus of Talisman and the Llaverac beauty pageant is something that would put Toddlers in Tiaras to shame. The questions of beauty, of authenticity, and of personal identity are all delved into.. as are certain questions of societal mores. The footnotes that I love so in these comics also have grown more confident, and elaborate.
Also: how can't you love a comic book that questions why society is increasingly finding it all right to wear underclothes as normal day to day clothing (i.e. t-shirts.)? I love that she thinks of these things.
January 8, 2012
Carla Speed McNeil's Finder series is the best science-fiction comic currently published, and the most recent installment continues the high level of quality McNeil has established in earlier volumes. The Finder books take place in a rich foreign landscape, but like the best writers of sci-fi (and unlike the worst) she knows that it's more important that SHE has it all worked out and only gives us the audience peeks at that world. Her books are also populated with fantastically rounded out characters facing real-life problems. The only problem I have with this book is that it might be a bit inaccessible to new readers (due to those established character interactions, not the world building stuff; that she catches us up on rather smoothly). But then why would you want to jump into this series nine books in anyway? Go back and start at the beginning to learn the background of the relationships hinted at in this book. You won't be disappointed.
October 8, 2011
It's good. I've been less-then-pleased with the past couple of Finder collections, but with this one I feel McNeil is back at the top of her game.
The story focuses on Rachel, who may be the least interesting of the Grosvenor-Lockhart children, but this story hints that she'll have a pretty interesting adulthood. Lynne gets some good scenes, but most of his story remains untold. Chief Coward also makes an appearance, in which he is his usual awesome self, though he spends most of the story unconscious.
Jaeger :)
The story focuses on Rachel, who may be the least interesting of the Grosvenor-Lockhart children, but this story hints that she'll have a pretty interesting adulthood. Lynne gets some good scenes, but most of his story remains untold. Chief Coward also makes an appearance, in which he is his usual awesome self, though he spends most of the story unconscious.
Jaeger :)
April 2, 2014
this was the first volume of the "finder" comics that i've read and i think i would have enjoyed it more had i known a bit more about the series before picking it up.
September 27, 2015
Excellently paced, liked the growth of the character and that she wasn't perfect, lovely art, and left me wanting to seek out the related books.
February 5, 2020
More amazing stuff from Carla Speed McNeil.
This book is a coming of age story focusing on Rachel Grosvenor. It's a complicated, grueling series of tests and hurdles, which ultimately have the potential to convey considerable political power. Naturally, since this is for the Llaverac Clan, it's played out as .... you guessed it ... a beauty pageant. With just as much cattiness, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering as you'd expect.
The book examines Rachel, and how she does, and does not fit the clan ideals. (And in turn, how her mother and grandfather also do and do not fit the clan ideals). We look at her relationships with her siblings, her own self-awareness of her inability to comprehend the social complexities that swirl around her.
And ... her emotional association with Jaeger. Both critical and elusive, he dances through the book in hints and clues.
If you're new to the Finder series, I recommend starting with Finder Library Volume 1. In most cases, the book can stand on its own, but some of Rachel's family relationships will make more sense if you've read the earlier books.
Highly recommended. I'd say this one is on the same level as Talisman.
As always: I paid retail price for the Kindle version of this book, my thoughts on it are my own. They were neither solicited by, nor compensated for, by the author or by the publisher.
This book is a coming of age story focusing on Rachel Grosvenor. It's a complicated, grueling series of tests and hurdles, which ultimately have the potential to convey considerable political power. Naturally, since this is for the Llaverac Clan, it's played out as .... you guessed it ... a beauty pageant. With just as much cattiness, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering as you'd expect.
The book examines Rachel, and how she does, and does not fit the clan ideals. (And in turn, how her mother and grandfather also do and do not fit the clan ideals). We look at her relationships with her siblings, her own self-awareness of her inability to comprehend the social complexities that swirl around her.
And ... her emotional association with Jaeger. Both critical and elusive, he dances through the book in hints and clues.
If you're new to the Finder series, I recommend starting with Finder Library Volume 1. In most cases, the book can stand on its own, but some of Rachel's family relationships will make more sense if you've read the earlier books.
Highly recommended. I'd say this one is on the same level as Talisman.
As always: I paid retail price for the Kindle version of this book, my thoughts on it are my own. They were neither solicited by, nor compensated for, by the author or by the publisher.
January 29, 2018
Looking for more diversity in my graphic novel reading habits, I found this at the library – no indication of it being a ninth volume in an ongoing series / world, just a seemingly stand alone, strange little book. But when I got to the end of the novel, mostly confused but a little comprehending, the notes revealed that whatever the reader will get out of her work is as nothing compared to the intensity of the author's communion with these characters, this setting, this world. It's not an experience that makes much sense to the outside, but it's decent enough – without the tired colonial clichés about North American indigenous peoples, however, which haven't aged a day since they were set to paper, even if they were meant well. But I can't say this is something I'd return to, although I did decide to read the other book by McNeil that I'd gotten out at the same time. It went... worse.
Read
April 13, 2025I read this because I saw it won an award. The art style is very similar to Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise) and the plot points felt like they flowed nicely. It starts In Medias Res and I truly don't know enough about the Finder series to know what counts as a spoiler or not so I'll just say the things I liked: art style, narrative flow, world building. The stuff with the Indigenous peoples felt a bit off and I wasn't sure if that's because it was a product of it's time? (I did some digging and realized Finder came out in the 90s so things change in (checks notes) 30 YEARS wow I feel old). I think I'm intrigued to read more of it but right now I'm too tired to hunt it down.
August 18, 2024
This is supposed to be an important graphic novel in the history of science fiction graphic novels and I'm... extremely underwhelmed. I don't know why some people equate "cyberpunk" with a "gritty urban" setting that exoticizes racial minorities and urban crime, but that's about the extent to which this graphic novel goes cyberpunk. Oh, and an interesting emphasis on genetic pedigrees and birth-assigned sex, which wasn't really explored very much. Overall, I was disappointed, but glad to increase my fluency with the SF graphic novel canon.
September 22, 2019
I read the entire book but it didn't make a lot of sense to me. Then on the last few pages of the book, I noticed that it was part of a series. Hot damn, I was going crazy!
I liked the premise of the story and the clan-world thingy but I was disoriented throughout so I might not come back to it. Doesn't mean it's not a good book, just that I met it at the wrong time and place.
I liked the premise of the story and the clan-world thingy but I was disoriented throughout so I might not come back to it. Doesn't mean it's not a good book, just that I met it at the wrong time and place.
December 23, 2022
Uhm, don't exactly know what to say about this one. The whole thing was kind of confusing?? The idea was pretty cool but everything was so jumbled up together. Also, the Indian/ Ascian thing was so weird and uncomfortable. The end also just really made no sense, like... what was the point? The drawings and panels were really cool though, and I loved it so 1.5 stars rounded up to 2.
January 22, 2019
My introduction to this science-fiction series that has been going on for about 20 years. It has some unusual ideas, such as a clan of people who clothed all look like women but are of both sexes. The art is very good and story entertaining, though sometimes it's puzzling for a while.
October 3, 2017
There is more that I didn't understand than I did understand, but I liked the characters.
January 1, 2019
Lovely to move beyond Jaeger - often a Marty Sue - and into the head of a brilliantly drawn female character.
April 26, 2020
I jumped into this story, not knowing it was not the first in the series. I was confused and discovered the author’s notes at the very end after scratching my head for over 150 pages. The amount of world building that has to be done to tell a story like this is insane and I feel better knowing that I didn’t start at the beginning.
I will say, one thing that I really disliked and couldn’t shake about this book was the depictions of the Ascian people. It was extremely uncomfortable and stereotypical to show them as these mythical outsiders with deformed features and strange rituals. I also am always extremely critical of the race and culture of real people (I’ve come to learn that the Ascian people originally were just called “Indian” which is, wow) being simplified, warped, and demonized when it comes to science fiction and fantasy writing.
Overall, an interesting read but I feel like I need to read more of the series to understand it better but I don’t truly know if I’m up for it at the moment. We’ll see!
I will say, one thing that I really disliked and couldn’t shake about this book was the depictions of the Ascian people. It was extremely uncomfortable and stereotypical to show them as these mythical outsiders with deformed features and strange rituals. I also am always extremely critical of the race and culture of real people (I’ve come to learn that the Ascian people originally were just called “Indian” which is, wow) being simplified, warped, and demonized when it comes to science fiction and fantasy writing.
Overall, an interesting read but I feel like I need to read more of the series to understand it better but I don’t truly know if I’m up for it at the moment. We’ll see!
May 24, 2012
Anvard is a society split in to clans, and Rachel Grosvenor is the daughter of a Medawar father and a Llaverac mother. Rachel has worked long and hard to be part of the contest to be admitted to the Llaverac clan. Being accepted in to the clan will secure her family's future. Only days before the final competition, her mother's Llaverac heirloom ring is stolen, and Rachel can't compete without it. Now she has to find a Finder to help her get it back, and in doing so she uncovers more of Anvard then she ever wanted to.
Voice is actually the 9th volume of the Finder series, but it was especially written to be a jumping on place for people who hadn't read the whole series. Now that I've read this though, I absolutely want to go back and read it from the beginning. The world is fascinating, as are all the clans. The Llaverac clan values beauty and drama, and everyone, males included, have female sex characteristics. The Medawar focus in medicine and criminal justice. There are many other clans, all with a particular focus and specific values.
The Llaverac have this whole competition, which mostly focuses on physical beauty, which is ridiculous because all Llaverac look almost identical. There's some interesting commentary on the importance of appearances and keeping up appearances. Rachel has to have her mother's ring, even though everyone knows that her mother is a full clan member. It doesn't matter, Rachel has to actually have the ring on her.
In her search for a Finder to track down her ring, Rachel ventures outside her usually safe places in Anvard and begins to see other sides to her city. She begins to really understand how important it is to be part of a clan. If you're not, you're nothing, and it can be dangerous.
I'm not sure if I really understood everything that was happening. I was certainly able to enjoy it, but I wished I understood the world better. Which is why I'm going to go back to the beginning and read the whole series.
Rachel is an interesting character. She's tough and determined, but she doesn't really know what she's doing. She's grown up not really part of any world (intermarriage between clans is not looked on favorably), but it seems like she was sheltered. Now she's trying to gain entry to her mother's clan, mostly so that she can provide for her family, in particular her little sister and her father, who seems to be out of his mind. Not totally sure what's going on with him.
Looking forward to following this series.
Voice is actually the 9th volume of the Finder series, but it was especially written to be a jumping on place for people who hadn't read the whole series. Now that I've read this though, I absolutely want to go back and read it from the beginning. The world is fascinating, as are all the clans. The Llaverac clan values beauty and drama, and everyone, males included, have female sex characteristics. The Medawar focus in medicine and criminal justice. There are many other clans, all with a particular focus and specific values.
The Llaverac have this whole competition, which mostly focuses on physical beauty, which is ridiculous because all Llaverac look almost identical. There's some interesting commentary on the importance of appearances and keeping up appearances. Rachel has to have her mother's ring, even though everyone knows that her mother is a full clan member. It doesn't matter, Rachel has to actually have the ring on her.
In her search for a Finder to track down her ring, Rachel ventures outside her usually safe places in Anvard and begins to see other sides to her city. She begins to really understand how important it is to be part of a clan. If you're not, you're nothing, and it can be dangerous.
I'm not sure if I really understood everything that was happening. I was certainly able to enjoy it, but I wished I understood the world better. Which is why I'm going to go back to the beginning and read the whole series.
Rachel is an interesting character. She's tough and determined, but she doesn't really know what she's doing. She's grown up not really part of any world (intermarriage between clans is not looked on favorably), but it seems like she was sheltered. Now she's trying to gain entry to her mother's clan, mostly so that she can provide for her family, in particular her little sister and her father, who seems to be out of his mind. Not totally sure what's going on with him.
Looking forward to following this series.
January 30, 2017
I get an emotional rush unlike any other from reading a book in the Finder series. This latest installation is no exception.
Rachel Grosvenor feels like someone I've watched grow up, raised by two differently-crazy parents and her mother's terrifying vagabond mutt boyfriend (series protagonist Jaeger Ayers), she and her siblings were bound to turn out remarkable and odd. Rachel's story does not disappoint.
The burden placed on Rachel's shoulders has always been that she has to be accepted by her mother's Clan, the Llaveracs. In the sci-fi city that she lives in, it's incredibly important for her family's future that she fit perfectly into this society of skinny, pretty ladies and lady-men. That means participating in a combination of Genealogical exam and beauty contest, and she'd better be in the top twenty if she doesn't want to end up outside the clan system. The city of Anvard is good to its insiders, and hell and murder on everyone else.
All of this is jeopardized when Rachel loses the ring that proves her lineage-- has it stolen, actually. Fans of the series will know that Rachel's old friend/replacement father/loyal guard dog/ crush/ unreliable bastard Jaeger can find nearly anything or anyone, and not be seen while he's doing it. Rachel, struggling for the opportunity to never need self-sufficiency again, is forced to be truly self-sufficient for the first time. She goes off on a quest to find a Finder. Along the way she discovers Jaeger's people-- his friends and his enemies, and Jaeger's still-living enemies are bad people to meet. Rachel's always wondered if she could stand on her own feet. Now she has to fly.
For more on comics, horror, humanity, morality and the world check out The Stupid Philosopher, aka a place where I put my words.
Rachel Grosvenor feels like someone I've watched grow up, raised by two differently-crazy parents and her mother's terrifying vagabond mutt boyfriend (series protagonist Jaeger Ayers), she and her siblings were bound to turn out remarkable and odd. Rachel's story does not disappoint.
The burden placed on Rachel's shoulders has always been that she has to be accepted by her mother's Clan, the Llaveracs. In the sci-fi city that she lives in, it's incredibly important for her family's future that she fit perfectly into this society of skinny, pretty ladies and lady-men. That means participating in a combination of Genealogical exam and beauty contest, and she'd better be in the top twenty if she doesn't want to end up outside the clan system. The city of Anvard is good to its insiders, and hell and murder on everyone else.
All of this is jeopardized when Rachel loses the ring that proves her lineage-- has it stolen, actually. Fans of the series will know that Rachel's old friend/replacement father/loyal guard dog/ crush/ unreliable bastard Jaeger can find nearly anything or anyone, and not be seen while he's doing it. Rachel, struggling for the opportunity to never need self-sufficiency again, is forced to be truly self-sufficient for the first time. She goes off on a quest to find a Finder. Along the way she discovers Jaeger's people-- his friends and his enemies, and Jaeger's still-living enemies are bad people to meet. Rachel's always wondered if she could stand on her own feet. Now she has to fly.
For more on comics, horror, humanity, morality and the world check out The Stupid Philosopher, aka a place where I put my words.
May 21, 2011
This was absolutely wonderful and, still flush from having just finished it, I'd say that it was even better than Talisman, which seemed to end roughly where Voice picks up. Anyone planning on reading this needs to read at least the first three volumes in the Finder series beforehand. Many of the background characters that show up here were introduced in those volumes. The Finder series is nominally about the adventures of Jaeger, but my favorite volumes have always been the ones that focus on the lives of the Grosvenor kids: Lynne, Rachel, and Marcy. Where Talisman told the story of Marcy growing up, Voice is Rachel's story. They both have in common the theme that Jaeger has had an immense influence on their lives, in many ways like a fairy god mother (monster?), but at the same time is mostly absent. He shows up when they need help and don't realize it, but whenever any of them actively try to find Jaeger, he remains out of reach. Rachel spends most of Voice looking for Jaeger, and discovers that even when he's not there, his presence is still around. What's great as always is the layered and nuanced storytelling. Carla Speed McNeil never panders or condescends to her readers. We're given what's absolutely necessary to understand what's going on and the rest is beautiful, lovely gaps. This book had better win an Eisner award. Now I'm looking forward to a volume devoted to Lynne.
March 22, 2013
The ninth volume of "Finder" puts Rachel Grosvenor, previously a rather minor supporting character, into the spotlight. It's time for her to make it big. As a member of a powerful clan from one side, she has the chance to rise high on the social ladder, securing financial stability for her and her sister. She only has to win what rather strikingly resembles a beauty pageant.
Spending her evenings showing herself in fancy dresses to the clan elders, she has invested it all. But there are other things that are starting to demand her attention. Is she safe? And where is Jaeger, the Finder who might hold the answers to the mysteries she is discovering?
"Voice" is in many ways Carla Speed McNeil's broadest story yet. Its focus is completely on Rachel and her personal journey, but we get a view into the future world of domed cities run by wealthy clans in ways previously unseen. The insanity of a class system is shown through the eyes of someone who is relatively high in the pecking order and who has never known any other kind of life. But failure might be just around the corner, a reality as a misfit distinctly possible.
"Voice" is a bit more subdued than the best volumes of this series, but it does much better than any of the several Jaeger centric tales ever did by building its slightly goofy tale on great characterization and spicing everything up by fascinating sci-fi concepts.
Spending her evenings showing herself in fancy dresses to the clan elders, she has invested it all. But there are other things that are starting to demand her attention. Is she safe? And where is Jaeger, the Finder who might hold the answers to the mysteries she is discovering?
"Voice" is in many ways Carla Speed McNeil's broadest story yet. Its focus is completely on Rachel and her personal journey, but we get a view into the future world of domed cities run by wealthy clans in ways previously unseen. The insanity of a class system is shown through the eyes of someone who is relatively high in the pecking order and who has never known any other kind of life. But failure might be just around the corner, a reality as a misfit distinctly possible.
"Voice" is a bit more subdued than the best volumes of this series, but it does much better than any of the several Jaeger centric tales ever did by building its slightly goofy tale on great characterization and spicing everything up by fascinating sci-fi concepts.
July 10, 2011
I am a big fan of the graphic novel and was extremely excited about this book. I was sadly disappointed on many levels which may have been from my own expectations, who knows.
Even though this is the 9th volume in the series, it has been described as a good launching point for new readers. I could not have been more confused when I started reading this book. This could be because it is just a piece of a huge series, but I don't really have a desire to explore the other books to find out. The story telling itself seemed very scattered and the writer seemed to extenuate the weak points of comics with her writing instead of taking advantage of its strengths.
As for the actually story itself, it wasn't a horrible concept but nothing original- a structured society based on empty traditions and a girl struggling with them. The sci-fi aspects were more annoying than interesting; all the people of one clan dress like women, even the men wear dresses and have breasts (which makes it really difficult to figure out who people are). And for phones, people use their hands much like someone does when telling a bad joke.
I really wanted to like this book but in the end I couldn't finish it. I read maybe half way through then just grazed over the rest. The story didn't grab me, the world was confusing, and I didn't have any interest in the characters.
Even though this is the 9th volume in the series, it has been described as a good launching point for new readers. I could not have been more confused when I started reading this book. This could be because it is just a piece of a huge series, but I don't really have a desire to explore the other books to find out. The story telling itself seemed very scattered and the writer seemed to extenuate the weak points of comics with her writing instead of taking advantage of its strengths.
As for the actually story itself, it wasn't a horrible concept but nothing original- a structured society based on empty traditions and a girl struggling with them. The sci-fi aspects were more annoying than interesting; all the people of one clan dress like women, even the men wear dresses and have breasts (which makes it really difficult to figure out who people are). And for phones, people use their hands much like someone does when telling a bad joke.
I really wanted to like this book but in the end I couldn't finish it. I read maybe half way through then just grazed over the rest. The story didn't grab me, the world was confusing, and I didn't have any interest in the characters.
February 10, 2013
Carla Speed McNeil is brilliant!
This is an amazing graphic novel, a kind of Persephone story set in a future self-contained city ruled by genetic clans. Rachel Grosvenor, privileged daughter of a major clan, loses a valuable physical artifact at a critical time, and to find it, she must descend into the depths (both literally and socially) of the city. In the process, she must also lose and find herself as well. As the chapter headings indicate, her psychological journey takes her from being a pawn to a victim to a sidekick to a femme fatale, before ending up as a grown woman.
The art is great, the script is deep, and the combined storytelling is dense and rich. Just in case you might not catch it all, she gives you fourteen pages of notes at the end to fill in background details of history, architecture, social structure, technology, etc. Ms. McNeil is a *major* talent, whom not nearly enough people know about.
This book can stand alone, but is set firmly within the FINDER series, so of course it is improved by being familiar with other stories in the series, especially the lead story SIN-EATER.
This is an amazing graphic novel, a kind of Persephone story set in a future self-contained city ruled by genetic clans. Rachel Grosvenor, privileged daughter of a major clan, loses a valuable physical artifact at a critical time, and to find it, she must descend into the depths (both literally and socially) of the city. In the process, she must also lose and find herself as well. As the chapter headings indicate, her psychological journey takes her from being a pawn to a victim to a sidekick to a femme fatale, before ending up as a grown woman.
The art is great, the script is deep, and the combined storytelling is dense and rich. Just in case you might not catch it all, she gives you fourteen pages of notes at the end to fill in background details of history, architecture, social structure, technology, etc. Ms. McNeil is a *major* talent, whom not nearly enough people know about.
This book can stand alone, but is set firmly within the FINDER series, so of course it is improved by being familiar with other stories in the series, especially the lead story SIN-EATER.
July 29, 2011
Sadly, book club discussion did not really increase my appreciation of this novel (though it did suggest I might have gotten more out of it had I read the preceding volumes). The plot is too fragmented for my taste, the worldbuilding is shallow, and the protagonist goes from bland to outright unlikable, mostly because of her habit of casually outing trans people.
I liked the panel layouts and some of the art, but in the end, I'm just not a huge graphic novel person. I can read text or I can look at art; I can't do both at once, and I often find I've gone five or ten pages only doing one or the other, then have to page back and find what I've missed. That's a particular problem in a book like this one, where so much of the emotional context to the story is conveyed only in art.
If I were a better graphic novel reader, I might go back and read the earlier volumes and see if I liked them better. But I'm not, so I won't.
I liked the panel layouts and some of the art, but in the end, I'm just not a huge graphic novel person. I can read text or I can look at art; I can't do both at once, and I often find I've gone five or ten pages only doing one or the other, then have to page back and find what I've missed. That's a particular problem in a book like this one, where so much of the emotional context to the story is conveyed only in art.
If I were a better graphic novel reader, I might go back and read the earlier volumes and see if I liked them better. But I'm not, so I won't.
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