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Finder #5
Finder: Dream Sequence
Preternatural beauty, sublime vistas, starlit groves? Elsewhere is a place you can taste and smell and touch. Elsewhere is far more real than the stifling workaday world, and it's all in Magri White's head. Thousands daytrip to Elsewhere to Escape and explore. But beware, tourist: something that Magri did not call up is roaming this Dreamland. A limb-ripping shape-shifter who is outside Magri's control. Was this yellow-eyed werewolf once Jaeger Ayers? You won't get out without paying his price. Blending humor and horror, Dream Sequence is Carla Speed McNeil's most challenging book yet.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 4, 2007
Carla Speed McNeil doesn't always hit on all cylinders, but I never fail to be drawn in by the richness of her world. Finder works for me best when it focuses on Jaeger, and this volume does not. Jaeger's appearance in it is puzzling at best. I'm sure that all will be revealed in time, but this volume doesn't really do it for me as well as the others.
June 8, 2021
Love the concepts and imagery in this one - there are incredibly striking panels throughout that are a treat to see. I didn't quite understand how Jaeger fit into this story, but I imagine that'll be answered in due time. Magri also makes for an intriguing character.
October 10, 2013
This story is the subject of a messy debate between myself and a friend of mine.
In Dream Sequence, Carla Speed McNeil creates a world where massive online RPGs have intersected with brain-machine interfaces, resulting in online communities where players live their virtual lives. One such community is Elsewhere. Elsewhere is the creation of Magri White, who is prone to wandering around the city, lost in the world he is constantly creating and maintaining. Since White is so good at envisioning the world, other people with brain interfaces connect directly into his brain and visit it. Naturally, as time passes, this begins to have consequences.
The subject matter in this story is very difficult to communicate in any medium. How do you tell your audience how it feels to be a different person, or to have other people's thoughts in your own mind and yet be a distinct entity? Because of its density, the notes are practically required reading. This is where my friend and I disagreed; she felt that it was inappropriate to call a story successful if you could not understand it without the notes. Though I think McNeil generally succeeds here, it doesn't make it easy.
In Dream Sequence, Carla Speed McNeil creates a world where massive online RPGs have intersected with brain-machine interfaces, resulting in online communities where players live their virtual lives. One such community is Elsewhere. Elsewhere is the creation of Magri White, who is prone to wandering around the city, lost in the world he is constantly creating and maintaining. Since White is so good at envisioning the world, other people with brain interfaces connect directly into his brain and visit it. Naturally, as time passes, this begins to have consequences.
The subject matter in this story is very difficult to communicate in any medium. How do you tell your audience how it feels to be a different person, or to have other people's thoughts in your own mind and yet be a distinct entity? Because of its density, the notes are practically required reading. This is where my friend and I disagreed; she felt that it was inappropriate to call a story successful if you could not understand it without the notes. Though I think McNeil generally succeeds here, it doesn't make it easy.
May 28, 2011
Finder never disappoints. Dream Sequence ends up being a discussion of the difference between virtual reality and real life - and more, the question of originality. How much of a person goes into what they write, and can any work be anything but derivative? When critiquing something - how much did the author truly intend, or is the reviewer writing something that's more like fanfiction? A lot of high brow questions, a lot of interesting thoughts. It's just a fascinating read.
The artwork, likewise, is beautiful. I'd recommend this book, and more, all of Finder to anyone who takes an interest in writing. This series is a wonderful example of good world-building. The series inhabits a consistent world, and each installment tends to view a chunk of it. The characters change, explanations are given, but we never truly get to see everything. It's good story telling.
The artwork, likewise, is beautiful. I'd recommend this book, and more, all of Finder to anyone who takes an interest in writing. This series is a wonderful example of good world-building. The series inhabits a consistent world, and each installment tends to view a chunk of it. The characters change, explanations are given, but we never truly get to see everything. It's good story telling.
April 19, 2007
Weird and delightful story about a young man with a special talent. He keeps an entire virtual world going inside his mind. He's always connected to the network, so people from all over spend time in the huge world he's providing. It kind of takes its toll on him, though...and unpleasant things start happening in the world he thought he controlled completely. Very interesting stuff about creativity, art, how our minds might work. Very well drawn, with the art contributing essential qualities to the story. Possibly the best thing this ingenious and skilled author has created.
March 1, 2008
As the title would suggest, this is dreamlike and strange. Finder is the only one of its kind, as a series. Nothing else in the comics market comes close to tasting like it does. Set in a society which has re-industrialized after a several-thousand-year dark age, this particular book is the story of a man with a world in his head, and of the people who play in it. How many years could you go without sleep, if a million people housed themselves in your mind while you daydreamed? Eventually something has to break.
February 8, 2013
Carla Speed McNeil won me over with "Talisman", an enchanting tale about the power of fiction and the wonder of its creation. The same themes are further explored in "Dream Sequence" a surreal and experimental journey into the subconscious.
Tone and content form a good union in a story that takes place within the mind of one character; a mind accessible for all. The quirky concept is played well, with just the right mix of irony and compelling symbolism.
Tone and content form a good union in a story that takes place within the mind of one character; a mind accessible for all. The quirky concept is played well, with just the right mix of irony and compelling symbolism.
June 2, 2013
i miss a lot of plot details in finder despite the interesting & extensive footnotes, which is kind of frustrating. not sure whether it's my fault or the writing. i enjoy the characters & stories anyway. mcneil's art is wonderful & gets better with time - consistently one of my favorites in comics. nice thematic progression from the previous volume.
February 27, 2010
Reread in 2010
February 19, 2009
Beautifully drawn complex story about a world that can be tapped through the web in one man's mind and how he is forced to confront his issues with himself in the worst possible way.
January 27, 2021
Brilliant well constructed speculative fiction of the future with amazing internal cohesiveness. Believable characters dealing with everyday issues not seen in real life or other fiction.
March 19, 2010
More scifi and self-contained than the other volumes I picked up. still too much psychological symbolism for my taste, but a compelling plot.
June 4, 2022
2022 reread.
March 23, 2017
Far and away the most fascinating thing I've read this year. - June - 2013
Update: Re-read in February, 2017
Update: Re-read in February, 2017
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews