Book review: Finder

[tigertoy]

Today's book review is Finder by Emma Bull.

The material on the copyright and other introductory pages of the book make it clear that this book is written in a universe called The Borderlands, created by Terri Windling.  It is slightly confusing, because the reader is dumped into a strange world without very much explanation; it felt as if I was supposed to have read these other books (which I'd never heard of) before this one.  But the book does tell a complete story, and by the end of the book I'd managed to pick up a good enough understanding of the setting that I didn't have any problem understanding what was happening.  It's a solid, action-packed story, and while it sort of fits in the genre of modern urban fantasy, it's definitely too original to label as "just another modern urban fantasy".  It has some interesting things to say about running away and the meaning of home.

9 out of 10.

Comments

[daev.livejournal.com]

Finder, like War For The Oaks, is structurally a romance novel. (This is different from a book about love; romance novels have certain character relationships and often a certain set of plot elements.) What makes it interesting -- but also less believable -- is that the genders are simply swapped without any other changes. It's the male protagonist who finds himself wondering aloud why he's worried about the well-being of a female cop he ostensibly can't stand, for instance.

I hate (canonically structured) romance novels but Finder was enjoyable. I think that's a tribute to Bull's strength as a writer. So I'm with you on the recommendation, but War For The Oaks is still better.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Been a long time since I read War for the Oaks. I remember I liked it, but I can't compare it more specifically with Finder or anything else.