Tag: Indexing

Wow. Read the episode and am writing about it within two days of release? Yay me.

—-

Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.4

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Episode 4: Blended Family
McGuire’s feeling confident enough in this world she’s created to throw out her typical approach to this episode (it feels weird to say things like that about a 4th installment, but I’ve been reading this long enough now, that it feels like more). She plays with time, POV, structure and her reader’s expectations.

The result is a very strong episode. We get a much better idea of what makes’ Sloane tick, how her mind works in abeyance, the struggles she faces as someone in that state. We also get to see a Narrative Intrusion handled in a way we’re not used to (and we’re not the only ones who think that way).

Best of all, the ending sets up a potentially very exciting episode or more for the future. Possibly even the bulk of the series. Unlike the last episode, I thought this one displayed the strengths of this episodic method of story telling, and I’m looking forward to Episode 5 with a larger sense of anticipation than I have the rest of the series.

One day, hopefully before the last episode, I will read/review the episode within 24 hours of it being posted. It’s a small goal, yet one I can’t seem to reach…

—-

Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.3

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Episode 3, Honey Do
This episode shows the weakness of this distribution model — McGuire had to wrap things up too quickly, too neatly. This was something that deserved more exploration, not to be wrapped up in a bow after so many words. If I were to read somewhere that McGuire realized that this part was too long, so she had to rush to the conclusion, I’d buy that in a heartbeat. I like that explanation better than anything else.

Is there any other training the group does besides on-the-job? Seriously. The Pied Piper is clearly not ready for field work — moreover, the team isn’t ready to work with her. Henry, in particular, throws her at a situation without thinking through the ramifications, and turns a bad situation worse. Are things really so dire that they have to rush the recruits into the field before anyone knows what to do with them? Was the team unable to handle things before she came aboard? (I mean, other than the incident that made them activate her).

This points to my biggest problem with this Episode: Henry. She’s a lousy leader. Other than tendency to bark orders at people, I saw nothing to make me think, “yeah, she’s a good leader — capable, competent, resourceful.” I was just unimpressed with her, and I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to be.

Despite that . . . I enjoyed this one over all. Particularly the use of Sloane — who had been the part of the series I thought worked least. But we got a better picture of her as an agent, not just a comic foil, or shoe shopper. More of this, please. I thought the rest of the supporting cast — up to, and including, our Goldilocks — were just what they needed to be. Just need to get Henry to a better place and keep Sloane where she is now, and this thing will really start cooking.

Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.2

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Episode 2: Musical Patchwork

I’m having a hard time making any headway worth noting with my main read — Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, so I was glad when I got the notification that Episode 2 of Indexing was ready to download. A great reminder to take a break from Robert Jordan, et al. and read Episode 1.

—-

Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.1

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Episode 1: Attractive Narcolepsy
What an intriguing concept — and difficult to explain without just quoting either the text or the publisher’s description. But essentially, seemingly at random, Fairy Tales come to life, taking over people’s lives, forcing them to reenact the basic plotlines over and over again — leaving ruined lives and corpses in their wake. There’s an MIB-type organization dedicated to controlling these events and preventing Muggles from realizing what’s going on.

It’s hard to know what to say about this episode, there’s a lot of pipe laying here — setting the stage, introducing the characters/world/concept — and only the barest of stories. But what we got was entertaining enough to keep me reading. As a short story, I’m not sure how engaging it was. As a first chapter, it’s a start — especially since it’s McGuire steering this ship. Future episodes likely can’t come fast enough.