Indexing by Seanan McGuire Series: Indexing #1
Published by Indie on May 21, 2013
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 415
Format: eBook
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble
“Never underestimate the power of a good story.”
Good advice…especially when a story can kill you.
For most people, the story of their lives is just that: the accumulation of time, encounters, and actions into a cohesive whole. But for an unfortunate few, that day-to-day existence is affected—perhaps infected is a better word—by memetic incursion: where fairy tale narratives become reality, often with disastrous results.
That's where the ATI Management Bureau steps in, an organization tasked with protecting the world from fairy tales, even while most of their agents are struggling to keep their own fantastic archetypes from taking over their lives. When you're dealing with storybook narratives in the real world, it doesn't matter if you're Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or the Wicked Queen: no one gets a happily ever after.
Indexing is New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire’s new urban fantasy where everything you thought you knew about fairy tales gets turned on its head.
This book was initially released in episodes as a Kindle Serial. All episodes are now available for immediate download as a complete book. Learn more about Kindle Serials
I’m a huge Mira Grant fan. I’ve read almost all of her work under that pen name. I haven’t read as much as Seanan McGuire, but I’ve read some. I grabbed this one from the library before going on vacation. It is often the only time I read books, as opposed to listening to them. It was a great read and a very interesting idea. This story was originally released as a serial and reading it as a book, you could kinda tell. Each chapter was almost a story in and of itself with some continuing on into the next chapter.
In this world, fairy tales can come to life. Someone might become Sleeping Beauty and just fall asleep and take everyone in the area with them. In this story, we follow Henry, short for Henrietta, who was born seven-oh-nine, a potential Snow White. She has the look, very white skin, bright red lips. Oh, and she wakes to bluebirds killing themselves trying to get through her window. The fairy tales are a bit more like Grimm’s version than Disney’s in some ways, but Disney still had the influence.
Henry and her team work to try to prevent the fairy tales from fully manifesting. They try to throw the story off enough that it can’t become the fairy tale it wants, so it moves on. Sometimes more successfully than others. Especially since something seems afoot and there are a lot more of these incidents and they are more dangerous than normal.
I had a good time with this story. It was a very interesting idea. I love the mix of all the different fairy tales within a single story. I also loved the investigative aspect. And as with any Grant/McGuire story, I loved the characters. They are all very unique and diverse with a lot of depth to them. It makes me want to know more about them and spend more time with them.
About Seanan McGuire
Hi! I’m Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I’m also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I started listening to audiobooks when a new book in a series was coming out and I wanted to get a refresher, but didn’t have time to read all the books (I think it was Anita Blake). I fell in love. I stayed with strictly re-reading books that I’d already read for a long time. I eventually tried an audiobook for something that I hadn’t read first and was hooked there too. Now, I listen to audio for both re-reads and first time. I have some series that I’ve given up reading and only listen. I try to get any many books/audiobooks from the library to help save on my budget. Books on CD and the newer digital downloads from the library really allow me to listen more. I then purchase my favorites (because who can wait in line for your favorite book??) and less mainstream books from Audible or some other online retailer.
Friend me at Goodreads.
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I’ve had this book on my list forever. I should figure out how to read it.
It’s actually on my tbr also.
I’ve read a few of her books and I like them but I learned something new today because I did not know that she also wrote under Mira Grant. I’m glad you like this one.
I’ve not read any of her books under either name, but I’ve seen the reviews and she’s got some clever premises out there including this one. Fairytales gone amok, I like the sound of this.
This does sound like a fun one with that mix of different fairy tales in it. I’ve never read any of her Seanan McGuire books, but I’ve read some under her Mira Grant name and liked those a lot.
I love her books but I think it’s one I haven’t tried yet
I have almost checked this one out from my library a couple of times. It sounds like I should maybe give it a try. Great review!
Huh I’ll need to check this out
I need to read this author under one of her names for sure! The Mira Grant are the ones that always sound good to me, but this one kind of sounds somewhat similar to The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, so that intrigues me. Thanks for sharing!