Incarceron

Staff Pick

A prison that seems alive... a prisoner with no memory of who he is or why he's been imprisoned... and a young girl who's determined to uncover the secrets that Incarceron harbors.... Selected by the Times as its Book of the Year, Incarceron is a riveting and addicting read, fast paced, vividly descriptive and full of surprising plot twists and turns. Once you pick up Incarceron, you will be unable to put it down. Recommended for readers age 12 and up.
Recommended by Sheila N., Powell's City of Books

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The Eager Readers, June 4, 2010 (view all comments by The Eager Readers)
A young man's desperate quest to find his way out of a mysterious and terrifying prison collides with the court intrigue of a technologically-advanced world that has been forced into a faux bygone era by its oppressive rulers in Catherine Fisher's Incarceron. This highly original sci-fi/fantasy follows two characters - Finn, a young man who is trapped inside the frightening Incarceron, and Claudia, the clever daughter of Incarceron's warden. With their own fates depending upon their every choice, Finn and Claudia must navigate their way through two worlds filled with dangerous threats.

What I Liked:
- The inventive world-building is shown rather than described. Fantasy novels sometimes suffer from too many dry descriptive passages, but this book jumps right into the thick of things and reveals the world through the characters' experiences. Not only is the prison environment intriguing and menacing, but the odd faux-historical nature of the outside world is also fascinating and strangely suffocating.
- Claudia is a brave, observant, and determined heroine. She is calculating, has a complicated relationship with her father, worries about her tutor's health, feels compelled to help Finn escape, and dreads her arranged marriage. I loved her calculating nature and her ability to play the games necessary to her success at court.
- The relationship between Claudia and her tutor, Jared, is one of my very favorite aspects of this book. She trusts and cares for him, and he would willingly risk his life for her. Jared is wise and devoted, and he knows Claudia as well as she knows herself. His cautious nature provides the perfect balance to Claudia's bold personality. When I first read this book's description, I imagined I would be rooting for a romance to blossom between Claudia and Finn, so I was surprised to find myself utterly charmed by Jared. Their relationship has a quiet, unspoken subtlety that I loved.
- Finn is a compelling character with a strong conscience. His past is mysterious. His relationships with Keiro and Gildas are interesting and potentially dangerous, and it is easy to find yourself hoping for his escape.
- I liked the complexity of the court intrigue and look forward to learning more about the outside realm in the next book.
- The secondary characters are enjoyably memorable, each with their own motivations and vibrant personalities.
- Finn's journey through Incarceron is like a hazardous and twisty roller coaster ride, and the dramatic tales of an individual who escaped from Incarceron help propel his quest forward. These legendary tales of Sapphique are relayed by one of Finn's companions, and are also shared in little snippets at the start of several chapters. They often sound like passages from a richly-detailed mythology, and they help explain Incarceron's history as well as offering hints about the events to come.

What I Wished:
- The shift in perspective between outside and inside Incarceron is occasionally frustrating. Most of the time it is skillfully used to build tension, leaving a character in one location in peril while the perspective shifts to the other location to reveal some crucial information. It does draw the story forward and keeps all the characters in focus even when they are in two separate worlds, but I sometimes found myself wanting to hurry through the chapters set within Incarceron in order to see more of the outside world.

Incarceron is the type of well-crafted fantasy world that is so full of mysteries that you find yourself hanging on each chapter wondering where the characters are heading, and the science fiction elements in this story succeed in bringing the stakes up several notches. I would recommend it to fans of sci-fi, fantasy, and dystopian fiction. And I very much look forward to reading the sequel, Sapphique, which is scheduled to be released in the US on December 28th!

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Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club com, April 20, 2010 (view all comments by Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club com)
Imagine a prison that encompasses a whole world of fantastical people and creatures inside its walls: cities, metal forests, deep caves, and sanctuaries in the sky. That is Incarceron. Built to be the perfect prison after a time of unrest in the greater world around it, Incarceron was also meant to be a utopian place where the first prisoners could rehabilitate, and those who were born there afterward could live in peace. Once it was created the doors were sealed completely; no one was able to either arrive or escape.

Yet, Finn the Starseer believes he was not born inside. He has visions, possibly vague memories of birthday cakes and lakes and starry skies. He’s also heard the legend of Sapphique, a wise man from long ago whom the stories say found a way out. Now Finn has found a crystal key with the emblem of a crowned eagle on it, an eagle that matches the tattoo on his wrist. He’s sure the key can lead him out of Incarceron and help him find the truth about his past. A group of friends embarks along with him on the quest, desperate to also find a way out of the prison that has become more of a Hell than a Utopia.

Claudia is the Warden of Incarceron’s daughter. Engaged to the crown prince, she has been raised to be part of the court since the time she was born. But she wants no part of the intrigue and plots common at court. As her wedding approaches, she becomes desperate to find a way out of her prescribed life. When she discovers her father’s crystal key, she finds herself able to communicate with Finn. Together they try to solve the mystery of Finn’s identity and get him out of prison, which may also help Claudia change her fate.

Incarceron is Catherine Fisher’s highly imaginative fantasy novel about life in a future time where the technology exists to create a prison of Incarceron’s magnitude. Richly imagined details bring the grimy, bleak reality of prison to life.

A quote at the beginning helps to define reality for many of the characters: “Only the man who has known freedom can define his prison.” Everyone is seeking freedom of some kind, but they don’t always know what getting it will mean, and how freedom will change their lives. I was totally drawn into the dark dangers of the prison world. I could feel the eye of Incarceron as it searched its depths, always watching those who lived within. Claudia also faces dangers, but hers are more camouflaged, and less easy to identify.

I found myself wanting to race through the book to find out what happens at the end, and yet longing to linger over the details and savor this other world so vividly realized. Incarceron provides that kind of delicious balance that will have you impatiently waiting for the sequel, Sapphique, set to be released at the end of 2010. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

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Susan Wiget, March 6, 2010 (view all comments by Susan Wiget)
Incarceron is a vast, maze-like prison where the inmates believe that it’s impossible to escape, and some doubt the existence of a world outside the prison, but they also have legends about someone who did escape. Finn was supposedly born in the prison, but he only remembers the past two years.

He meets a wise woman who recognizes the tattoo on his wrist and who thus gives him hope. When Finn’s companions betray her, he acquires a key through which a young woman named Claudia speaks, whom Finn believes can help him escape the prison. Claudia, meanwhile, needs to escape the future prison of marriage to a prince whom she despises.

This is a magical world in which the elite own high technology but cling to Renaissance-era protocol and fashion, and where the unfortunate spend their entire lives in prison. Readers will find Incarceron better than the Harry Potter books, and I hope that it becomes just as popular.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780803733961

Author:

Fisher, Catherine

Publisher:

Dial

Subject:

Prisoners

Subject:

Fantasy

Subject:

Fantasy & Magic

Subject:

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic

Subject:

Children s-Science Fiction and Fantasy

Copyright:

2010

Edition Description:

B-Hardcover

Publication Date:

20100126

Binding:

Hardback

Grade Level:

from 5 up to AND UP

Language:

English

Pages:

448

Dimensions:

8.68x6.64x1.40 in. 1.23 lbs.

Age Level:

10-10