Incarceron
Author: Catherine Fisher
Series: Incarceron (#1)
Publisher: Penguin Group
How Received: library
Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery...more Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons.
A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists.
But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born...
Buy | Borrow | Brush Off
I went into this not really knowing what to expect. I had a lot of people tell me that the book was ZOMG FANTASTIC and they loved it, while I had another group of people tell me that it was alright.
I have to side with the people who told me it was alright.
Why? Well, I have to admit - I LOVED the world Catherine created. I was easily sucked into that; the world inside Incarceron, the court politics outside of it, the Era they were stuck in. That was fantastic.
But one of the main parts of the plot (Giles/Finn) was sadly predictable. As the book went on, it was easy to pluck out what was going to happen. I only missed one plot point involving Claudia, but even then I wasn't overwhelmed by it.
I connected to Claudia and Finn, which was a good thing - they were the main characters of the story, after all. I didn't really like any of the other characters, Jared aside.
And I didn't get into the writing - I was more into it at the beginning then I was at the end, surprisingly, though the action picked up as the book moved on.
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 6/10. Decent characters, fantastic world, meh plot and writing.
Cover Comments: Love love love love love.