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67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I am Everywhere, February 3, 2010
This review is from: Incarceron (Incarceron, Book 1) (Hardcover)
Incarceron: it's a vast intelligent city-prison, sealed off from the outside world and hidden from everybody except the Warden.
So it's pretty much inevitable that one day, a way out -- or a way in -- will be found. Catherine Fisher's "Incarceron" is a hauntingly original sci-fi/fantasy story, setting up two very different characters in two parts of a stagnated future world. It's kind of confusing at times, but it smoothly clicks into gear after awhile.
Both Claudia and Finn are trapped. She's the Warden's pampered daughter, and is about to be married off to a playboy prince for her father's benefit. He's an amnesiac boy in the Scum gang, plagued by seizures that give him prophetic visions.
But their lives take unexpected turns when a prisoner taken in a Scum raid on a train recognizes Finn's eagle tattoo, and he manages to get his hands on a mysterious key that might allow him to get outside -- if he can find the door. And Claudia is plotting with her dying teacher to get a mysterious key hidden in the Warden's office.
When the two keys bring Claudia and Finn into contact, Finn suddenly has hope that he can escape Incarceron -- but instead he encounters the true horrors of the secret prison. And in her desperation to avoid marrying the bratty prince, Claudia uncovers a secret plot that her father is involved with... and not only Finn's secrets, but her own.
Metal trees, stagnant royal courts, sorcery, creepy old crones and high-tech prisons that always watch with red camera eyes. The world of "Incarceron" is a pretty weird one, and it works pretty well considering it seems to be cobbled together from all sorts of strange sources -- the only real problem is that Fisher takes a VERY long time to mesh together her two main storylines. And I'm still not quite sure what the Sapienti are.
Fisher has strangely haunting, vivid prose, with lots of tangled plots and motives, and some moments of pure horror (Finn encountering a vast, freakish Beast made of bugs, dead flesh and metal). While it starts off very slow, the plot really starts speeding up when Finn and Claudia encounter each other, both in the keys and in person. And Fisher manages to throw some genuine surprises into the mix -- while keeping the door wide open for a sequel.
Claudia and Finn are likable characters who are both similar and very different -- they're trapped and manipulated, yet they both crave freedom from their terrible lives. Fisher also twines in a bunch of supporting characters whose motives are often murky -- you've got bratty princes, malevolent queens, the icy Warden, the sickly mentor Jared and the tricksteresque oathbrother Keiro.
"Incarceron" is kind of slow-moving through the first half, but fortunately there's enough plot, chills and intrigue to make up for that. And I think the story of Incarceron isn't over.
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80 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One awesome book!, January 5, 2008
Flinn has no memory except bits of pieces from Outside. He lives in a vast prison where cruelty and danger is the norm.
Claudia lives in a manor house stuck in a 17th century world run by computers.
A world were artists and poets are doomed to endless repetitions of the past.
Her life is about to change as she's about to marry a spoiled prince and enter a society filled with whispers of assassination plots. Her father is Warden of Incarceron, the prison which is tucked away. No one can enter and no one can leave.
Or so they thought.
Flinn and Claudia's worlds collide when they both find a key. A key that might be the way out of the prison for Flinn and inside for Claudia.
Both will be surprised at the secrets hidden in Incarceron. As will be the reader on this very imaginative, exciting tale.
I loved this book. The author does a great job of introducing the reader to both worlds--the one inside Incarceron and the one outside. Both POV's flow seamlessly in this tale. Flinn's struggles to find out if he does belong Outside are powerful. He refuses to accept the belief he can never leave. Both worlds are rich with detail. I can't help but wonder if there's a sequel in the works?
I highly recommend this book! Right now it's only available in the UK but I'm sure it'll be coming here soon. It's well worth the wait!
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45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Left Me Wanting So Much More, April 12, 2010
This review is from: Incarceron (Incarceron, Book 1) (Hardcover)
Incarceron is a very original story unlike any I have read. One main character, Finn, is stuck in a prison, trying to escape, slowly reclaiming memories. The other main character, Claudia, is stuck in a prison of her own, an arranged marriage to someone she despises. She is living in a technologically advanced society that has decided to revert back to the time of kings, queens, and formal court life. My main point of interest was the plot. I wanted to know why the ruling king decided to force everyone to live in another time period, why they decided to build such a strange prison system as Incarceron, and I wanted to know what exactly Incarceron was. I don't think the plot was fully realized. There is so much potential in the setup, but the novel felt mediocre.
There are 400+ pages in this book, and a large part of it takes place in Incarceron. Therefore, I should be able to describe what Incarceron is like. That is not the case. The escapees were traveling along some course that was not plotted out, over land that wasn't described very well, to a destination that was completely unknown. I can't say what Incarceron looks like in general. There were plenty of descriptions of metal trees and a few cells, but everything else just seemed like a blur. I've never read a novel where I understood so little about a place. I have no problem not having the answers to the questions I posed in the first paragraph, but I really did want to get a good feel of what Incarceron was like, and I didn't get that at all. What is daily life like for people on Incarceron? I have no idea, and I don't like that.
Another issue I had was the way certain secrets were handled. As a reader, I enjoy when the author keeps me guessing and doesn't reveal everything about a character's past outright. I do not enjoy when one sentence reveals everything, and the author continues to act like it is a mystery. That occurred in Incarceron very early, I won't give out the page number to avoid possible spoilers. Later in the novel, it happens again in the snippet at the beginning of one of the chapters. I would rather have the story unfold normally, than figure out a big secret so early. Even knowing a few of the mysteries, there is plenty to keep the reader interested. The plot itself is so unique that I had to read the entire thing to be satisfied. I didn't get answers to the questions I really cared about, and the abrupt ending left even more questions than I started with.
Overall, this book was just ok. I was more annoyed than enthralled with the lack of important details about Incarceron and the outside world. I really think Incarceron could have been so much better. There is so much potential with this unique storyline, but the execution was not good. The events that occurred in the prison were a huge turn off and almost made me push the rating down more. I don't think I've ever wanted so much more out of a novel. Oh well, all I can do is hope for more information in the next book. It goes to show that an interesting plot can go a long way, even with bad supporting details.
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