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Incarceron (Incarceron #1)

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 · rating details · 29,139 ratings · 3,803 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 458 pages

Published May 3rd 2007 by Hodder Children's Books

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Oct 21, 2011 Cory rated it 2 of 5 stars

I know many of you are staring at my two star review with amazement. I imagine you're thinking, "Cory, how could you?! This is one of the greatest steam-punk novels ever written! How can you rate it without even finishing it?"

To that, I have a simple answer: I wasn't impressed.

This book, like many fantasy novels I've ignored for the past few years, follows the Hero's Journey like a bible.

Of course we have a mystery revolving around the hero's past. Of course the hero has to be of royal blood bec...more

89 likes · like · see review

Jun 21, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews

I found it difficult to enjoy Incarceron at first.

You know that saying, Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? Ya, this is Incarceron all over.

So there's two worlds in this one story. There's the "real" world and the Incarceron world.

The real world is a futuristic world with fantastical technologies - which are not used much because the King of that world decided that change was bad, progress - demeaning and invention - unsafe. So he reverted the whole world to a pre-regenc...more I found it difficult to enjoy Incarceron at first.

You know that saying, Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? Ya, this is Incarceron all over.

So there's two worlds in this one story. There's the "real" world and the Incarceron world.

The real world is a futuristic world with fantastical technologies - which are not used much because the King of that world decided that change was bad, progress - demeaning and invention - unsafe. So he reverted the whole world to a pre-regency era and forced everyone to act out his weird fantasy.

Okay, first of all, this worked SO well when China did it a few hundred years ago. Yeah. They really benefited from that one. Second of all, it's not like the pre-regency era was full of ecstatically happy people either. Sad to say but the idea was just dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Then you have the Incarceron world which is basically a giant prison where people from the "real" world sent their thieves, poor people and miscreants. Okay, first of all, once again, been there, done that! I live in Australia - okay. This idea is not new! Did it make England a happier place? No. Did it mean that Australia is some demented country full of criminals and wargangs that are bloodthirsty and ruthless? Okay, totally not going to answer that...

No, Australia is great. Wonderful place and we didn't have all the technology and resources they packed into this place. I mean, seriously. HOW COULD YOU FAIL?! They stuck us on this dry, barren continent with pretty much NOTHING. Did you know that in the entire fleet that landed in Australia to settle, there was not a single farmer? There was almost no trades people, or anybody who knew ANYTHING about livestock, working the land, mining or anything. And yet, behold our success. So I want to know how these morons fucked up so bad. Really, I do.

Okay, so other than these two stupid and ridiculous premises, Incarceron is actually a pretty great book. I thought at first that all the "big surprises" were painfully easy to grasp in the first 70 pages but I was wrong. I was so wrong. I stared open-mouthed at the end of the book muttering, "Well, flippity-doo-dah-day, you got me there, Fisher!"

Characters are pretty good. The two main characters and the big "romance" aren't really that great. They're kind of average and there IS no romance. The romance is a lie. It's nothing. But the other characters are pretty entertaining and interesting.

World building is unique and fun.

Not much else to say really. It was a good read, I enjoyed it. I'll read the next one because I want to know what happens. I wouldn't say I ABSOLUTELY loved it, but it was pretty good.(less)

26 likes · like · see review

Dec 17, 2010 Krista (One Love) (Critical) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites, own-ab, read-around, yst, cfmf, ya, own, favorites

Where to begin? I just loved this book so much. Reading it was like drinking a white chocolate mocha, oh so delicious.

Maybe I'm really weird, but I've always thought prisons were kind of...cool. Not the modern day kind, but the medieval types. Strange, maybe, but I just find dungeons really interesting. ANYWAY, Incarceron is the ULTIMATE prison. It's alive, and it has a perosonality, which is just so unbelievably awesome.

I must admit, the twists were very predictable, but I didn't mind, becaus...more

24 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2010 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fantasy

I finished this book last night but waited till this morning to review it. Had I not, I suspect that the review would have been a bit more...vitriolic.

I've run on several mediocre YA novels recently and that not only disappoints me, but gives me pause. maybe I'm getting harder to please?

Having just gone through the Percy Jackson series and found it disappointing and reading a book by Tamora Pierce which I found mostly stultifyingly dull, I was rooting for this one. Unfortunately it just didn't w...more I finished this book last night but waited till this morning to review it. Had I not, I suspect that the review would have been a bit more...vitriolic.

I've run on several mediocre YA novels recently and that not only disappoints me, but gives me pause. maybe I'm getting harder to please?

Having just gone through the Percy Jackson series and found it disappointing and reading a book by Tamora Pierce which I found mostly stultifyingly dull, I was rooting for this one. Unfortunately it just didn't workout, at least for me. I'm a fantasy fan so, while the reality in this book requires some heavy duty suspension of belief, that's not in itself an insurmountable problem. The biggest problem(s) is/are in the story itself and the characters who populate it.

Most of the "people" here I just either couldn't care about, or I just didn't like. Finn wasn't too bad except for the failings everyone has here, but Claudia.... Claudia is petulant (yes I said petulant), willful, somewhat thoughtless and then when you roll all that up and make her thoughtlessness grow into either stupidity or foolishness it can be more than a person can bear. I know you don't ask for "reality" in a fantasy story, but there has to be a certain "reality" a form of logic within a book's own reality. Time and time again Claudia does things that had she really done them, the story would have ended early in some form of disaster for her and/or her tutor. Some times she makes an...lets be kind, an "unwise" decision, and it just sort of goes unnoticed or something, the ax never falls.

There are problems with the story telling itself also. Several times (for example) there is a tense situation, something is crashing or exploding and debris is falling all around, danger is everywhere. Or, possibly the characters are somewhere and enemies, guards etc. are closing in and something must be done! Or, their barricaded in a room and the battering ram is smashing down the door...we have to do something and do it NOW! And you'll get a line like this..."he/she stood staring off into the distance for several minutes, saying nothing". What?! Oh come on.

All in all the book escapes the one star rating as I've read worse, but I don't plan to follow the series. If you enjoyed the book I'm really happy for you, I really wanted to like the book, but it just left me cold and by a little over half way through I was simply skipping ahead... sorry.

Some of this it will be argued is simply "characteristics of a given character", but if the action continues throughout the book, thoughtless action after unwise decision it gets old, not endearing or cute or brave. I was just tired by books end. Maybe you won't see the book this way but I just didn't like it.

At this point, I have one more YA book, that I've been asked to read by someone, and then I think I may do some nonfiction only reading for a while and after that get to some of the books that I've been wanting to read for months or years that aren't for reading groups etc. The ones on my own shelves. Some adult level, non YA reading as it were. Maybe I'm just burned out. (less)

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Nov 14, 2008 R.j. rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: SF&F fans, young adults, lovers of adventure and complex, multilayered plots and characters

I love this book with a mad passion. I could hardly even tell you why, except that the concept of the living and sentient prison that's a whole world in itself is amazing, and the blend of the fantastical/fairy tale/historical and the high-tech aspects of Claudia's world fascinated me, and the Warden reminds me of Jack Bristow from Alias with his grim aspect and habit of keeping dark secrets mingled with a fierce (if sometimes oddly expressed) love of his daughter, and Jared is GUH and Jared/Cla...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-kids-teen, series-books, dystopian, penguin, own, annoying-protagonist, mc-guy

If Incarceron was a school subject, it would definitely be science. I love science, I find it fascinating, but I’m not very good at it… kind of like this reading experience!
First of all, this book is fascinating, captivating, the type of story that sticks with you to the point that you’re forgetting everything else you have to do because you’re so obsessed over what happens next! But, on the other hand, it’s really confusing, and to be honest, I had a hard time digesting all the intricacies of...more
If Incarceron was a school subject, it would definitely be science. I love science, I find it fascinating, but I’m not very good at it… kind of like this reading experience!
First of all, this book is fascinating, captivating, the type of story that sticks with you to the point that you’re forgetting everything else you have to do because you’re so obsessed over what happens next! But, on the other hand, it’s really confusing, and to be honest, I had a hard time digesting all the intricacies of the plot. I would respectfully point out that this book is way closer to “Science Fiction/Fantasy” than just regular Fantasy – be prepared for lots of technology and science.

Okay, so in a nutshell – how about I go ahead and set the stage for you, and maybe save your brain some racking? I have no idea if this is supposed to be Earth or if this is an entirely fictional universe, but whatever it is, it’s sometime in the future after a major war has taken place. Sounds pretty Dystopian 101, right? Well, this society decides to halt progress of any kind (technological, mostly) and return to a simpler way of life; thus the society is 18th century based, with some contraband technology thrown in (sidenote: I really, really do love this concept! I love the blending of the old with the new! COOL!) Meanwhile, the powers that be created Incarceron – an experimental “prison” that they populated with criminals, political prisoners, and all other kinds of undesirables… (I say "prison" because it's not the bars-and-cells kind that you see in Man in the Iron Mask or Count of Monte Cristo...it's more like a hellish society) One of these prisoners, a 17-year-old boy named Finn, truly believes that he does not belong in Incarceron: he is convinced that he came from Outside. When he finds a Key that allows him to communicate with a girl on the outside, Finn launches a desperate escape plot all the while attempting to unravel the secrets of his past.

From page 1, Incarceron hits the ground running! I can definitely say that there are no dull points in this riveting, action-packed story. I think, though, that the fast-paced action comes at the expense of character and story development. There’s so much action in this story, but it seems like you learn things in fragments. But hey, this book is incredibly fast-paced and so you don’t stay in the dark for long. :D

I really liked the two main characters, Finn and Claudia, and I thought that their respective storylines were pretty interesting. I loved seeing their separate lives start to blend and was definitely cheering for them the whole way! As usual, I’m divided on the supporting characters. Because there’s so much action in this 400+ book, characterization seemed to take a backseat. That’s not to say that characters weren’t developed; they just didn’t really seem explored. Incarceron seems like a very psychological novel, and I honestly could have done with more in-depth character exploration. And Finn and Keiro’s weird, warped relationship confused me – Keiro was just aggravating through and through.
So to summarize: VERY GOOD characters – they’re all interesting and useful to the plot (no “filler” characters, in other words)…SOMEWHAT LACKING on how these characters are explored and their emotional development.

Final Rating: 4.3 – in between my 4-and-4.5 star rating. I know, I can’t make up my mind! Incarceron is an awesome plot with great characters, but it could have been better explained and explored.
(less)

22 likes · like · see review

Nov 18, 2011 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, library-checkout, steampunk, young-adult, imprisoned-ex-convict, futuristic, royalty, apocalyptic-postapocalyptic-dystopi, the-lost-heir, science-fantasy, 2011-reading

Disclaimer: It was hard to convey my overall views on this book. I feel like this review is very much a 'I can't put my fingers on what was wrong' type of review, so I apologize if it seems rather chaotic.

Incarceron is a book with some interesting ideas, and some intensely visual imagery. Catherine Fisher put some imagination into crafting this story, and I tip my hat to the author for that. However, my overall feeling after finishing it is disappointment. Unfortunately, there were aspects that...more

21 likes · like · see review

Nov 09, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

Above all, Time is forbidden. From now on nothing will change.

After the Years of Rage, King Endor's Decree bans progress, pausing the world in an old-fashioned era of medieval dress and travel by horse-drawn carriage. Though advanced technology exists, it is expressly forbidden, and everyone must abide to Protocol.

Incarceron is an exception to this rule. A prison that some are born into and that nobody ever escapes, Incarceron is not a building, but a...more Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

Above all, Time is forbidden. From now on nothing will change.

After the Years of Rage, King Endor's Decree bans progress, pausing the world in an old-fashioned era of medieval dress and travel by horse-drawn carriage. Though advanced technology exists, it is expressly forbidden, and everyone must abide to Protocol.

Incarceron is an exception to this rule. A prison that some are born into and that nobody ever escapes, Incarceron is not a building, but an entire underground network of cities and wilderness entrapping prisoners in its vastness. Most prisoners have never seen the Outside and can only imagine what the stars and sky might be like. Surely more spectacular than Incarceron's Lightson and Lightsoff.

Finn believes that he came from Outside. Though he cannot remember a previous life, his mysterious seizures and visions hint that he was not always an Incarceron captive. When he discovers a mystical crystal key through a tragic turn of events, he just knows that the key will lead them to Escape from the treacherous clutches of Incarceron once and for all.

A duplicate of the key that Finn found belongs to the Warden of Incarceron. He lives on the Outside and is thrilled that his daughter, Claudia, is about to wed Caspar, heir to the throne. After years of scheming and social climbing, he will finally have the power that he craves.

Claudia, while groomed since birth to be a queen, is not merely her father's puppet. With a mind of her own, and no intention to marry the arrogant Caspar, Claudia pines for the one to whom she was first betrothed - Giles. Giles was the prince and heir to the throne before his unexpected death while riding alone. An investigation was never officially undertaken, but Claudia has always suspected that the new queen, Sia, played a role in Giles' death so that her son, Caspar, could ascend to the throne.

Refusing to be pawns in a royal power struggle, both Claudia and Finn are determined to uncover Incarceron's secrets. What they don't count on, though, is that Incarceron is not just a prison. Incarceron is alive.

Catherine Fisher creates a fantasy world unlike any other, playing upon classic themes of courage, justice, and truth to weave a page-turning adventure tale. INCARCERON reminds me strongly of Orwell's 1984 with a fantastical twist. Fisher's plot twists are clever and her ambiguous ending leaves the reader craving more. Look for the sequel, SAPPHIQUE, soon.(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Dec 24, 2011 Luz Balthasaar rated it 3 of 5 stars

Selesai baca ini, saia speechless.

Tapi ini bukan jenis speechless "ZOMG its So COoLZ LIke Tah Best ThinG EVAARRRR!!!" yang saia harapkan. Ini lebih seperti jenis speechless yang, "Idenya keren banget... tapi kok ide sekeren itu cuma jadi kayak... gini? O_O

Betapa saia benci jika ide yang seharusnya pure awesome dieksekusi menjadi sesuatu yang gak awesome.

Bayangin deh. Idenya tentang sebuah penjara yang hidup, yang merupakan dunia/ekosistem tersendiri. Gilanya lagi, ekosistem penjara ini punya kes...more

14 likes · like · see review

Mar 15, 2013 TheBookSmugglers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-of-2010

Original Review HERE

Incarceron is a vast, encompassing prison. Instead of steel bars and cell blocks, however, Incarceron is a world in itself; it is a metal world where nothing is created nor wasted, where stars and sky are near forgotten fairy tales, where all live in a cutthroat world, fighting for food and survival. Even more than that, Incarceron is alive – it observes everything that goes on within its walls, it’s red seeing eye omnipresent to the mortals within. Incarceron is all they hav...more Original Review HERE

Incarceron is a vast, encompassing prison. Instead of steel bars and cell blocks, however, Incarceron is a world in itself; it is a metal world where nothing is created nor wasted, where stars and sky are near forgotten fairy tales, where all live in a cutthroat world, fighting for food and survival. Even more than that, Incarceron is alive – it observes everything that goes on within its walls, it’s red seeing eye omnipresent to the mortals within. Incarceron is all they have ever known – although there is a myth about one man, a prophet named Sapphique, that was the only one able to escape to the mysterious outside.

Finn is a child of Incarceron, remembering only when he woke up in a dark, squalid cell two years ago, mad with fear and lost memories. Now seventeen, Finn has been forced by circumstance to join a crew of “Scum” – that is, ruthless thieves and bandits, that call themselves the Comitatus. One day, Finn makes a shocking discovery – a crystal key, whose design matches the tattoo on Finn’s wrist. The key, which Finn and those around him believe could be the way out of Incarceron, also turns out to be a communication device, and Finn finds himself able to speak to a mysterious girl, named Claudia.

On the outside of Incarceron, Claudia is the daughter of the Incarceron’s Warden, and set to marry the prince of the realm. Frustrated with her bleak future and the cutthroat political games in which she finds herself ensnared, Claudia is determined to prove that the monarchy is corrupt, and to find a way to instigate change in the static, innovation-fearing kingdom – and the way she plans to do this, is to discover Incarceron’s secrets. When she finds a crystal key in her father’s study, she finds a link to a world that is nothing like the ideal utopia that Incarceron was supposed to be – and she and Finn must work together to bring him out of Incarceron, and into the “real” world.

And with Incarceron itself watching, waiting, and toying with its inhabitants, Claudia and Finn’s task is no small feat.

Incarceron is an amazing feat of a novel from author Catherine Fisher. The book, actually initially published in the UK back in 2007, is part dystopian critique, part science fiction parable, part fantasy. This is not an easy blend to pull together, but Ms. Fisher does it with aplomb. Her world building in particular is PHENOMENAL. I loved the oddity of advanced technology in a royalty-imposed archaic time period – the monarchs and nobles emulate the late medieval western model of courts, down to the dress, castles and mannerisms. But this is not a medieval society! Claudia’s world has incredibly advanced technology, from “skin wands” to give humans the permanent appearance of youth to programable holograms, to artificial intelligence and reality-shifting tools. Despite this technology, however, those in power have resisted any change, abandoning their advanced tools in order to embrace the ways of old, in an attempt to control the population – which rings as very familiar. There’s also Incarceron itself, which is a whole new world on its own. Initially an experiment to create a perfect world for the unruly masses, of course went wrong. The concept of a utopia that is actually a dystopia isn’t really a new one, but this Ms. Fisher writes it so well, and with such awesome variation within Incarceron itself, of A.I. gone horribly awry, it hardly matters.

In terms of plotting, Incarceron is also surefooted, as it packs in revelation upon revelation, surprises, and twists at an expert pace. I could not put Incarceron down – Ms. Fisher is one hell of a storyteller.

Finally, what is a book without its characters? The cast of this novel is similarly well-rounded, though at first glance, they are very standard, fantasy archetypes. There’s the rebellious, intelligent (and beautiful) future queen; the orphaned boy thief with a heart of gold and a destiny to save the land; the calm, wise teacher; the jealous, handsome, morally-ambiguous best friend; the ragamuffin tag along girl; the zealous, prophecy-driven priest; the power-usurping, beautifully cruel queen; etc. These are very familiar character molds, no doubt about it – but as Incarceron progresses, the characters are shown in different ways. Not one thing is exactly how it seems, and that goes for characters as well. In particular, I loved the character of Claudia’s father – the cold, immutable, powerful Warden of Incarceron, Lord John Arlex. I loved the insights to his character throughout the book, especially in his strained relationship with Claudia’s tutor, Jared, and the Warden’s terrified – yet defiant – daughter, Claudia. (There’s one particular scene near the end of the book between these three characters that is made of mind-blowing awesomeness.)

So far as protagonists go, Claudia is as plucky as they come, but it is Finn that captures hearts with his vision, his trusting friendships, and his courage. The other character I truly enjoyed is the morally ambiguous Keiro – handsome and power-hungry, different characters have different interpretations of Keiro. Finn, as his oath-brother, is tied to Keiro by an unbreakable bond – should one of them die, it is the other’s responsibility to avenge them at any cost. And, as a loyal friend, Finn knows Keiro’s flaws, his hunger for power, his recklessness, but he also believes that underneath it all, Keiro would do anything for Finn. Other characters, however, are not so generous, as Keiro is seen as a rogue, out only to use Finn to get him out of Incarceron, no matter the cost. In any case, Keiro is a character that isn’t easy to peg, and I’m excited to see what happens with him in the next book.

With its breathtaking world-building, admirable characters, and exceptional plotting, Incarceron is a dystopian, sci-fi gem. I loved it, and I cannot wait for the next book in the series, Sapphique!(less)

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Aug 14, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wish I could give half-stars, because this is really 3 1/2.

I thought the ideas in this book were rich and innovative, and the plot twists near the end were what made me round the rating up to 4 stars instead of rounding down. I definitely want to read the sequel to find out where this story goes. (Update: I recently moved my rating down to 3 stars because as time has gone by I stopped caring about reading the sequel! Just didn't resonate with me, I guess.)

The big negative for me was that this...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Luann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Luann by: Susan

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction, dystopia, 2012

About half way through this, I wasn't sure I was going to care enough to want to read the sequel. But the closer I got to the end, the more caught up in the story I became. Some of the things that bothered me in the beginning were either resolved or the story moved away from those parts of the plot.

In the beginning, I felt like I didn't have a firm grasp on what was going on or how the societies inside Incarceron really worked. Details were given, but not enough to make me feel like I had a fir...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Maria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Aqui está um livro que é diferente dos que tenho lido.

Não consigo definir muito bem o seu género literário, mas penso que entre a Fantasia, Aventura e assim um bocado de FC (a mostrar uma parte Steampunk, que está muito interessante!).

Gostei muito! Gostei do enredo, do facto de ser dinâmico, não enrola e é direto. Mas continua sempre a deixar os seus mistérios por desvendar! Ou seja, é um argumento direto sem contar tudo. Interessante!

Quanto às personagens...
Bem, achei-as interessantes, princip...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Angelic Zaizai rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, fantasy, scifi-distopia, arc

*makasih Memooo....*

Pure fantasi
maksudnya bacanya bener-bener sambil berfantasi
susah looh, kalo ngebayangin dunia Luar mah gampang
dunia Dalam ituh.. hueee mana dunianya muram lagi

jadi ceritanya Incarceron itu penjara - tapi karena distopia, penjaranya 'canggih' dong
canggihnya apa? yah udah kaya' dunia sendiri aja.. mulai dari kaum terpelajar sampai kaum preman pun ada
ga kebayang deh luasnya kaya apa tuh penjara..

ada penjara, ada luar penjara tentunya kan
lah dunia di luar kok kaya jaman2 cerita...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Eileen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fantasy-dystopia, read-2011, recommendations, favorites

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, but I have always been into reading fairytales and although they don't live happily ever after, this book reads like a fairytale. It's a very imaginative, original and engrossing story that is vividly written with great characters. It has action and suspense, but no romance (thank God, no love-triangle!).I loved every second of it and although I didn't want to rush through it and enjoy it to the fullest, I couldn't put it down until I reached the last page. It'...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Lina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-general, paranormal-fiction, teen-fiction-fantasy

How sad is it that I am actually surprised to see a book utilize character development? After reading so many terrible books (House of Night, Fallen, Shiver and anything with Ever Bloom) any book that manages to have it's characters evolve immediately attracts my attention. That book is called Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, who is going to be one of my favorite writers if she keeps this wrong. It's a fantasy book that has...ACTUAL FANTASY!

*Squee*

-Ahem-

So my review.

Incarceron is living prison...more How sad is it that I am actually surprised to see a book utilize character development? After reading so many terrible books (House of Night, Fallen, Shiver and anything with Ever Bloom) any book that manages to have it's characters evolve immediately attracts my attention. That book is called Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, who is going to be one of my favorite writers if she keeps this wrong. It's a fantasy book that has...ACTUAL FANTASY!

*Squee*

-Ahem-

So my review.

Incarceron is living prison that was created by a King ages ago to be a perfect place to send prisoners [*coughAustraliacough*]. While, it was as a paradise, as any good fantasy reader knows, it all went to shit and the prison took on a life of its own. It has even developed to the point that it can create people from within it's walls. The history of this living world is one of the many interesting things that take place in this book.

The main story is split between two people. One is Finn, who had no memory of his childhood and is certain he came from the Outside. However, the idea of an Outside is considered a myth by most inhabitants of the prison. The second character we are introduced to is, Claudia, who is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron (DILF), who is arranged to mary a douche bag. Both come into possession of a key which allows them to contact each other and they set out to get Finn out.

It might be an exaggeration to say that this book was brilliant, but it is an exaggeration that I gladly give. It was a fun, engaging read and it is obvious that alot of thought came into the development of the world. Every character is interesting in their own way and brings something important to the ensemble piece. Certain plot points are basic and one is as predictable as it guess, however I feel it was supposed to be like that.

If you are looking for an interesting, young adult fantasy book please look here!

Final Grade: A

I honestly adore this book and it was a pleasure to read every single page. I'd never heard of this book, so, much like Sleepless, I wasn't expecting much from it. However, I am slowly learning that sometimes the books you least suspect are the best ones. Sort of like relationships. I wish I could go into more detail, but I really feel this book should be read and giving anything away will cheat you.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Sep 01, 2010 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2010, books-i-own, finished-series, first-in-a-serie, motion-picture-tie-in

I'd give it ten stars if I could !

This book is just marvelous, devine and so skillfully written.
It is without a doubt one of the best book I've read this year,
and perhaps for a while.
It tastes like cream chocolate dipped roast chicken at first and framboise filled dark chocolate at the end. As you might have guessed, it is very dark and fattening but sinfully delicious.
I tend to guess well at what's going to happen next when reading a book, but this was so out of my reach, it gave me goosebu...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Nenia Campbell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-baby-ya, x-2007s, x-series-bk-1, labyrinthine, great-world-building, favorite-author, could-have-been-really-awesome, good-but-forgetable, adventure-ho, help-we-are-being-repressed

You can read more reviews at my blog, The Armchair Librarian.

Have you ever read a book with an idea so simplistic, and yet so fundamentally awesome, that you marvel at the fact that nobody came up with it before? That is exactly how I feel about Incarceron.

I mean, come on! It is about a prison that is self-aware and constantly changing: an ouroboros with a wicked sense of humor and an even wickeder sense of self-preservation. Escape is not on its agenda for its prisoners. Ever. Why? Because it e...more You can read more reviews at my blog, The Armchair Librarian.

Have you ever read a book with an idea so simplistic, and yet so fundamentally awesome, that you marvel at the fact that nobody came up with it before? That is exactly how I feel about Incarceron.

I mean, come on! It is about a prison that is self-aware and constantly changing: an ouroboros with a wicked sense of humor and an even wickeder sense of self-preservation. Escape is not on its agenda for its prisoners. Ever. Why? Because it eats them, and then recycles them into new prisoners for its own perverse enjoyment. So what happens when a break is in progress?

Bad things, that's what.

I desperately wanted to be in love with Incarceron just because of the premise. The idea is just so intriguing and unique; it's a breath of fresh air from all the reconstituted ideas that, much like the creatures in the prison of Incarceron, are dissembled and then put back together haphazardly in ways the writer hopes we won't notice.

Incarceron was meant to be Paradise, but is in actuality an experiment-gone-wrong that the Outside world tries to hide from its people as a place of myth. Kind of like Heaven, except less religious. Ironically, the people in Incarceron believe the same thing about the Outside, but that's not true, either. Outside, technology has been mostly destroyed and everyone has reverted to a bizarre regency/medieval sort of setting, with lots of emphasis on courtly manners. It's bizarre.

I loved it.

The problem with Incarceron is that the characters were flat. We would have lovely descriptions of metal forests, abyssal bridges, giant walls of gold, and ever-seeing red eyes (creepy), and then we have these lackluster characters that have about as much personality as a pre-programmed RPG character. They are basically templates. Finn, Keiro, Attia, Jared, none of them spoke to me as people. Aside from the occasional spark of annoyance, I didn't feel much for them at all.

I think this is one of those books that might be a better movie. Good acting can compensate for poor characterization, and make up for a lot of nuance that fell flat in the book. Also, can you imagine what top-notch film directors could do with Incarceron? Peter Jackson should totally get on that.

3 out of 5 stars. (less)

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Feb 24, 2010 oliviasbooks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, scifi-dystopian-apocalyptic, steampunk, other-creatures, swapped-or-given-away, read-2010, multiple-povs-letters, cliffhanger

The prison Incarceron reminds me a lot of HAL, the space ship's board computer of Kubrick's "Space Odyssey": Both are fitted out with artificial intelligence and go rogue.

Incarceron takes place in the future. 160 years ago a king decided that cutting off mankind from its strive after one technological improvement after the next would end greed, war and the slow crumbling of society. So he forbid time and progress and switched everything back to an era long passed: An age, when people traveled o...more The prison Incarceron reminds me a lot of HAL, the space ship's board computer of Kubrick's "Space Odyssey": Both are fitted out with artificial intelligence and go rogue.

Incarceron takes place in the future. 160 years ago a king decided that cutting off mankind from its strive after one technological improvement after the next would end greed, war and the slow crumbling of society. So he forbid time and progress and switched everything back to an era long passed: An age, when people traveled on horseback and did without electricity. But the same new old era also contains computer generated old-looking trees and fake spiderwebs - and rich people have found ways to hide electric cables in the staff rooms and lush bathrooms behind secret panels. Following the so-called "Protocol" completely is only obligatory if you are lower class.

A second step towards a violence and crime-free world was the construction of the self-regulating, autonomous prison Incarceron, where all criminal, dangerous, politically extreme and mentally ill people were sent off to - together with 70 volunteers to guard them. The fact that after closing the doors nobody could enter and nobody could leave played into the hands of Incarceron itself: Nobody could hinder it to turn the planned paradise into a hell serving it's own strange taste in amusement. Not even the learned volunteers.

In the real world nobody knows about the unpleasant development of the former experiment. Nobody but the Warden, who has got the only key to the prison.

The story follows Claudia, the present Warden's daughter, who has been promised to the unfit Crown Prince to be his future bride, on the "Outside" and gang member Finn, who woke up inside the prison at the age of fifteen without a proper memory, on the "Inside". He claims not to be one of the prison's recycled products, but to be imported from the real world - where he wants to return to.

Also lined up are a handful of interesting side-characters including Claudia's tutor Jared, the ice-cold and scheming Warden and the evil Queen on the one side, and Keiro, Finn's oathbrother and two other travel-mates (Gildas and Attia) on the other side.

The story kept my attention all of the time. I liked Finn a lot and Claudia a little less. In fact, she was sometimes quite annoying, which can be explained by her upbringing as the next puppet on the throne. But I always wanted to know what happened next - even to her.

The plot ends with a cliff-hanger. But the sequel Sapphique is already available.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Mery rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: punya, works, 2011

Yaaaay kereeeen....

Sebagai pembaca saya sih suka ;D
Sebagai penerjemahnya saya lebih suka. ;D *plaaaak*

Dunia futuristik bercampur kehidupan lampau. Atau sebaliknya ya?

Finn hidup di dunia Penjara yang isinya mesin dan makhluk-makhluk aneh. Pengen banget keluar dari sana dan nikmati dunia luar.
Claudia hidup di dunia luar yang indah nan megah namun terbentur peraturan protokol. Bayangin aja dia hidup di zaman canggih tapi tinggalnya di kastil. Pake pakaian zaman victoria. Dan dia pengen banget masuk...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Valeria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Debo admitir que realmente me gusto este libro, era diferente a cualquier otro libro que haya leído, no es la típica historia de amor prohibido o la de criaturas ficticias, esto es completamente diferente, es una historia de aventura. Incarceron esta viva y lo ve todo, tienen que tratar de escapar de allí, pero por otra parte en el Exterior no es muy diferente de los que viven encerrados en la prisión, ya que las personas tienen que obligarse entre si a vivir una época que no evoluciona, que nun...more

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Aug 07, 2011 James M. Madsen, M.D. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, young-adult, speculative-fiction

I found the plot of Incarceron a little predictable and the action a little flagging--until the last seven chapters, which almost made up for the earlier parts of the book. The main idea--of a 150-year-old grand experiment in penal reform with the creation of a self-sustaining and essentially completely isolated prison world that goes horribly wrong--is an intriguing one, and Fisher runs with it. There are several ways for a book to become memorable to me. One is to have an intellectually stimul...more

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May 03, 2011 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5201, kelly-recommends, young-adult, another-dystopia, fantastical

Lit. class review:

The main reason I’m reading this is at recommendation (yet again) of my friend Kelly, who continues to recommend books that I love. If her word isn’t reason enough, it’s also been recognized by the School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, the Cybil awards, and is one of Booklist’s top 10 fantasy/sci-fi for 2010.

It’s another addition to the ever-expanding list of dystopic YAL titles. The main character appears to live within a prison unlike any sort of prison we know. Accord...more Lit. class review:

The main reason I’m reading this is at recommendation (yet again) of my friend Kelly, who continues to recommend books that I love. If her word isn’t reason enough, it’s also been recognized by the School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, the Cybil awards, and is one of Booklist’s top 10 fantasy/sci-fi for 2010.

It’s another addition to the ever-expanding list of dystopic YAL titles. The main character appears to live within a prison unlike any sort of prison we know. According to the book jacket, the prison “gives life … deals death … watches all.” It was created to rehabilitate, but something has gone terribly wrong.

p. 147 – Finn is a son of the prison called Incarceron. Everyone says he was “born” there, but he has dreams – memories – of before. He, his oathbrother Keiko, and Gildas, one of the Wise men, decide to attempt an Escape when they gain possession of a mysterious and other-worldly key. Meanwhile, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, lives outside the prison in a perpetually Victorian world and is herself wishing for an escape from an unwanted betrothal.

p. 293 – Incarceron seems to stretch on without limit. Finn, from the inside, and Claudia, from outside, are searching for a door or a gate of some sort. Claudia is days away from marrying the useless son of the Queen and is still unsure how she will escape the agreements her father has made. Questions at this point: Is Keiko trustworthy? What’s up with the evil and scary Queen? Is Claudia’s father good or bad? And where is Incarceron?

By the end of the book, some questions are answered; some are left for the sequel. And it appears that, contrary to the need to turn every new book into a trilogy or series, Fisher has ended her story with the sequel, Sapphique. I enjoyed the world she created, but sometimes the stories from various mythologies made it difficult to get a grasp on her vision. As with any novel set in the future, I find myself wondering what about our own time she is critiquing -- Politics? Religion? What?

Appropriate for any reader 7th grade and up who has an interest in sci-fi/fantasy and is willing to tackle a 450-page book.
(less)

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May 12, 2010 Chelsea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, alternatehistory, youngadult, 2010

Aaargh. I need to start reading stand alone novels, because the wait for all these sequels is killing me. And now I have another one to add to the list.

This one grabbed me hard from page one and so there I sat, all day, at the Book Shop, ignoring the display I should have been putting together (though I did get it done!) as I plowed through. I love that Fisher just drops the reader into this wildly different world, and expects you to keep up and piece together the details of her characters' real...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Steven Withrow rated it 3 of 5 stars

Listened to this one on audio with Kim Mai Guest as a reader. Her straight narration is strong, but her faux-British accents for dialogue are distracting and sometimes annoying.

I liked the book enough to finish it in a single week, but I doubt I'll go on to the sequels anytime soon. This is a book I really should like -- it has so many of the elements I ordinarily enjoy -- but it just seemed overstuffed with characters and prophecies.

My favorite scenes were with Claudia when she lived outside...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Krisanne Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars

wow...this is one of those books that is tough to read because of multiple story lines, and also because I am still not quite sure what is going on. But it's one of those books that I can't stop thinking about. The characters are fabulous, and strong, and resourceful, and evil. Incarceron is a prison that started out as an experiment and has now grown into something much more that Finn is trying to escape. He knows he wasn't born in Incarceron, but can't remember about his early years. Claudia i...more

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May 11, 2010 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, youngadult-fiction

This gritty, intriguing dystopia's mysteries had me giddy with suspense. I loved the juxtaposition of high technology--its staggering potential as a freedom and a menace--and the stifling control of archaic, formal pre-industrial society. I won't even get into the plot--discovering it slowly is part of the fun.

I was tickled to find that throughout, the story brought specific, nostalgic images to my mind from our collective fantasy-world consciousness: Mad Max, The Wizard of Oz, a bit of 2001: A...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Zeek rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian, fiction, sci-fi, young-adult, audible

Incarceron- an infinite prison created to hold the criminals, the unwanted and the refuse. It was supposed to be a place to rehabilitate those imprisoned there, a paradise… but something went wrong. Now those trapped inside live in hell and the prison has become something altogether new- a horrible living organism.

Claudia is the daughter of the warden of Incarceron. She senses that something is not quite right about her world. A prisoner in her own right, she is being groomed to be the next quee...more Incarceron- an infinite prison created to hold the criminals, the unwanted and the refuse. It was supposed to be a place to rehabilitate those imprisoned there, a paradise… but something went wrong. Now those trapped inside live in hell and the prison has become something altogether new- a horrible living organism.

Claudia is the daughter of the warden of Incarceron. She senses that something is not quite right about her world. A prisoner in her own right, she is being groomed to be the next queen- married off to the current Queen’s selfish son- for her society had stopped progressing long ago, when something called The Protocol was enacted, trapped in a time when courtiers and facades of civility hide terrible secrets. Longing to escape the tyranny of a hopeless future, she stumbles upon a strange key while secretly investigating her father’s study. A mystery quickly unfolds because, with the key, she has found the way to unlock her world- along with the door to Incarceron.

Brilliantly imagined the mystery of Incarceron and Claudia’s world kept me reading on… even when the mostly 2-dimensional characters less than thrilled me. But I must confess, the admittedly fascinating world building failed to hold me over through much of this book- especially when it took so long for the prisoners of Incarceron to make their way out.

This story wants to be a dystopian YA on the scope of The Hunger Games and the plethora of other similar books hitting the best sellers right now, unfortunately it lacks engaging characters. (I think the author even tried to set up a love triangle however she pretty much failed, imo. You have to get the reader to care about whom ends up with whom and with an otherwise selfish heroine, a passive hero and side characters that granted, were a bit more intriguing then the H/h- it just didn’t work for me.)

The story throws in some predictable twists that are easy to guess- especially if you’ve been reading (or watching) Sci Fi, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, for as long as I have- (view spoiler)- but they did manage to give me a moment of pause to mull them over. There is that.

I sound hard on this book, and in a way I am, because I love dystopian fiction so much and set it to a higher standard, but I did in fact like it more than some other YA out there- ::cough cough twilight cough cough:: I at least wanted to read the entire book and might even consider reading on if the author can resolve the lack of character depth. (With Twilight I gave up halfway through the first book!)

So- with some qualms- I do recommend this book if you like the genre, because let’s face it, disappointing fantasy/ sci fi is better than a lot of other genre fiction out there! Just sayin.
(less)

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May 24, 2013 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Amanda by: Raafia

Shelves: dystopian, young-adult, science-fiction, coulda-been-better

Please be warned that there will be slight spoilers in this review.

It was not easy to follow at first. Fisher does not take you by the hand and walk you through her world, so it does take a while before you understand the sentient, ever-evolving world that is Incarceron. I admit most of my ratings go for the idea behind this novel, rather than its execution.
The sheer thought of being born inside a continuously changing, expansive prison-world; of being trapped in a dimension that accomodates it...more

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May 26, 2013 Peter#pintobeans rated it 4 of 5 stars

After finishing the book “Incarceron” by Catherine Fisher, I came to a realization of how lucky we Americans are to be free, and not contained and restricted in any way. Incarceron is a fantastic tale about an underground prison that has been sealed off from the outside world for many, many years. One man is said to have escaped the prison, and his name is Sapphique. The prison is so vast; no one person knows all of its interior. This prison is made up of large underground cities, ice-capped mo...more After finishing the book “Incarceron” by Catherine Fisher, I came to a realization of how lucky we Americans are to be free, and not contained and restricted in any way. Incarceron is a fantastic tale about an underground prison that has been sealed off from the outside world for many, many years. One man is said to have escaped the prison, and his name is Sapphique. The prison is so vast; no one person knows all of its interior. This prison is made up of large underground cities, ice-capped mountains, and forests of fruit trees, and barren wastelands. The main character is Finn, who lives in a sort of village run by a horrible leader. This book does an excellent job of creating almost a dystopian society in the prison, and shows why one would want to leave this life. Finn suffers the hardships of being trapped with seemingly no escape, reminding us that everyone should have the right to freedom.
Finn is very eager to find a way out. He feels that he must risk life and live to escape, because he finds no hope left in the life he still lives. Finn once said that “If it means my death, I don't care, because even death will be a sort of freedom” (Fisher 86). He meant that dying in trying to escape is better than continuing to live a life contained to the walls of a prison. I feel this book can be used as a metaphor for many things in life that deal with being confined.
In the world above the prison, lives a girl named Claudia. Her father is the warden of Incarceron, the prison, and is gone for long periods of time. The leader of the world she lives in has decided he wants time to stop. He is afraid of change, and has banished all technology and destroyed advancement. He has trapped the world in the Victorian Era, and allows nothing more advanced than this. Claudia expresses how the world has been affected by saying that “Nothing is new. New does not exist. Nothing changes, nothing grows, evolves, develops. Time has stopped. Progress is forbidden” (Fisher 34). She feels disspointed that her society is limiting themselves to the Victorian Era, and not allowing new technology to help them advance.
This book was a thrilling read that left me unknowing of what is to come around every corner. I would recommend this book to any reader, of any age group. I loved most how this book seems to resemble slavery, life under a dictatorship, and many more examples of not being free, and how this feeling of no freedom takes a toll on those affected by it.

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About Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher was born in Newport, Wales. She graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in English and a fascination for myth and history. She has worked in education and archaeology and as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.

Catherine is an acclaimed poet and novelist, regularly lecturing and giving readings to groups o...more

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Books by Catherine Fisher

The Oracle Betrayed (The Oracle Prophecies, #1)

The Sphere of Secrets (The Oracle Prophecies, #2)

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Quotes from Incarceron

“Walls have ears.
Doors have eyes.
Trees have voices.
Beasts tell lies.
Beware the rain.
Beware the snow.
Beware the man
You think you know.
-Songs of Sapphique” — 230 people liked it

“Only the man who has known freedom
Can define his prison.” — 198 people liked it

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