Incarceron (Incarceron, #1) in Mock Printz 2026

Nov 14, 2010 Debrarian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, ya-aka-teen, dystopia, irritating

From the buzz I had high expectations of this book, but I thought it really fell flat. I'm fond of dystopian SF but I found this a teasingly unsatisfying contribution. I'd give it a 3 for attempted creativity and a 2 for execution. The premise had potential: 120 years ago, society's undesirables were imprisoned in a completely contained, self-regulating environment called Incarceron. Meanwhile, in the outside world, the King decreed that change was never worth its price, and so insisted that eve From the buzz I had high expectations of this book, but I thought it really fell flat. I'm fond of dystopian SF but I found this a teasingly unsatisfying contribution. I'd give it a 3 for attempted creativity and a 2 for execution. The premise had potential: 120 years ago, society's undesirables were imprisoned in a completely contained, self-regulating environment called Incarceron. Meanwhile, in the outside world, the King decreed that change was never worth its price, and so insisted that everyone pretend Time had stopped in a sort of 18th-century Era. Claudia, daughter of Incarceron's sole Warden, is betrothed to the callow Prince and will soon enter the Court's world of social intrigue. Finn is an amnesiac teen who lives with a vicious gang in the steampunk bowels of Incarceron. And Incarceron has a mind of its own.

The book has some strengths, including a novel premise (even if its execution is disappointingly flawed) and a few cool concepts like the sentient Incarceron, and that of Incarceron's physical presence as that of a composite beast (in the cave scene).

Sadly, the writing is not up to the interesting premise. Following is a list of flaws I found dismaying. If you liked the book, feel free to skip this part.

The setting never coheres - I could never really envision how the various (ambitious) physical environments work. Eg. p. 285 - the spheres. Relative size? Position? Motion? Color?

We are told that Claudia has grown up hardened and skilled at political scheming, but she constantly throws tantrums and does naive, risky things, like immediately speaking openly to Evian about the assassination plot. (A few egs. on pp. 30 & 336) She never seems savvy or curious - just pissed & impetuous (eg. 319 opening Prison, kicking desk). Also, if she was raised to be Queen, why did she never spend time at Court?

The author tends to show rather than tell, as in Claudia's oft-mentioned fear (eg. p 341) of her father (no memories or scenes give that a foundation) or the Warden's anger (eg. p 406 "Behind the Warden's iron control was a blazing hatred" - we just have to take that on faith.) Or her fondness for Jared - what is it based on? What does it consist of? Also, Attia is made out to be incredibly perceptive but it hardly seems creditable.

Gratuitous use of the word "bitch" (Keiro about Attia.) A) Ugly, sexist word, not particularly necessary either place - why use it at all? B) A word from our era, used our way. Wouldn't the inmates of Incarceron - especially the Comitatus gang - have their own damning slang? Also, Keiro swears: “God! There’s an anchor!” - but there have been no other in-prison references to God, only to the Escape of Sapphique.

The book alternates POV between Claudia and Finn, until about 3/4 of the way in, when suddenly and discontinuously we see a few chapters from Keiro and Jared's points of view.

The descriptions of people tend toward the repetitive and cliched - if I had a dollar for every time Claudia feels "chilled," her father's eyes are hard/cold/gray, or someone displays a "sour" or "bitter" smile, I could take the whole cast out to dinner (although, how fun would that be?). Also, the dialogue pattern is always: 1) someone speaks; 2) the silence of the room/cave/tunnel is mentioned; 3) Someone speaks again. ("That is treason." A fly buzzed in and droned around the room. "Where's the Key?")

Sigh. Too bad. The idea was cool.

(In-depth analysis on account of my reading it for this year's Mock Printz.)

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Sep 27, 2010 Brandi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, random-reads-column, teen, 2010, librandian-blog

Surviving within Incarceron is tough. Even though the Comitatus is a group of criminals who steal from and kill anyone who gets in their way, they still watch each others’ backs and Finn is lucky to be a part of it. When a robbery goes bad, Finn meets a woman who knows something about the mysterious bird marking on his wrist. Unlike most prisoners in Incarceron, Finn does not remember anything about his past. He also gets strange visions of the Outside, including visions of the stars. Despite br Surviving within Incarceron is tough. Even though the Comitatus is a group of criminals who steal from and kill anyone who gets in their way, they still watch each others’ backs and Finn is lucky to be a part of it. When a robbery goes bad, Finn meets a woman who knows something about the mysterious bird marking on his wrist. Unlike most prisoners in Incarceron, Finn does not remember anything about his past. He also gets strange visions of the Outside, including visions of the stars. Despite breaking the rules, Finn takes the woman hostage in hopes of finding out more about his childhood. In exchange for the woman, Finn gets a crystal key with a similar bird etched in the center. Finn sets off with a small group of fellow prisoners including his oath-brother Kerio, a small slave girl Attia, and Gildas, a Sapient who specializes in knowledge and medicine searching for the door that belongs to the strange key.

While inspecting the key one evening, Finn opens a line of communication with a young girl named Claudia who claims to be on the Outside. Claudia is the Warden of Incarceron’s daughter and is dying to learn the truth about the confidential place. When Claudia first sees Finn through the key’s magic, she is positive that he is the king’s son who was presumed dead. Now Claudia and Finn do everything they can to break the impenetrable walls of Incarceron and learn some unbelievable secrets about themselves and their friends.

Incarceron is told with alternating narrators, giving us a complete view of both the world inside the prison and the world outside. Claudia and Finn are both strong, unbreakable characters who are willing to go against dire odds to achieve their almost impossible goal. Throughout the story, Fisher includes excerpts from the lore surrounding Incarceron including a long dead king and a wise man named Sapphique who is rumored to have escaped the prison. The excerpts add immensely to the story and add insight to the situations the characters face.
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May 07, 2010 Tiff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian-or-post-apocalyptic, read-in-2010

I'm torn about this book. Normally, I enjoy when I, as a reader, am thrust into action/plot in a book without a lot of potentially boring descriptions/introductions in the beginning.

However, this book jumped straight into action, but for almost 100 pages, I was pretty lost. It was hard to get into, and just too many names of things and roles of characters were being thrown at me with no explanation.

So I started out thinking this was a 2, maybe a 3 star book.

But you've seen my 4 star rating...be ...more

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Jan 20, 2010 Jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, dystopia, mock-printz-2011

This is one of those books where it's probably best if you don't know much about the story before you start reading. Any information about the plot will likely make you confused as you start reading, make you spend too much time guessing how things will turn out, or both. Just go along for the ride and trust that Catherine Fisher knows how to create a completely believable yet foreign world.

The characters are interesting, although never completely sympathetic. There's lots of gray area in the b ...more

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Feb 03, 2010 Jan rated it liked it

Shelves: teenbooks

The setting of this enjoyable fantasy is a completely original construct and absolutely fascinating. Incarceron reminded me of the Matrix, with its labyrinthine layers and sentient intelligence. The plot is compelling and I was often surprised by plot developments. It is not a completely predictable fantasy, which is a huge relief, as I have read WAY too many of those. I agree that the imagery is rich and sensual, which adds to the compulsive readability. I loved the hints about how the Outside ...more

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Nov 21, 2010 elissa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sciencefiction, my_10s_reads, fantasy, youngadult

FINALLY finished this! It took me months and months to get through it, but I did end up enjoying the ending. By about page 250 or 300, I didn't want to put it down. I had a horribly hard time getting in to this, and I understand why some people really like it, but a lot of it just didn't work well for me, and I'm not sure why. I didn't become invested in the characters, plot, setting, or anything else until very, very late in the story. I'm not sure whether I'll want to read the next one or not. ...more

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Jan 20, 2010 Mokamonkey rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen-books

While I thought this one was well written, the story was bleak and therefore not as much fun to read. It kind of reminded me of reading "The Knife of Never Letting Go" in that sense, where you don't feel like there's much hope. But...it was at least more hopeful than that book. ...more

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Feb 03, 2010 Christina Getrost rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, audiobooks

A very unique fantasy book, set in the future as well as the past--but not involving time travel exactly. Finn lives in Incarceron, a brutal prison world of cities and bizarre landscapes--and all he wants to do is escape to the Outside. Claudia has been raised as a Renaissance-era princess, Outside, but now she's facing an arranged marriage to a spoiled prince. And then she discovers the truth about Incarceron, and meets Finn. But Incarceron is alive--will Finn and his friends be able to survive ...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Amber rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure

Dystopic fiction at its finest. Can't wait for the sequel. ...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Jess rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, audiobook, dystopia, reread, mock-printz-2011

I wanted to refresh my memory of the book before the Mock Printz and before getting my hands on Sapphique. It was a bit harder to follow on audio than on the page, and the narration was competent but not amazing, so I'd recommend reading over listening. But it served its purpose. Four stars for the print, three for the audio. ...more

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