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Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)

Catherine Fisher

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Why we're reading this: World within a world, totally sci fi, lots of action and a protocol that is odd but definitely interestin…more
[close] World within a world, totally sci fi, lots of action and a protocol that is odd but definitely interesting!

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Please add to the bookshelf

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What Members Thought

Aug 11, 2011 Jessica rated it really liked it

I was pretty impressed with this book. At first, it was pretty predictable but very fast moving. But they were 2 twists that I did not expect which made the book even more interesting.
Icarceron is a prison that makes life and takes it. There is no escape. Finn, the main character knows that he wasn't born in Icarceron. He knows there is an outside world even though he can't prove it.
The whole concept is very cool and interesting.
The world takes all their criminals and unwanted poor and puts th ...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Anna Balasi rated it it was amazing

That was certainly exciting! I did enjoy the twists and turns of this great dystopic fantasy, and the way the poetry mixed with the edge. There are certainly elements of Fantasy and Dystopia that some people may find cliche, but the bigger picture is certainly that a huge part of this tale relied on the unpredictable. Was it because there was always the threat of Incarceron? Was it the secrecy behind the prison itself? Perhaps the games the nobles played Outside? Or maybe it was the way you coul That was certainly exciting! I did enjoy the twists and turns of this great dystopic fantasy, and the way the poetry mixed with the edge. There are certainly elements of Fantasy and Dystopia that some people may find cliche, but the bigger picture is certainly that a huge part of this tale relied on the unpredictable. Was it because there was always the threat of Incarceron? Was it the secrecy behind the prison itself? Perhaps the games the nobles played Outside? Or maybe it was the way you couldn't tell, until the end, which was myth and fact?

While I did find Finn entirely likeable in spite of his obvious inability to believe in himself (he depends greatly on others), I found that I liked Claudia and Attia best.

Finn, the Starseer, is certainly the heart of this story. He drives his companions to find something better--hope for escape. He is kind in spite of his harsh reality and he has in him the ability to inspire followers, but perhaps the fact that he survived by lying low made him a less standout character.

Keiro is strong, assertive, and multi-dementional, but I can hardly relate to his Only the Strong Survive mindset, though that character FITS him entirely. He brings a Wild Card element to their troupe.

I was drawn to Claudia and Attia because they were such strong and admirable leads. Claudia, while having grown up pampered, is as tough as nails. She never fell back on the cowering, second-fiddle role that so many strong female leads fall into eventually. Claudia was the star of this show. Unafraid to ask questions, get answers, assert her goals, admit her flaws, and doing whatever it takes to get results. Some would say she "acts like a man" but I calling it "acting like the boss." She was the boss.

Attia, though obviously a secondary character, is so outspoken and unafraid that even if she calls herself Finn's "dog", she does so out of sheer self-reliance. She owes Finn her life, therefore she has decided that she would repay that debt. She is clever and no wilting violet. She doesn't fear Keiro and she doesn't fear death. That she has such a clear intelligence for survival, yet she does not submit herself to base impulses unnecessarily is so admirable that I cringe every time anybody in the story called her "bitch."

I am smitten by these female leads, and therefore smitten by this book. I was rooting for them all, even if I refused to trust Keiro until the last minute.

Quickly, I had to get to Sapphique, which I am currently reading. ...more

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Dec 24, 2010 Cathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, audiobook, dystopian, prisons

While at first totally confusing, I came to really like this story that takes place in multiple worlds and planes. Incarceron is a huge, sentient prison filled with millions of people as well as vermin, metal plants and an eye that watches the prisoners at all times. On the other side is a world more like our own except that at one point it was decided to stop human progress and go back to living as in the 17th century. On that side live the Warden of Incarceron, his daughter Claudia and her tut ...more

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