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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Original and engaging new teen fantasy - we listened to it on a recent road trip and loved it! Read my full review at:
http://greatbooksforkidsandteens.blogspot.com/2010/04/teenya-review-incarceron.html
http://greatbooksforkidsandteens.blogspot.com/2010/04/teenya-review-incarceron.html
adding another evil little man called john to my list of besties
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A pretty well-written adventure story, with lots of creative world-building. Somewhere near the middle, though, I found I didn't care quite enough about any of the people or events to continue. I really WANTED to... I blame myself.
I liked this and I look forward to reading more Catherine Fisher.
I liked this and I look forward to reading more Catherine Fisher.
Ever since I was forced to read Foucault's [b:Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison|80369|Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison|Michel Foucault|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170981805s/80369.jpg|1946946] (and reluctantly forced to admit I enjoyed it), I've been fascinated with the prison system: what it does to people, how it's created and what its function is, how it reinforces itself, how it's reflected in the outside world and society, and the lives of individuals . . . I could go on, but there's too much to talk about in just this tiny space. All you need to know is: endlessly interesting. You can understand, then, why I was so excited by the prospect of a book that takes place in an endless prison, a prison that seems to be alive, and which is constantly reinforcing itself. The metaphorical potential almost made my brain explode just thinking about it.
Maybe I brought too much of that expectation into my reading of Incarceron, but I strongly feel that Catherine Fisher took a great premise and mostly wasted it.
While there were some very interesting ideas brought up here and there, mostly her worldbuilding felt shallow and predictable, and the characters were uninteresting and also predictable. The actual words and phrases she uses to describe setting and action are both rushed and confused, and I found myself having to read several sections over and over before I could understand what was happening. Instead of developing a backstory and inner lives for her characters, and I'm finding this is happening a lot lately with books I read and TV shows I watch, she substitutes action and movement. The majority of this novel is spent moving characters from place to place, both literally in the context of the story, and structure-wise, for the sake of moving the plot forward. She never stops to go inside the story, just keeps moving forward. As for the prison stuff, she almost completely wastes the opportunity she created with the premise. The ideas she toys around with are at the same time too overt (her prison is literally alive), thus ruining any sense of metaphoric connection we might make, and not overt enough. There are several scenes in the book where she brings up something unexpected and really interesting, and then completely ignores it for the rest of the novel. So frustrating.
This isn't a bad book, but it's not a good one, either. It's a quick, entertaining read, but it's not the kind of book you cherish or re-read, and that's a shame, because it could have been awesome.
Maybe I brought too much of that expectation into my reading of Incarceron, but I strongly feel that Catherine Fisher took a great premise and mostly wasted it.
While there were some very interesting ideas brought up here and there, mostly her worldbuilding felt shallow and predictable, and the characters were uninteresting and also predictable. The actual words and phrases she uses to describe setting and action are both rushed and confused, and I found myself having to read several sections over and over before I could understand what was happening. Instead of developing a backstory and inner lives for her characters, and I'm finding this is happening a lot lately with books I read and TV shows I watch, she substitutes action and movement. The majority of this novel is spent moving characters from place to place, both literally in the context of the story, and structure-wise, for the sake of moving the plot forward. She never stops to go inside the story, just keeps moving forward. As for the prison stuff, she almost completely wastes the opportunity she created with the premise. The ideas she toys around with are at the same time too overt (her prison is literally alive), thus ruining any sense of metaphoric connection we might make, and not overt enough. There are several scenes in the book where she brings up something unexpected and really interesting, and then completely ignores it for the rest of the novel. So frustrating.
This isn't a bad book, but it's not a good one, either. It's a quick, entertaining read, but it's not the kind of book you cherish or re-read, and that's a shame, because it could have been awesome.
I was bordering on 4 or 5 stars for this book, but when I reached the end some of the surprises that were revealed tipped it over to 5 stars for me. A thoroughly entertaining, well-written book that has scifi elements dressed up in fantasy garb. Loved it!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
👏👏brianna my goodness girl stop buying YA storylines, you don’t get along with them👏👏
this was a local bookstore find! listen, im sure this is a super awesome crazy great book (not in my opinion:)) but i just haven’t had much luck connecting with young adult novels, not too mention a “high-concept” fantasy (whatever that means) !! it was fun at times, I’ll give it that, but it went right over (under?) my head! sorry bout it
Excellent start to a series. Very detailed and industrial, almost steampunk-feeling.
This book annoyed me the first time I started reading it, hiding information from the reader in the first scene that the main character knew. The second time, I got far enough into it to forgive the book, and I started loving the book. Even the introductory quotes for each chapter/section are well-written and clever. Anything else I have to say would be covered in the summary, but I really enjoyed this as both science fiction and fantasy, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Sapphique.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes