Scan barcode
A review by angelatastic16
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Incarceron is a story by Catherine Fisher about a prisoner named Finn who is trying to escape from Incarceron, a prison that is alive, with the help of Claudia, the well-to-do daughter of the warden of Incarceron. There are two different worlds in this book, Incarceron and a futuristic world. In the futuristic world, people live as they did in the colonial ages, making the whole book an anachronism. A common theme in this book is that people are always trying to escape themselves by blaming the world around them for their faults. This theme is apparent in many places in the book. For example, Finn blames all his faults on the prison and he is constantly telling himself the only reason why he murders, steals, etc. is because he must in order to survive in the prison. Jared, Claudia’s tutor, blames his position in society for his fault of never speaking his mind or never speaking up against the injustice that goes on around him. Another common theme in the book is justice is not always just. Incarceron was invented in order to punish the guilty and render justice. Over time, the prison became obsessed with serving justice to the point where it would punish the prisoners for crimes they had not yet committed by forcing them to live in poverty, fear, and danger. This was an interesting philosophical thought I had never pondered before, however after reading this book, more thought must go into the statement: justice is not always just.
This novel starts off slow and picks up speed as it goes along. At first, the reader will be very disappointed and wonder why they are reading this. They will also be very confused at the beginning and might want to keep reading to find out what happens; more likely, they won’t get past the first few pages due to being stymied. Personally, I think starting off a story at a slow pace and confusing the reader, is a weak way to begin a story. However, once you get to about page 100, the story really takes off, and instantly becomes a page turner. The plot twists in this story are extremely predictable. The reader can guess that Finn is going to end up being the lost prince, Giles. The idea of Finn, or Giles, having an evil stepmother who paid through blackmail to have him imprisoned so her son could rule is very cliché. Although this novel has many philosophical points and life statements, it has a weak plotline. Another weakness is the fact that the reader does not get attached to the characters at all. The characters seem hollow and not like the real people. Each character seems to by symbolic of an idea or concept and therefore does not seem like a complex human being. I was also disappointed by the lack of violence, surprises, and romance.
One of Ms. Fisher’s greatest attributes as a writer is world building skills. In this novel, she has created not one, but two worlds that seem vivid, real, and plausible. Before reading this book, I thought the idea of an alive prison was ludicrous. Albeit, once I read this book, not only did Incarceron seem real and scare me but it seemed as if an alive prison, such as Incarceron, could truly be invented in the future. Another positive point in the story was that before each chapter was a quote from fictional pieces of work that the characters would have read such as the diary of the man who invented the prison or the bible-like book of the only prison to ever escape Incarceron. The main conflict of man vs. machine seemed fresh and unique, since it is a type of conflict not used to the degree it is used in this book in many other pieces of literature.
Despite the fact that the book was obviously well thought out and many arduous hours of planning probably went into the making of the worlds the readers will experience if they chose to pick up this book, the plot line is weak and the reader’s craving for an exciting, emotionally fulfilling book is still hungry even after they read the last line of the book. Readers who pursue reading for entertainment, a large portion of readers, will be disappointed in Incarceron. At the same time, readers who wish to read a thought provoking novel that will make them question their beliefs will enjoy Incarceron. Personally, I would not recommend Incarceron to anyone who wants to pick up a book to read in their free time because it is dry. I do believe, however, that this novel would make a good read for an English class or any other organization that wants to have discussions and debates over a deep, meaningful work of literature.
[b:Incarceron|332775|Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)|Catherine Fisher|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327414514s/332775.jpg|323310]
This novel starts off slow and picks up speed as it goes along. At first, the reader will be very disappointed and wonder why they are reading this. They will also be very confused at the beginning and might want to keep reading to find out what happens; more likely, they won’t get past the first few pages due to being stymied. Personally, I think starting off a story at a slow pace and confusing the reader, is a weak way to begin a story. However, once you get to about page 100, the story really takes off, and instantly becomes a page turner. The plot twists in this story are extremely predictable. The reader can guess that Finn is going to end up being the lost prince, Giles. The idea of Finn, or Giles, having an evil stepmother who paid through blackmail to have him imprisoned so her son could rule is very cliché. Although this novel has many philosophical points and life statements, it has a weak plotline. Another weakness is the fact that the reader does not get attached to the characters at all. The characters seem hollow and not like the real people. Each character seems to by symbolic of an idea or concept and therefore does not seem like a complex human being. I was also disappointed by the lack of violence, surprises, and romance.
One of Ms. Fisher’s greatest attributes as a writer is world building skills. In this novel, she has created not one, but two worlds that seem vivid, real, and plausible. Before reading this book, I thought the idea of an alive prison was ludicrous. Albeit, once I read this book, not only did Incarceron seem real and scare me but it seemed as if an alive prison, such as Incarceron, could truly be invented in the future. Another positive point in the story was that before each chapter was a quote from fictional pieces of work that the characters would have read such as the diary of the man who invented the prison or the bible-like book of the only prison to ever escape Incarceron. The main conflict of man vs. machine seemed fresh and unique, since it is a type of conflict not used to the degree it is used in this book in many other pieces of literature.
Despite the fact that the book was obviously well thought out and many arduous hours of planning probably went into the making of the worlds the readers will experience if they chose to pick up this book, the plot line is weak and the reader’s craving for an exciting, emotionally fulfilling book is still hungry even after they read the last line of the book. Readers who pursue reading for entertainment, a large portion of readers, will be disappointed in Incarceron. At the same time, readers who wish to read a thought provoking novel that will make them question their beliefs will enjoy Incarceron. Personally, I would not recommend Incarceron to anyone who wants to pick up a book to read in their free time because it is dry. I do believe, however, that this novel would make a good read for an English class or any other organization that wants to have discussions and debates over a deep, meaningful work of literature.
[b:Incarceron|332775|Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)|Catherine Fisher|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327414514s/332775.jpg|323310]