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A review by leighhecking
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
2.0
There was just too much going on in this book. The first book, Incarceron, created an intriguing world, but it also set the stage - for an escape from prison, for Finn's rise to King, for a romantic relationship between Finn and Claudia. And while these things do happen in Sapphique, they come about in the most unsatisfying way possible. We go from one dizzying plot turn to another, with little explanation of the character's motivations. And while every page seems to bring some new action, the real action that the pages promise never comes to fruition. A duel ends with the Pretender being shot in the hand and Finn fleeing, Jared easily escapes assassination when his would-be-killer is electrocuted, the great Battle between Finn and the Queen ends before a real shot is even fired. The real opportunities for confrontation and understanding fall limp and lifeless under Fisher's hand.
None of the questions that Incarceron posed are ever answered in Sapphique. In the end, the reader has no idea who Sapphique is and if he really existed or escaped, we don't know what illness Jared suffers from, we don't know if Rix is a madman or a true magician, we don't know if Finn is really Giles, we don't know if the cube on the watch was really the prison or not, the fate of both the Kingdom and the Prison are tenuous and there's no hint that either Finn or Claudia care about each other though they briefly talk about a wedding at the end.
It would almost be excusable to fail on some of the major plot points, as Fisher has woven herself such a complicated scenario, if only the relationships shone. But in Sapphique, the interpersonal relationships fizzle - Claudia doesn't even seem to like Finn (a far cry from the girl who went to lengths to release him from prison), Keiro is at one moment untrustworthy and the next Finn's steadfast brother, Jared's strange relationship with Claudia is never explained, the Warden is cold and remote. Attia, the dog-slave who has scraped her way through Incarceron, is the only remotely likable character, but we never get to understand much about her.
None of the characters' actions were ever explained, scenes that were built up deflated in the end and the whole book sank like a overcooked turd soufflé. Do not want.
None of the questions that Incarceron posed are ever answered in Sapphique. In the end, the reader has no idea who Sapphique is and if he really existed or escaped, we don't know what illness Jared suffers from, we don't know if Rix is a madman or a true magician, we don't know if Finn is really Giles, we don't know if the cube on the watch was really the prison or not, the fate of both the Kingdom and the Prison are tenuous and there's no hint that either Finn or Claudia care about each other though they briefly talk about a wedding at the end.
It would almost be excusable to fail on some of the major plot points, as Fisher has woven herself such a complicated scenario, if only the relationships shone. But in Sapphique, the interpersonal relationships fizzle - Claudia doesn't even seem to like Finn (a far cry from the girl who went to lengths to release him from prison), Keiro is at one moment untrustworthy and the next Finn's steadfast brother, Jared's strange relationship with Claudia is never explained, the Warden is cold and remote. Attia, the dog-slave who has scraped her way through Incarceron, is the only remotely likable character, but we never get to understand much about her.
None of the characters' actions were ever explained, scenes that were built up deflated in the end and the whole book sank like a overcooked turd soufflé. Do not want.