Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron is a paradise where there are no problems and people live in a perfect society, but that is what people outside of Incarceron believe. No one knows the location of Incarceron except for the Warden of Incarceron, not even his own daughter Claudia knows. What people don’t know is that in reality Incarceron is a gigantic metal prison unlike any other. The prison contains metal forests, rundown cities, and has been sealed for centuries, but the most terrifying fact is that the prison itself is alive. There is a legend of a man named Sapphique who is the only person to have found a way to escape the prison. Seventeen year old boy named Finn has lived in Incarceron for as long as he can remember. The only problem is that Finn has no memory of his childhood. Finn is considered to be a star seer due to the vision that he has about the outside world and Sapphique. Finn believes that he is not from the prison and plans to escape it with the help of his oath brother Kiero and a Sapienti named Gildas. Finn eventually finds a crystal with an image of an eagle identical to the image on Finn’s wrist. The crystal allows contact to whomever holds the other crystal, and that happens to be Claudia. Claudia tells Finn she is from the outside world and wants to learn more about Incarceron. Claudia is in an arranged marriage to a man named Casper, which she despises, who is also the Queen’s son. The Queen isn’t as friendly as she leads on to be. Claudia wants to leave the outside world and go to Incarceron, the perfect society, to escape the marriage. Finn tells Claudia of the truth of the torturous prison. In return Claudia offers to help Finn escape with the help of her Sapienti tutor and friend Jared.



Incarceron encompasses many different themes throughout its pages. One symbol that I find fitting for the many themes is a key. One reason I choose a key is because a key can be a mystery for what it opens and also the mystery of what is behind the closed object. In the story Finn is trying to escape Incarceron by leaving the gang he had grown up in, and leave everything behind for the slight chance that the crystal he finds might be the key to unlocking Incarceron. Finn travels away with no knowledge of the world outside of his gang and town. Everything new his friend and him encounter is completely a mystery to them and they don’t have the slightest chance of knowing what will come in the future or what the current problem they face has in store for them. The most important mystery of Finn is that he has no recollection of his childhood or of what the tattoo of an eagle on his wrist means. When Finn discovers a crystal, with the same eagle tattoo on it, they believe it to be a key to escape the terror which is Incarceron, but no one knows for certain what it really does.



The type of audience that Incarceron would appeal to is young adults. The main characters Finn and Claudia are both seventeen years and are trying to help each other escape the problems in each other lives. I believe that young adults can connect with Finn and Claudia very easily and as they continue to read they will relate to them more and more.

After reading Incarceron I would give it five out of five stars. One reason I am giving this book five stars is because at the very beginning of the book Catherine Fisher puts you right into an ambush scene in which it catches the reader’s attention to start off with. Also at the very end of the first chapter Finn kidnaps a woman who may know something about the strange tattoo of an eagle on his wrist, which end the chapter with a cliffhanger egging the reader to continue reading to find out every new little detail or plot twist. Another reason I gave Incarceron five starts is that the novel takes place in basically two completely opposite worlds, but at the same time relating them together so gracefully. With Finn living the rough life of a wanderer with nothing to his name, and then there is Claudia who grew up in a mansion learning to eventually become the new queen living the posh life. I’m amazed with Catherine Fisher's ability to incorporate such a diverse story. I found the overall book great and I cannot wait to read the sequel Sapphique.