Incarceron is an interesting marriage of science fiction and fantasy because of Fisher's interesting choice of placing a futuristic, tech-heavy sentient prison within a world that is, by choice, stuck in the 1800's (although futuristic technology is peppered in the story). This creative setting is the marquis to Fisher's "Incarceron," and it's what gets people to pick the book up, but it is Fisher's talent as a storyteller that keeps you reading page after page.
What I am about to say may sound a bit rash, but I'm going to say it anyway-- I think Catherine Fisher is one of the most talented storytellers I've read recently. This doesn't mean that she's told the best story I've read recently (that award still goes to Justin Cronin's "The Passage") but Fisher knows exactly how to trick readers in the way we enjoy being tricked. Too often in stories the author poses a mysterious unanswered question early in their book that the reader tries to predict (if not out loud, then just in their head, but believe me--they're doing it). Fisher is no exception to this rule, but what makes her so great is that she has the reader wondering about this one mystery so intently that she has time to drop plenty of other bombs on the reader while they're too busy trying to solve the first mystery (which ends up not mattering all that much, which makes Fisher's talents in this department even more awesome).
The characters in Incarceron are the most boring aspect of the story, with the two main characters, Finn and Claudia, being some of the most boring and vanilla protagonists I've read in some time, but their plainness is redeemed by interesting side characters like Finn's arrogant "sworn brother," Kerio and Claudia's father, the dark, brooding Warden of Incarceron. Finally, the most interesting character of the story doubles as a person and a place: the prison itself. This isn't one of those things where the details of the prison make it act like an extra character, the prison actually acts and speaks which makes for a super cool character with plenty of interesting conflict.
While not as great as some other YA favorites (Hunger Games, Inheritance Cycle, Harry Potter) Fisher's storytelling talents make this one a must-read.
Sounds great. What brilliant librarian recommended that to you?
ReplyDelete