This sequel to Fisher's brilliant fantasy/sci-fi prison epic, Incarceron is not without its merits, but pales in comparison to the first installment and it's clear at about the halfway point in this book, the author ran out of steam and was beginning to tire of her own fictional world, which NEVER benefits the reader.
The story takes off a few months after the last book ended. Finn has escaped Incarceron and is now living as prince of the outside realm, but he has left his friends behind and the guilt of not being able to save them is certainly draining him. Meanwhile, on the inside, Keiro and Atya seek the glove of Sapphique, the only other person besides Finn to ever escape Incarceron, with the hope that it will grant them freedom from the clutches of the evil sentient prison. My problem with this installment's story is that Fisher created this brilliant environment, but chooses not to explore that which makes it so great, the human populated areas of Incarceron. I would've loved to venture more into the makeshift cities and learn about gang hierarchy and prison economy. Unfortunately, Fisher forces her characters to trudge through the empty caverns and wastelands within the prison. It also seems like the combinations of characters are forced and Fisher just switches people from inside the prison to outside the prison and vice-versa until every combination has been fulfilled at some point.
Fisher's ability to trick the reader is still present, but honestly there's no mystery worth solving except for the question of "Who is Sapphique?" and this question may be the most sloppily handled of all Fisher's plot arcs. The most exciting stuff still seems to be the actions and motivations of the prison, because as a conflicted character, it is also someone who the reader can both hate and pity. Incarceron can only hear about the outside because to escape would be to escape itself, which is impossible.
My final problem is one with the series as a whole. You may not understand this unless you read the series but in 900+ pages of dangerous adventure, we only see ONE good character die. I understand that losing a lovable main character can be rough, but it needs to happen sometimes. If this prison is so dangerous, then how the heck can EVERY member of this ragtag group of heroes make it out alive. I mean, one character even manages to find a way to cheat a terminal illness and survive past the end of the story. It's not like I wanted Fisher to kill off everyone, but it just seemed like a few more tallies on the casualty counter wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world.
Not the worst...certainly not the best. If you read Incarceron, you'll definitely feel obligated to pick this one up, but it's not gonna amaze you in quite the same way that the first one did.
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