Tags: YA, fantasy, dystopian(ish)
Summary
Aside from the legendary Sapphique, Finn is the only prisoner ever to escape from the living prison Incarceron. He returns in the middle of court uproar: his friend Claudia, the daughter of the former Warden of Incarceron, is convinced that Finn is the lost prince, heir to the throne. Finn’s own doubts about his history aside, their lives become even more at stake when another young man shows up, claiming to be the lost prince.
Back in Incarceron, Finn’s friends Keiro and Attia search for Sapphique’s glove, which may be the only remaining way out of Incarceron. Trouble is, they’re not the only ones who seek the glove: the prison itself wants it, and doesn’t seem to care how many lives get destroyed in the process.
Review
If Incarceron was a great book that “shakes the foundations of your literary beliefs” (quoting from my review of Incarceron), then SAPPHIQUE is a fantasy achievement of canonical proportions. It takes everything we appreciated and were in awe of in the first book and takes it to the next level, making sure that this is a two-book series we will remember for decades to come.
Whereas Incarceron took me a couple of chapters to get into, SAPPHIQUE captured my attention immediately, opening with one of Attia’s attempts to get the Glove. We are already fairly well aware of how Incarceron as well as the Protocol-mandated “real world” operates, and thus the stakes can be all the higher in this sequel. Catherine Fisher loves to write chapters with nail-biting endings that just force you to keep on reading. It’s fast-paced and utterly brilliant.
Incarceron and SAPPHIQUE are part of that rare type of novel where the fast-paced expansiveness of the story excuses weaknesses in characterization. Some readers will still not like Finn, Claudia, Keiro, or Attia in this second book—but they are not really meant to be liked. They are people stuck in life-or-death situations, and they can’t afford to be nice, for to be nice is to lose.
So SAPPHIQUE’s appeal lies not in its characters, but rather in the way Catherine Fisher can tell a story that keeps you glued to the pages. The ending may frustrate some readers, but personally I thought it was the perfect ending to the story, and something that had been building up for a while. SAPPHIQUE is a must-read if you were a fan of Incarceron, and I can only hope that Catherine Fisher will write more extraordinary books in the very near future!
Similar Authors
Shannon Hale
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Cover discussion: 4 out of 5 - A perfect complement to Incarceron's cover.
Penguin Books / Dec. 28, 2010 / Hardcover / 462pp. / $17.99
ARC picked up at BEA 2010.
I had the same problem with Sapphique as I did with Incarceron - it took me half the book to finally enjoy it fully. I raced through the end of Incarceron and was hoping the momentum would hold as I started Sapphique, but sadly I just rinsed and repeated the first rise and fall.
ReplyDeleteSadly I didn't find the characters appealing in the second book as much as I did in the first. The plot itself was very engaging, but I thought that Finn and Claudia were incredibly bratty and annoying this time around.
Wow Steph, great review. This series sounds awesome. I have the first one on my Kindle but haven't got to it yet. I want to start it right now after reading your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI love Incarceron so I definitely want to read this book--I agree that the characters were not the nicest people, but were, if nothing else, quite realistic based on the setting and circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI was SO EXCITED for this book, but I didn't love it on the whole as much as I loved Incarceron. The beginning, especially, dragged for me, except for Kiero's part in it. Didn't he have the best dramatic entrance ever?
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read this one. I love Incarceron. I'm so glad you liked it. I found Claudia and Finn to be likeable people in the first book, or at least I could sympathize with them. Keiro and Attia are harder. Is Jared still around?
ReplyDeleteI still want to read this although Incarceron was hard to get into. But if you say it's easier to get into then I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think the coordinating covers are awesome as well.
I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who had a hard time getting into Incarceron! But I did and really enjoyed it. I'm happy to see you liked Saphique so much though! I'll be reading it.
ReplyDeleteJared was the only character I loved in this book. I still think the Queen, as evil as she is, is kind of a fascinating character, and I'm glad she and the Warden got some development.
ReplyDelete