Blog Tour Interview: Catherine Fisher!

I have a special guest on my blog today: the incredi-author Catherine Fisher, of Incarceron and Sapphique bestsellerdom, is here to celebrate the re-release of The Margrave, the fourth and final book in her Relic Master series, by answering a few questions! Welcome, Catherine, to Steph Su Reads!

1. Was there anything in the Relic Master series that changed between their original release and their re-release? Is there anything you wish you could change?

There was nothing fundamental that changed between first publication and the re-issue in the US. I had the opportunity to re-read and edit the books lightly, but I feel they represent a phase in my writing that was important to me, so I didn't change very much. If you start playing around with your work you might lose the spontaneity it had at the time of writing. Of course my style has changed a little - it seems sparser to me now - but I really enjoyed revisiting Anara, and reliving Raffi and Galen's adventures with a new readership in mind.

2. Which of your books was the most challenging for you to write?

Each book is challenging in its own way. Some have difficult or complex plots that have to be worked out- such as Oracle, or Incarceron; in others the characters are hard to pin down, or are not what I expect them to be, such as perhaps, Corbenic, or my current project, which is still under wraps! In some books, like Crown of Acorns, the challenge is writing in the first person voice of an 18th-century young man, and also jumping between three stories and trying to give equal weight to all of them. Some books have pacing problems - the action drags, or goes too fast. So none of them are easy. I did find the Relic Master books a challenge, as they are very complex in both ideas and plot. But perhaps Incarceron was the most difficult book I've ever written.

3. While fantasy is not as explosively trendy as paranormal romance or dystopian, it has enjoyed steady readership over the years. Why do you enjoy writing fantasy? Why do you think fantasy has had consistent readership over time?

I don't really categorize what I write as fantasy, or dystopian or anything really. Actually I invented a term /mythic fiction/ a while ago to use when people asked what sort of books I write. It baffles people, at least! I just like to write stories with a strong element of the metaphysical, the strange, the unearthly, and that manifests in various ways - ghosts, sci-fi, elemental beings, gods. I think such stories have a consistent readership because they, like myths, appeal to some very deep need in us; they try to explain the workings of the world, and they give readers the ability in some way to control fate and nature. Which is what we all want.

4. In your Q&A section on your website, you mention that you don't write much in first person because you find it limiting. Can you explain this more? What things about writing in third person do you like?

I do find first person a bit limiting, but only in the sense that one character must see or take part in everything - if that character is not there, the scene can only be reported. It's a challenge and I am using it more often now, mostly in the form of diaries and journals. It also, of course, has huge advantages; the character can really express their depths, you can get into their feelings. But I think a third person narrator can do that too. All things are good. (Except stories told in the present tense, which I don't like.)

5. How much do you feel like your college studies and degree contributed to your current career as an author? What advice would you give college-bound students who are interested in becoming writers?

Things are different now. When I was in college there were no creative writing degrees or any way of getting professionals to look at your work without sending it to publishers. So people have a lot more opportunities for that now. But I still think you can't beat studying the greats of English Literature. If you don't know what is possible, how can you find your own limits? So I suppose my advice would be, study Shakespeare, study great literature of all languages, but don't despair and think I can never do anything like this. You can do something, and you will enhance your own work. Also the truth is it takes time to develop as a writer. As a student you are unlikely to be anywhere near your best work yet.

I hope everyone enjoys the final episode of Relic Master, THE MARGRAVE.
My favourite. And possibly, the best.

Best wishes!

-

Thank you, Catherine! Be sure to check out the Relic Master series, starting with THE DARK CITY, and visit the Relic Master series website. And here is the fourth piece of the map of Anara! Each book in the series contains a portion of the map:

About the Relic Master series:

Welcome to Anara, a world mysteriously crumbling to devastation, where nothing is what it seems: Ancient relics emit technologically advanced powers, members of the old Order are hunted by the governing Watch yet revered by the people, and the great energy that connects all seems to also be destroying all. The only hope for the world lies in Galen, a man of the old Order and a Keeper of relics, and his sixteen-year-old apprentice, Raffi. They know of a secret relic with great power that has been hidden for centuries. As they search for it, they will be tested beyond their limits. For there are monsters-some human, some not-that also want the relic's power and will stop at nothing to get it.

RELIC MASTER is a four book series. Each book will be released over four consecutive months this summer:
Book One: The Dark City, May 17
Book Two: The Lost Heiress, June 14
Book Three: The Hidden Coronet, July 12
Book Four: The Margrave, August 9

Each book will include a piece of the map of Anara, the world of RELIC MASTER, on the reverse of the jacket. Collect all four books and you will have the complete map.

Visit Catherine's author website. And thank you, Big Honcho Media, for organizing this Q&A!

Review: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron, Book 2 (Incarceron review)

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.

Summer Giveaway #3: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (US only)

So apparently what I do when I have a blog block (right when my writer's block for my WIP has finally lifted, hmm, strange) is to continue giving away stuff. Well, I DID say it is summer giveaway season on my blog, did I not? Anyway, today I have a lovely ARC of Sapphique, the sequel to Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher, up for grabs. I highly enjoyed Incarceron earlier this year, though I know that not everyone liked it. I got a copy of Sapphique at BEA and was already planning on giving it away, but then another copy came in the super-awesome Penguin surprise two-pack in the mail yesterday, so yay! Don't read the summary if you don't want spoilers.

Summary:

Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don't even know who you are?

Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world?

Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.

I'm super excited to read this, and maybe you will be too. To enter, fill out the form here, making sure to answer the question relevantly. Each person can only enter once. Open to US only (unless you're willing to pay for shipping; more international giveaways will be coming soon) and ends Friday, July 9, 2010. Good luck!

Review: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Tags: YA, dystopian, fantasy, political conspiracy, adventure, suspense


Summary

18-year-old Finn was “born” three years ago in the massive prison Incarceron. He can’t remember life before the prison, but he is sure that, unlike nearly everyone else in Incarceron, he came from somewhere else, somewhere Outside. Aided only by strange visions, a mysterious crystal key, and the legend of Sapphique, the only man who ever escaped Incarceron, Finn is determined to escape as well.

Outside Incarceron, in a world trapped in time by the royal dynasty’s will, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is about to undergo an arranged marriage that she has no desire to be a part of. She steals her father’s key to Incarceron, but what began as an act of petulance soon gives way to something more sinister and significant when she discovers that she can talk to a boy named Finn through the key, and a boy who is trapped in Incarceron and asks for her help to escape.

Neither one of them, however, can begin to imagine the scope of what they’re dealing with. There are plenty of people who want to keep the teens in the dark about Incarceron and court politics. And the prison itself is alive, and it is not so willing to aid them…

Review

There are two kinds of great novels. There’s the kind that you can’t put down, an addiction running through your bloodstream, the kind that, time permitting, you inhale in one single reading. That kind would be those rare books like The Hunger Games.

Then there’s the other kind of great book. This kind shakes the foundations of your literary beliefs. It haunts your dreams, your thoughts during the daytime, and may even give you nightmares. But you can’t read this in one sitting, so intense it is, so much figurative weight it holds.

INCARCERON is this type of novel.

It’s not a book that makes you immediately fall in love with it. In fact, in many aspects it’s actually quite the opposite. Neither Claudia nor Finn are extremely likable: Claudia was raised by the Warden to be shrewd and calculating, while Finn often feels like a passive goody-two-shoes undeservingly stuck in a horrible situation. Catherine Fisher also drops readers unapologetically into her world, with the result being that you’re left scrambling for something to hold onto as you struggle to adjust yourself to this confusing world full of court intrigue, secrets, and threats.

But as the story moved along, I found myself slowly being drawn in, gradually getting caught up in the parallel desperations of Finn and Claudia’s stories. While the plot arc of the novel seems to move slowly, each chapter is packed full of interesting conversations or scenarios, so that, while you are able to put down the book, you will hardly lose interest. Fisher has an effortless way with words, mesmerizing and creepy at the same time.

The revelation at the end is of the jaw-dropping degree, and is what convinced me of Catherine Fisher’s literary mastery. It’s not often that an author can manage to string readers along, and then throw them for a completely unexpected—and yet, if you think about it, actually quite brilliantly sensible—loop. Fisher’s storytelling experience shows in the way she weaves together this complex novel.

INCARCERON will probably best appeal to fans of high sci-fi or fantasy, as it is a difficult story to digest. But if this is the type of book you crave, then you will be justly rewarded for your time. Perhaps you, too, will be like me, and try to recommend this book to everyone you know, believing that it is a book worthy of handselling and wider recognition.

Similar Authors
Garth Nix
Suzanne Collins
Kristin Cashore
C. S. Lewis

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3.5 out of 5 - For me, it looks a lot better in real life. And the key doesn't look the way it did in my head. But it's a great unisex cover that should attract readers of both genders.

Dial / Jan. 26, 2010 / Hardcover / 448pp. / $17.99

ARC given to me upon request by a Penguin employee at the NCTE conference. Thank you! It made my weekend.

And if you're like me and keep on getting giddy over additional Incarceron information, check out this Publishers Weekly article about Dial's hopes for this wonderful UK import.

Waiting on Wednesday (31)

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons.

A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists.

But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ... [summary from Goodreads]

Incarceron has been out for a few years already in the UK, and will be published in the US next spring. I've been following it ever since I read R. J. Anderson's review of it on Goodreads, where she begins with, "I love this book with a mad passion" and from there descends into reverent sort of incoherent babbling. Sometimes it's the most innocuous synopses that can be the most amazing, and this seems like one of those, something that will contain fantastic world-building, subtly well-done characterization, and a quiet, looming plot out of which grows true writerly admiration.

Incarceron will be published by Dial Books on February 23, 2010.