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.
Catherine's Fisher Incarceron was very satisfying, and I think Sapphique followed the league better than most sequels do. The world of Incarcon is an amazing one; Fisher really knows how to create a world and how to trap the reader in it. Her writing is fluid and rich, and it all got better in Sapphique. I just think that a lot of the book's potential was ruined buy the odd ending.
Sapphique was Incarceron but more pumped. There was more action, more drama, more suspense and Fisher started to admiringly toy with cliffhangers. Already the first chapters have you standing on edge, and its hard to put the book down for the first parts of the book. Sapphique was also alternating between many point of views, giving us a good tour of each and every character and how they were struggling with the inner and outer problems.
I must say I loved the universe Fisher created. It was truly original and fresh, not something I see often in YA litterature. She crafted two wonderful books and I'm glad she didn't extend them into a trilogy, because when authors do that they often slip away from their original goal, and the story becomes a mess.
In Sapphique, I started caring for Jared and Keiro more, and also Incarceron itself. They are my two (three if you count the Prison as a being) favorite characters, simply because I like Jared's soft caring and Keiro's sharp attitude. Claudia, Finn and Attia, development-wise, stayed pretty much the same. I did not get to poke my head into the depths of their persona, and sadly didn't care that much for them. I did not learn much more about the Warden, either, and the unraveling of his true feelings for Claudia was nonexistent. We all knew that their father-daughter relationship was bittersweet, but it was nothing new. Some people were added to the cast, but they did not rise above their roll of supporting characters that are eventually forgotten.
The only drawback in the book is the ending; it felt rushed and was extremely odd. Many elements were left unexplained. The reader is not told the true nature of Incarceron, and why it has a voice, a mind and dreams. The whole concept of 'magicke' that Rix uses and that is the essence of the Glove is left for us to wander about. The dove and the eagle appear many times throughout the book, at various places, but no clear light is made on them either. It's easy to assume and guess the eagle represents the royal family, and the dove, Sapphique, but what was their connection? Another example is when Claudia enters Incarceron while having it in her pocket, it being the little cube on her father's pocket watch. How is this possible? There were many plotholes of this kind.
I an still unsure, and out-mostly confused on Sapphique's case. I liked the fact he was a legend, the hero of a myth whose real existence cannot be proven, and I would have been content on having him stay that. Yet, Fisher incorporated him back into the story in the most bizarre way imaginable, and without concrete explanations. The ending leaves the reader confused and asking for questions, and truthfully, it was just all so odd.
I cannot say the ending satisfied me, even if the rest of the book was amazing. It seems Fisher rushed the last hundred pages into a senseless mess, and its a bit of a shame, I dare say, for so many pages of good stuff to be ruined. The series still stands as a wonderful duo of books that will enchant many Young Adults. It has a brilliantly crafted plot, characters that are perhaps not memorable but fun to follow, but a rushed ending. Go read it still, and I rest my case.
Sapphique was Incarceron but more pumped. There was more action, more drama, more suspense and Fisher started to admiringly toy with cliffhangers. Already the first chapters have you standing on edge, and its hard to put the book down for the first parts of the book. Sapphique was also alternating between many point of views, giving us a good tour of each and every character and how they were struggling with the inner and outer problems.
I must say I loved the universe Fisher created. It was truly original and fresh, not something I see often in YA litterature. She crafted two wonderful books and I'm glad she didn't extend them into a trilogy, because when authors do that they often slip away from their original goal, and the story becomes a mess.
In Sapphique, I started caring for Jared and Keiro more, and also Incarceron itself. They are my two (three if you count the Prison as a being) favorite characters, simply because I like Jared's soft caring and Keiro's sharp attitude. Claudia, Finn and Attia, development-wise, stayed pretty much the same. I did not get to poke my head into the depths of their persona, and sadly didn't care that much for them. I did not learn much more about the Warden, either, and the unraveling of his true feelings for Claudia was nonexistent. We all knew that their father-daughter relationship was bittersweet, but it was nothing new. Some people were added to the cast, but they did not rise above their roll of supporting characters that are eventually forgotten.
The only drawback in the book is the ending; it felt rushed and was extremely odd. Many elements were left unexplained. The reader is not told the true nature of Incarceron, and why it has a voice, a mind and dreams. The whole concept of 'magicke' that Rix uses and that is the essence of the Glove is left for us to wander about. The dove and the eagle appear many times throughout the book, at various places, but no clear light is made on them either. It's easy to assume and guess the eagle represents the royal family, and the dove, Sapphique, but what was their connection? Another example is when Claudia enters Incarceron while having it in her pocket, it being the little cube on her father's pocket watch. How is this possible? There were many plotholes of this kind.
I an still unsure, and out-mostly confused on Sapphique's case. I liked the fact he was a legend, the hero of a myth whose real existence cannot be proven, and I would have been content on having him stay that. Yet, Fisher incorporated him back into the story in the most bizarre way imaginable, and without concrete explanations. The ending leaves the reader confused and asking for questions, and truthfully, it was just all so odd.
I cannot say the ending satisfied me, even if the rest of the book was amazing. It seems Fisher rushed the last hundred pages into a senseless mess, and its a bit of a shame, I dare say, for so many pages of good stuff to be ruined. The series still stands as a wonderful duo of books that will enchant many Young Adults. It has a brilliantly crafted plot, characters that are perhaps not memorable but fun to follow, but a rushed ending. Go read it still, and I rest my case.
-Beryl
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Rating: 9/10
Rating: 9/10
