Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron is a prison like no other. It's alive and it's malevolent. Legend holds that in all it's hundreds of years only one person has ever escaped - Sapphique. But Finn hopes to be next. Known among his friends as the starseer he has no memory of his early life, except in strange and unsettling dreams that come to him like fits.


Claudia, is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron. Her life holds every luxury, but she is as trapped as Finn, and as desperate for escape. For in the outside world the Protocol demands everyone behaves as if it were a bygone era, although contraband technology is rife.


When Claudia and Finn both find crystal keys, that allow them to communicate with each other, escape for both suddenly seems much for than a wistful dream.


I absolutely loved the premise of Incaceron. It's speculative fiction meets the Tudors, and it's very well done. Catherine Fisher has created a fascinating and totally believable world and she does a great job of bringing it to life. I adored all the details and lavish descriptions of both of the bleak inside of Incarceron, with its blinking red eyes and endless cells, and the beautiful outside world with its plots and intrigues.

The twin narrative also worked very well. Both Fin and Claudia are engaging characters who it is easy to care for and they are supported by a fantastic cast of characters. My favourites being Keiro, Finn's bad boy oath brother, Jarad, Claudia's tutor, and Claudia's father, whose forbidding exterior may mask a softer inside.

I can not wait for Book Two - Sapphique to see what happens next.