Imprisoned by Supreme Fantasy

Young adult fantasy novels have always been "light fantasy": the characters were easy to understand, the scenario or world was not terribly complex, and the plot was easy to follow. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher defies that generalization with gusto.

The story begins with two characters separated by what seems to be two entirely different worlds. Claudia is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron. Incarceron is a prison that started as a hopeful experiment and centuries later is a heavily guarded secret of the true failure the living, breathing, vindictive prison has become. Centuries prior to the story, the prison was created and a group of intellectual and spiritual leaders entered with the prisoners, knowing the prison would then be sealed with no one to ever go in or out. The world then decided technology was the detriment of their society and forbid all technological advances and thrust themselves into the medieval ages.

Finn is in Incarceron and knows somehow that he was born outside the prison. He just knows he doesn't belong there. One of the spiritual leaders, a former slave, and Finn's blood brother join him in his quest to find a way out of the prison. But the prison knows everything. It hears them, taunts them, and tries to stop them. When Finn gets a key that creates some kind of portal to the outside, and Claudia steals the identical key from her father's office, they find out Finn might actually be right: he might have been the prince Claudia was once betrothed to, who was supposed to have been killed in a riding accident.

If this story sounds complex, you are spot-on. This is no whimsical fantasy novel for the light-hearted. This is for kids who made it through Lord of the Rings or Abarat. This is a very complicated story, and I had a lot of trouble following it at first. It is confusing how a key can throw a hologram, yet the Warden's daughter is riding horses to her arranged marriage. The whole abandonment of technology is confusing at first, but it makes sense when one sees a fearful society that is willing to do anything to survive. In fact, this story almost seems like two entirely different stories that don't even belong together: a self-imposed dystopia and a whirlwind fantasy. But eventually, they come together and make sense.

I would not recommend this for most students, especially those who don't particularly enjoy reading, because it is very difficult to follow at first. This is a great book, however, for a kid or an adult who really enjoys hardcore fantasy. It is truly a creative masterpiece of Fisher's imagination. I cannot even imagine being able to come up with a story like this!