Sophie Charles Charles itibaren 8253 Plazovets, Bulgaristan
Fucking amazing book. So funny.
I am surprised so few people like this very clever story. With it's mixture of politics, intrigue and adventure, it kind of reminds me of a steampunky young adult version of A Song Of Ice And Fire. The worldbuilding is superb, you always feel like the world is way more complex than you can see, due in part to the snippets of letters, legends songs and poems at the beginning of each chapter. The story is constructed very cleverly, i love the idea of the conscious prison (which i hope will be explored more in the second book) and i also like the way Catherine Fisher explores various kinds of imprisonment. Then again, maybe I do actually understand why many people are so indifferent about Incarceron, because for me it's one huge flaw are the characters. I didn't care deeply about a single one of them. Some don't even have a real personality - they arent't cardbox characters either - more like non-characters, if you get what I mean. Like you can't really see them, and whenever you try to they have just whisked away. But I loved this story anyway, and I think anyone who really appreciates good world-building, head and shoulders above most young adult fantasy novels, should give it a try.
I didn't care much for the Al Gore nonsense about how the world went down the tubes and thus created the setting for the story. However, if I ignore that part, the story is actually very good. I really enjoyed the way the author setup the virtual world, and felt like I was in there with the characters. Transitions from the virtual and real world were vey smooth and believable. I thought the ending comment about everyone living their life in a virtual world, and all that would entail was very smart, as I could really see us evolving to that point sometime in the far future. All in all, a good read for someone who enjoys video games and eighties culture.