Book Review: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

Sapphique is the sequel to Incarceron and helps further the readers knowledge of the environment and the people where the story takes place. Everything comes to a head in this novel such as defeating the prison in a way and overthrowing the throne and a practice they call Protocol which bans all things technologically advanced, though the rich often broke it frequently already. Though, I found the ending lacking because it left the reader wanting more and I believe the ending book of a series should at least remotely satisfy the reader and not make them thirst for more. But, I actually find this has happened to me with a few series where it is in a society so different than my own because I want to know how it both bettered and worsened itself after the last book.

In Incarceron, Finn and his companions were on a quest to escape the prison that seemed to be on a personal vendetta to stop and/or destroy them before they could reach the Outside. Along with following the main heroine Claudia, who is from the Outside, and her objective to get out of her engagement with the Prince Casper of Realm which she hoped to do by getting Finn out of Incarceron and present him as the late Prince Giles of the Havaarna dynasty. Finn makes it out of the prison at the end of Incarceron only to enter into a new danger that he is not prepared for. In Sapphique, Finn is trying to blend into the role of Giles under the watchful eye of Queen Sia and the secret society of the Steel Wolf while his friends, Keiro and Attia, still trapped in Incarceron try to steal the Glove of Sapphique so they can
also gain Escape. But, their tasks are made harder, for Finn when a look-alike appears and claims to be Giles and possesses more knowledge about the prince's life before his "death" and for Attia and Keiro when Incarceron demands the glove so it can escape from itself. They must outsmart both or be met with death.

Once again, the pacing of this book just seemed odd to me because of the constant flip of setting and characters that just happened in random spots with only little notice such as a decoration between paragraphs. At times, you would only have three paragraphs that take place on the Outside, or Realm, with Claudia, Finn or Claudia's mentor Jared before switching back to being set inside the prison with Attia, who had a small role in the last book, which is irritating even after you begin to get used to it.

Incarceron seemed to be sinking further into its madness thinking it would be able to escape from itself in someway such as building yet another body and implanting its conscious into it. It has forgotten its original programing which was to love and care for it prisoners supposedly instead poisoned by their ill actions and emotions. But, now the prison is beyond caring for its prisoners and uses them as pawns to enhance its personal gain. It is selfish and will threaten and cheat its way into getting what it desires.

The look-alike or otherwise known as the Pretender did not really feel like much of a threat even though Finn and Claudia would be executed if he was deemed the real Prince Giles, but the impending danger in both this and Incarceron never seemed real to me, so, I did not put much thought into it since they were inevitably going to get out of it without so much as a scratch on them. Not even for a second did I think that one of the characters could die and even when they did it was barely mentioned and it was the death of characters that you do not really have the chance to care for because they are barely there or presented as villains. That really annoys me because I feel that there needs to be an actual sense of danger with this seeing as half the characters are battling against a prison that is alive and can kill them at any given moment.

Now, the ending was interesting but left me personally with too many unanswered questions. I liked how one of the characters basically reclaimed his life by entering into the prison, though, it is also said that the prison might one day take over him also because of his weak will. Also, the secret of the queen is finally revealed, but it was easy to guess at it and get it somewhat correct which is why I was not as shocked as I should of been when it happened. But, still it was an alright ending so I cannot complain so much.

This book was better than the first because I had grown used to the world that it was set in so it was far less bizarre and easier to read. I probably would not recommend it to everyone since it still takes awhile to get into and not everyone is patient enough for it to get interesting, so, I would probably recommend it to those who will read just about anything, anyone with remote interest in Sci-Fi and the easily entertained. Though, not the best thing I ever read in the end it still entertained me and I felt as if I got my money's worth.