Book Review: Incarceron

Book Review: Incarceron

Author: Catherine Fisher
Genre: Fantasy

Imagine a prison so vast in contains seas, forests annd cities. Welcome to Incarceron - prison of the future. Believed by the Outside to be a paradise and the ultimate in rehabilitation theory. In the beginning all criminals and dissenters were sent there along with 70 Sapienti - a caste of mystics, scientists and healers, in order to create a paradise from a hell. The result: a failed experiment. Furthermore, Incarceron has been sealed for centuries and dreams of escape are only crumbs of comfort. Only one prisoner has ever escaped, and he has NEVER returned. In the middle lies Finn, a young prisoner who has no memory, but sure beyond everything that he came from outside. He is a Star Seer and he receives visions that he believes will help them esacpe.

Outside is also a prison of sorts. Technology has been rejected in favour of an authoritarian and feudal regime which insists on everything in Era - a peculiar regression to the age of lords and ladies, courtly manners and transport by carriage. The court is a place of intrigue and plot and politics and the only one who knows the truth about Incarceron's failed experiment is its Warden. Claudia, the Warden's daughter, is caught up in an arranged marriage and an assassination plot.

When Finn and Claudia both find an identical crystal key, they are able to communicate with one another. Their worlds clash together as Finn tries to escape and Claudia helplessly does all she can to help them achieve their goal. Unfortunately, no one except the Warden knows the entrace to Incarceron. However, the Warden will not allow Claudia to find out, much less enter Incarceron.

When Claudia realises there is no way out, she sinks into despair until her mentor tells her that there is indeed a way in, but the way out is very much limited. Claudia decides to enter and bring Finn and if possible his companions back. Meanwhile, Finn struggles from a failed attempt to escape, until Claudia emerges and tell him the way to escape. However, only Finn can escape and their companions are stuck in there. he swears to get them out and the story ends as Finn exclaimed in delight as he sees outside for the first time. The ending is found in the equally exciting sequel, Sapphique.

The narrative is tense and fast-moving with a real atmosphere of menace and the twin worlds juxtapose wonderfully to create equally failing environments. The Prison is a Mad Max world of feral and failed industrialism while the Outside is stifling, corrupt and unequal. Escaping from one to the other is really little more than leaping from the frying pan into the fire. Yet there is hope, and it lies in Claudia and Finn. Their journeys of personal discovery may well be filled with pain, but they are the path to a better future.

This story blends elements of excitement, hope and despair in an almost flawless and superb combination. The novel is both touching and exhilarating. Reading this book is like a rollercoaster ride which twist and turns and you are forced to read until the end, only to find that it is only the beginning.

At over 400 pages, this book is a average size for a novel but may be deterring to those who prefer fast hack-and-slash action. Furthermore, it may be boring if you are unable to understand the plot as it moves swiftly and without pause. Overall, this is an excellent book. After reading it, I was forced to read the sequel to find the ending. So gripping is the storyline that it makes it a uncomparable book.

Rating: 8.5/10

Superb!

Book Review: The Black Tattoo

Book Review: The Black Tattoo

Author: Sam Enthoven
Publisher: Random House Books
Genre: Fantasy

The Black Tattoo is an adventure novel of anti-theology, excising all the white hats in favor of a panoply of demonic dictators and gladiators which will appeal to fans of grotesquerie and fight scenes. Now, don't get me wrong. Even if you are not a fan of such gruesome scenes, The Black Tattoo is not just a mindless hack-slash type of book. Instead, it also focuses on the everyday aspect of life, in reality.

The protagonists are handsome, adroit Charlie and his scrawny, risk-adverse friend, Jack. The duo is perpetually disappointed with the life they have. Following a angry visit to Charlie's dad, who abandoned him and his mother, the story takes a turn when a enigmatic black-clad stranger helps them then offers to give them a test.

Soon, the black clad character is dead, but not before the story unfolds as they learn about the Scourge, a demon race. They meet a teen fighting phenomenon, Esme and her dad, and Charlie unknowingly gets possessed by a demon, giving him supernatural powers. Esme and her dad, Raymond are the last remaining members of an ancient order believed to guard the world from the Scourge.

Thus Charlie is thrown into a realm of utter madness and with his first encounter with a demon, he displays unimaginable poweress, but to a cost of a human life. Soon, he becomes obsessed with his powers and gains himself entry to Hell.

In this book, Hell is another place, not a status. On the back of a sleeping cosmic dragon, it’s no afterlife, but an alternate dimension. People, or the many bizarre species of planetary beings that pass for people, do die here and often. In that vein, God turns out to be just another resident, a tatty and doddering old irrelevance named Godfrey. The quality of one’s character is much less important here than one’s image management and kung fu skills. In this context, Charlie becomes intoxicated with his commanding new capacities and the resulting adoration of the mob, and lurches toward what puny earthlings, at least, would consider a bad decision. Meanwhile Esme and Jack, in divergent ways, will try to stop him with the occasional help and hindrance of a different secret human sect, the numbered Sons of the Scorpion Flail, more suited to being Keystone Cops than inter-dimensional operatives.

Weakening the plot’s movement, after scrapping traditional underpinnings of good and evil and dismantling the rationales for virtue in favor of pure cunning and force, there’s a dearth of legitimate motivations for the protagonists to pursue the “right” story goals as we’re still intended to understand them, such as saving Charlie from himself.

Esme has a warrior’s strength, but she never explains herself as following any code of honor that might substitute for the herein pointless notion of virtue. No matter what happens, she doesn’t doubt, she executes, literally. Out for revenge, she’s positively hollow except for her grim, inexplicable resolve. Self-sacrifice is demonstrated on her behalf, sort of, but the bones of the many dead are quickly forgotten and ground to powder beneath everyone’s heels.

Eventually, and it could’ve come quicker for me, this book makes the ticking-clock apocalyptic climax about the destruction of all existence. That’s probably wise, although why, you'd have to read the book for yourself.

In relation to the book, you might want to say away from it if you are unfamillar with grostequerie and the like. If you are one with a strong stomach and do not get queasy at the scene of cannibalism, then approach this book with caution. It is a great book, but without doubt, it is one of the most gruesome book I have ever read so far, along with the destruction of the universe.

Rating: 6.5/10
Not bad, but not good either

Book Review: The Ranger's Apprentice Book 4 - The Battle for Skandia

Book Review: The Ranger's Apprentice Book 4 - The Battle for Skandia

Author: John Flanagan
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Fiction, Medieval

Like Last time, the Book I am reviewing is not the first in the series. In fact, as implied by the book's name, it is the fourth. Therefore, I believe a short introduction is necessary.

Set in the mythical land of Araluen, the series follows the adventures of Will, a small and lively 15 year old boy living in medieval Castle Redmont. Rejected for training as a warrior-knight, Will is apprenticed instead to the Ranger Corps – a mysterious group who act as the King’s eyes and ears throughout Araluen and beyond its shores.As an Apprentice Ranger, Will is trained to be an expert archer and knife thrower, as well as learning the skills of silent, unseen movement, tracking and concealment. Gradually, a bond develops between the garrulous, inquisitive Will and his grim-faced mentor, Halt – renowned as one of the greatest of all Rangers.
In the first book, the Ruins of Gorlan, Morgarath, the main antagonist, rallies vile and powerful creatures called the Kalkara. Halt decides to send a party to kill one. However, Halt and the rest of the party is soon severely injured and unable to fight. Will, who is one of the few uninjured people, uses an immense amount of determination and using what he has learnt from Halt, sets his arrow on fire and fires at the Kalkara, eventually defeats it.
In the second book, The burning bridge, Will and his friend, Horace, along with a friend, Gilan set out on a special mission, but discovers that something is wrong. Gilan thinks that it has to do with Morgarath and tracks Morgarath's army. along the way, they find Evanlyn, who is actually Princess Cassandra from Araluen. They find out the plan that Morgarath has and Araluen will suffer a bitter defeat, if Morgarath's plan is carried out. They discover the only way to stop this is to burn a bridge. They manage to do it, but are captured, except for Horace and Gilan, who went away to do other important things. Meanwhile, the war between Morgarath and Araluen continues, with Morgarath losing. He sends out an order to retreat and challenges Halt to a battle. However, the king forbids Halt from fighting Morgarath and Horace arrives and challenges Morgarath to a fight. Morgarath is powerful and every blow he delivers is a staggering blow against Horace. Horace fights back as much as he can and eventually kills Morgarath. Will, however is still captured and Halt arrives too late to save his apprentice.
In the third book, the icebound land, Will and Evanlyn form a strange friendship with Erak, who sells them in the hope they will have a better job then as their slaves. However, although Evanlyn is treated better, Will suffers greatly and cannot resist the temptation to take a drug which gives him a warm, soothing feeling, but makes him a mindless zombie. Meanwhile, while Halt and Horace is trying to find Will and Evanlyn (aka Princess Cassandra), they are challenged by freelance knights. Horace, however, defeats them easily. Soon, he is renowned as the Oakleaf Knight and is has not been defeated yet. Unfortunately, their fame does not go unnoticed and they are challenged by warlord, Deparnieux. Horace was injured in his last battle and declines. Deparnieux, angry at being declined, captures them until Horace recoveres. Seeing the cruelty at Deparnieux castle, Halt chalenges Deparnieux and kills him. Meanwhile, Evanlyn despairs at seeing Will as a zombie and Erak helps them escape. The conclusion is at the book I am reviewing, The Battle for Skandia.
In The Battle for Skandia, Will is freed from the effects of warmweed and helps Evanlyn search for food. However, Will is still weak and Evanlyn is captured by the Temujai, a powerful enemy which is the origin of the Rangers. Will tries to save her and is soon aided by Halt and Horace. Later they find Erak and discovers the plot of the Temujai to destroy Skandia, to achieve domination of the seas. Although the Skandians are fierce fighters, they have limited or no tactics and compared to the strategic Temujai, they are no match. Halt, who has experience with the Temujai, devises a tactic for the Skandians so that the Skandians can defeat the Temujai. The Skandians eventually wins after sustaining many casualties including the leader of the Skandians, the Oberjarl. Erak later becomes an Oberjarl and offers to send Will, Halt, Horace and Princess Cassandra back to Araluen. The king is overjoyed and rewards Halt, Horace and Will. However, Will refuses the kings offer to put him at a leadership position in charge of Royal Scouts, meaning honor, prestige, rank and recognition, but Will declined it, preferring the freedom of the forest. This descision was especially painful to Princess Cassandra, in which their friendship would be heavily tarnished. The book ends with Princess Cassandra waving farewell to Will, but Will, who was riding south, did not notice.

Personally, as with the other books, I had been amazed by the vividness and clarity of the story as well as the lure of the high adventure carried out by believable, down-to-earth heroes. The author's deft character potrayals and well paced story has never failed to leave me clamouring for the next volume. However, I must admit that it is impossible to go straight into the later volumes without going through the first volume by chronological order. Also, while the story is engaging and exciting, the story seems to miss a few gaping holes in which some of the events seem unbelievable. However, the weakness is covered by the storyline. Therefore, I can say that this book is one of the few books that have a superb appeal. I strongly reccomend this if you are interested in swordplay and archery. And yes, you have to read the earlier volumes in chronological order first.

Rating: 8.5/10