Sapphique

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Published: December 28, 2010 by Dial
(Sequel to Incarceron) 


In the dark Prison of Incarceron, the prisoners tell tales of a legendary man – Sapphique, the only inmate ever to escape. There are hundreds of tales of his exploits, but are any of them true? Did he even exist?

Attia and Keiro certainly think so, and when they hear that a crazy magician called Rix is using Sapphique’s lost Glove in his magical act, they’re determined to steal it. Meanwhile, out in the Realm, Finn is not finding being a Prince easy, and he’s tormented by doubts about his own identity.

       I enjoyed Sapphique more than Incarceron, so if you thought Incarceron was just alright you should give this one a shot. While Incarceron shifted between Finn's desperation to escape the prison and Claudia's attempt to find the prison, Sapphique brings more of the main characters together which makes their stories much more interesting. These books are light on romance and heavy on adventure and imagination. 

Reasons I love this book:

• worldbuilding- I continue to be impressed with the descriptions of the widely varied parts of Incarceron, especially since it never seems like there's a paragraph of description - it's worked in seamlessly with the story
• Attia- I find Attia's journey through the prison much more interesting than the drama with Finn and Keiro's life and journey in the 1st book
• failure of Protocol- when Protocol outside the prison started to crumble I started to pay more attention to the Claudia/Finn plot. It just showed how intricate the deception of Protocol was and got me thinking on how wild it would be if all the sudden you knew that things you had physically touched weren't actually there at all and never had been
• Sapphique- what an awesome name. Anyways, who is Sapphique? This book had me starting to think I knew, then it would throw me for a loop and I'd be convinced it was someone else. I'm still not sure I know. Will the real Sapphique be in the prison or Outside? He's real right?

Huh, what?:

• Claudia- she's growing on me, but she is still so selfish! She wants Finn to be a prince so she can use him to end Protocol, but she doesn't want him to a prince because she doesn't trust him. In other words, she thinks Finn's life and future revolve around her.
• capitalization- capitalizing common words is something that just bugs me in any book. It makes my brain stop reading and go now why does that word look different than usual? I get that Finn Escaped and that Protocol is bad, but those things would be just as significant in lowercase
• Steel Wolves- I don't really see where they fit in. All they seem to do is threaten people who are actually on their side while the Queen just goes along with her business
• Jared- uh, did I miss something in the 1st book? I totally thought Jared was wise old Alec Guiness Obi Wan, but then it said he was in his 30s, so he might actually be cute young Ewan McGregor Obi Wan? 

Which is it? I'm so confused!

Favorite quotes:

• Lightning spat; from overhead the low, heavy grumble of thunder rolled down the sky. For a moment Finn knew it was the voice of Incarceron he heard, its terrible, cruel mockery, knew he had never Escaped at all.      - pg.  191
• They had become ghosts, Claudia thought, or shadows. Cloaked in black like outlaws, they fled the Court, and behind them there would be uproar, the Queen furious, the Pretender vengeful, the servants panicked, the army being ordered out.     - pg.  310

4 robots

Great sequel with adventure, suspense, and interesting characters

Acquired: Bought