Sapphique »

The only one who escaped . . . And the one who could destroy them all.

Incarceron, the living prison, has lost one of its inmates to the outside world: Finn’s escaped, only to find that Outside is not at all what he expected. Used to the technologically advanced, if violently harsh, conditions of the prison, Finn is now forced to obey the rules of Protocol, which require all people to live without technology. To Finn, Outside is just a prison of another kind, especially when Claudia, the daughter of the prison’s warden, declares Finn the lost heir to the throne. When another claimant emerges, both Finn’s and Claudia’s very lives hang on Finn convincing the Court of something that even he doesn’t fully believe.

Meanwhile, Finn’s oathbrother Keiro and his friend Attia are still trapped inside Incarceron. They are searching for a magical glove, which legend says Sapphique used to escape. To find it, they must battle the prison itself, because Incarceron wants the glove too.

VOYA

Finn and Claudia were betrothed to one another as children. Now seventeen, they are soon to become king and queen of the Realm. But their kingdom is only a visage; in reality its surface beauty is maintained by the powerful computer Incarceron, where after the devastating destruction of the Years of Rage the Realm's inhabitants only pretend to live "in Era." Finn, on the other hand, grew up in an alternate prison world, also maintained by Incarceron and run by Claudia's father, the Warden. Now in the Realm and estranged from his friends, Finn—known as Prince Giles—is consumed with the mission of bringing them over and destroying Incarceron's hold. In order to do so, however (among many, many other things), Finn must prove that he is the rightful heir to the throne, which is difficult because his memory has been wiped clean. Many, including his stepmother, the queen, are against him, and now another has stepped forward claiming to be Prince Giles. In a race against time, where two worlds literally threaten to collide, Finn, Claudia, and their allies from both sides struggle to find the key that will ultimately free and unite them all. Sapphique is the sequel to Fisher's New York Times best-selling novel Incarceron (Dial, 2010/VOYA, February 2010) and presumably picks up right where the other left off. Readers will likely benefit from having read Incarceron first (this reviewer had not). That being said, one will rarely feel at a loss for not having done so—it would simply be helpful to fully understand some of the backstories. This well-written, fast-paced novel is quite the page-turner and is highly recommended for audiences from middle school and up. Reviewer: Judy Brink-Drescher