Mundie Moms

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Book Review-Incarceron by Catherine Fisher





















*UK edition, published by Hodder Children's Books
Released May 3, 2007
(to the left)

*US edition, published by Dial
Released January 26, 2010
(to the right)

Source: Gifted from a friend in the UK
3.5 Stars

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

Incarceron was once a utopia, now alive and very malevolent, it allows no one to enter or leave. Each chapter of the book has a legend, decree or short letter made by people who first lived in Incarceron and Sappique, the one person who has escaped and who's legend fuels Finn and his three companions hope for their freedom. While Finn's searches for Freedom, Claudia, who lives on the outside and is the prison warden's daughter, finds her arranged marriage with a prince, who wasn't her original betrothed, unexpectedly moved up. Now just days away, Claudia's hunt for a way into Incarceron intensifies and when she outwits her father and steals the key, she finds that she can see and talk to the the holder of the key's companion, Finn.

Fueled by the feeling that Finn is her betrothed prince, who disappeared years ago, Claudia finds a way to help free Finn. With only flashbacks of stars and what appears to be a royal party, Finn can't remember who he is, but knows he wasn't born in the prison. The narrative of the story switches between Claudia and Finn, but intensifies as the motivates of some of the minor characters are revealed and plot twists ensue.

Incarceron started out a little slow for me, and I found my self having to re-read a few things, as I was a little lost. Once I got about half way through the book, I found myself trapped in the story and couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The ending has a great plot twist and a cliff hanger that will have you wanting Sappique, due out in December of this year (in the US). If you're like me and can't wait that long, I already bought the UK edition, which I *needed*, as my Incarceron was a gift from a UK friend. This is one I recommend for middle schoolers on up.

Author Chat with Robyn Schneider



*Our chat will start at 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST. To join, hit join and enter a screen name.
*Please know that we will be discussing Knightly Academy which was recently released (highly recommend)
*We do our best to make sure all comments are published, so that Robyn can answer your questions. With the high volume of guests expected tonight, not all the questions may be answered in the hour time frame of the chat. If that is the case, we will be sure to send them to Robyn, so that she can answer them, after which we will post them on the blog and our forum.
*In respect to Robyn's time, we will only publish comments that pertain to her writing, and book.
*We will not post any personal questions or comments.
* Any rude, disrespectful, or spam like comments will not be published.
*Thank you and we look forward to chatting with everyone tonight!

**No part of this chat is allowed to be used with out our permission**

Cassandra Clare & Holly Black Tour

Cassie just announced she'll be visiting more cities when she's on tour w/ Holly Black. YAY! More chances to meet our favorite authors. Here's the added cities-

Tuesday, May 4th

ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY

1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.

St. Louis, MO

7:00PM

Thursday, May 6th

BOOKS & BOOKS

265 Aragon Ave

Coral Gables,FL

6:30PM

Friday, May 7th

Vero Beach Book Center

2145 Indian River Blvd.

Vero Beach,FL

6:30PM

Saturday, May 8th

FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA

1901 Vine St.

Philadelphia,PA

4:00PM

Monday, May 10th

BARNES & NOBLE

301 Main Street

Exton, PA

7:00PM


Be sure to see more of her tour dates http://www.cassandraclare.com/cms/appearances

Inside Out Book Trailer Blitz

Inside Out is out today! We love Maria's books and highly recommend adding Inside Out to your home library. Here's a blurb from Inside Out:

Keep Your Head Down. Don't Get Noticed. Or Else.

I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. One of thousands who work in the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. The Trava family who rules our world from their spacious Upper levels wants us to be docile and obedient, like sheep. To insure we behave, they send the Pop Cops to police us.


We are so excited to be helping Harlequin Teen, and to share with everyone the new Inside Out trailer!!



Please be sure to visit the official
Inside Out site here. You can view the trailer, read the 1st three chapters and order the book. Don't forget to check out Maria's website,
http://www.mariavsnyder.com/, where you can find out more about her books and see where she's going on tour next.

Be sure to join our
April 13th chat with Maria V. Snyder here on our blog. We'll be giving away an ARC for Inside Out!

Holly Black's White Cat Trailer

We will admit that we love Vania's book trailers and when we saw that she had wrapped up Holly Black's White Cat trailer last night -- well, go on and see for yourself:

The next questions is when does this book come out? Soon!! May 4th. Pre-order it at your favorite, local bookstore!

Don't forget, we'll be chatting with Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan on May 31st.
You can find out more about The Curse Workers @ http://www.thecurseworkers.com/

Twitter Tuesday - Robyn Schneider

How could I resist this adorable tweet from Knightley Academy's Robyn Schneider (who incidentally writes under the pseudonym Violet Habedasher)? Well, obviously, I couldn't. She is so generous to her fans hosting BlogTV sessions along with answering questions on twitter/facebook.

Plus, look at her in that Giraffe Hat?? She's defines silly! And you know Mundie Moms enjoy a good silly moment.

Tonight, we get to chat with Robyn about her newly released book, Knightley Academy. Here's a synopsis (from indiebound.com):

Henry Grim has never been in trouble for borrowing a sword from the headmaster's private stores. He has never discovered a forbidden room in a foreign castle, or received a death threat over breakfast.

All Henry knows is life as an orphaned servant boy at the Midsummer School, bullied by the privileged sons of aristocracy. But all that changes when Henry is the first commoner to pass the entrance exam for the prestigious Knightley Academy,
where he will be trained as a modern-day knight alongside the cleverest and
bravest fourteen-year-olds in the country.

Henry and his roommates, two other students from decidedly un-Knightley backgrounds, are not exactly greeted with open arms by their classmates. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that someone is going to great lengths to sabotage the trioƃ•s chances at becoming knights. But Henry soon learns that there is more at stake than his future at Knightley, and only he can sound the alarm. Is anyone going to believe a former servant on the brink of expulsion?

Brimming with wry humor, page-turning suspense, and surprising twists, this first adventure in a memorable new series is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
We're looking forward to chatting with Robyn TONIGHT at 9pm EST. Please join us for some fun, laughter and talk of knights!


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