66 pages 2 hours read

Catherine Fisher

Incarceron

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2007

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Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Crystal Eagle, Dark Swan”

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of imprisonment, enslavement, and murder.

Eighteen-year-old Finn is imprisoned in a high-tech, sentient prison called Incarceron. He belongs to a gang called the Comitatus. At the moment, he is chained to a transitway. Trucks belonging to a gang called the Civicry approach, then stop. Finn claims that the Comitatus has chained him here. A woman called Maestra notices an eagle tattoo on Finn’s wrist which resembles the markings on a crystal she found. This interests Finn because he does not know what his tattoo means or how he got it, and he cannot remember anything that happened earlier than three years ago.

The members of the Civicry realize that Finn is not actually chained and the whole scenario is a trap. The Comitatus emerge to rob the Civicry, indiscriminately firing weapons. Finn protects Maestra because he wants to know the tattoo’s meaning. To quell the violence, Incarceron starts a prison quake. The Civicry slide down a chute to their home, and Finn brings Maestra along, telling the others that she is his hostage.