Review: The Prison by J Swift

The Prison by J Swift; originally published in 2021

The Ark was an interesting story, and its sequel, The Prison, is an intriguing tale in its own right. The protagonist trio, Alissa, Shem and Ham, have all made it onto the Ark, which has left the solar system. Life on the Ark, however, isn’t the same as life was back in New Amerland, as hard as that life had been. A new environment, new roles and responsibilities, and evolving threats challenge the characters and the relationships they have with one another.

Alissa, in particular, is haunted by her past actions and the man who manipulated her into performing them: Silver Glove. He doesn’t just plague her dreams, though – even in her waking moments, the mysterious man appears before her – and yet, sometimes, something is different. The man is less Silver Glove and more someone else – what does it mean, and why is he asking Alissa for help? There are further layers to the events that had and continue to hamper humanity’s journey of salvation. Throughout the story, the question remains: can Alissa uncover the truth and prevent further loss and destruction?

The Ark’s troubles worsen when Vincent Stadler, a mole for the villainous forces, installs a virus into the Ark, intent on destroying it. Captain Andover sacrifices himself, destroying the engines to contain the virus. Crippled, the Ark limps on, its inhabitants desperately trying to repair the vessel and make it to the New World.

As with The Ark, I listened to the audiobook version of the story, which was again well-narrated. The pacing, much like in the first story, was very steady and consistent throughout and would have benefited from more variation. I felt as though the setting of The Ark – New Amerland and the underground bunkers – provided a much more interesting environment than the halls of the Ark ship, and whilst that was both understandable and inevitable for the story, it became an unfortunate limitation for The Prison.

Ultimately, a satisfying and interesting sequel, The Prison delivers an engaging follow-up, swapping the dystopian landscapes of a dying Earth for the space-bound confines of humanity’s last Ark ship. The story saves its biggest twists and turns for the final third of the story and opens up interesting possibilities for the final entry, The Planet, which I look forward to reading to see how it concludes the story.

You can read my review of The Ark here.

Cover for The Prison designed by MiblArt.

Background image by Casey Horner on Unsplash