Cornelia Funke

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Inkdeath

April 21, 2009 in Children's, Fantasy | Comment

inkdeathInkdeath is the final piece of the Inkworld trilogy. Having said that Inkheart was just so-so, and Inkspell was better, Inkdeath failed to make a lasting impression on me.

The book begins with Meggie and her parents in Ombra, with Aunt Elinor left behind in the original world that they came from. Dustfinger has been taken away by the White Women, and the Adderhead is immortal, thanks to a bargain he made with Mo. Meggie is torn between Farid and Doria, a young man in the Prince’s motley band. Mo has taken on the identity of the Bluejay, and risks his life daily on raids with the Black Prince’s men. Orpheus, a character who has Mo’s talent for reading things “out of books”, soon becomes an enemy who wants nothing more than Mo’s death. However, when Death itself makes a deal with Mo, no one can change the events of the Inkworld.

At 500+ pages, I found myself gravitating towards other books while I was trying to finish Inkdeath. The plot meanders mercilessly and I found myself practically screaming to just be done with it. The “love interest” was interesting at first, but I am never quite sure what Meggie is thinking, and she is the background much more often. To top it off, Mo and Resa are constantly at odds, as though their marriage will dissolve any minute, and everything simply gets better at the end of the book without explanation.

Overall, I didn’t love the series and probably would not be on my re-read list. It seems to have gained quite a bit of popularity with the YA crowd, so perhaps there’s something there that I’m missing. There is also a movie titled Inkheart that came out in January, starring Brendan Fraser. Watch the trailer below if you haven’t already!

Inkspell

February 4, 2009 in Children's | 2 comments

I have to say, Cornelia Funke really gets it together for book #2, the sequel to Inkheart. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t terribly impressed with Inkheart. I thought the characters were pretty one dimensional, and that alone prevented enjoyment of the book.510mku55ckl_sl160_

Inkspell impressively weaves the story of Ombra, where Meggie, Mo, Resa, and Fenoglio find themselves after the events of Inkheart. The characters, especially Dustfinger, finally come to life and have differing personalities and quirks. Funke also seems to have really put herself into worldbuilding– Ombra and the surrounding lands can easily be imagined. I don’t want to give too much plot away as Inkspell follows the events of Inkheart, but we do know that almost all of Meggie’s family ends up in Ombra, except for her book collecting aunt Elinor. Further, Mo is gravely injured and it’s up to Meggie to help her parents while avoiding those that wish them harm.

I also enjoyed how Funke employs various villains–each are “bad” to differing degrees. As in most children’s books, there is only one villain who remains alive until the very end. Here, Funke uses a number of baddies that harass Meggie and her family, and sometimes even the villains kill other villains. This is a refreshing break from the usual, and also fleshes out Funke’s writing–after all, there is never just one bad person in this world–you will come up against many.

A much better read than the first–If you weren’t crazy about Inkheart and didn’t follow up on the sequels, it will be worth your time to read Inkspell. I hope Funke keeps it up in Inkdeath, the final book of the Inkworld trilogy.

Inkheart

January 20, 2009 in Children's | 2 comments

51cmjlhcz9l_sl160_Inkheart by Cornelia Funke follows a typical prototype: Prepubscent child in the regular world suddenly finds out that a parallel/other world exists that is much more exciting than one’s own. I’m sure plenty of examples are popping into your head, but you get the idea.

Meggie is your average girl who really enjoys reading–her father, Mo, is a “book doctor” and repairs and restores books. She is perfectly happy in her world until Dustfinger shows up at their door. Dustfinger warns Mo, or Silvertongue as he calls him, that Capricorn and his men are looking for him. Meggie soon finds out that the reason her and Mo have moved so often is to remain a step ahead of Capricorn. It turns out that Mo has a special power: he can read characters/items out of their respective stories (hence the “Silvertongue”). The only downside is that  someone/something from our world disappears in its place, which may explain why Meggie’s mother disappeared ten years ago when Mo accidentally “read” Capricorn into being.

Meggie soon discovers that she has a touch of Mo’s gift as well, and together they escape Capricorn (only to be recaptured later) and set out to find the last remaining copy of Inkheart, together with the author of the book. As the book proceeds, it becomes clear that those with the power not only to read, but to write in a certain manner can travel “into” books and their worlds.

Inkheart ends with a rather predictable happy ending, but of course Meggie can’t just stop thinking about “Inkworld” as she has dubbed it, and so it is left open for a sequel (or two).

A fun read and fine for a 10 year old (reading and writing is good!) but adults may find this book a little slow and difficult to get into– namely because Funke’s characters aren’t as three dimensional as they could be. I have a hard time picturing/relating to any of them–Capricorn’s henchmen are just stereotypical “bad guys” while Capricorn himself is just an archetypal villain. In fact, almost all the characters seem to be basic archetypes- Mo is the caring, overprotective dad, Elinor is the quirky old aunt, and Meggie herself is the spunky little heroine who really hates it when grownups keep secrets!

When the characters are difficult to relate to, the whole story begins to unravel.