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.
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.
