Inkspell
Imagine being able to step into your favourite book, only to discover that the world the book takes place in is much darker than you ever thought it would be.
About a year after Inkheart, Dustfinger has finally found someone to read him back into the Inkheart book. Of course, once he’s gone back, Farid and Meggie have to follow him there. They meet up with Fenoglio, the original writer of the book, who wants to use Meggie’s voice to fix everything that has been going wrong with the Inkworld, but everything they do to try to bring things to right just ends up twisting the wrong way somehow and making everything much worse.
Meggie’s parents are also brought to the Inkworld by the same person who sent Dustfinger there, but it seems that Mo (her father) has been, in a way, in the world for a long time – as the robber Bluejay, whose head an evil king has a price on.
This is a book that book lovers should appreciate. It has lovely little passages that deserve to be underlined:
“Isn’t it odd how much fatter a book gets when you’ve read it several times? . . . As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells… and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book has preserved you like a pressed flower… both strange and familiar.”
On the other hand… well, I think I’ve finally put my finger on how exactly I feel about Funke’s books. While I love the stories and the characters, the narration never lets me forget that I am reading. While there are lovely passages, the most of it strikes me as a little dry, and doesn’t feed the imagination – and thus I can’t get lost in it. It really makes me sad because it’s a great story. I’m not sure if I’ll continue reading her stuff, or even if I’ll finish reading this trilogy.
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the narration never lets me forget that I am reading
That is exactly it.I’ve read two of her books and couldn’t figure out why I didn’t love them but you hit the nail on the head. I was really sad when I didn’t love them because I had heard so many great things about her as an author.
I think you described her writing perfectly. While there were certain passages I loved I kept waiting to lose myself in the first book and just never did. I haven’t read the second yet, but probably will. I loved how books were such a huge part of her characters’ lives!
Kirsten – books where books are a big part of the characters live are ALWAYS fun! :)