Cornelia Funke – Inkspell

31. Inkspell by Cornelia Funke (2005)
Inkworld Trilogy, Book 2

Read by Brendan Frasier
Length: 18h 49m (635 pages)

Genre: Fantasy; Young Adult

Started: 09 February 2008
Finished: 13 March 2008

Summary: Dustfinger has found himself another reader, and has returned to the Inkworld. Unfortunately, that reader is in league with Basta, and Basta, still smarting over the defeat at Capricorn’s village, has sworn vengance on Meggie and Mo, and especially on Dustfinger. Eager to warn him, Farid convinces Meggie to read him into the Inkworld – and Meggie comes too, confident that she can find Fenoglio and convince him to write her words that will allow her to return home once she has seen the fairies and the Laughing Prince and the other wonders of the Inkworld. Things don’t go as smoothly as she’d planned, however – Mortola and Basta have caught up with her family, sending Mo and Reesa into the Inkworld and mortally wounding Mo in the process. Meanwhile, the story seems to be taking on a life of its own, and while Fenoglio’s words still have power, it is less and less clear that he’ll be able to bring the story back on track and bring it to a happy ending.

Review: Much, much better than Inkheart. The first book had a lot of good ideas but the execution didn’t entirely hold my interest; this book was exciting and much more complex. Taking place the Inkworld instead of in the real world was a huge benefit – it allowed the introduction of a wider variety of interesting characters, more interesting possibilites for plot twists, and a more complicated and interesting story and theme. The idea of a story getting away from its author, and how that plays out in practical terms was a lot more involving than the cycle of capture, danger, and escape in Inkheart. The shifting points of view worked to better effect, as well – not that I don’t like Meggie and Mo, but the chapters from Dustfinger’s perspective quickly made him one of my favorite characters. It was still a smidge longer than it really needed to be, but I didn’t feel the length dragging the same way I did with Inkheart. There’s some obvious set-up for the third book, but this book didn’t feel like just the middle book of a trilogy – there’s a clear conflict and story-line, and things are at least brought to a satisfactory resting point while still leaving me anxious to get my hands on the translation of the third book.

This book took me a very, very long time to listen to, but it wasn’t for lack of interest, just a lack of opportunity. I thought Brendan Fraser, who is playing Mo in the upcoming movie, did an excellent job at the narration – his rhythm took a bit of getting used to at first, but I was surprised at the excellent job he did with a wide variety of voices. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Very enjoyable read/listen. I don’t think it would work without having read the first one, but this one is good enough to be justification for powering through the slow parts of Inkheart. Recommended.

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First Line: Twilight was gathering and Orpheus still wasn’t here.

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