Inkspell

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke.

Mass Market Paperback: 656 pages
Publisher: The Chicken House (April 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0439554012

Amazon.com Review
Just a few chapters into Inkspell, Mo (a.k.a. "Silvertongue") sagely says to his daughter, "Stories never really end, Meggie, even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page." A fitting meta-observation for this, the unplanned second installment in Cornelia Funke's beloved now-trilogy.

Of course, it's that sort of earnest, almost gushing veneration of books and book-loving that made the absorbing suspense-fantasy Inkheart so wonderful in the first place, with that lit-affection getting woven integrally into the plot (Inkheart being both Funke's first book in the series, and the fictitious book within that book, authored by the frustrated Fenoglio, now trapped within the book, er, within the book. Fenoglio, perhaps not surprisingly, self-referentially wishes in Inkspell that he had written a sequel to Inkheart.) Inkspell should serve as a special treat for fans of the first book, as characters from Inkheart who have found themselves in the "real world" (if there is such a thing) find themselves read back into their own mythic, word-spun world--along with some of our favorite "real-world" characters. As with the previous book, Funke's greatest accomplishment here is telling such a rich and involving (and fun!) story, while still managing sweet, subtle commentary on the nature of words and meaning. Expect a tantalizing finale, too--as Funke says, "No reader will forgive me the ending, though, without a part three."

I think this Inkheart trilogy has a magical hold on me. Although book two, Inkspell, took me longer to read than it normally would have (due to trying to save my blog photo's).. it still wouldn't let me set it down and not go to it until I was finished with what I had to do.

It beckoned me, "come hither and read just a few chapters!" (yeah, right, just a few..cha!)

It shouldn't be calling to me... I've read it before... but the whispers reached my, hard of hearing, ears and I would pick up the book and stroke my hand over it lovingly. There's something about the Inkheart books that insists you run your fingers over the smooth, silky feeling cover and hug the book even before you begin to read each day. As I reach for the bookmark, I find myself nearly speaking out loud to the book: Here I come again... what dangers and rescues are waiting for me today?

There's just to much going on to leave the book resting on the desk for very long.

In Inkspell, Meg, Mo, Resa and Fenoglio have been read into Inkheart we have to find out if they survive!.. what a great second book ! It doesn't slow down the progression of the story for a moment! Cornelia's powerful characters are so unforgettable and many so endearing, that you have to visit them each and every day. What's Meggie up to now? Dustfinger is a dad?! Can Farid really talk to fire like Dustfinger? And is Mo really the Bluejay?

And now that book 3 has finally been released I no longer have to wait to find out "what can possibly happen next?!" !!

For your enjoyment, just a few quotes from Inkspell:

"Of course!" As Orpheus spoke, the hellhound bared its teeth and glared at Farid. "To start with, the words were rather hard to find. Perhaps because I was so excited. As I told you at our first meeting, this book, Inkheart"... Orpheus stroked the volume... "was my favorite when I was a child. I was eleven when I last saw it. I kept borrowing it from our run down library until it was stolen. Unfortunately, I hadn't been brave enough to steal it myself, and then someone else did, but I never forgot it. This book taught me once and for all, how easily you can escape this world with the help of words! You can find friends between the pages of a book, wonderful friends! Friends like you, fire-eaters, giants, fairies....! Have you any idea how bitterly I wept when I read about your death? But you're alive, and everything will be all right! You will retell the story...."

Farther into the book:

"Were there other people who could read aloud the way I can? I didn't believe it until Dustfinger came up to me in the musty, ramshackle library. Oh God, how my heart beat when I saw his face with the three pale scars left by Basta's knife! It beat faster than on the day I first kissed a girl. It really was him, the melancholy hero of my very favorite book. And I helped him to disappear into it again, but what about me? Hopeless." He laughed, a sad and bitter laugh. "I just hope he doesn't have to die the death that idiot of an author intended for him. No, he can't! He'll be all right. I'm sure he will. After all, Capricorn is dead and Basta's a coward. Do you know, I wrote to that Fenoglio, the author, when I was twelve, telling him he must change his story, or at least write a sequel in which Dustfinger comes back? He never answered my letter, any more than Inkheart ever had a sequel. Oh, well. " Orpheus sighed deeply.

I think I'd really like to meet Cornelia Funke and thank her in person for having such a great story hidden inside of her, and writing it all down so everyone could read and enjoy it... I'm glad I still have one book left before I have to say good-bye to these fantastic characters and fabulous story!