Inkdeath (Inkheart Trilogy)
by Cornelia Funke
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Book Reviews of Inkdeath (Inkheart Trilogy)
Book Review: InkReview
Summary: 3 Stars
This book took me a FOREVER to read. I haven't had a book take me more than a week to read in a LOOOOOOONG time! It wasn't because it was bad, in fact I quite liked it. I just read really slow for some reason. I listened to the first two as audio books. I enjoyed the vocal performaces of Lynn Redgrave in Inkheart and Brendan Fraser in Inkspell. Maybe that's it, my brain wanted to hear the book not see it.
As a series, the three books are pretty dark, but this book could be considered the darkest of the three books. A lot of fighting, death, and all around darkness. Also, it gets a bit lengthy and long-winded in places. Cornelia Funke has a wonderful descriptive and imaginative aspect of her writing. Wonderfully well-thought out, however, there is such a thing as too wordy. I guess I just thought some parts could have been shortened or edited out. I can only imagine how hard that is for a writer!
So, on to the book! In Inkdeath, Meggie, Resa, and Mortimer are still trapped in the Inkworld. Farid, Fengolio, and Orpheus are also in the Inkworld. Still mourning Dustfinger's death, Farid has taken up work for Orpheus. Orpheus has promised to write and read Dustfinger back into the story for Farid.
Life and times in Ombra are rough. Most of the men died when Cosimo led them into battle against the Adderhead in Inkspell. Now the Adderhead has the Piper out scouting the children of Ombra for work in the silver mines. He's promised the women that in exchange for the Bluejay (aka Mortimer) he will leave their children alone.
Violante plays a major role in this book, and I really enjoyed finding out more about her character. Meggie finds that the Inkworld might have another boy that makes her heart skip a beat. Heroes are found where you would least expect them. I wont't say too much so I don't spoil the surprise. It was a change of heart I didn't expect, but was glad for.
One thing that I found confusing in the series, that was at it's worse in this final novel, was the multiple names for people. Orpheus, for example, is also called, Cheeseface, Moonface, Four-Eyes, and Milkface. Mortimer is also, the Bluejay, Silvertongue, and Mo. It's sometimes hard to keep them all straight.
Final thoughts...I liked the series. I liked this book. And....I'm glad I'm done with it! I hope that sums it up accurately.
Book Review: Boring and an unsatisfying read
Summary: 2 Stars
I had great hopes for this book. When I heard that it had been released I could barely contain my excitement at finally being able to read this book. Now after reading it, I have to say that I was extremely disappointed and dissatisfied.
Inkheart is an amazing story; I loved how it was about the power of the written word and books in general. But in Inkdeath, all of the magic is gone! Meggie Folchart was the protagonist of Inkheart and so the natural assumption is that she is the main character of the whole series. Clearly, she's not or I wouldn't be mentioning it. In Inkspell other characters start to have larger roles, certain things start to revolve around them, and more chapters are told from their perspectives. Yet Meggie is still an integral part of the story. However, in Inkdeath, the heroes are other people, like Mo and Resa. Meggie does absolutely NOTHING!!!! The whole book is 660 pages of boring NOTHING! It was a really boring story and I really disliked how all (& I mean all) of the characters were portrayed. For one, Mo is entirely different. He actually doesn't want to leave the Inkworld and he acts irrationally all of the time. Farid becomes a jerk. Resa is annoying. Maggie is a weak, useless little side character who sits weepy on the sidelines. And other characters become annoying fools too.
Cornelia Funke takes too long to make a point in this story. The ending is predictable - most of the evil is vanquished! Yay! - but the story still doesn't end on a satisfying note. As I said before, it was boring. I can't get over it. I kept waiting for Meggie to do something, for example, write something herself independent of Fenoglio to affect change and save everybody. In the last eighth of the book I finally began to give up hope and it came crashing down on me that this book was disappointing. I mutinously wished that Cornelia had never written a sequel to the wonderful Inkheart, because even though I loved Inkspell, as a cliff-hanger, it was nothing without an awesome final book and Inkdeath was not it.
So, though I fervently recommend Inkheart to any bibliophile, Inkdeath gets 2 stars from me because it lacks anything really interesting. You needn't bother reading it. If you've read Inkheart and Inkspell already, don't go on to Inkdeath so that you can remember those books and those characters with fondness.
Book Review: Oh come on
Summary: 1 Stars
This book is so different and boring and so plotless and demeaning to the rest of the series it seems like Cornelia Funke didn't really write it at all.
All the characters are different. Meggie is a selfish brat who won't leave the stupid `Ink-World' just because. Farid kisses girls while he's being a slave to the stuck-up and pompous Orpheus. Mo is an idiot who doesn't want to save his and his families lives just because he doesn't want the Ink-world to be without a Bluejay.
What happened to Meggie becoming an author? Why doesn't she at least ATTEMPT to write them back?
The whole picture of the novel is that a family is fleeing for their lives from the Adderhead, and are freezing, flea-bitten, and hungry. Yet, they don't miss home, or even try to go back. Mo doesn't want to, so he refuses to go even when Resa pleads for the sake of their unborn child (women often died from childbirth there). Her opinion doesn't matter to him, even though he claims to love her and that she is his wife.
Fenolgio is a senile old man that won't help anyone, and while the country is being torn apart they do nothing but titter around and talk about boring things, and worry about the Piper and Adderhead.
Meggie and Farid aren't together in the end. Instead, a picture-perfect guy with a girl's name is in his place.
Mrs. Funke should have really stopped with Inkheart.
And not even mentioning the boy's name in the end? Elinor selling her family jewels when she could have just gotten Darius to read gold into their hands?
Mo also says that Meggie is in love with Farid, and she's almost grown up, therefore, the family should stay there.
THIRTEEN?! You call that 'almost grown-up'? His parenting makes me wonder if he cares about Meggie at all. What happened to his obsessive need to protect her that was in Inkheart?
Also, girls don't fall in love at thirteen. It doesn't happen. Puppy-love, maybe. Most likely a crush. But families don't stay in suicidal worlds just because their daughter has a little crush on someone who won't leave that world. Mo really got on my nerves.
It's a horrible novel, and I don't know what five-star people are thinking.
Book Review: Still Spellbound
Summary: 5 Stars
If there was one thing I did not like about the "Inkheart" series it is the fact that I read each book so far apart from the previous one. By the time I got to read "Inkdeath," the final book in the trilogy, it was hard to remember all the pertinent events from the previous two novels, and knowledge of those events is necessary in this series. While "Inkdeath" has a lot of territory to cover in terms of backstory, which initially slows it down, it is a fantastical and fitting end to an incredible adventure.
Picking up where "Inkspell" left off, Meggie and her family are living within the magical fictional world of the novel Inkheart. But all is not well within its pages, as her father Mo has fully assumed the identity of the Bluejay (a Robin Hood like character) which makes him the target of the Adderhead. For even though Mo bound the White Book to make the Adderhead immortal, the book is working as Mo intended it to, not as the Adderhead wishes, and now the king is out for revenge on the man who is slowly killing him. As Mo's life becomes ever more in danger, he places the lives of his friends and families, and indeed all the children of Ombra, at risk as well. Meggie desperately tries to find a way to fix what has gone wrong with the story, but Fengolio has lost his way with words and cannot write anything. And would it even work if he could, for Meggie and Mo are uncertain what is real and what is an illusion inside this world made of words.
"Inkdeath" seems much more grown up than the previous two works as Funke grapples with some serious issues, questioning just how much we can control our own fate. The beautiful thing about Funke's writing is that it pays homage to the wonderful children's literature that has come before it and draws upon a wide array of fairy tale and fantasy elements. At times the plotting seems disjointed and keeping track of the huge cast of characters can be difficult without Funke's A-Z listing at the end of the book. However, "Inkdeath" is a fitting conclusion for the fantastical events begun in "Inkheart". It is a truly unique and magical tale that lives beyond the page.
Book Review: Adults have an important role too!
Summary: 5 Stars
I would like to address the comments that frequently expressed concern about Mo taking a larger role in this book while Meggie takes more of a background role. First of all, why not? Isn't it wonderful that there is an author out there who portrays adults shining in their roles. Our society gets so bombarded with the idea that people can be shining stars when they're young and glamourous but then once you reach middle age, the media gives this impression that you need to somehow recede in the background, step back, and let the younger more glamourous take the scene. In this case, the adults are portrayed with bigger roles than you normally see in most books. Mo is the central character here and isn't it great that so many people were touched by these series even to the end. Some even said that Inkdeath was their favourite book. This makes a strong statement to our society which is that older people also deserve to have a chance to shine. Meggie got to shine in two whole books and so why not let Mo shine in the third one? This doesn't take away from Meggie in any way. Rather this teaches us a lesson in our lives that we should ALL be given opportunities to shine. Regardless of whether we're young or older, we can make a difference in this world in the lives of both children and adults and we can be a part of things. It's NOT all over for us once we pass our school ages! People like Cornelia Funke and George Lucas do such a great service to humanity and their work by portraying people of ALL ages as important central characters in their stories. Yes, young school age people and also glamourous people are given important roles but they aren't the ONLY ones given those roles. When authors like Cornelia Funke and the Star Wars authors constantly hit the bestseller list, this gives a subtle message to our youth worshipping media society that speaks to a longing deep within all of our hearts--the truth that ALL of us can be larger than life, and do beautiful and wonderful things.