Inkspell (Inkheart Trilogy #2)

Readers who enjoyed Funke's Inkheart (2003) are in for a treat with this sequel, a stronger book than its predecessor. In the first volume of the trilogy, a few characters have the ability to read a character out of a book and into today's world. In this book the process is reversed, and most of the earlier characters are transported to the magical, yet perilous and sometimes brutally violent land of the fictional book, also called Inkheart. Young Meggie has longed to visit that world, but once she travels there she realizes the consequences of her choice and the seeming impossibility of putting things right in either place. With the help Fenoglio, the book's author, who now lives in the secondary world, she connives to turn events toward a good outcome. Though some readers will simply enjoy the adventure story, other will be intrigued by Fenoglio's reflections on the impossibility of controlling what he has created. As before, the book's flow shifts from one group of characters to another as the plot moves swiftly. An indispensable key to the many characters precedes the story. Readers will enjoy the many quotes at chapter headings from writers as diverse as Margaret Atwood, David Almond, Kate DiCamillo, Harper Lee, Pablo Neruda, Phillip Pullman, J.K. Rowling, and T.H. White. In short, a booklover's book.

Copyright 2005 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission

Gr 5 Up -This sequel begins a year after the conclusion of Funke's popular "Inkheart" (Scholastic, 2003). In this fantasy world, certain readers have the power to bring characters out of books -and send them back. Meggie and Farid, apprentices to the fire-eater Dustfinger, follow him to the Inkworld, the land of the book-within-a-book, "Inkheart, "after he has been read back into its story by a mysterious man named Orpheus. Orpheus uses his powers to read Mortola and Basta, some of the villains of the first volume, into the story, along with Meggie's parents. In Inkworld, Meggie enlists the help of Fenoglio, the original author of "Inkheart", to help create a new future for her parents and herself as palace intrigues, war, and the Silver Prince threaten. The story moves along at a rapid pace, from Farid and Dustfinger's original meeting with Orpheus to Farid's warning of Mortola's return to the shift of action to the Inkworld and the heightening conflict in both worlds. Expanding on the ideas behind "Inkheart", Funke explores what might happen if authors try to change the world they have created. Familiar characters and those new to this volume are clearly drawn. This is an involving story that will draw readers smoothly to its conclusion and leave them waiting for the final volume in this projected trilogy. - Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

In this spellbinding follow-up to "Inkheart", Funke expertly mixes joy, pain, suspense and magic. In the opening chapter, Dustfinger returns to "Inkheart", the fantastic novel (within Funke's novel of the same name) from which he was sprung, and his "devoted" apprentice, Farid, asks Meggie to use her magical reading powers to send him into the story. Meggie, lured by the "place of marvels and adventures," goes with him. Her parents soon follow. The omniscient narrator allows readers to jump from the "real" world to Inkworld, where a war is brewing between Ombra Castle and the evil Adderhead's Castle of Night. Worse, Meggie's father, Mo (aka Silvertongue), is mistaken for a Robin Hood -type figure known as the Bluejay and is to be executed. Readers will race along with Meggie and other "Inkheart" favorites as the characters try to create a "happy ending." Funke again cleverly plays with the power of words: Fenoglio, the author of "Inkheart", now lives in the world he created and continues to write new story lines -which play out in often unintended ways (e.g. he bases the Bluejay character on Meggie's father, putting Mo in danger). This is a thick and dark book (the Magpie shoots Mo, nearly killing him, and Basta appears for a final showdown), as well as sophisticated -especially the romance blossoming between Farid and Meggie, and Dustfinger's complicated relationship with Meggie's mother. There is much left to explore; readers will eagerly await the last in the planned trilogy. Ages 8-up. (Oct.)

Copyright 2005 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.