Inkspell

By Cornelia Funke
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Noelle

This is the sequel to Cornelia Funke's excellent Inkheart. You must first brush up on Inkheart since it immediately immerses you in the characters that were left off with--only a year has passed in their time since the tumultuous events that concluded the last story. So if you can't remember Dustfinger, Farid, Basta, Meggie, Mo, Elinor and so on, you best reread Inkheart first! For those who know not Inkheart, the basic plot involves a man and his daughter who have the ability to draw a character out of book and into our world simply by reading aloud. Unfortunately, some villains are unintentionally brought into this world, and our heroes have to deal with them. It is pure pleasure to be reintroduced to these characters. Without spoiling it too much, Dustfinger finds someone in our world, a man named Orpheus, who can finally read him back into his world (called Inkworld). He leaves behind Farid, a boy read out of a completely different story, who Dustfinger more or less adopted. Farid is miserable and goes to find Meggie and Silvertongue--the only two other people he knows that have the magical power to their voices that can bring characters out of a book. Farid, Meggie, her parents, and the evil Mortola and Basta all manage to get read into Inkworld and the main plotline is about their adventures there. Fenoglio, the author of the story, has been living in Inkworld and tries, once Meggie arrives, to make some changes for the better for his creation--only to find that life finds it own way, and while his words may have power still, they can't control all the outcomes.There is good and evil, death and romance, magic and fear, and a good deal about being and becoming. About controlling your own destiny or being controlled. Readers will be devastated when they are left with a cliffhanger at the end of the story and have to wait for the next book to come out! Still, there are few books as involving and fantastic as Inkheart and Inkspell. Highly recommended for all readers who like fantasy or just a fabulous storyline.