#34 Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Oooh boy. I bet people will disagree with me on this one... 
Cut for spoilers for Inkspell. Also, there is one spoiler for Inkdeath that I couldn’t avoid. It basically spoils whether Dustfinger will play a role in this book or not.
People often complain about the second book of trilogies, as they often fall into an unfortunate pattern: so much of the book is set up for book three that the novel cannot stand well on its own. Although this is a valid criticism I’ve found with recent YA releases the problem isn’t with book two (or three sometimes) it’s the finale that’s flawed. I don’t know if it’s due to the author raising the stakes so high that they lose control of the story, or maybe they just get caught up in the epic-nes of their own finale. All I know is that I’ve picked up more than one final book that has either been conflicted and disappointing (example, Breaking Dawn), or has ended up less enjoyable than previous books in the series (The Sweet Far Thing, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, etc.) Inkdeath, the third book in the Inkworld Trilogy stumbles out of the gate and then struggles and struggles until it finally reaches a satisfying ending. In the end, I’d say it wasn’t as conflicted and disappointing as Breaking Dawn, but more flawed than the final Harry Potter, or the final Gemma Doyle Book.
When Inkdeath opens, the Folchart family is suffering from internal conflict. Since the end of Inkspell, Mo has picked up the guise of the Bluejay in earnest and spends his nights as a robber with The Black Prince and his men. His wife, Resa, and daughter, Meggie, both fear that this will result in his death, as he is the Adderhead’s number one wanted man. Fenoglio has lost his will to write, and the Inkworld’s new writer Orpheus, has less than noble intentions than the world’s original author. Although Orpheus was brought into Inkheart to bring back Dustfinger, he now spends his time writing up treasure and trying to win influence with the Adderhead.
The Inkworld is suffering under the tyranny of the Adderhead, and his figurehead in Ombra, the Milksop. Rumor has it, the Piper even intends to kidnap the city’s children and make them work in mines. Mo knows the three words he must write in the Adderhead’s book to save Inkworld, but how will he get close enough?
At over 650 pages, Inkdeath is a heavy tome, and its story feels equally expansive. It’s a departure from both Inkheart and Inkspell, which were mostly about a family trying to survive in magical circumstances. Inkdeath falls under a more typical fantasy storyline: band of heroes do their best to take down an evil overlord using a magical object (in this case, the book that made the Adderhead immortal). Although I don’t mind stories like that, I don’t like some of the sacrifices made to get here. Inkdeath leaves the world of children’s fantasy stories behind, and as a result most of our young adult characters are shoved into the background. Meggie, the heroine of the first two books, is the one that suffers the most from this. In Inkheart she read the Shadow into our world, with the help of her father, and saved the day. In Inkspell, she convinced the Adderhead to make a deal with death. And in Inkdeath… she worries about Mo, argues with her mother, and is torn between the affection of two young men. I understand that Meggie is a more realistically drawn character than you would find in most fantasy books. She’s not the type to run into the room with a sword. Still, to see her stripped of her main role in this book in such a way is disappointing.
Another character whose role disappointed me was Dustfinger. In first two books of the series, he was a beautifully complex character. His death at the end of Inkspell was one of the most effective character deaths I’ve experienced since I first read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. With the message about the permanence of death in Inkspell, I wondered how Funke was going to bring him back without looking like she was breaking her own rules. Fortunately, that is not the case, and the scene where Dustfinger is brought back to was skillfully done. But after that… honestly he spends the book feeling more like a prop than anything else. Fortunately things get better by the end of the book, but I feel as if I spent most of the time wondering why one of my favorite characters was even in the book. Not a pleasant feeling.
But I’m focusing too much on the negative here. Sure there were a few things that bothered me a lot, but there were parts of this book that were very spot on. The scene where Mo summons the White Woman was so well done that I didn’t want to leave my car (I listened to this on audiobook), and the ending managed to accomplish what Stephanie Meyer wanted to do with Breaking Dawn, have an effective ending that doesn’t depend on action sequences. I liked the twist involving the Night-Mare. I liked seeing Elinor’s first steps into the Inkworld, as well as her interactions with Fenoglio. I also liked the fact that we got to see more of the heroic Black Prince.
So in the end, I did end up liking this book. Unfortunately there were a few things about this book that hampered my enjoyment. The audiobook narrator Allan Corduner does a good job at presenting the story, although I prefer Brendan Fraser’s more animated reading style. Inkdeath is a good book, but it doesn’t quite live up to Inkheart or Inkspell.
Rating: three and a half our of five stars
Length: the print version is 656 pages
Source: theaudiolibrary
TBR Pile: 148 books
Similar Books: The previous Inkworld book, The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Other books I've read by this author: The Thief Lord, Inkheart ( my review), Inkspell ( my review)
xposted to temporaryworlds and bookish
Cut for spoilers for Inkspell. Also, there is one spoiler for Inkdeath that I couldn’t avoid. It basically spoils whether Dustfinger will play a role in this book or not.
People often complain about the second book of trilogies, as they often fall into an unfortunate pattern: so much of the book is set up for book three that the novel cannot stand well on its own. Although this is a valid criticism I’ve found with recent YA releases the problem isn’t with book two (or three sometimes) it’s the finale that’s flawed. I don’t know if it’s due to the author raising the stakes so high that they lose control of the story, or maybe they just get caught up in the epic-nes of their own finale. All I know is that I’ve picked up more than one final book that has either been conflicted and disappointing (example, Breaking Dawn), or has ended up less enjoyable than previous books in the series (The Sweet Far Thing, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, etc.) Inkdeath, the third book in the Inkworld Trilogy stumbles out of the gate and then struggles and struggles until it finally reaches a satisfying ending. In the end, I’d say it wasn’t as conflicted and disappointing as Breaking Dawn, but more flawed than the final Harry Potter, or the final Gemma Doyle Book.
When Inkdeath opens, the Folchart family is suffering from internal conflict. Since the end of Inkspell, Mo has picked up the guise of the Bluejay in earnest and spends his nights as a robber with The Black Prince and his men. His wife, Resa, and daughter, Meggie, both fear that this will result in his death, as he is the Adderhead’s number one wanted man. Fenoglio has lost his will to write, and the Inkworld’s new writer Orpheus, has less than noble intentions than the world’s original author. Although Orpheus was brought into Inkheart to bring back Dustfinger, he now spends his time writing up treasure and trying to win influence with the Adderhead.
The Inkworld is suffering under the tyranny of the Adderhead, and his figurehead in Ombra, the Milksop. Rumor has it, the Piper even intends to kidnap the city’s children and make them work in mines. Mo knows the three words he must write in the Adderhead’s book to save Inkworld, but how will he get close enough?
At over 650 pages, Inkdeath is a heavy tome, and its story feels equally expansive. It’s a departure from both Inkheart and Inkspell, which were mostly about a family trying to survive in magical circumstances. Inkdeath falls under a more typical fantasy storyline: band of heroes do their best to take down an evil overlord using a magical object (in this case, the book that made the Adderhead immortal). Although I don’t mind stories like that, I don’t like some of the sacrifices made to get here. Inkdeath leaves the world of children’s fantasy stories behind, and as a result most of our young adult characters are shoved into the background. Meggie, the heroine of the first two books, is the one that suffers the most from this. In Inkheart she read the Shadow into our world, with the help of her father, and saved the day. In Inkspell, she convinced the Adderhead to make a deal with death. And in Inkdeath… she worries about Mo, argues with her mother, and is torn between the affection of two young men. I understand that Meggie is a more realistically drawn character than you would find in most fantasy books. She’s not the type to run into the room with a sword. Still, to see her stripped of her main role in this book in such a way is disappointing.
Another character whose role disappointed me was Dustfinger. In first two books of the series, he was a beautifully complex character. His death at the end of Inkspell was one of the most effective character deaths I’ve experienced since I first read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. With the message about the permanence of death in Inkspell, I wondered how Funke was going to bring him back without looking like she was breaking her own rules. Fortunately, that is not the case, and the scene where Dustfinger is brought back to was skillfully done. But after that… honestly he spends the book feeling more like a prop than anything else. Fortunately things get better by the end of the book, but I feel as if I spent most of the time wondering why one of my favorite characters was even in the book. Not a pleasant feeling.
But I’m focusing too much on the negative here. Sure there were a few things that bothered me a lot, but there were parts of this book that were very spot on. The scene where Mo summons the White Woman was so well done that I didn’t want to leave my car (I listened to this on audiobook), and the ending managed to accomplish what Stephanie Meyer wanted to do with Breaking Dawn, have an effective ending that doesn’t depend on action sequences. I liked the twist involving the Night-Mare. I liked seeing Elinor’s first steps into the Inkworld, as well as her interactions with Fenoglio. I also liked the fact that we got to see more of the heroic Black Prince.
So in the end, I did end up liking this book. Unfortunately there were a few things about this book that hampered my enjoyment. The audiobook narrator Allan Corduner does a good job at presenting the story, although I prefer Brendan Fraser’s more animated reading style. Inkdeath is a good book, but it doesn’t quite live up to Inkheart or Inkspell.
Rating: three and a half our of five stars
Length: the print version is 656 pages
Source: theaudiolibrary
TBR Pile: 148 books
Similar Books: The previous Inkworld book, The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Other books I've read by this author: The Thief Lord, Inkheart ( my review), Inkspell ( my review)
xposted to temporaryworlds and bookish