Inkspell

=Inkspell = =By Cornelia Funke = =Pages = =Genre: Fantasy =

=Biography: Cornelia Funke = ====Cornelia Funke has written many books that many people have all heard of before: //The Thief Lord//, //Dragon Rider//, //Inkheart//, //Inkspell// and //Inkdeath//. Funke first started writing picture books rather than full fledged chapter books and twisting plots. Funke was born in 1958 in Germany and dreamed of growing up to be an astronaut and a pilot. She lost interest as the years went by and she decided to study pedagogy at the University of Hamburg. After her studies were complete, she worked with deprived children for a while. This inspired the urge to write picture books for children, which then evolved into her first chapter book, //Dragon Rider//, which is written for a younger audience. The publishing then lead to the rest of her collection. She has a quote for all authors in the world: "Read – and be curious. And if somebody says to you: 'Things are this way. You can`t change it' - don`t believe a word." ====

=Plot Synopsis = ====In //Inkheart//, a character named Mortimer, or Mo as called by his daughter Maggie, has a gift of when reading printed words aloud, things that they're reading about may appear. When Mortimer was reading aloud to his family, consisting of Maggie and Mortimer's wife (Resa), from the book //Inkheart//. When he was reading the part about all the antagonists, conveniently, they appeared in front of them. Frightened, Mortimer chased them away, but found that his wife was gone; she was now in the world of //Inkheart//, the world of fire elves and glass men and silver castles. Mortimer is afraid of ever reading a book aloud again. ====

====Continuing from the previous book in the series in //Inkspell//, the reader finds themselves with Dustfinger, one of the character read out of //Inkheart// (not an antagonist), and Farid, a character read out of One Thousand and and One Nights. Dustfinger is extremely home sick after spending nearly 10 years in a world he was not created for. Because Mortimer is terrified of ever reading aloud again, they are meeting with another man who has the same gift as Mortimer to read Dustfinger back into the world of //Inkheart//. His name is Orpheus. Farid is with them because he is just tagging along with Dustfinger, as he did most of the previous book. Orpheus reads Dustfinger back into the story, but Farid is left behind. ====

====When Dustfinger finds himself back in his own story again, he finds that not very much is the same as it was when he left it. He learns that people close to him have died and the prince, formally known as the Laughing Prince, is now called by the name the Prince of Sighs. Maggie, Mortimers daughter finds that she shares the same gift as her father and wants to go to the world of //Inkheart// so bad, that she reads herself and Farid into the story. Soon enough, many of the characters who were born in our world are either forced or by free will, read into the story of //Inkheart//. ==== ====//Inkspell// is a book about the world of //Inkheart//, and how it has changed. Throughout the whole book, the readers meet fantasy creatures such as water nymphs, fairies, white women, and nightmares. The reader also meets all the original characters they have not yet met that are from //Inkheart//. ====

= Literary Analysis = ====Cornelia Funke describes objects as if they had life to them. Dustfinger is a fantastic Fire eater (a person who can talk to fire and make it do as he/she pleases) in the first place. He's probably fire's best friend "The fire crackled at him, wanted to play, wanted to dance, didn't understand anything about fear all around, neither smelled nor tasted it." (591) is the best quote about his relationship with fire and also the best quote about fire in that world. The quote describes that fire has a personality, naive and playful but willing to obey Dustfinger. This characteristic of fire suggests another special difference between our world and their world along with all of the bizarre creatures. In //Inkheart//, Dustfinger describes that fire is "untamed and dumb" in our world compared to his. Maybe fire resembles what a world as a whole is. Maybe our world is "untamed and dumb" while theirs is intelligent and playful. ==== ====Death is a common concept in the world of //Inkspell// and as Funke's trilogy continues, Death plays a larger role. Death plays a larger role in //Inkspell////Inkheart//, where Death is a usual visitor to the people of the medieval time setting they live in. Notice that Funke spells Death with a capital "D." This case change changes the word into a proper noun, therefore, it has a personality attatched to it, a purpose, individuality. Funke describes Death as sneaky, soothing and persuasive. She also creates these creatures called White Women. They're ghostly and they're the ones who persuade you to die if you are dieing. They'll take you to that other place where people's souls go to when they die. By giving Death a capital D, she has given it a personality, purpose and individuality. ====

=Criticism = ====I loved //Inkheart// and I decided to continue on with //Inkspell//. //Inkspell// was even more exciting than Inkheart because I got to go to a world and I have never known, but have wished to know for a long time. I enjoyed living in such a brilliant and diverse world, but I didn't have very much fun when the characters were going through peril in this world. There was lots of sadness in this book, but all of the new and unusual things balanced all of the depression with curiosity and wonder. Along with all the sadness and curiosity came surprise. Some important characters from the previous book are killed, along with twists in the plot that nobody saw coming. This book always kept me on my toes and begging for more. The way she describes Fire and Death and such intrigues me and I might take the same style in the future. ====