Category 19: A book of genre fiction in translation
Inkspell
Author: Cornelia Funke, Anthea Bell (translator)
Publisher: Chicken House
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: April 1, 2007 (first published October 1, 2005)
Page count: 655
Genres: fantasy
Page count: 655
Genres: fantasy
Date read: May 27, 2018
Number of times read: 1
Format: paperback/audiobookSource: Amazon/Waterloo Public Library
Summary
The captivating sequel to INKHEART, the critically acclaimed, international bestseller by Cornelia Funke--available for the first time in a beautifully designed trade paperback!
Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of INKHEART, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined.-- via Goodreads
The captivating sequel to INKHEART, the critically acclaimed, international bestseller by Cornelia Funke--available for the first time in a beautifully designed trade paperback!
Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of INKHEART, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined.-- via Goodreads
Review
In the first book in the series we got to see how the fictional characters of a book react and behave when they're brought into the real world. Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well for most of them. The problem with that is that that first story built up so much anticipation about the Inkworld, and we never really got to see it at all in that first book. We only heard about it. Inkspell where we've done almost a complete 180, almost all of the action in Inkspell takes place in the Inkworld. The characters of the fictional work and some of the real world people end up getting drawn back into the world of the book. Obviously, hijinx ensue. Meanwhile, in the real world outside the book, Meggie's parents are trying to figure out how they can get her back or how they can get in to help her. I use real world very loosely in this explanation. This book has done a very, very good job of blurring the lines between fiction and reality. Obviously, Mo and Meggie and Elinor don't realise that they are characters in a fictional world themselves, that would be far too meta, but the reader is aware and so it becomes very interesting. It's actually got a very Matrix-y quality to it, you remember, that scene where Morpheus talks to Neo about the meaning of realness? Well, this whole book is like 655 pages to explore that talking point.
There are some things about this book that annoyed me though, Dustfinger and Farid for one and two. They're both so completely single-minded that they often end up making decisions that I as a reader find frustrating, especially Farid when it comes to the relationship he is trying to cement for himself with Meggie. He doesn't do a very good job of that at all. Fenoglio is by far the most annoying though, sometimes I really just wanted someone to push him out a window. Although I think I want to revise that statement because there is actually someone more annoying than Fenoglio and that character is Orpheus. I have so, so much hate for Orpheus I can't even completely articulate it. Mainly because to explain my hate properly I'd have to give away too many spoilers.
There's an interesting controversy surrounding the title of this book and its translation from the original German. If directly translating it should have been Inkblood to tie in thematically with the title Inkheart. I'm not surprised it was changed in English though because especially in the US there's a whole thing about changing the title of the book if it seems like it's going to cause any form of scandal. Remember what happened with the first Harry Potter adventure? They changed philosopher to sorcerer because they were afraid people wouldn't know what philosopher mean. Luckily Inksspell doesn't go down that route.
This is the book series for anyone who ever wanted to meet their favourite fictional character.
There are some things about this book that annoyed me though, Dustfinger and Farid for one and two. They're both so completely single-minded that they often end up making decisions that I as a reader find frustrating, especially Farid when it comes to the relationship he is trying to cement for himself with Meggie. He doesn't do a very good job of that at all. Fenoglio is by far the most annoying though, sometimes I really just wanted someone to push him out a window. Although I think I want to revise that statement because there is actually someone more annoying than Fenoglio and that character is Orpheus. I have so, so much hate for Orpheus I can't even completely articulate it. Mainly because to explain my hate properly I'd have to give away too many spoilers.
There's an interesting controversy surrounding the title of this book and its translation from the original German. If directly translating it should have been Inkblood to tie in thematically with the title Inkheart. I'm not surprised it was changed in English though because especially in the US there's a whole thing about changing the title of the book if it seems like it's going to cause any form of scandal. Remember what happened with the first Harry Potter adventure? They changed philosopher to sorcerer because they were afraid people wouldn't know what philosopher mean. Luckily Inksspell doesn't go down that route.
This is the book series for anyone who ever wanted to meet their favourite fictional character.
Overall Rating
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| 4 bolts |
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