I just finished reading the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke (Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath) and I was more than pleasantly surprised by the depth of the world she created in the second and third books. The first book was good, but once we actually got into the inkworld in book 2...wow. This woman has a very creative mind... from hairstealing fire fairies, to fire dancers, to motley players, to mosswomen (healers), to glassmen (they stir the ink and make excellent spies), white women (deadly), giants (sleepy), Night-Mares... it was really a very deep world that she built and her love of books and reading is evident throughout.
The main characters through most of the books are Mo, Meggie and Dustfinger.
Mo is a bookbinder who lost his wife many years ago. He has many names in the book, but the most important is Silvertongue because Mo has the magical ability to bring written words to life. That may sound wonderful, but it cost him his wife because when he read aloud from the book 'Inkheart' she disappeared into the pages.
Meggie is Mo's daughter and she too has the silvertongue gift and a lot of bravery too, which she will need in all three books.
Dustfinger is actually a character from the book 'Inkheart' and when Mo accidentally read his wife Resa into the book, Dustfinger came out and he was not happy about that.
I don't want to drop any real spoilers for the trilogy in case anyone wants to read them so I'll just say that I picked up these books because I saw the movie (starring Brendan Frazier and Helen Mirren) on cable and thought the books might be ok even if they were young adult (young adult done right is one of the best genres out there right now imo) and I was very happy with the content. It really didn't feel like it was written for children and frankly it was a lot darker than I was expecting. I think the third book is my favorite and though I won't spoil the ending I'll say I was happy with it barring one obvious loose thread that was clearly left in there in case there was a fourth book and since there isn't one I'd really rather she'd tied a firm noose around a certain neck at the end. But overall it was a very good (though long) read.
(like Fengolio I wish I could find the perfect words to describe Inkheart, but I suppose these will just have to do).
