Inkspell

“Stories never really end, even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don’t end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page.” – Inkspell

Stories never end, as Cornelia Funke says…especially when there’s a sequel. The villain Capricorn may have been defeated in Inkheart, but the story’s just getting started. Fenoglio is lost in the world he created from ink and paper, and things aren’t going exactly as he intended. Inkworld is falling apart at the seems.

The state of Ombra is bad, as the leaders are either dead or losing the will to live. Meanwhile, The Adderhead, the tyrant living on the other side of the forest from Ombra, is stirring up trouble, slowly increasing his hold on Inkworld.

Eventually, Meggie, Farid, Dustfinger, Mo, and Theresa end up in Inkworld with Fenoglio, and all hell breaks loose, well, looser than it already had. In an effort to bring his story under control, Fenoglio starts writing, and Meggie reads his words aloud in an effort to try and influence the goings on. It works…to a point.

Mo is soon arrested for treason by the Adderhead, because he matches the description of the fictitious Bluejay, a Robin Hood-esque character in a series of songs by none other than Fenoglio, who had short sight enough to base the robber off of Mo. From there, Meggie and company have to save Mo from being hanged with a combination of Meggie and Fenoglio’s skills, as well as Dustfinger’s bag of tricks.

Inkspell is noticeably darker and more violent than the previous book, but overall I enjoyed it more. I found the storyline more interesting, and connected well to that of the prior book. It has a quicker pace than Inkheart, which was a little on the slow side at times. It’s a great book, and well worth the read.