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Pivotal
Book Review
Inkdeath (Inkheart)
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by
Cornelia Funke |
Synopsis
The Adderhead--his immortality bound in
a book by Meggie's father, Mo--has ordered his henchmen
to plunder the villages. The peasants' only defense is a
band of outlaws led by the Bluejay--Mo's fictitious
double, whose identity he has reluctantly adopted. But
the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead
again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the
renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead
kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to
slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrends. First
Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?
Publishers Weekly
This concluding volume in Funke's
bestselling trilogy picks up where Inkspell left
off, but sputters for a hundred pages filling in
backstory. (Even then, an addendum is needed to identify
a cast of 114 characters.) The Inkworld, full of dark
magic, is under siege; the savagery of the Adderhead and
his minions now extends to taking all the peasants'
children until somebody delivers, as ransom, the Bluejay,
a Robin Hood-style character whose identity has been
assumed by Mo, Meggie's father (it was Mo who started
all the trouble by reading several villains right out of
the book-within-a-book, Inkheart- don't even
consider reading this series out of order). The
Inkheart author, Fenoglio, now living in Inkworld
himself, has turned to drink; the odious Orpheus, when
he's not under a maid's skirt, rewrites Fenoglio's work
(editors!) to benefit himself. The interesting
metafictional questions-can we alter destiny? shape our
own fate?-are overwhelmed by the breakneck action, yet
the villains aren't fully realized. More
disappointingly, the formerly feisty Meggie, barely into
her teens, has little to do but choose between two
suitors. Funke seems to have forgotten her original
installment was published for children. Ages 9-up.
Cornelia Funke
This is the third and last book of the
Ink-trilogy, and the story will begin about 8 weeks, after
Inkspell ended. You will meet many of the characters you
know by now, Mo and Meggie, Resa and Farid, Elinor and
Darius, Fenoglio and, yes, you will also meet Dustfinger
again and Roxane and the martens. The Black Prince will be
back and many of the other robbers. You will get to know the
Strong Man's brother Doria and the Adderhead's brother in
law, whom the widows of Ombra call the Milksop. Violante and
Orpheus will play a big part this time and there will be
some others of course, new and old places and hopefully as
much adventure, as you want to find on the pages!
From the
reviews
Its excellently paced, descriptive, suspenseful, and keeps you
flipping the pages, just salivating for the finish.
Inkdeath has a lot of twists that you wouldn't expect and several
times I held my breath, both in awe of the authors
creativity and fear for what would become of these beloved
characters.
Books and Resources for
Teaching Inkheart
This book is available
from Amazon
or you can request it for free
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Indian in the Cupboard Study
Guide
 Omri receives several conventional gifts for his ninth birthday,
including a
longed-for skateboard. However, two gifts you would expect to be of
least
interest to a young boy prove to be magical and exciting. Suitable for
primary aged students this study guide has learning outcomes in key
learning
areas such as English, Art and Society and Environment.
Make a book for Grandpa
 Help your child make a book
about Grandpa (or another older friend or relative). When it’s finished it will make a great gift to give to Grandpa.
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Lesson 1: What a Character!