Inkheart (original title: Tintenherz) is a young adult-child fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and the first book of the Inkworld trilogy.The book is about a 12-year-old girl named Meggie Folchart whose life changes dramatically when she realizes that her father, a bookbinder named Mortimer (Mo), has an unusual ability: when he reads aloud, he can bring characters from books into the real world. Meggie and Mo's adventure takes them throughout Europe, particularly Italy, and brings them into contact with many unusual characters. The sequel, Inkspell, was released on October 1, 2005, and the third book in the trilogy, Inkdeath was released September 28, 2007 in Germany.PlotTwelve-year-old Meggie Folchart , listening to the rain in bed one night, sees a stranger approaching her house. The man, who identifies himself as Dustfinger, is acquainted with Meggie's father, Mo, who Dustfinger calls "Silvertongue". Meggie overhears Dustfinger warning Mo about someone who is searching for him, and the three of them leave Meggie's most recent home (Meggie and Mo are constantly moving) and depart for a visit towards Italy. Meggie learns that she, Mo, and Dustfinger are fleeing from a mysterious man named Capricorn, and that they are going to her mother's aunt, Elinor. Meggie has not seen her mother since she was three years old, and although she and Mo love books, he never reads aloud to her.While staying at Elinor's, some of Capricorn's men come and take Mo away to Capricorn's village while Dustfinger is performing a fire show for Meggie. Dustfinger has betrayed Mo in the hopes of saving himself. Elinor, Meggie, and Dustfinger (accompanied by his pet marten, Gwin) leave Elinor's house to follow Mo and his captor, an evil servant of Capricorn's named Basta. Meggie learns that her father has the power to read things in and out of books; one night, while reading the book Inkheart aloud to her mother, Mo accidentally reads his wife into the Inkworld and Capricorn, Basta, Dustfinger, and Gwin out. After chasing the villains away and saving Dustfinger's life, he tries for a few years to read his wife, Teresa, back into our world with no success. He and Meggie then lived a nomadic life, moving from place to place every few years, in order to keep away from Capricorn, who wants to use Mo's powers to his advantage.Meggie, Elinor, and Dustfinger are captured by Capricorn's men and are used as hostages to force Mo to read aloud. Mo only agrees once he is holding onto Meggie – if she is touching him, he cannot read her into the novel. Mo reads a passage from Treasure Island and fills the hall with gold but when he reads from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights all that emerges is a boy named Farid. Dustfinger helps to free Meggie, Mo, and Elinor, realizing the foolishness of his betrayal, and Mo convinces them to take Farid when they flee. The five fugitives take Elinors car that they came with that was in the parking lot in Capricorn's village and flee to the Italian Coast where they try to come up with a plan. Mo realizes that he needs to find a copy of the book and read Capricorn and Basta back into it, and decides to try and track down the author, Fenoglio. They find him living contentedly in another small town, and reveal their story to him by showing them Dustfinger, who is horrified to discover he is a character in a novel and that, according to the original plot, will die at the end of the book. Fenoglio is reluctant to help them, but he and Meggie are captured by Basta, who brings them back to Capricorn's village as bait to force Mo to finish his plan.Mo, Dustfinger, Farid, and Elinor sneak back towards Capricorn's village and try to decide how to save Meggie and Fenoglio. Meggie meets a servant of Capricorn's, Resa, who was a mute woman read out of Inkheart by Darius, Capricorn's stuttering reader, who she believes might be her mother. After being threatened by Mortola, Capricorn's mother and maid, she excitedly tells Fenoglio and starts reading aloud from some books Darius had left behind.Meggie discovers she has roughly the same gift as her father. Mo sends Gwin to find Meggie with a message written in Elvish tucked underneath his collar; Meggie replies and reveals to Mo that she has the gift as well. Dustfinger infiltrates the village and finds Resa, and she asks about Mo and Meggie through writing. Dustfinger, who has feelings for Resa, reluctantly tells her the truth. Basta discovers Meggie's power when he finds Tinkerbell in her and Fenoglio's cell, and Capricorn demands that she will finish his plan. Fenoglio asks for some pen and paper to keep his mind clear, but secretly works on an ending to give his story a more satisfying conclusion.Meggie is forced to read a passage from Inkheart and bring the Shadow, Capricorn's personal assassin of fire, into the real world. With Elinor and Resa held as hostages by Basta and Mortola theatening to poison her, Meggie agrees. Fenoglio gives her a sheet of paper to tuck in her sleeve and add to the passage to save herself. Farid and Mo light a fire to draw away Capricorn's men, and Fenoglio causes a ruckus so that Meggie can slip out his sheet of paper. Meggie summons the Shadow (and accidentally sends Fenoglio into his own book), but cannot bring herself to destroy it and Capricorn. Mo takes the paper and reads it; the Shadow kills Capricorn, and then explodes and reforms into all the magical creatures whose lives he stole in the covers of Inkheart. Basta and Mortola escape, but Mo and Resa are reunited. Farid and Dustfinger steal the last copy of Inkheart and leave to try and find a way into the story, while Mo, Resa, Elinor, Darius, Meggie, and some of the fairy creatures go to live at Elinor's house. Meggie decides to try and write stories of her own.Characters• Meggie Folchart – The 12-year-old protagonist who loves books. She is Mo's daughter and inherits the ability to read out loud, and bring characters to life. She also sucks others into books (accidentally). • Mortimer Folchart – A.K.A. Silvertongue and Mo, loving father of Meggie and also a skilled bookbinder. He has the ability to read things out of their stories, and accidentally read his wife, Resa, into Inkheart on the same night he brought Dustfinger, Capricorn, and Basta out. • Teresa Folchart – also known as Resa. Meggie's mother, and Mo's wife. Mo accidentally reads her into the Inkworld and could not read her out. She was considered Capricorn's favorite maidservant. She lost her voice after Darius brought her back out of Inkheart. Dustfinger has a liking for her, even though he has a wife back in the Inkworld. • Dustfinger – a fire-eater. Dustfinger was taken out of Inkheart at the same time Capricorn was. However, unlike Capricorn, he has a strong desire to go back to the Inkworld. He betrays Meggie and Mo in an attempt to re-enter the book, but later rescues them. He later becomes Farid's mentor. • Capricorn – The antagonist in the story. Full of evil, he was taken out of Inkheart unintentionally by Mo and wishes to gain as much power as possible. His mother is Mortola aka The Magpie and his father was a blacksmith who taught him that power is the only the thing that matters. • Basta – One of Capricorn's most loyal servants, he is very superstitious, rarely seen without his knife, and fears fire greatly, always wearing long sleeves because he was once burned up to his shoulders. He started chewing peppermint leaves constantly when a girl told him that he had bad breath. • Elinor Loredan –Meggie's great aunt. She loves collecting books, and is very protective of them. She can be grumpy and very old-lady like. • Fenoglio – Also known as Inkweaver. The author of Inkheart (for the book), he is an old man who is read into his own book towards the end of the story. • Farid – A boy who was read out of the story One Thousand and One Nights. He becomes Dustfinger's apprentice and has a strong crush on Meggie. He is also very fond of Dustfinger and wants to learn how to breathe fire. • Gwin – Dustfinger's pet marten, he was read out of the book with Dustfinger accidentally. • Mortola – aka The Magpie. Capricorn's mother and servant, she is a poisoner who kept Resa enslaved for many years. • The Shadow – Capricorn's loyal assistant, non-human, and supernatural. He is made out of the ashes of his victims and serves as Capricorn's personal assassin. • Cockerell – One of Capricorn's assistants who was read out of Inkheart. • Darius – A reader Capricorn found, he can also read things out of books like Mo. However, when he stutters, he damages the creation. At the end of the book, he moves into Elinor's house. When he read Resa out of the book he stuttered, therefore she lost her voice. Loves Elinor. • Flatnose – One of Capricorn's loyal assistants, read out of Inkheart with a flat nose because of Darius's stuttering. • Rosa - Fenoglio's neighbor. • Paula, Pippo, and Rico - Fenoglio's fun-loving grandchildren. Film adaptationA movie based on the book was released in the US and Canada on January 23rd, 2009. Eliza Bennett and Brendan Fraser were the first to be cast, as Meggie and Mo. Paul Bettany played the role of Dustfinger. Rafi Gavron played Farid. Jim Broadbent played the part of Fenoglio. Helen Mirren played Elinor Loredan, and Andy Serkis was cast as Capricorn. Sienna Guillory played the part of Resa, and Jamie Foreman played Basta. Actress Jessie Cave, who plays Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter series, played a nymph. Iain Softley directed the film.LocationsThe movie was shot mostly on location in the Italian Riviera, in the Savona district: Alassio, Balestrino, Laigueglia, Albenga. Also the story of the book takes place in this region. The Italian Riviera Film Commission contributed to find an abandoned and spooky town for Capricorn (Andy Serkis) and the Black Jackets.Critical receptionInkheart has received positive praise. The New York Times Book Review described Inkheart as "sprinkled with magical fairy dust",[1] while Kirkus Reviews declared it "a true feast for anyone who has ever been lost in a book".References1. ^ Inkspell, back cover External links• The World of Cornelia Funke • Official Cornelia Funke website • Unofficial Inkheart website • Official Inkheart Film Commission • Inkheart Wiki • Comparison of Inkheart book and movie The Inkworld series by Cornelia FunkeNovels Inkheart (2003) • Inkspell (2005) • Inkdeath (2008)Film adaptation Inkheart (2008)Characters Basta • Capricorn • Dustfinger • Elinor Loredan • Farid • Fenoglio • Gwin • Mortola • Meggie Folchart • Mortimer Folchart • Teresa Folchart • The ShadowRelated Anthea Bell Ok firstly: read this ages ago, so I can't quite remember every single detail.Inkheart - amazing. By far the best book in the trilogy. It was exciting, interesting, and made me want to read more.Inkspell - not as good, but still okay. I loved Farid, and I don't think Meggie deserves him, but I guess that's my opinion. As long as they're happy . . . Which brings me to Inkdeath . . . ugh.Inkdeath - pure cowcrap. Bad story, characters all went downhill, and Meggie broke Farid's heart over some guy who's name sounds like diarrhoe. Very disappointing end to what could have been called an amazeballz series. Those last two books are the reason no more movies were made.
What do You think about Die Tintenherz Trilogie (2011)?
This was the first fantasy book series i ever read. I still read fantasy. Obviously it was good.
—Robert
Completely spellbinding. Nearly impossible to put down. A book for booklovers.
—oinkoink929
great. lots of darkness and mystery. recommend it to everyone
—Cassiel
Loves the first one the other two were quite boring
—becki
