Inkheart trilogy facts for kids
Covers for the three volumes of the original editions of the Inkheart trilogy, designed by Martina Petersen and author Cornelia Funke.
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Inkheart (2003) Inkspell (2005) Inkdeath (2007) |
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| Author | Cornelia Funke |
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| Original title | Tintenwelt |
| Translator | Anthea Bell |
| Illustrator | Cornelia Funke |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German English |
| Genre | Fantasy, Bildungsroman, Mystery |
| Publisher |  Cecilie Dressler Verlag Chicken House Publishing Scholastic Corporation |
| Published | 23 Sep. 2003 – 28 Sep. 2008 |
| Published in English | 6 October 2003 – October 2008 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) and audiobook |
The Inkheart series is a set of exciting fantasy novels written by German author Cornelia Funke. So far, there are three main books: Inkheart (2003), Inkspell (2005), and Inkdeath (2007). A fourth book, The Colour of Revenge, is also being written.
These books tell the story of a teenager named Meggie Folchart. Her life changes a lot when she finds out something amazing. She and her father, Mo, who fixes books, can bring characters from stories into the real world just by reading aloud!
The adventures mostly happen in Northern Italy. They also take place in a parallel world inside the fictional Inkheart book. The main story is all about the magic of books, the characters and creatures within them, and the power of reading.
The books were first released in Germany. The English version of the third book, Inkdeath, came out in 2008. In 2004, Cornelia Funke sold the rights for movies to New Line Cinema. The first book, Inkheart, was made into a movie in 2008.
The series was first planned as three books. But in 2020, Funke surprised everyone by announcing a new book. It's called Die Farbe der Rache (The Color of Revenge) and is expected to be published in Germany.
Contents
Story Overview
Inkheart
In the first book, Inkheart, twelve-year-old Meggie learns a big secret. Her father, Mo, can bring characters from books to life when he reads aloud. People with this special gift are called "Silvertongues".
Years ago, Mo accidentally brought four characters from a book called Inkheart into the real world. These included Dustfinger, his pet marten Gwin, the villain Capricorn, and his helper Basta. But when they came out, Mo's wife, Teresa (later called Resa), disappeared into the book.
Dustfinger returns to warn Mo and Meggie that Capricorn is looking for Mo and his special Inkheart book. They try to hide at Meggie's great-aunt Elinor's house in Italy. But Dustfinger betrays them, hoping Capricorn will send him back into the book.
Capricorn captures them and forces Mo to read treasures out of other books. Meggie soon finds out she also has the Silvertongue gift. She uses her power to summon a monster called "The Shadow" from the book. With her help, Capricorn and his followers are defeated.
Inkspell
A year later, Meggie still thinks about the Inkheart world. Resa is back, but she can't speak. Dustfinger wants to return to his wife, Roxanne, and his daughters in the story.
He finds a storyteller named Orpheus who can read people into books. Dustfinger goes back into Inkheart. But Orpheus doesn't read Farid, Dustfinger's apprentice, into the book as planned.
Farid convinces Meggie to read him into the book so he can warn Dustfinger. Meggie also learns how to read herself into the story.
Suddenly, Mortola, Basta, Orpheus, and another man break into Elinor's house. They take Mo, Resa, Elinor, and Darius prisoner. Orpheus reads Mo, Resa, Mortola, and Basta into the Inkheart world.
Mortola shoots Mo, thinking she has killed him. But Mo survives. Resa gets her voice back. Mo and Resa hide with traveling performers. They discover that Mo, who is injured, is the famous "Bluejay" – a robber created by the author Fenoglio's words.
Fenoglio is now living inside his own story. He asks Meggie to read a character named Cosimo back into the story. Meggie and Farid fall in love.
The evil Adderhead wants to capture Mo. Mo and Resa are caught and taken to the Adderhead's castle. Meggie makes a deal with the Adderhead. She will create a book of immortality for him if he lets her family and the performers go. But she plans to write three words in the book – heart, spell, death – that will kill him.
Farid and Dustfinger sneak into the castle. Farid is killed by Basta, but Dustfinger sacrifices himself to the White Women to bring Farid back to life. Roxanne, Dustfinger's wife, is very angry at Farid for this. Meggie reads Orpheus into the story. Farid agrees to work for Orpheus if he writes something to bring Dustfinger back.
Inkdeath
Farid is now Orpheus's servant and tries to get him to bring Dustfinger back. Orpheus agrees, but only if Mo takes Dustfinger's place in death. Mo summons the White Women and goes to the world of the dead.
In the world of the dead, Mo meets Death herself. Death makes a deal with Mo: he must bring the Adderhead to her before spring, or Mo and Meggie will die.
Meanwhile, the Silver Prince's herald kidnaps all the children in the town. He threatens to make them work in the silver mines. Mo returns to the living world with Dustfinger. They plan to save the children.
Mo, as "The Bluejay", turns himself in to the Piper in exchange for the children. Violante, the Adderhead's daughter, rescues Mo. She wants him to kill the Adderhead by writing the three words in the White Book.
The Adderhead goes after Violante, and his servant, the Milksop, goes after the children. The Black Prince moves the children to a giant tree for safety. They are attacked, but Meggie reads a Giantess out of Fenoglio's words, and they fight off the attackers.
At the castle, the Adderhead's men attack. The Bluejay is captured, and Dustfinger is killed by a Night-Mare created by Orpheus. Resa turns into a swift using magical seeds and searches for the White Book with Dustfinger's spirit.
Dustfinger pretends to betray Mo to gain the Piper's trust. This is part of a plan with Bluejay and Violante. Mo works on a new White Book. The Adderhead's grandson, Jacopo, steals the original White Book and gives it to Mo. Mo writes the three words, and the Adderhead dies.
Dustfinger kills the Night-Mare, and Resa and Mo defeat the Piper. The Adderhead's bodyguard, Thumbling, steals all the Adderhead's treasures and leaves.
At the end of the book, Orpheus runs away. Farid becomes a traveling fire-dancer. Meggie stays with Doria. Resa gives birth to a baby boy. He wishes he could see the world where his parents and sister were born. Resa and the boy sometimes turn into birds because of the magical seeds. Everyone who survived lives happily in Ombra, with Violante as their queen.
Awards and Recognition
The first book, Inkheart, won several awards in Germany. In 2004, it won the Phantastik-Preis der Stadt Wetzlar for children's fiction. It was also chosen as the best children's novel of the year by the Jury der jungen Leser. It received other awards like the Kalbacher Klapperschlange and the Silberner Griffel.
In 2007, Inkheart was voted the eleventh best book of all time by the public in a poll by the ZDF television network.
The second book, Inkspell, won the Book Sense Book of the Year Award in the "Children's Literature" category.
Adaptations
In 2004, plays based on the first two books began to be performed in Germany. The first play, Inkheart, premiered in Hanover. It was also staged in other German cities. In 2006, a musical version of the story opened in Bonn.
New Line Cinema bought the film rights for all three books in 2004. They started making a movie based on the first novel, Inkheart. Cornelia Funke moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to help produce the film.
Filming for Inkheart began in Italy in 2006, then moved to England. The movie was directed by Iain Softley and had a great cast. Famous actors like Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Paul Bettany, and Andy Serkis were in it.
The Next Chapter
In April 2020, Cornelia Funke announced a fourth book in the Inkworld series. This was a big surprise for fans! The new book is called Die Farbe der Rache (The Color of Revenge). It is expected to be the final part of the story.
The first 15 chapters of the book were released as audiobooks in Germany even before the book was finished. Funke did this to help her fans during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The story will take place five years after the events of Inkdeath. All the main characters like Meggie, Farid, Dustfinger, and Orpheus will be in it. The author said that "revenge" in the title refers to Orpheus trying to get even by seeking help from a bad witch.
