Inkdeath.

Inkdeath, by Cornelia Funke, only left me wanting more, and wondering perhaps, if there will be more.

Spoilers ahead.

A return to Meggie and her family and new friends in the Inkworld, finds that the Adderhead is planning to kidnap all of the children in Ombra to work in his mines. But Mo (the Bluejay), and the Black Prince and his band of robbers are doing everything they can to stop this, including letting one of their own turn themselves in to the Adderhead's scheming daughter, Violante. She does everything she can to help the Bluejay and to stop her father, who holds a book of immortality in his possession that Mo himself bound, to buy his and his daughter's freedom (in Inkspell).

And now, my raving about this book. :)

I think these may be my favorite set of characters, ever. There's just so many to love, hate, and sit in wonderment at all at once. And I positively love that. I think my favorite good character would have to be The Black Prince. I just loved picturing him and his bear. As for villains, while Capricorn was a pretty good and evil one, I think I liked Basta best. He was just one of those villains that stood out to me. It was like, he tried so hard to be a bad villain, but it just never really worked out for him. He was like a villain-loser, if you will. That struck a sympathy cord in me for him. After a while I just wanted at least one bad thing to go right for him, but it never did and he ended up dead in Inkspell. Horrifying. But, when he made his return as the Night-mare, I was (strangely) thrilled. At first I thought the Night-mare might be Capricorn, but it was Basta. I was glad to see that tiny comeback, but a little bummed when Dustfinger killed him shortly after.

The Meggie-Farid-Doria...triangle, was saddening and hopeful at the same time. Saddening because I was afraid Meggie and Farid would no longer be, but hopeful that it would give Farid's Dustfinger-idol-occupied heart a wake-up call, and he would see that Doria was moving in on her. lol. But well, I guess Meggie didn't matter enough to him, because by the end of the book Fenoglio had hinted to Meggie that he had written a story about Doria in the past and that Meggie might one day be his wife, because she comes from a far away land, which she does, and Farid decides to travel the Inkworld, but Meggie stays behind. Where Doria is. Thinking it over, she probably would be better off with Doria, because it seemed as though Farid just had a wandering heart, and that maybe he cared more about Dustfinger than Meggie. Sad really.
I was annoyed at Resa during the ending of the story, but I could understand why she did all the things she did. And while I was positively thrilled that Elinor and Darius did come to the Inkworld (!) Elinor began to really annoy me, with all of her bickering and arguing with Fenoglio. I would have rather seen Orpheus killed, but along with the characters, I am happy with the thought of him going north and possibly having frozen to death. Ugh he was just so annoying, and well, rotten really!

I was rather impressed with Jacopo's change and actions at the end, I never would have thought he would have helped after being such a brat-like child, but it was great and I was happy for that in him. I was also glad for Violante's plans for the Bluejay and her father. I was so relieved that she was doing her best to help him out of that huge mess, but only to land in one herself was the disappointing part. But then Jacopo basically helped save the day, so to speak.

So, that is that with the raving and such of Inkdeath. :p

I loved this trilogy as a whole, it was just so enchanting and lovely, but also sad and a little tragic. I'm so glad I read these books. I don't think I ever would have found out about them though if I weren't a fan of Brendan Fraser. lol. Once I found out Inkheart was a book, I searched the library catalog for it and got it right away because I wanted to read it before the movie came out. The other two books were certainly a bonus. :) I am so glad I finished the trilogy before the movie comes out. (In about two weeks! YAY!) Because I won't be sitting and wondering what happens next, I already know. :) I do wish there were more books though, I can just see so many possibilities and characters that could be expanded on and whose history can be explained more. I am definitely going to collect these books this year when Inkdeath comes out in paperback. (Hardcover is just too expensive for me, and besides, I love paperbacks better.)

One thing I do wish were done better, is the weaving of the story. At times it jumped too much for me from chapter to chapter, and some things weren't addressed soon enough for me, and also, in some places it seemed to drag a little as if it were filler, and I hate that. Other than that, this a wonderfully imaginative & creative set of books filled with unforgettable characters. And I highly recommend all three of them.