Inkdeath

Inkdeath

Inkdeath Book cover
Author	Cornelia Funke
Original title	Tintentod
Translator	Anthea Bell
Illustrator	Cornelia Funke
Language	German
Series	Inkheart trilogy
Genre	Fantasy, Bildungsroman
Publisher	Germany Cecilie Dressler UK Chicken House USA Scholastic
Publication place	Germany
Pages	683
Preceded by	Inkspell

Inkdeath (German title Tintentod) is the third book in the Inkworld trilogy. The plot resumes only a few weeks after Inkspell left off; Farid and Meggie's mission of bringing Dustfinger, who died at the end of Inkspell, back to life.

Speculations about the title

Cornelia Funke stated in January 2007 that the title would definitely be Tintentod, with the English title being Inkdeath. This replaces the alternative working title of Tintensaat, or in English, Inkdawn. Tintentod was released in Germany on September 28, 2007, and was released in the US on September 30, 2008.

Plot summary

The Adderhead—his immortality bound in a book by Meggie's father, Mo—has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants' only defence 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 now fears not the White Women of Death, as in the last book, but the painful and unending life he is forced to endure. 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 deadly silver mines unless Mo surrenders. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?

Characters in Real world

• Meggie Folchart -– The 13-year-old book-loving protagonist. Not only she is able to read characters into the "real world," Meggie can also bring in characters as well. Her affection for Farid turned into a relationship in Inkspell. In Inkdeath another boy, Doria, begins to win her affections.

• Mortimer Folchart – also known as Silvertongue or the Bluejay or Mo. He is Meggie's father, Resa's husband and a skilled bookbinder, possessing the same ability as his daughter to read books to life. In Inkspell he and his pregnant wife Resa were forced into the Inkworld by Mortola and Basta, with the help of another talented reader, Orpheus. There Mortola shot and nearly killed him, but he was saved by Meggie and Fenoglio. In Inkdeath he assumes the identity of the Bluejay, a valiant, daring robber, who the Adderhead is intent on killing. This dangerous new role causes conflict between him and the rest of his family.

• Teresa Folchart – or Resa. She is Meggie's mother, whom Mo accidentally read into the Inkworld when Meggie was 3 and couldn't read her out. Read back into the "real world" by a nervous Darius, she lost her voice and did not regain it until returning to the Inkworld in Inkspell. She loves her husband, but she is afraid for him, Meggie, and her unborn child while he remains the Bluejay.

• Dustfinger – or Fire-Dancer. He is a famous fire-eater originally from the Inkworld, who was accidentally read into the "real world" by Mo, along with Capricorn and Basta. His desire to return home precipitated the events of Inkspell. His fatherly affection for his apprentice Farid led to his own death at the end of the same book, but Farid enlisted Orpheus to find a way to bring him back.

• Elinor Loredan – Resa's aunt and thus Meggie's great-aunt. An eccentric and obsessive book-collector, she has learned to care for her new family: Meggie, Mo, Resa, and Darius. At the end of Inkspell, she and Darius were left alone in the "real world" after Orpheus disappeared into the book.

• Fenoglio – also known as Inkweaver. He is the optimistic and slightly egocentric author of Inkheart (the "real" one, not to be confused with Cornelia Funke's story of the same name) and thus the creator of the Inkworld. At the end of Inkheart, he disappeared into his own book, where his writings and Meggie's reading altered the course of the story, for better and for worse. By the end of Inkspell, he swore never to write again, but he does not very much like having a new writer, Orpheus, tamper with his creation.

• Farid – A teenaged boy who was read out of Arabian Nights by Mo in Inkheart, he has become Dustfinger's devoted apprentice, and by the end of Inkspell, was nearly as proficient as his teacher. He came to love Meggie during the events of Inkspell and is jealous of her attention to Doria in Inkdeath. At the beginning of Inkdeath, he is serving Orpheus, in the hopes that the reader will find some way to return Dustfinger from death.

• Gwin – Dustfinger's pet horned marten, he accompanied his master into the "real world" and has become as fond of Farid as of his master. After returning to the Inkworld in Inkspell, he does not always get along with Dustfinger's new marten, Jink.

• Darius – the bespectacled reader who served Capricorn in Inkheart and now lives with the Folcharts at Elinor's house. While quite a proficient reader, he has a tendency to stutter when afraid, which can damage the character or item.

• Orpheus – a beautifully voiced reader, writer, and ex-convict of dubious motives. He assisted Basta and Mortola in Inkspell and was read into the Inkworld at the end of that book in order to bring Dustfinger back to life. However, he uses his skills for his own benefit, much to Farid's chagrin.

Characters in the Inkworld

• The Black Prince – a dark-skinned strolling-player turned robber and life-long friend of Dustfinger. He and his bear are inseparable, and he is the leader of the band of robbers which Mo, the Bluejay, joins at the end of Inkspell.

Capricorn: He is an evil prince who Mo read out of Inkheart prior to the events of the original book. He was described as a handsome, smooth character who was deadly and twisted. He was destroyed by Meggie in Inkheart when she read a new ending to the book, written by Fenoglio.

• Mortola – also known as The Magpie, she is Capricorn's mother, but served as his housekeeper and chief poisoner. Her twisted affection for her son drives her to destroy Mo, the man whose words killed her son. She knows the secret properties of many dangerous plants in both worlds and thoroughly deserves her nickname.

• Doria – a teenaged spy for the Black Prince in Inkdeath who joined the robbers after they saved him and a friend from hanging. Brother to the Strong Man. He loves Meggie and always wants her to tell him about her world, whose inventions he hopes to imitate.

• Strong Man – a strolling player turned robber. Older brother to Doria, the Strong Man admires the Black Prince and the Bluejay.

• Jink – the horned marten Dustfinger tames to replace Gwin after returning to the Inkworld alone in Inkspell. He also likes Farid and sometimes quarrells with Gwin.

• Rosenquartz – a tiny, irascible glass man who works as Fenoglio's helper in preparing maniscripts.

• Minerva – Fengolio's kindly landlady, whose husband was killed during the second book Cosimo's tragic battle against the Adderhead in Inkspell.

• Despina & Ivo – Minerva's young daughter and older son. Ivo has had to be the man of the family since his father's death, but both he and his sister love the stories Fenoglio used to tell them.

• Roxane – the wife of Dustfinger. She was a beautiful and talented singer among the strolling players until Dustfinger disappeared, when she became a skilled grower of herbs and healer. After his return and death in Inkspell, she took his body away in secret so that it would never decay, and she resents Farid for unwittingly causing his death.

• Jehan – the son of Roxane and her deceased second husband.

• Brianna – the only surviving child of Dustfinger and Roxane. In Inkspell, while acting as maid to Violante, she became enamoured of her employer's husband and is the chief mourner of his death. She resents her father for disappearing when she was a child.

• Violante – also known as Her Ugliness. She is Cosimo's widow, Jacapo's mother, the Adderhead's daughter, whose disfiguring facial birthmark faded when her husband returned from the death, due to Fenoglio's machinations in Inkspell. Once again a widow, in Inkdeath, she becomes more enamored than ever of the Bluejay legend.

• Jacopo – the son of Cosimo the Fair and Violante. He closely resembles his handsome father, but imitates his maternal grandfather, the Adderhead, as much as possible.

• Taddeo – a half-brownie who is the dedicated servant of Violante.
• Balbulus – an irritable but very talented illuminator who works for Violante.

• The Adderhead – also known as the Silver Prince. The tyrant who forced Mo to immortalize him in Inkspell, he has become disgustingly ill due to Mo's deception and now wishes to kill the Bluejay – after forcing him to bind a new book.

• The Piper – also known as Silvernose, because of his metal prosthetic. He was Capricorn's minstrel prior to the events of Inkheart and has become an important henchman of the Adderhead.

• Sootbird – an unconvincing fire-eater who must use chemicals to perform his tricks. He betrayed the Bluejay (Mo) to the Adderhead in Inkspell and continues to serve and perform for him in Inkdeath.

• Jasper and Ironstone – Orpheus's glassmen. Exact oppostites.

• Milksop – The Adderhead's half-witted brother-in-law.

• Snapper – Robber. Saved Doria and Luc from hanging.

• Gecko – Guard for Black Prince.

Sales

On October 1, the online bookstore of Barnes and Nobles shipped the book out early. On October 3, Borders Express sold the book early.

External links

• Cornelia Funke's Website
• InkWeb - The Inkheart Fansite
• View the cover here