Sarah's Reviews > Inkdeath

Inkdeath is the epic adventure I expected Inkheart and Inkspell to be—and as much as I complained about the slow pace, plot meandering, and innumerable characters in the first two books, I can tell you now that all the buildup was worth it.

Funke was juggling so many different plots by the end of Inkspell that I was seriously worried that many or all would be dropped or mishandled in the third act, but she surprised me by keeping all of them going until their natural conclusions, and also resisting the temptation to add new ones. Not every writer can do that.

(view spoiler)[Dustfinger is dead, Orpheus is abroad in the Inkworld, the Adderhead is immortal but frozen in the death process, Meggie is angry, Resa is pregnant, Fenoglio is racked with guilt, and Mo can’t tell whether he’s himself or the Bluejay these days. Can the Adder be stopped? Can Death itself be undone? Can anyone achieve peace in the Inkworld? Can the people from our world ever return here—or should they? (hide spoiler)]

I can’t say much more than this without ruining all the surprises.

Content Advisory:

It might help to think of this as a very clean book for adults that happens to have a few teens among its many protagonists. Young kids might find it inaccessible and hard to follow—I remember a lot of younger friends who loved the first two books hated this one—and it avoids the melodrama of a typical YA offering. (There is a love triangle, but it’s minor. It is treated like a teen relationship should be, gently but not too seriously, and not given any undue importance).

Violence: Various warlords enjoy brutal executions, including flayings and disembowelments. These are never shown, only mentioned. We do, however, see a handful of stabbings. There’s a few non-graphic torture scenes. The Adderhead has fairies killed en masse, thinking that bathing in their blood will alleviate his pain. A warlord threatens to cut out a man’s tongue; a magician sends a prisoner horrifying visions, hoping to drive him to suicide. Orpheus reads a unicorn into being for one of the warlords—so said warlord and his friends can hunt the animal, brutally butcher it, and parade its bloodied corpse through the streets of Ombra City. A dead man lies unburied outside castle walls, and his daughter is put in a cage hanging from a window above him in an attempt to break her spirit. The Piper forces children to work in the silver mines. There’s a panic in the marketplace and three little kids are trampled to death.

Sex: Farid walks in on Orpheus yanking a serving-girl onto his lap, and the narrator adds that Orpheus molests all his maids, becomes enraged if they reject his advances, and might spend some of his money on prostitutes. Brianna’s past affair with Cosimo (or his doppelganger) is mentioned a few times. Violante has an obvious crush on Mo—or the Bluejay, rather—and sulks when she finds out he’s already married. Meggie gets a few chaste kisses in with both Farid and the new boyfriend, Doria.

Language: A few emphatic “damns!” from Fenoglio and Elinor, usually directed at each other. They’re madly in love, they just don’t know it yet.

Substance Abuse: Fenoglio and Orpheus are both described as heavily hitting the booze, the former because he’s depressed, the latter because he’s debauched. Elinor has no patience for Fenoglio’s drinking and tells him so on several occasions.

Anything Else to Worry About: The Adderhead’s flesh is rotting on his body even while he lives. No one can bear the stench well enough to go near him—except the Piper, thanks to his fake silver nose.

Overall, this is one of the most satisfying conclusions to a fantasy series that I’ve ever read. Warmly recommended.