Inkheart

By: Cornelia Funke

Narrated by: Lynn Redgrave

From the author of the sensational New York Times bestseller The Thief Lord comes a thrilling new adventure about magic and self-discovery.

Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a bookbinder. But her father has a deep secret--he possesses an extraordinary magical power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives who seems linked to her father's past. Who is this sinister character and what does he want? Suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of escape and intrigue as her father's life is put in danger. Will she be able to save him in time?

Includes an excerpt from Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart, read by Brendan Fraser.©2003 Cornelia Funke; (P)2003 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, a division of Random House, Inc.

Word Magic

Anyone who enjoys the Jasper Fford books will catch the "Word Magic" in this book. I always enjoyed the concept of literary characters jumping in and out of books... particularly when I am listening to one being read to me by someone like Lyn Redgrave. The irony is perfect. With respect to the story itself, it was such a great page turner, I took a vacation day to finish it! Redgrave's narration is elocution at its best and is as seamless as story.
Enjoy this one Folks - I certainly did!

Painfully detailed

This book just developed too slowly for me. There was too many details that drew the story out, distracted from the plot and honestly bored me. I am a "cut to the chase" girl so describing a flower beyond its name is just unnecessary. But if you like the author to make you taste, smell, and feel every detail, give this one a try.

As injoyable as it get for Me!

I loved it, it is a fun read that can be a little scary but not too much, there are no bad words and the second book gets even better! Keep in mind the 2nd and 3rd books are 2 credits but they are worth 3 credits, yes its that good! the reader for each book is differant though, and I was upset at first because the reader of the first may be the best I have ever heard but the reader of the second is the main actor for the movie, so I can excuse that change, all in all it is as good as I want a book to be but better than I exspected!

great reading of an almost-great book

Another fine book by Cornelia Funke, the best contemporary children's author around (yes, even better than J.K. rowling, another great one--why weren't there such good children's authors around when I was a kid?), in my opinion. My son and I have been reading Ms. Funke's books since we discovered Drag Rider. And we've been listening to them, too. Brendan Fraser's reading of Dragon Rider was a delight (see my review), but Lynn Redgrave's narration of Inkheart is even better. Their styles are so different, it's hard to compare: like comparing a cartoon with straight literature. Or, in the case of Ms. Redgrave, I'd call it classic literature: Ms. Redgrave is a fine actress and has been at this for a long time, and it shows. Her narration is spellbinding, her voice slides effortlessly between convincingly masculine, feminine, good or evil, without jumping registers or losing its quality of being Lynn Redgrave's voice. And that takes more than talent, that takes skill, and Lynn Redgrave has both. So I've written most of these words in praise of Lynn Redgrave--but it's her narration that made this almost-great book into a great audiobook.

Delight to the ear

This audio book is just brilliant. Ms. Redgrave's undeniably great theatrical ability, is put to great use as she effortlessy voices each character. I have to admit I was a little worried about the male characters, but I was soon put to ease.

The story is delightfully dark as the evil Capricorn, read out of the book Inkheart, come to life and takes over. Poor Meggie must overcome many obstacles to find her courage and save her loved ones.

Themes of book burning, imagination and the power of the written word are skillfully interwoven in this excellent book.