Gloria & Audrey Harchar

Inkheart is a book about a book. That is to say, the plot device is the book. The bad guys have burned all but one copy, which they’ve kept, and the good guys want to get it and hide it from the bad guys. Inkheart is a story about the power of reading, and the magic that can happen with the written and spoken word.

Let’s start with the characters: Mortimer Folchart is a bookbinder by trade. He doctors books, gives them new bindings and covers, reties the pages, and keeps the mold away. Nine years ago, he read his wife into the book, while at the same time he read out three characters.

Dustfinger is a fire-eater from the book that Mortimer read his wife into. Fire is his friend, and in the world he comes from, it obeys him. But now he’s in a world he doesn’t know, and wants nothing more to go home. He’ll even sell out his friends in return for a trip home.

Capricorn is the villain of the story, read out at the same time as Dustfinger. He’s an evil man, with a heart ‘as black as ink.’ There is nothing he won’t do to get his way. He promised Dustfinger a one-way ticket home in return for Mo, who he calls ‘Silvertongue.’

Basta is Capricorn’s main henchman, read out with Capricorn and Dustfinger. He loves nothing except for his knife, and desires nothing except violence and Capricorn’s approval.

Meggie Folchart is Mo’s daughter. At the time that her mother was read into Inkheart, she was 3, so she doesn’t remember the event. She gets mixed up in the adventure when she and her dad try to flee from their home.

Elinor is Meggie’s grand-aunt. She prefers to be alone than anything else, and loves her books more than she loves people. Meggie and Mo flee to her house to hide from Capricorn, and she gets pulled into the action against her will.

Fenoglio is the author of Inkheart. He prides himself on the creation of Capricorn, whose evil is unsurpassed. When he finds out that his creation has come to life, he is eager to join in and help save the day.

Farid is an Arab boy read out of One-thousand and One Nights. Read out of his story, he quickly attaches himself to Dustfinger,  learning the tricks of the trade.

Character rating: 8/10

On to the Plot: 12-year-old Meggie Folchart is worried when a strange man shows up at their doorstep to speak to her father. She listens in on them talking about a man named Capricorn, who is apparently hunting Mortimer. The next day, they attempt to flee to her grand-aunt Elinor’s house, but are joined by the man, Dustfinger. After a few nights at the grand house, her father is kidnapped by Capricorn’s men, and a very important book is taken with him. Elinor, Meggie, and Dustfinger follow, tracking the villains to an abandoned village, where, it is claimed, the devil himself lives. They are captured, but, with Dustfinger’s help, they escape, running to a village where they find out the author of the book, Fenoglio, lives. One day when Mo is out, Capricorn’s henchman, Basta, comes and captures Meggie and Fenoglio, taking them to the village. They find out that Capricorn has a plan to bring back an ‘old friend’ who will carry out the execution of the prisoners, and help him take over the world…

Plot Rating: 9/10

Finally, the Logic: Inkheart is a book about magical reading abilities, fire tamers, horned martins and evil men summoning evil creatures, but it takes place in our world. The logic is perfectly balanced between fantasy and realism.

Logic rating: 10/10

Overall rating: 9/10.

Characters: The first and main character in this fantastical tail is Hannah. She’s a young woman, living in a forest with nobody but the animals and a wizard for company. She has a good heart, curing villagers’ ailments for free, and her mind is open to change. She has five companions that are always with her.

Magpie is, as her name suggests, a magpie. She’s been with Hannah since the girl woke in the woods. Quick to scold, but caring over the others, she is essentially the mother of the group.

Badger is a badger. Like Magpie, he woke up with Hannah with no memories from before the Wood. Older than the others, he’s wise in his ways and not so quick to anger as Magpie.

The Fox Cubs are three rowdy, ramunctious fox cubs that love running, chasing, wrestling, and playing. Like the others, they woke with no memories, but they don’t let it bother them.

The Wizard is a man who’s been in the woods since before Hannah can remember. He is the master of the  Wood. Every full moon, he has Hannah brew him a tea from the buds in her hair, so he can retain his power. There is something odd and troubling about him.

Prince Foxkith is a knight who wandered into the Wood one day, seeking to kill the beast said to live in the heart of it and take its treasure. His heart is pure and brave, and like others before him, he’ll lay his life down to kill the beast.

Character Diversity: 6/10

Plot: Hannah often gives cures to the villagers brave enough to enter the Wood and find her.  Time and again, she’s seen knights ride into the Wood, never to come out again. She tries to stop them, but they never notice her, until one day when she’s gathering seaweed on a beach and a young knight asks for direction to the Wood. She tells him that only death lies there, but he says he must kill the beast in the heart. She pins a lily to his chest for protection, and he rides off. A few days later, she finds him, half-dead, near a creek in the woods. She takes him to her hut and heals him, brewing tea for the Wizard living in the woods once a month. One day, Foxkith follows her, and they stumble on a treasure trove in the heart of the Wood. There, they are confronted by the Beast, which takes the form of the Wizard. After a bit of talking, he reveals to Hannah that Foxkith and all the knights before him were nothing but animals, turning Foxkith into a true fox. he then turns into his beastly form, intending to kill them, but is warded off because he didn’t drink the tea that Hannah had brewed and so didn’t have any magic left. Hannah leaves with the others, to find Foxkith’s queen that he spoke of while human, to undo the spell that’s been done on him.

Plot: 8/10

Logic: It’s a fantasy setting, and all of the characters of importance are rather fantastic. But it’s stil pretty logical that Hannah, sheltered by the Wizard, wouldn’t know much about the ways of man. It also is logical as to why she can understand her animal companions speaking to her. Still, some plot elements seem to be there just for the sake of being there.

Logic Score: 6.5/10

Overall: 6.8/10

The Characters:

Artemis Fowl is a book filled with characters, each completely individual. To start, we have the titular character, Artemis Fowl. He’s a twelve-year-old Irish boy from a very wealthy family. Not only is he rich, he’s also a complete genius, who strives towards whatever goals come to mind. He’ll do anything to complete his plans, even sinking so low as to kidnapping.

Butler is Fowl’s, body guard and, well, butler. A behemoth of a man, he is very strong, very loyal, and very dedicated. While he may not be as smart as his charge, he has no trouble beating down anybody that goes up against him.

Holly Short is the second fairy we’re introduced to, but the first one that has more than a passing significance to the plot. She’s a LEPrecon- Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance- officer, with a strong sense of duty to her people. She’s also the first woman officer on the LEP, and so has to prove herself. So, she tends to be very gun-ho about things.

Commander Root is Holly’s commanding officer, and the chief of the LEP. His temper is always ready to rise, but he cares about his officers, even though it doesn’t often show. When he finds out that Fowl has kidnapped one of his people, he’s reluctant to do anything that could cost the officer their life.

Foaly is a Centaur who is a mechanical, electrical, and engineering genius. He is also very mouthy, often sassing and poking fun at everyone around him. He sits on the side-lines and does all the tech stuff that needs to be done.

Mulch Diggums is a kleptomanic Dwarf, who has lost his magic due to entering a human dwelling without permission in order to steal from them. He’s been thrown in jail, but when Root needs someone to break into the Fowl home to get the officer out, Mulch is the Dwarf he calls on.

Angeline Fowl is Artemis’ mother. Since her husband disappeared a year prior to the book, she’s been in a state of madness and delirium. She is often confused about who people are, and even confuses Artemis for his grandfather, or even for a complete and total stranger.

Rating for character diversity: 9.5/10

The Plot:

Without going into too much detail, and without spoiling too much, I’m going to overview the plot.

Artemis Fowl, criminal mastermind twelve-year-old, wants money to restore some of his family’s wealth. To reach this goal, he’s been studying the People, or the fairies as they’re known in many languages. The first scene of the book involves him getting a copy of the Book, which is the fairies’ bible. He decodes it to learn all of their secrets, and then goes to capture a fairy by the name of Holly Short. The abduction goes off without a problem due to Butler’s help. Once they have her in a cell, they manage a way to get a hold of Commander Root, letting him know they have his officer. Root takes action, sending in a LEPretrieval squad to get her out. Unfortunately, they’re wiped out by Butler. Root goes to negotiate a trade with Fowl, who wants one ton of twenty-four karat gold. Root gets the money, but before he hands it over, a few more tactics are tried.

First, they stop time for eight hours, so they don’t have to worry about the sun interfering with their powers. They bring in a Dwarf, Mulch Diggums, to try and free Holly. The plan goes under, though, as Holly has been ordered by Artemis not to leave the house. An order that she cannot ignore, by the Book’s word.

Eventually, Root’s command is taken by an old friend of his, who wants to try more drastic measures. His first thought is to send in a Troll to make Artemis invite them in. This fails as the troll goes on a rampage through the house, only to be stopped by Butler. With no other choice, they hand the gold over, get Holly out, and then attempt a bio-bomb of the place, which will kill every living thing inside the house, but not harm anything else. Fowl, luckily, has just the plan to avoid this. Before he does this however, he requests one wish from Holly, in exchange for half the gold that he got as ransom for her.

All in all, not a bad plot. I left out some details for you to find if you read it.
Plot Review Score: 8/10

Finally, the logic of the story:

In all honesty, there is nothing done without a reason thoroughly explained in the book. Fowl’s plot to gain more wealth, Butler’s loyalty, why Holly was the unfortunate one captured, etc, etc. No plot point is overlooked.
Plot Logic: 10/10.

Over-all, it’s a good book, with many diverse characters, a nice, flowing plot, and flawless logic.
Over-all score: 9/10