World: Portal (Characters from books get teleported to our world and vice versa). Set in Northern Italy (our world modern times).
Races: Humans, fairies, and sundry monsters.
Magic System: Book Incantation - Certain people open a portal between our world and the story world when they read out loud.
Premise: Sorcerer's Apprentice. Main character has accidentally lost his wife because he cannot control his book incantation powers.
First and foremost, the pacing is slow. A quarter of the book goes by before the main action starts. The storyline had me hooked but by the middle of the book I found myself skipping ahead just to find out what happens next.
Second, the author scatters factoids about books into the narration to build a sense of bibliophile culture, but many of those facts are off.
For example, she claims that medieval people didn't appreciate books and used the bindings to make leather soles for their shoes and burned the pages to warm their baths. Leather soles were not commonplace among peasants until the Renaissance, nor were hot baths. As for nobles, even the illiterate nobles knew the monetary value of books (roughly that of a luxury car today). An unappreciated book got sold, not burned.
Also, she quotes from different books at the beginning of each chapter. Some quotes fit, most do not. Many are from books that got adapted into movies. Are we dealing with a true booklover here or does the novel simply target booklovers?
Inkheart's strengths are many - likeable heroes, despicable villains (maybe a bit too dark for younger audiences), colorful world, and clever writing style. In the end, you can't go wrong giving it a try, but you might find greater reward for your booklover's fever elsewhere.
Age recommendation: 13+
