E-book of inkheart

Meggie must learn to harness the magic that has conjured this nightmare. For only she can change the course of the story that has changed her life forever. Dare to read it aloud. In Funke's The Thief Lord delectably thick and transfixing fantasy, year-old Meggie learns that when her bookbinder father, Mo, reads a book aloud, the characters and other objects appear in the real world.

Nine years ago, Mo accidentally brought out evil Capricorn and his loyal man, Basta, from Inkheart as well as the "fire-eater," Dustfinger , and they are hot on his trail. Capricorn wants to destroy Mo's copy of the book so that Mo can't return Capricorn to his fictional life, and Capricorn wants the bookbinder to read out treasures as in "gold" for him as well as a murderous "friend" from Inkheart known as the Shadow. Transform this Plot Summary into a Study Guide. As the book opens, Meggie Folchart lives with her father, Mo, a specialist who repairs books for a living.

One night, they are visited by Dustfinger. On the way there, Dustfinger and Mo explain that they are running from Capricorn, an evil man. When Meggie learns that she can read things out of books, just like her father, and uses this ability to save the day. It is utterly fascinating to be able to watch so many realistic stories come to life. Inkheart is a wonderfully written, fantastical story about love, loss, and the ability of an underdog to rise.

Funke successfully builds a world not our own, but which intermingles with our world. Even though Capricorn, Farid, Dustfinger, Basta, Flatnose—among others—do not belong in our world, they find their way here and have to adapt. This is a fantastic examination of what it would be like if stories came to life.

Meggie realizes she has to get away, but can see no opening. Then the question of whether they will take the children comes up, and Basta asks Fenoglio what he would do. It is easy to see Fenoglio is not comfortable. Basta decides not to take the children. They are taken to the apartment where Basta carves his name into the dresser as a message to Mo. Dustfinger uses a house that had belonged to an old woman that Capricorn had sent his men to chase away. The men burned the house and killed the animals.

Basta had ordered Flatnose to shut the woman up, and she had fallen dead as Flatnose kept his hand over her mouth. Basta avoided the place for fear of ghosts. From here they can watch the village. Farid also fears the ghost of the old woman ghosts are about the only thing Farid fears but Dustfinger believes there are no ghosts in this world unless they are invisible.

Farid keeps playing with fire, which amuses Dustfinger, but sometimes admonishes him for not being careful enough, telling him that fire is not his friend. Farid tells Dustfinger that fire is his friend, but Dustfinger knows that fire does not obey him in this world like in the Inkheart world. Dustfinger remembers about how Capricorn had forced him to teach him about fire. Capricorn is gone from the village, which is often the case, driven to one of his other locations. A truck arrives with goats and Dustfinger tells how another farmer had lost his goats, and how a dead rooster had probably been left for the farmer as a calling card.

Capricorn has added floodlight and additional guards, probably because of the treasure stored in his house money he just hordes and does not spend. Farid begs to go with Dustfinger, telling Dustfinger he would only follow, so Dustfinger agrees to allow Farid to come along—Dustfinger thinks he should get rid of the boy but does not know how.

The village does not look as foreboding as she remembered. Fenoglio is amazed at how the village looks like a setting he thought up for Inkheart—Inkheart is set in a period similar to medieval times. Fenoglio also states he knows the village and it has had a sad history.

They are escorted to the church where they find a woman Meggie thinks of as a magpie with 2 men moving a new chair into position for Capricorn. Basta seems to somewhat fear the magpie. The magpie admonished Basta for not bringing Silvertongue, and Basta attempts to explain that Silvertongue will come for his daughter. Magpie tells Basta that he has failed: letting Dustfinger steal his keys, loses the dogs, and a search party had to be sent for him when he and Flatnose were tied up. She demands his keys which angers Basta.

Basta locks them in the shed Farid had been locked in. Then Fenoglio asks what Capricorn wants from Mo, and she tells him that Capricorn wants Mo to read out a friend. As they huddle that night hungry and cold, Fenoglio asks Meggie to confirm is if Basta is still superstitious. She confirms this and he seems pleased, but says no more. Dustfinger and Farid sneak into the village. When Farid suggests using the roofs, Dustfinger sees the benefits of this idea.

Dustfinger notes with relief that there are no dogs which means that the dogs had smartly not come back, and they had not been replaced.

Dustfinger makes the sound of a bird and a woman appears in a window, and a door behind a grating opens and Resa is there. Dustfinger asks and she tells him she does not know where the book is, but will look for it. Resa cannot speak—she taught Dustfinger how to read—so she has to write to communicate.

She asks who Silvertongue is, but Dustfinger only provides limited information. When they return to the house, Farid asks if Resa had always been mute; Dustfinger says she has been mute ever since he knew her. Farid tells Dustfinger that Resa looks like Meggie, but Dustfinger dismisses this. Capricorn is in a pale yellow suit instead of red in the church when Fenoglio and Meggie are brought to him. Capricorn is obviously unhappy with Basta not bringing Silvertongue, and tells Basta he is slipping.

Fenoglio is obviously impressed with himself for his creation, and how Capricorn matches what he imagined. Fenoglio is amused, and asks if he should tell Capricorn about his parents.

Capricorn tells Fenoglio he can tell what he wants, but if he values his life say it so no one can hear. Fenoglio wants to give Capricorn information about the characters that is not in the book, such as that Basta was a very unhappy boy until he met Capricorn; he had found a god for himself.

Now he tells Capricorn that he has gone by that name since he was 15, and his mother is not of noble birth, nor his father is an armorer. He tells how his father was an ordinary blacksmith, and would beat Capricorn, and his mother is the magpie, a mere servant. Capricorn then tells Fenoglio that he is amused by the story, and he is a born liar. Fenoglio is then told he will be kept in the village, which upsets Fenoglio. Fenoglio is then told his grandchildren will be hostage to his good behavior.

Capricorn tells Basta to take Fenoglio to be shut up in a room in the house, and Fenoglio then asks that Meggie stay with him in the room, and Capricorn agrees. Farid sees a car coming and goes to Dustfinger to tell him that he thinks it is Silvertongue. Dustfinger rushes to the bridge to stop Silvertongue. Mo gets out of the car furious with Dustfinger for telling Capricorn about them, and Dustfinger denies it.

Mo is somewhat convinced, but Elinor is still sure that Dustfinger gave them away. Elinor, raging, then tells how the police were in admiration with the damage to her books, try to console her by telling her that at least house and garden were not significantly damaged.

Dustfinger can see the similarity between himself and Elinor, and tells her that she should have expected Capricorn would get revenge. Apparently Elinor wanted to call the police after discovering Meggie had been taken, but Mo would not let her—Dustfinger tells Elinor Mo was right.

Dustfinger then tries to convince Mo not to rush in since all that will happen is that Mo will also be taken. Elinor and Mo are tied to a tree near the dilapidated house. Dustfinger leaves Farid with the prisoners and leaves for the village to get the book. The room was furnished with bunk beds and a few other pieces of furniture.

Meggie tells Fenoglio that she is going to try to escape. He tells her it is too dangerous and that they will think of something. On her bunk she wonders why Mo has not arrived. When the door opens it is not Resa, but a girl. It is a trap; Basta, Mortola, and Flatnose are there. He learns from Basta that Resa is also in trouble, which is somewhat of a relief to Dustfinger who thought Resa had given him away. Meggie attempts to escape by asking the guard to let her go to the bathroom, and runs once she is out of the room.

It fails. Meggie is very upset, cries, and states she does not even have any books. Fenoglio tells her that he found some books hidden by Darius. Fenoglio goes to sleep but Meggie cannot, so Meggie starts to read. Meggie starts reading Peter Pan out loud hoping to be taken away from here, and imagines being the fairy. She notices that there is a brightness that flies around the room, Tinkerbell. She wakes Fenoglio. Fenoglio hears footsteps and tells Meggie to hide the fairy.

She tries to catch the fairy, but fails. They hear steps. It is Basta to get Meggie for Capricorn, who has somebody he wants Meggie to see. Basta immediately sees the fairy when he opens the door. He uses his jacket to catch the fairy. Capricorn and the magpie are in the church. Capricorn asks what kept Basta, who explains that the jailer could not get the right key, and that he had to capture something.

Then Basta shows Capricorn the fairy that he captured in his jacket; Capricorn does not recognize the type of fairy. Shortly she can see two people lowered in nets hanging from the ceiling, one of which is Dustfinger. Dustfinger tells Meggie that he is to give her love from her father and that he will come soon. Then Capricorn tells Dustfinger that he has a special plan for a traitor: he will have Meggie read somebody out of Inkheart for him.

The magpie then asks what Capricorn will do to punish the other traitor, Resa. Capricorn then tells how disappointed he is with Resa since he really liked her.

Meggie looks up at the woman and she wonders about her. The magpie tells Capricorn that it will take two days to bring in the men from the other bases to witness the execution. Capricorn then tells the magpie that he wants another test before then. Meggie says she will not read anything out for her, but Capricorn seems unperturbed. Basta keeps the fairy since he believes that they bring luck.

Meggie will read the Shadow out in two days. When Meggie is returns to the room, Fenoglio is anxious to know what happened. She tells him they caught Dustfinger and a woman she thinks is her mother. She tells him that Capricorn is going to read someone out of the book to execute the two prisoners.

Fenoglio wants to tell her tomorrow about the being that Capricorn wants her to read out, but Meggie is insistent. Then he tells her about the Shadow. He then tells her that her father had an idea, and that he will have to think about it. Fenoglio thinks the woman is not her mother.

It takes till dawn for her to fall asleep, and then she had numerous nightmares. In the morning Fenoglio wakes her and does not look like he got any sleep. Farid waits for Dustfinger all night. Mo and Elinor attempts to get Farid to untie them, saying they have to go to the village and determine what happened.

Farid tells them that it would be better if he went alone since he is good at that who would fear a skinny boy ; he used to do this for the thieves, who would beat him if he failed. Mo tells him that he is probably right, but asks if he would untie them first; a snake could appear.

Farid leaves taking the martin since the martin may be useful. He uses a code that he and Meggie used to exchange notes. Flatnose brings a much better breakfast for them, and Meggie does not like the look on his face; Flatnose is looking forward to the execution. When Darius arrives, he excitedly goes for the apricots. He tells how when he did not read out items alright, which was most of the time; they would only serve him stale bread and how he would look at pictures of food, apricots.

They stopped trying to get him to read out better with fear since it just made him read worse. He tells how he had only learned of his talent when he read a bird out of a book with Basta in the area; if it had not been for Basta he would not have known.

Later Basta takes him prisoner when he went to his home. First he had to read out gold, then Mortola Mortola says he made her older and rickety , then three serving women; he felt sorry for the women. Fenoglio tells her to ask to keep the Tin Soldier, and to also ask for paper. Then Mortola appears in the doorway. Meggie reads the Tin Soldier out, and when Mortola leaves, she takes the soldier with her.

Meggie asks to keep the Tin Soldier, and Mortola says she can have the soldier back after Capricorn sees it. When Mortola leaves, Meggie sees a fury face in the Window, Gwen. This is the first time Fenoglio has seen Gwen, and looks at Gwen in amazement. She writes a letter for Mo about what has happened but nothing about Resa. Dustfinger and Resa only spent a night in the nets, and they are to be locked in the crypts in the church.

Dustfinger is relieved—Capricorn thought it would be amusing for the condemned to sleep on crypts. Basta is the one to take them to the crypts, and Dustfinger plays on Basta fears, including fear of the White Women creatures in Inkheart that take the living. Basta rushes out of the crypts. Resa appears unafraid of being in the crypts, but Dustfinger can feel the death, which makes it hard for him to breath.

Dustfinger apologizes for not looking for the book on his own—she tells him she did not even find the book. It is now revealed that Dustfinger had always known who Resa was.

Dustfinger now asks for a story—she often tells him stories by writing Dustfinger often guesses the rest of a sentence before she completes it making it faster. Resa does not want to read, and asks about the girl. Then she asks about Silvertongue, and he tells a little about what he looks like.

Then she starts to write a story. Elinor is asleep when Farid returns—Silvertongue had been worried since he had heard shots. Farid could tell that Silvertongue really is concerned—Farid has never had anybody really care about him. Farid informs Silvertongue that he could not read, so could not have read the note, which he could not have read anyway since it was in elfish.

In the note Silvertongue sees the news that Meggie can do the reading also—Capricorn will never let her go. Farid is curious about whom Meggie will read out of Inkheart, and Silvertongue tells her it is not a man, which puts fear into Farid.

Then Farid tells Silvertongue that there is a dumb woman that will be executed with Dustfinger, and he thinks Dustfinger loves her, and there is a picture of her in his pack. Farid had no difficulty in roaming around the village, and had picked up a black suit for Silvertongue and a dress for Elinor. Then Silvertongue asks for any ideas on how to rescue everybody. After some thought Farid recommends that they use fire. Mo does not like the idea. Fenoglio manages to get the guard to fetch Basta, who brings the tin soldier—Basta states he would have thrown the soldier on the fire if he had his way.

Fenoglio tells Basta that he can get him the keys back if he gets some paper to write a magic charm that will keep Mortola in bed for weeks giving him an opportunity to prove his worth to Capricorn. Basta spits three times, and Fenoglio makes fun of that particular superstition.

Basta agrees, but warns him he will get a serving woman to read it, and Fenoglio states he will not fool him. Basta returns with typing and Fenoglio writes some words on nine pieces of paper and tells Basta to hide the pieces where Mortola sleeps, eats, and works and give it three days. After shooing Basta out, Fenoglio goes to work filling pages with his writing.

That night Fenoglio works on his words. Meggie takes the Tin Soldier by her pillow when she finally goes to bed, telling him that he is better off than the fairy, and that when they get out she will make him a ballerina just like in his story; the magpie had taken all the books away.

Fenoglio wakes her telling her he is finished, and that they were going to try an experiment sending the Toy Soldier back. Meggie protests that he will be just sent back to die. It succeeds. Fenoglio is now excited, stating it will be like Capricorn never existed. Fenoglio then tells a story the Flower Maiden about a magician that made a woman out of flowers for his nephew who could not touch a woman without dying due to a curse by his mother.

The flower woman falls in love with another, and they kill the nephew. The magician turns the woman into an owl. Later they hear shots, and then there is a menacing silence. The shots scare Elinor, who fears that Mo and Farid were shot, and she can hardly see anything in the dark. Mo tells her she was not allowed to come because there are never any women in the streets at night.

The shooting of the two makes her somewhat self-satisfied because she had told them, and they should have listened to her and let her go to the police. She thinks of brave plans to rescue poor Meggie, but realizes they are beyond her.

She stumbles towards the car park. Before she can get too close, Mo surprises her with a hand on her mouth; Mo had been looking for her a long time. Then Elinor tells Mo they should have gone to the police. After Mo leaves, she leaves Mo a note that she is going for the police, and Mo should do nothing in the meantime.

She finds her hidden car. It is early when Basta arrives to take Meggie to the magpie. Neither Meggie nor Fenoglio eat any of the breakfast, and Meggie could not get any information from the maid. She asks Basta about her father, and he tells after they leave the room, telling her that her father got away, but when Cockerll shoots at cats they are often found dead later.

Meggie kicks Basta, and fails in an attempt to get away from him. The magpie shows Meggie a box with a couple of snakes, and under the snakes is the book. The magpie tells Meggie that Resa never got close to finding the box containing the book.