November 2016 Book of the Month | In a nutshell: mesmerising tale of love and adventure set in a dark fairy tale world | Cornelia Funke has an extraordinarily fertile imagination, which is fed and inspired by the old fairy tales and in this the third episode of the Reckless series, she draws on stories from Eastern Europe in another distinctive, thrilling and complex novel. Once again, she sends her hero Jacob Reckless and his brother through the magical mirror into another world. The book opens with a bloody labour and the birth of a baby, a scene her original editors felt would upset readers, causing Funke to find a new way to publish. The scene however sets the tone for the book, which examines love, its power as much a threat to protagonists as a strength. As ever, she weaves together the different plotlines brilliantly, maintaining character development and sustaining the excitement to keep readers breathlessly turning the pages.
The worlds on either side of the mirror are about to collide. And there's nothing Jacob can do to stop them. After a perilous encounter with an Alder Elf - an immortal, trick--turning creature to whom he owes a great debt - Jacob must journey back into the enchanted Mirrorworld once again. Together with Fox, his beautiful shape-shifting friend, Jacob has no choice but to follow his brother on the trail of the Dark Fairy, who has fled deep into the East: to a land of folklore, Cossacks, spies, time--eating witches and flying carpets. But what exactly is the Dark One running from? Could it be the same danger that threatens Jacob and Fox?
Cornelia Funke’s bestselling Inkheart trilogy has been a huge hit and been made into a major motion picture. She has won the Book Sense Children’s Literature Award twice and the Roswitha Prize. She was voted into Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in 2005.
