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Books by Cornelia Funke

Cover of Herr der Diebe.

Herr der Diebe

by Cornelia Funke · published 2000 · read 2001-07-01

★★★★★

Possibly my first good magical realism book. I loved this so much that I took the real name of one of the characters as my alter ego name in adventure stories I was writing at the time.

Cover of Inkheart.

Inkheart

by Cornelia Funke · published 2003 · read 2006-08-01

★★★★☆

Inkheart understood me. It understood my dorky love for books, and how I wanted to jump into a story. It got feeling alone, and it got nerding out with others. And it made other books come to life – and I loved it for it. Some of it follows YA rules and annoyances: it's slow to develop and the protagonist is sometimes grating. But that's perfectly fine when balancing it against the imaginative story.

Cover of Inkdeath.

Inkdeath

by Cornelia Funke · published 2007 · read 2007-03-01

★★★★☆

Concluding the Inkworld series, and concluding it well. Like all the books, it's a bit too long with characters who are just a bit too bland. But this book at least has a good share of action and plotting (possibly too much, looking at its length), and a satisfying ending, and that's more than many authors can manage.

Cover of Igraine the Brave.

Igraine the Brave

by Cornelia Funke · published 1998 · read 2004-02-01

★★★★☆

Igraine is a very sweet book for kids. Igraine wants to be a knight, not a boring wizard like everybody else in her family, and she gets her wish – and has to save her family in the process. A bit saccharine in the general tone, possibly, but the execution borders on dry and is just generally sparking joy.

Cover of Dragon Rider.

Dragon Rider

by Cornelia Funke · published 1997 · read 2007-04-01

★★★☆☆

I have very little memory of this book, apart from it being somewhat generic fantasy.

Cover of Inkspell.

Inkspell

by Cornelia Funke · published 2005 · read 2006-01-01

★★★☆☆

More Inkworld shenanigans: Meggie now reads herself and others into the story, and also has to deal with the original author, who turns out to be very annoying. The story builds extremely slowly and I enjoyed it mostly for the worldbuilding. The characters are – with one exception – unimpressive and not exactly enjoyable.

Cover of Die Wilden Hühner.

Die Wilden Hühner

by Cornelia Funke · published 1993 · read 2004-11-01

★★★☆☆

Generic-but-good girl series, where the girls do lots of adventurous things and are way cooler than the boys, and very matter-of-fact. I liked it a bit as a kid, though I mostly read it for lack of other things to read. I can still name some of the characters and their general vibe (ok, mostly Sprotte), which is a mark in favour of the book.

Cover of Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erde.

Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erde

by Cornelia Funke · published 2000 · read 2008-03-01

★★★☆☆

Inevitably, there is a horse book. Because girls. And horses. That seems to be the reasoning, at least as far as I remember it.

Cover of Die Wilden Hühner: Fuchsalarm.

Die Wilden Hühner: Fuchsalarm

by Cornelia Funke · published 1998 · read 2004-10-01

★★★☆☆

More adventuring, more summer gang stuff. I enjoyed it at the time and will never read it again.

Cover of Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost.

Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost

by Cornelia Funke · published 1993 · read 2001-02-01

★★★☆☆

I have a vaguely positive memory of this book, but that's about it. The protagonist was nice, had an annoying older sister, and dealt with ghosts with cleverness and hacked up techy devices? It's the Cornelia Funke boy series to her more famous girl series.

Cover of Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe.

Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe

by Cornelia Funke · published 2003 · read 2005-10-01

★★☆☆☆

The summer gang at their most generic: Suddenly, the boys are more than just an annoyance. Though they keep being annoying, of course. Captured the feeling of my early adolescence well, and as such I will never read it again.