Monday, December 20, 2010

"Igraine the Brave"

I've had this book on my to-read list for some time, and I finally listened to it last week. I'm glad I did.

Igraine is just turning twelve years old, and she's tired of the same old stuff. She wants adventure. It seems that living in a castle and having brilliant magician parents and brother isn't enough for her. Neither is a talking cat. Or magical singing books.

You know the saying "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it"?

Well, Igraine gets her wish for something exciting when Greedy Osmund shows up to demand that her family hands over their magical singing books, and isn't willing to accept no for an answer.

This really shouldn't be a problem, however, because Igraine's parents are great magicians and can easily turn Osmund the Greedy into a cockroach. Or anyways, they would be able to turn him into a cockroach, if they hadn't accidentally turned themselves into pigs!

With only her half-trained magician brother to defend the singing books and their parents from Osmund the Greedy, Igraine sets out to find the magic ingredient needed to turn her parents back into themselves. Will she be able to retrieve it quickly enough? Will she return home to find the castle destroyed?

I've read some of Cornelia Funke's books before, and knew that I could safely expect something fantastic when I picked up Igraine the Brave. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find it even better than I had anticipated. Funke has created a world of delightful characters who are lovable, and a villain who you'll enjoy seeing taken down.

Also, I found that it was often difficult to predict what was going to happen. In fact, I think I was only able to make one prediction with any certainty when I was listening to this book.

I highly recommend this book. You won't regret reading it. :)

1 comment:

Magaly Guerrero said...

I just read the first few chapters of Reckless and I'm hooked. I LOVE Cornelia!!! I'll definitely pick this one up.

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