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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Einen Stern muss ich für die Herzfolter abziehen, die in der zweiten Hälfte ruhig etwas gnädiger hätte sein können.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Golden Yarn is the third book in the highly enjoyable Mirrorworld series by Cornelia Funke. The prior books are Reckless and Fearless, and I recommend reading them prior to The Golden Yarn. I really loved Fearless when I read it a couple of years ago, and I think my expectations for The Golden Yarn were possibly too high. Not that The Golden Yarn is a bad book by any means – it just didn’t inspire the furor that would cause me to give it a five star review.
The premise of the series is that there exists another world from which many of our fairy tales and myths come. Jacob Reckless, a twenty something American, has been traveling through an enchanted mirror and exploring this magical world since childhood. This fairy tale land has not gone unchanged since the days of the stories origins and is being shaped by war and industrialization. There’s fairies, but also trains and early automobiles.
The industrialized fairy land is one of my favorite fictional worlds. There’s a depth and darkness to Funke’s creation that makes it one of the best I’ve ever seen. To often fantasy settings feel static and changeless, but Funke’s feels vibrant and alive. It also feels broad and expansive, and I liked that The Golden Yarn journeyed farther east than previous installments, taking us to an alternate version of Russia.
Something I’ve loved about the previous two books is how sympathetic the antagonists were. Nerron, Kami’en, and the Dark Fairy continue to be as beguilingly likable as ever, despite the actions they take against our lead character. In particular, the Dark Fairy is tragically compelling, and possibly not even an antagonist at all by The Golden Yarn. A newer antagonist was introduced in Fearless and is very important for the events of The Golden Yarn. At this point, I believe that he will be the main villain for the whole series.
“It was hard to let go of love. Once woven, its ribbon was hard to tear, and this one she’d woven quite firmly herself.”
Thematically, I believe The Golden Yarn to be about romantic love. Fox and Jacob’s relationship been shifting towards romance over the course of the series, and it becomes ever more important here. Meanwhile, the Dark Fairy’s relationship with Kami’en has fallen apart after he rejected her for his human wife.
For a final reason to love The Golden Yarn, each chapter is headed by an illustration drawn by Cornelia Funke herself:
When I examine why I might have liked The Golden Yarn less than Fearless, I can think of a number of potential answers. Possibly there were too many POV shifts which impacted the pacing. Maybe it’s that The Golden Yarn feels less like a self contained story and more like set up for additional books. I also think that Clara was thrown under the bus here, and I’ll be peeved if everyone totally forgets about her.
Despite those quibbles, I still loved returning to this series and would recommend it.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
The premise of the series is that there exists another world from which many of our fairy tales and myths come. Jacob Reckless, a twenty something American, has been traveling through an enchanted mirror and exploring this magical world since childhood. This fairy tale land has not gone unchanged since the days of the stories origins and is being shaped by war and industrialization. There’s fairies, but also trains and early automobiles.
The industrialized fairy land is one of my favorite fictional worlds. There’s a depth and darkness to Funke’s creation that makes it one of the best I’ve ever seen. To often fantasy settings feel static and changeless, but Funke’s feels vibrant and alive. It also feels broad and expansive, and I liked that The Golden Yarn journeyed farther east than previous installments, taking us to an alternate version of Russia.
Something I’ve loved about the previous two books is how sympathetic the antagonists were. Nerron, Kami’en, and the Dark Fairy continue to be as beguilingly likable as ever, despite the actions they take against our lead character. In particular, the Dark Fairy is tragically compelling, and possibly not even an antagonist at all by The Golden Yarn. A newer antagonist was introduced in Fearless and is very important for the events of The Golden Yarn. At this point, I believe that he will be the main villain for the whole series.
“It was hard to let go of love. Once woven, its ribbon was hard to tear, and this one she’d woven quite firmly herself.”
Thematically, I believe The Golden Yarn to be about romantic love. Fox and Jacob’s relationship been shifting towards romance over the course of the series, and it becomes ever more important here. Meanwhile, the Dark Fairy’s relationship with Kami’en has fallen apart after he rejected her for his human wife.
For a final reason to love The Golden Yarn, each chapter is headed by an illustration drawn by Cornelia Funke herself:
When I examine why I might have liked The Golden Yarn less than Fearless, I can think of a number of potential answers. Possibly there were too many POV shifts which impacted the pacing. Maybe it’s that The Golden Yarn feels less like a self contained story and more like set up for additional books. I also think that Clara was thrown under the bus here, and I’ll be peeved if everyone totally forgets about her.
Despite those quibbles, I still loved returning to this series and would recommend it.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
This book is different from the other books in the series. I have three complaints about it:
1) It covers a wider range of point of views. Which is fun (and sometimes brings amazing surprises like the dark fairy's incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking journey) but ultimately slows the book down because as interesting as the various subplots are we don't care about those characters the way we do about Fox and Jakob. It sucks that the focus is not on them. In the other books, they were always the spotlight and other POVs only came in occasionally to add to their story, in this book all of these various POVs get the same amount of time, which means less time for Fox and Jake.
2) It's a little rougher around the edges. Not enough to really bother the reader but still compared to the last two books in the series you feel like in this one everything didn't tie in quite as nicely.
3)
But overall, I still like this series, these were only minor issues and the book was still rather enjoyable. Cornelia Funke's world building is always beautiful, intricate and really very magical. The plot is interesting -and can be forgiven if sometimes doesn't make perfect sense- and the characters are lovable.
1) It covers a wider range of point of views. Which is fun (and sometimes brings amazing surprises like the dark fairy's incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking journey) but ultimately slows the book down because as interesting as the various subplots are we don't care about those characters the way we do about Fox and Jakob. It sucks that the focus is not on them. In the other books, they were always the spotlight and other POVs only came in occasionally to add to their story, in this book all of these various POVs get the same amount of time, which means less time for Fox and Jake.
2) It's a little rougher around the edges. Not enough to really bother the reader but still compared to the last two books in the series you feel like in this one everything didn't tie in quite as nicely.
3)
Spoiler
Finally, there is the insta-romance in this book which just doesn't suit Fox at all. How could she possibly think about being in love with a guy she met a few days ago? That's not the Fox I know and love and I choose to ignore that entire plotline. At least finally, finally we got stuff going on between Fox and Jake, It was a frustrating road but we got there!But overall, I still like this series, these were only minor issues and the book was still rather enjoyable. Cornelia Funke's world building is always beautiful, intricate and really very magical. The plot is interesting -and can be forgiven if sometimes doesn't make perfect sense- and the characters are lovable.
dnf 35%
The first book was okay.
The second book was better, giving me high hopes for the next installment.
And I was disappointed.
This hasn't been my favorite series by Cornelia Funke so I really shouldn't be surprised.
There are so many POVs! My little brain just couldn't keep up these complex characters.
Cornelia Funke has this amazing ability to have like 20 main characters, that live COMPLETELY different lives, and that are heading in COMPLETELY different directions!! But then she is able to weave them all into a perfect story.
She is a very talented writer. I just wasn't a big fan of these particular books. :(
(I don't know WHY though...)
The first book was okay.
The second book was better, giving me high hopes for the next installment.
And I was disappointed.
This hasn't been my favorite series by Cornelia Funke so I really shouldn't be surprised.
There are so many POVs! My little brain just couldn't keep up these complex characters.
Cornelia Funke has this amazing ability to have like 20 main characters, that live COMPLETELY different lives, and that are heading in COMPLETELY different directions!! But then she is able to weave them all into a perfect story.
She is a very talented writer. I just wasn't a big fan of these particular books. :(
(I don't know WHY though...)
A trilogia é maravilhosa, mas o último capítulo poderia ter sido melhor
Uff... Das zog sich etwas. Die Geschichte war trotzdem sehr sehr schön, aber irgendwie war auch ein bisschen die Luft raus. Vielleicht war mir auch einfach nicht so sehr nach Märchen beim Lesen und es war einfach der falsche Zeitpunkt.
Was mir sehr gefallen hat war das Entdecken der anderen Länder in der Welt hinter dem Spiegel, mal was Neues, mehr neue Geschichten und neue Wesen.
Ich bin gespannt auf den nächsten Band und hoffe, dass der mich dann wieder ähnlich fesseln kann wie die vorherigen.
Was mir sehr gefallen hat war das Entdecken der anderen Länder in der Welt hinter dem Spiegel, mal was Neues, mehr neue Geschichten und neue Wesen.
Ich bin gespannt auf den nächsten Band und hoffe, dass der mich dann wieder ähnlich fesseln kann wie die vorherigen.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When I first searched for this listing to add the book to my goodreads shelf I discovered that Funke had self-published the English edition of this book after being asked to change several things about the book. Of course, that information does come from Funke herself. That being said, I am thankful that she pushed ahead with self-publication and did not change what had been requested. Many people simply do not understand what makes Funke's narratives, this one included, so utterly without peer.
So much of the narrative is effortlessly beautiful, at least it only appears that way. So much of Funke's fictional words are so incredibly complicated that it would take entire books to chart them and trace all the connections, links and histories. This ethereal yet intricate narrative does detract a little. Several important events and/or concepts get lost in the narrative, concepts such as the "golden yarn." The title idea is not introduced until more than halfway through the novel. *spoiler* Its role in the downfall of the Dark Fairy is still unclear to me. *end spoiler*
At the end of the day, I still prefer the world of Inkheart.
So much of the narrative is effortlessly beautiful, at least it only appears that way. So much of Funke's fictional words are so incredibly complicated that it would take entire books to chart them and trace all the connections, links and histories. This ethereal yet intricate narrative does detract a little. Several important events and/or concepts get lost in the narrative, concepts such as the "golden yarn." The title idea is not introduced until more than halfway through the novel. *spoiler* Its role in the downfall of the Dark Fairy is still unclear to me. *end spoiler*
At the end of the day, I still prefer the world of Inkheart.