Started: 11th July 2023
Finished: 18th July 2023
Rating: 4.5/5
Books are magical. Despite being a bound collection of printed pages, they have this unique way to transport us to other worlds, to kick-start our imagination and get us thinking about topics that have never crossed our thoughts before.
Whatever the genre, books make us dream the impossible is possible.
So I’m sure if ever an opportunity arose to make those dreams actually come true many would be tempted to try.
But what’s the catch?
Well if Emma Törz’s debut novel, Ink Blood Sister Scribe (2023) is anything to go by all it will cost is a few drops of blood. And 16.99 at the your nearest Waterstones.
A kind of dark successor to Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart series (2003-), Ink Blood Sister Scribe offers readers a world where books have power and a shadowy organization known as The Library wishes to collect them all. But never fear because standing in their way are two gifted sisters and an equally gifted scribe, who seek answers to the lies they have been told.
Perhaps it’s the bibliophile in me but I’m drawn to stories that pay tribute to literature and its avid readers.
And Ink Blood Sister Scribe is such a love letter with relatable characters and themes and an imaginative world.
In my opinion the best way to categorise Törz’s book would be as a mystery fantasy, the plot following a ‘race against time’ formula that sees the characters trying to stop the sinister force looking to obtain not only their books but the ‘materials’ for immortality. It is not a heavily action-packed story. But it is a story that, compared to most I’ve read, will get readers thinking about books and the controversies we have experienced this year e.g. books bans, sensitivity readers etc. If Törz’s book proves anything, its that books live through us as we ‘live’ through them, symbolically shown through her decision for these magical books to require blood as a component to work. Unlike Funke’s Inkheart, where simply reading the words aloud draws out the characters from their pages, the magic in Törz’s world has extreme consequences. It is deadlier and unforgiving, which is why readers would find it understandable that the book does not contain many scenes of magic book wielders duelling it out in broad daylight until they suffer from blood loss. It is an imaginative concept that demonstrates Törz’s talent to keep the fantastical logical.
Of course, a book is also supported by its memorable characters.
Sisters Esther and Joanne, are polar opposites. Esther is an extrovert, forced to move to new pastures every November with no explanation as to why.
Joanna, an introvert, is morally obligated to remain in their deceased father’s home, protecting the books inside and wondering what the world must be like outside her hometown.
You also have Nicholas, the Library’s reluctant scribe, manipulated to write book after book whilst being monitored by the all-seeing eyes of his uncle.
All three are burdened with their parent/guardian’s responsibilities and possess qualities that readers will find relatable.
I certainly found a kinship with Joanna, her social awkwardness and love of books. From an analytic perspective, I felt she along with Törz’s other protagonists represent the silent voices trying to speak out against those wishing to change or oppress literature. The only criticism I will say about them is the emotional connection Törz tries to present. Moments such as the sister’s reunion could have had a little tension. Not soap opera quality tension but the right amount that didn’t leave it feeling too quickly resolved in order to move the story along.
Nevertheless it isn’t too noticeable, offering readers an enjoyable, thoughtful novel that will get readers thinking that a little blood wouldn’t be too big of a price to bringing dreams to reality.
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