The Ropemaker Analysis

This setting's got it all—deserts, valleys, cities, towns, rivers, and, lots of people. The story kicks off in Tilja's secluded home in the Valley. It's a pretty chill place, full of tons of farm...

The narrator dishes all Tilja's deeds, from her innermost thoughts to her best actions. What this means for us as readers, is that we don't learn any secrets ahead of time, but instead stay in sync...

The Ropemaker has all the trappings of traditional epic fantasy—a heroine living in a made-up world (with magic and unicorns, no less), and a quest to find something really important and save sai...

The book starts out with Tilja snug in bed in a winter wonderland, but magic soon rears its head in every part of her life. Her mother's knocked out by a unicorn, her sister can talk to trees, and...

Tilja is a heroine on the verge of adulthood, who is discovering the world outside the Valley for the first time, as well as her own magical powers. She's got a lot going on in her life, so it's re...

Don't get it twisted—this book is named after the awkward magician Tilja meets on the road, the one who saves her life and those of her friends. Needless to say, he's called the Ropemaker. Not on...

The Cost of LivingGo then, adventurer, on your vivid journey,Though once again, of course, I cannot join you—That is as certain as your happy ending.The one-armed captain in the pirate harborWoul...

This ending is double trouble—no really, it has two parts. The first part has to do with the meat of the story, and occurs when Tilja returns home to Woodbourne and is back with her family. She k...

Ropemaker is a pretty easy read—Peter Dickinson keeps the prose short and sweet—but the plot is pretty knotty (you know, like a rope… or its maker). It's hard to keep track of who does what w...

Waah! That's Not Fair!Tilja lives in the peaceful Valley, but, one morning, her mama goes missing. It turns out she went to practice magic in the woods, which she's done for years, but got knocked...

Like the dude in the epigraph, Peter Dickinson loves doing manual labor. Seriously. Let him build your house. (Source.) Dickinson came up with the idea for The Ropemaker after his wife, author Robi...

There's nothing sexy about The Ropemaker—some folks fall in love, but there's no touching, kissing, or anything even remotely indecent. Romance isn't a big part of this book, which focuses instea...

None. Everything in this fantasy world is pretty darn unique.