Die unendliche Geschichte (The NeverEnding Story) influenced Tintenwelt

Cornelia Funke has acknowledged Michael Ende as an important influence on her work. Inkheart reflects this influence through its central idea that the boundary between books and the real world can be crossed, its focus on the power of stories to affect reality and identity, and its use of metafiction, where storytelling itself is part of the narrative. These similarities are thematic rather than plot-based, and Inkheart develops them in its own original way.