
The language of this book - which I first read in English, actually - was easy to understand and the story thrilling, which is why you should try read the original if possible (the language is so powerful).It's a story about a young boy who becomes a miller's apprentice and is drawn into dark magic, all set in some earlier times when there was a high lord ruling that part of Germany (Saxonia).The tale is gripping and pretty dark - a bit like the later parts of the Harry P.-series, but without the comical effects. I like reading in German from time to time so not to forget what I learned in university. I stumbled on this novel for young (adult?) readers quite by chance.

Now a major motion picture starring David Kross (The Reader, War Horse). One by one his fellow classmates perish from mysterious, unexplained accidents and Krabat realises he must use all of the dark magic skills he has learned to secure his escape. Krabat studies hard and becomes the master’s star pupil, but when he falls for a local village girl the depth of the masters evil and the darker secrets of the mill begin to reveal themselves.

Much to his surprise Krabat soon discovers that the mill is actually a school of black magic and he is expected to learn much more than just a normal miller’s trade.

He becomes an apprentice to the master of the watermill where he joins the eleven other young journeymen who work there. Set within a world of sorcery and wizardry, much like an 18th Century Harry Potter, Krabat tells the story of a 14-year-old beggar boy lured to a mysterious mill by a series of frightening dreams and apparitions. One of Neil Gaiman’s favourite scary stories for children.
