BTW I like books

Source: borrowed from a friend 

Language: German 

"Krabat" is a German childrens classic known as "The Satanic Mill" in English. 

I can see why it is a much loved book for children. The writing is fairy tale-esque and easy to understand. The characters are likeable, there is magic und the borders between good and evil are well defined. It also has some dark aspects and easy to understand morals. 

Also a big plus were the rather short chapters. If you plan to read this to your kid as a bedtimestory, each chapter won't take you longer than 20 min. (it might be a little too dark for younger children though) 

Without a kid to enjoy it with and without any nostalgia as I haven't read this as a child, it lacked depth to me. 

The fairy tale writing was somewhat simple, the sentences short and with any embellishments. I would have liked Krabat to be a bit more curious about the why and how magic exactly works, about the intentions of the other characters and especially the Masters motives for his pact with the devil. 

The ending was very abrupt, the climax wasn't even 3 paragraphs long. I would have loved to know what happened to the boys after their time at the mill and what became of the Master. 

All in all it was an enjoyable read that I will keep in mind when i have children (a loooong time from now on) 

PS: what happened to all the flour they milled? Nowhere is montioned if they sell it and to who. Where do they get their wheat and barley from?