The Satanic Mill
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[edit] General
The Satanic Mill was written in German by Otfried Preußler and first published in 1969 in Germany.
[edit] Content
The book deals with Black Magic, good and evil, love and death. It is the story of Krabat, who was in the early 18th century a boy of 14 years, and, whilst begging for food, was called in a dream to a watermill in a closeby village in Eastern Germany. After being called for the third time within three nights, Krabat decides to obey the call. He arrives at the mill and begins his apprenticeship as a miller's man. Soon he makes friends with the journeymen, and after three months he begins to learn Black Magic and joins the Secret Brotherhood. Using magic, Krabat continues his apprenticeship and detects that this mill is no common one at all. No farmers bring corn, there are no guests except for the Goodman who is nothing else then Satan himself. The Goodman and the master of the mill have a pact: In every New Year's Evening at midnight, one of the journeyman must die for the master. In the first year, it strikes Krabat's best friend, Tonda, who was like a big brother to him. Krabat soon suspects that Tonda's death was no accident, and after another journeyman, Michal, dies the next New Year's Evening, Krabat wants to take revenge for them. Thus, he learns more and more in order to gain enough magic power to fight the master. A girl (whose name never was mentioned) from the closeby village, Schwarzkollm, has a chance to rescue Krabat from death. At the end, Krabat is saved and can escape with the other journeyman before the master has to die in the burning mill at the last New Year's Evening.
There are some chapters which are independent from the story and display the usefulness of magic or the walk of life in that area in those times.
[edit] Characters
In the novel there is a moreorless clear line betweeen the good and the bad: Krabat and some of the journeymen stand for the good who fight the bad forces. Against them is the Master, the Goodman and their helpiers (which also includes one journeyman who tells everything to the Master). However, some journeymen just do their work and don't complain or think of fighting the master.
