The Book List

The Prince of Mist, The Angel's Game, The Midnight Palace, The Prisoner of Heaven and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

If you're anything like me then when summer hits it is time to get immersed in a really good book! I thought it would be a great idea to do a post about my favourite books and author to inspire you to go out and get reading too. I am always after another story to add to my bookshelf and often borrow books from friends or ask them about recommendations to save me the disappointment of buying a rubbish novel - which is just a waste of time and money, so hopefully if you are in need of a new story then this post will help you find one. 

My favourite author to date is Spanish born Carlos Ruiz Zafon, he is most famous for his novel The Shadow of the Wind, which is probably my favourite novel of his and the first one I purchased. I have made several of my friends read this book and the majority really enjoyed it and are going to purchase the sequel, The Angel's Game, my second favourite book of his. The Shadow of the Wind is quite complicated to explain so I shall attempt to shorten the plot; The story is set in Barcelona post civil war and the main character Daniel Semphere is only a boy when he discovers the Cemetery of Forgotten Books - a place where, due to tradition, Daniel is allowed to take one book and protect it. Daniel takes The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. After reading the unusual story, he is drawn to find more books by the author but discovers that someone is also on his trail, burning every one of Julián Carax's books. A man who has taken the form of one of Carax's characters, Laín Coubert - also known as the Devil. And so Daniel spends his life trying to unravel the mystery behind Carax's past and the man trying to erase his literary existence. The story has everything you would want, sex, death, mystic and intrigue - everything to keep you turning until the very last page. 

The sequel, The Angel's Game is to me far more imaginative and fictitious. The narrative is sometimes hard to depict as reality or fixations of the narrator's imagination (or madness) but that is what makes it so engrossing and enjoyable. There is far more twists and turns than the first and even though the book is a sequel it acts as a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind. It is this aspect which makes it a great read alone as it adds a back-story to the first novel. The ending too is strange and keeps you pondering for days considering numerous answers but I won't delve to deep into it in case you do actually read it. The author writes amazingly well, describing Barcelona as quite sinister, haunting and dark (the opposite to how it has been each time I visited it during the summer!) - be prepared as these novels are all Gothic thrillers with scary motifs and characters but I'm sure that won't put you off.

I am currently reading the third book in The Shadow of the Wind trilogy (unsure whether there will be a fourth) and it is far less weird and wonderful - everything seems a lot more factual and real which I am disappointed about as I loved those themes in the previous books. However, there are still mysteries and calculating characters to keep readers entertained. Hopefully, once I have finished it, it will have answered a lot of the unsolved questions and put a spin to the entire set of novels. 

I will just also quickly mention Ruiz's other books which have recently been published but were actually some of his first stories to write. They are 'young adult' books but I didn't feel too old when reading them. You can really get a feel for Ruiz finding his niche and discovering his talent for scary plots. 'The Prince of Mist' - a story about a boy who moves house with his family only to discover it is haunted and 'The Midnight Palace'  - which is about two separated twins fated to meet under sinister conditions and together unravel their parents history and why they was parted - whilst being hunted down by a sadist shadowy figure. I much prefer the latter as it is a far better story I feel which has more depth and originality. You also get a taste of Ruiz's fascination with fire as a character trait for his villains and a symbolic motif. There are also moments where the description of the antagonist is the foundation to the antagonist in The Shadow of the Wind. Which by the way is one of the most frightening characters I have ever read about, sends me shivers just thinking about it. 

I hope I have managed to persuade you to purchase and read these stories, they really are magical reads that keep you hooked and trust me they may sound complicated and a little too dark or even too scary but they are completely unique and enjoyable stories that will only keep you up at night to continue reading - not because your too afraid to go to sleep!