After the success of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game the earlier work of Carlos Ruiz Zafón is being translated into English. The Prince of Mist was Zafón’s first published novel, and a ‘young adult’ one, at that. Not that I have problems with that: I read those like nobody’s business.
Still, this particular one didn’t really do it for me. The story has too much exposition and too less going on. It’s riddled with plot holes, threads that go nowhere, forgettable characters, easy ways out, and frankly, it just isn’t that good. Even if you like Zafón’s ‘big’ novels, this isn’t essential reading.
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón — The Prince of Mist (El príncipe de la niebla, translated by Lucia Graves)
- Max would never forget that faraway summer when, almost by chance, he discovered magic.