Customer Reviews

The Prince of Mist

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm not a big fan of ghost stories. I spook easily and end up having to sleep at night with my lights on and an eye half open. I am, however, a huge fan of Zafon's writing and The Prince of Mist proved worthy.

Although The Prince of Mist lacked the more poetic writing of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, it still captured that gothic, dark feeling that I loved about the books. I could definitely tell this was a book geared more toward a younger audience - it was short, easy to read and drew me in from the very get-go.

Young Max has to move from his childhood home. With him are his two sisters (one older, one younger) and his parents. They move to a house with a history, a house on a beach, and they stumble into a story involving magic, ghosts and some of the creepiest elements of a ghost story that can be used.

There was a little bit of everything in this book. It played on my fear of graveyards, clowns, "The Ring" movie and many more fears. I read the book in an evening, but had to set it down several times because of random noises that had me jumping and looking over my shoulder. It's just a book, I'd remind myself. I'm such a wimp.

This is a fantastic addition to the YA world. The beginning writing is a bit simple, but push through it and you'll find a story that has every element needed to make it interesting, scary, fun, romantic, sad and just plain creepy.

During wartime a father picks up his family to move out of the city and onto the sea coast. Once there, however, strange things start happening to some of them. A cat that shoots daggers with its eyes is adopted by the youngest child, the son notices the hands on the clock moving backwards, and the eldest daughter is simply in a slump. When the son, Max, meets a boy from town named Roland he gets a tour of the town and an invitation to go diving on some old boat wreckage. Max sensing his eldest sister's, Alicia, melancholy invites her along when he goes to visit Roland. When Roland tells of tales relating to the Prince of Mist, Max knows that it has something to do with the statue garden and the tapes he has found. He knows he needs help if he is going to figure out what is going on and stop it before it's too late.

I wish I could read this in it's original text, theoretically I can, and probably will. I feel like there were parts that just didn't translate well, because the story will be going along and then all of a sudden the writing seems a little off. Maybe that is how it was written but, until I read the original I can not be sure. Otherwise this was a very creepy, creepy novel. I made the mistake of reading this before going to bed. Big mistake. This story contains the spooky Prince of Mist, clowns(eek), statues that move only slightly, graveyards and underwater sunken ships. All these things make me stay up all night to finish the book hoping that once it's done I won't have nightmares. If you don't enjoy reading scary stories, and any of the above things creep you out, don't read this book. If you don't mind something a little spooky please pick this up it was a wonderful story. It's set in 1943 so it's got a nice historical fiction feel, without reading like your history book for school. The history lies within the characters actions and the way they use their words. Although some things seem out of place, I can't say for certain since I a.) didn't live in 1943 and b.) am not quite sure where this takes place, but it probably isn't New Hampshire. Also really enjoyable was the unconventional ending, I don't want to ruin it, but I appreciated it fully for not ending like you might expect. I certainly enjoy this novel and will pick up Carlos Ruiz Zafón's other young adult novels, should he write any more. I also look forward to reading this in it's original Spanish. Go out and pick this book up it was well written and a pleasure to read.

First Line:

"Max would never forget that faraway summer when, almost by chance, he discovered magic."

Favorite Line:

"Alicia woke shortly after sunrise to find two amber eyes staring intently at her from the window."

Being a big fan of The Shadow of the Wind and a fan of the Angel's Game (up until the rather strange and confusing ending) I was pretty happy when I found a new Zafon book being published. I had no idea it was a young adults novel (and his first apparently) until I got my hands on the novel and read the forward.

At its heart, The Prince of Mist is more or less a ghost story. Because of the looming threat of World War II Max's father moves them to a 'town by the sea'. They move into an old shore house that has a rather shady history. As Max tries to fill up his summer days learning the new town and missing his true home he discovers the skeletons that are held within the home's particular closets.

I'm hardly a young adult which is probably why this book didn't appeal to me all that much. I'm not a huge horror fan but I enjoy a creepy ghost story from time to time. While there's elements of creepiness and sinister goings on in this novel as well as a hint of mystery I found myself not at all creeped or surprised at the book's outcome.

I will say that the characters are pretty vivid though, which is one of Zafon's strong suits. Anybody who's read Shadows or Angels can attest to that.

Would I have read the book if I'd known it was intended for younger audiences from the beginning? I'm sure I would have being that I'm a fan of Zafon and I have read and enjoyed some YA novels, although I admit those instances are few and far between.

Not a bad book by any means, it just missed a certain something that normally pulls me into a novel.

Zafon does not disappoint in his spine-chilling YA thriller, The Prince of Mist. Go read it - you'll love it!

It grabbed me from the first line of the first page and it did. not. let. go. I read it in practically one sitting, and wanted more when I turned the last page.

Max Carver is an easy-going, intelligent, 13 year old boy, whose father moves the family out of the city and away from the war, to a house on the beach. The first thing Max notices is the clock at the train station - it keeps perfect time, except that time is going backwards. He shrugs it off as a fluke. Soon he will realize, there are no such things as flukes and minor coincidences. Max and his older sister, Alicia, quickly become friends with Roland, a local boy who lives with his grandfather, Victor Kray, the lighthouse keeper.

Max learns that the house they moved into has a past, and their moving in sets in motion a series of events which resurface old, but not forgotten, secrets. If the signs are to be believed, they are too dangerous to ignore. The legend of the Prince of Mist is a scary one, could he be real? Could he be here? What really happened to the family that used to live in this house? What will happen to Max's family if they stay? How long must one keep a promise? When is that debt paid?

Max quickly learns:

NOTHING IS AS POWERFUL AS A PROMISE.

I have chills just writing that sentence!

I am already a huge fan of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, so when I learned that his YA novels were going to be published in the US in English and translated by Lucia Graves, I could not wait to get my hands on a copy! I begged for ARCs of this book, so it should not have come as a surprise when two copies landed on my desk on the same day. Thank you to both Clinton Book Shop and Angela at Dark Faerie Tales! You made my week!

It's not commonly known that Zafon wrote his YA novels before he penned his world wide bestseller The Shadow of the Wind. The Prince of Mist is hopefully the first of many more of his YA novels to be translated to English and available in the US. He makes me want to learn Spanish, just so I don't have to wait for the translations!

The Prince of Mist may have felt like an earlier, less polished, work to some, but I think that this is only because we adult readers are used to such complex characters, plot and settings from Zafon. This YA might fall short for some of Zafon's fans, but not me!

This was a well crafted ghost story worthy of any flashlight! Then again, you may want to keep the lights on. It's suspenseful, exciting, and scary. I loved every minute of it!

Looking at the Amazon plot summary, this book seems to have all the elements present that would suggest that this would turn out to be exactly the sort of story that I really enjoy. And true enough, it started out well. However, about three-quarters of the way through I began getting a sinking sensation that all the plot elements were not, in fact, going to tie together in the end---and I was correct. I thought the shreds of plot only imperfectly masked one loophole after another. It just didn't make sense.

Still, I held out hope until the final two chapters. Not only did the conclusion make everything that happened before seem kind of pointless, but I have to say---in the strongest possible terms---that I HATED THE WAY THIS STORY ENDED. I think if the final two chapters had been different, I still would have given this a weak recommendation despite my misgivings, but as it stands---nope, not going to happen.

It wasn't a bad book in terms of the skill of the author (though as with any translation, you have to wonder just how much of the author's original voice and vision are getting through). But I thought it had major logical inconsistencies; some real problems with style over substance. And as I said---there's that horrible ending that left me with a very negative feeling about the entire enterprise.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is the master of writing great tales with dark undertones, and The Prince of Mist hits the mark as a gothic tale for young adults. To escape the ravages of war in their country, Max's family moves to a home at the seaside, not realizing it comes with a past. Years before, the previous owners' son drowned within sight of the home, and it has lain vacant ever since.

In addition to the past tragedy, Max can feel that something evil resides nearby, and he begins to dream about the garden behind the home, where creepy statues of circus performers reside. Max notices that the statues have moved to different positions each time he goes there.

But there are things for Max to like in his new surroundings too, including his new friend Roland, who teaches Max to dive to a nearby shipwreck in search of treasure. When Max's sister, Alicia, strikes up a relationship with Roland, the three become inseparable. Then they discover the rest of the story about the drowned boy and the prince of mist.

It turns out Roland's grandfather, the local lighthouse keeper, has been keeping vigil over the area to keep the prince of mist from coming back to claim another life, one the prince feels is rightfully his. They all work together to uncover the mystery at the prince's core, before he comes back to strike again.

While the story leaves more questions asked than answered at the end, The Prince of Mist is a good introduction to other Zafon works, such as The Shadow of the Wind, The Midnight Palace, and The Angel's Game.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon was born in Barcelona in 1964. He is probably best known for "The Shadow of the Wind", while "The Angel's Game" - that book's prequel - became the fastest selling book of all time in Spain. "The Prince of Mist", which won the Edebé Award, was Zafon's first novel and was written for the young adult market.

The book opens in 1943 in the south of England. It's the middle of June and Max Carver has just turned thirteen - when his world is been turned upside down. Max's father, a watchmaker, has decided to move the family away from the city to a small town on the coast. Max is initially devastated, as he's leaving everything he's ever known - and, as they're leaving the following day, he doesn't have long to say his goodbyes.

Max, his two sisters (Irina and Alicia) and their parents travel down to their new home by train. Having been broken-hearted about leaving the city, the trip cheers Max up a great deal though. He falls in love with the sea the instant he sees it and swears always to live on the coast. However, his new life isn't going to start easily - and the omens are there from the second they leave the train. (The station's clock, bizarrely, is moving backwards and Irina is adopted by a foul-smelling, malevolent-looking cat. Max could almost have sworn the creature was waiting on their arrival...) The family's new home, right on the beach, has been lying empty for several years - probably due to its tragic history. The house had been built by a doctor called Richard Fleischmann in 1925. His son, Jacob, was born the following year...but Jacob sadly drowned aged seven, and his father didn't last long afterwards. It didn't take Mrs Fleischmann long to move out and put the house up for sale - though Max's father was the first to pay any interest. There's also a mysterious - and very spooky - Garden of Statues near the house that Max is quick to explore. The statues are circus characters, with an evil-looking clown taking pride of place at the garden's centre. (Oddly, Max suspects the statue may even have moved while he was in the garden). At the clown's base is a strange symbol - a six-pointed star, enclosed in a circle. In time, Max will see that symbol again...

Max soon becomes friendly with Roland, a local boy called who's a few years older than our hero. Roland lives with his adoptive grandfather, Victor - who built and runs the town's lighthouse. Victor, officially, was inspired to build the lighthouse after surviving a shipwreck many years earlier - and Roland himself makes regular dives to his grandfather's old ship. However Victor has his secrets and, from his lighthouse, he's really watching out for a dangerous character known as the Prince of Mist. Unfortunately, Max, his family and Roland aren't safe...

Although it's definitely geared towards the teen market, the gothic spookiness that was present in "The Shadow of the Wind" and "The Angel's Game" is present. A quick, easy and enjoyable read, certainly recommended.

Being a huge fan of Shadow of the Wind and Angel's Game I was thrilled when I saw that Zafon had a new novel coming out. I even pre-ordered it. I had no idea that it was not new and that it was geared to young adults. Zafon is a gifted writer with a very creative imagination. The book itself is fine for what it is. Being a not so young adult, it was not for me. I've saved it for when my grandchildren are a bit older. I have no problem with the writing or the story. I just wish it had been marketed more accurately. Had I known, I would have chosen to wait for his next novel and passed on this one.

If you detected a whiff of Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" that may be more by design than accident. "The Prince of Mist" also reminded me in some respects of Guillermo Del Toro's 2001 film "The Devil's Backbone." While this book is not as engrossing as Zafron's later adult works, I still stayed riveted. The story is very simple in structure but there are some truly eerie elements especially the vicious kitten that Irina adopts, the film of the sculpture garden, and the Prince of Mist himself. The evil is inescapable and that gives the novel a more melancholy tone. I didn't have the same problems with Lucia Graves's translation as other readers but I also do not have the language skills of bilingual readers. While this may not be the best Zafron work, I still enjoyed it and would read it again. I'm just so happy that English readers can now read these earlier works. I've been waiting years for new Zafron books since "The Shadow of the Wind."

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's THE PRINCE OF MIST receives a fine narration by Jonathan Davis, a critically-acclaimed reader, and includes original background music by the author as it tells of the Carver family, who discover a mysterious being called the Prince of Mist, who crosses boundaries between life and death. Three friends are caught up in an adventure that will change their lives in this engrossing tale.