Another book not to be forgotten
Although this novel includes the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, it is not a sequel to the author’s popular novel The Shadow of the Wind. It is set in Barcelona and includes many elements of a gothic horror story: old houses, hidden rooms, secrets, decay and mysterious characters. The reader can decide if the book includes any ghosts. Zafon is a really good story teller. The descriptive passages about views of the city from various vantage points make it almost like a surrealistic travel log. Many book clubs will really want to add this title to their reading list.
Rated of 5
by Marcia S. (Hendersonville, NC)
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Another author I can add to my list of favorites. Thank you BookBrowse. After reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Angel’s Game I will definitely add his first book, The Shadow of The Wind, to my list of ‘must reads’. The author’s lyrical style and insightful descriptions of Barcelona balanced the darkness of his themes of good and evil, gothic mysticism, death and deals. Though tedious in places, The Angel’s Game is a great read and should be ranked as a masterful classic novel.
Rated of 5
by Mark S. (West Chester, PA)
Good book reads like a classic tale
"Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a Dickens like classic tale of good versus evil. Many richly described characters weave a twisting, mysterious plot. If you enjoyed Zafron"s first novel "Shadow of the Wind", then you will like "Angel's Game". However, there are some similarities that might be a little disappointing. Many intriguing and thought provoking ideas are discussed in conversations between the two characters representing good and evil. There were also some interesting comments on being a man of faith without religion. The book starts slowly and drags in a few places but the pace picks up and intensifies in Part 3. The ending cannot be predicted and is very satisfying.
Rated of 5
by Camilla W. (Boulder, CO)
A Cautionary Tale
Like Shadow of the Winds, this book combines the elements of mystery, romance, and adventure. It provides an eerie return to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and other haunted Barcelona habitats. I was especially intrigued by the author's exploration of the idea that every book has a soul capable of interrelating the souls of the author who wrote it and the reader who reads it.
When David Martin accepts a large commission to write a book with a theme chosen by Andreas Corelli, he has struck a Faustian bargain with a host of unsettling consequences. The supernatural ending is quite unexpected, but I can foresee it as the starting point for characters who will be brought forward into Zafon's next eagerly anticipated novel.
Rated of 5
by Carole R. (Librarian, Burlington, WI)
It was OK
Carlos Ruiz Zafon takes us back to Barcelona and the familiar Cemetary of Forgotten Books. This journey while spellbinding at times becomes a little tedious. The thematic process of developing Good and Evil is a little overbearing at times. There is no question that Zafon can write a good story, he would do better to compact his development of the theme and let the story loose.
His books are easy sells for librarians and booksellers. I guess I would recommend The Shadow of the Wind over The Angel's Game.
Rated of 5
by William Brummitt (East Peoria, IL)
Creepy thriller - No Sophomore Jinx
Although there are plenty of holes in the plot, loose ends not tied up, I enjoyed this second effort of Zafon's. The narrative is surprisingly compelling, the author kept me turning the pages, There are enough scenes in dark towers, cemeteries and dank bookstores (indeed bibliophilia plays an integral part of the story), the Devil his own self, to keep even the jaded horror fan interested. I think the author succeeds less in his depiction of historical place and characters. Seems the book could have been set anytime, anyplace, characters are a little too modern. But it still worked for me.
Rated of 5
by Taylor B. (Fernandina Beach, FL)
The Angel's Game
Though No. 1 in Spain, I feel we have read so many themes of angels of the darkness that this is just one more. However, the characters are fascinating, the plot knotted and tight, and there undulates over the entire book a shadow of threat and fright.
Influenced by neighbor Gaudi's fantastic castle in Barcelona, Zafon enlarges and personifies the imaginations of living gargoyles, gossamer threads weaving snares to entrap and consume the gullible young journalist David Martin. Driven, however, toward his goal of publication, young Martin is deaf to all rationale and leaps into his dreams, mingling his convictions with those of freakish creations, a mad artist with unblinking eyes - the angel? - canine smiles and with hypnotic control over his prey.
Nothing is as it seems. Even the two loves of David's life seem impotent to awaken him from his paranoia of grandiose pursuits into oblique darkness of soul and of spirit.
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by Liz G. (South Pasadena, CA)
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by Mark S. (West Chester, PA)
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by Taylor B. (Fernandina Beach, FL)
