The Angel's Game

The Angel's Game
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I was first introduced to Zafon in his book, The Shadow of the Wind. This book is sort of a sequel, although 99% of the characters are different. The only thing that remains the same is Sempere & Sons bookstore, and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Which makes this sound like a novel about books, and it kind of is, but more than that, it's a novel of love, madness, and mystery.

It is also long -- not long like Harry Potter 850 pages, but long as in drawn out. Perhaps it is because it is translated from Spanish, or perhaps it is because Zafon is wordy. Either way, at times the book drags, but you know it is taking you somewhere interesting, and you go along anyway.

The ending, too, is unexpected. Mysteries remain. This is not, after all, a fairy tale where everyone lives happily ever after.

©2009, Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-52870-2