The Angel's Game

The Angel's Game (El juego del ángel, 2008) is a prequel to 2001's The Shadow of the Wind, by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The novel marks a return to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books in Barcelona's Raval district, and the Sempere & Sons bookshop. Like The Shadow of the Wind, it was translated into English by Lucia Graves and published in 2009.

The Angel's Game
El Juego del Ángel
Book cover
AuthorCarlos Ruiz Zafón
Original titleEl juego del ángel
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish
SeriesCemetery of Forgotten Books
GenreMystery
PublisherPlaneta (Spain)
Weidenfeld & Nicolson (UK)
Publication date
April 17, 2008
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Pages672
ISBN978-84-08-08118-0
Preceded byThe Shadow of the Wind 
Followed byThe Prisoner of Heaven 

Plot

The Angel's Game is set in Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s and follows a young writer, David Martin.

In a once-abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, Martín makes his living by writing sensationalist stories under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld.

His own life begins to take on a dramatic bent, in the form of a number of complex relationships: with Pedro Vidal, his patron, with Cristina, the daughter of Vidal's chauffeur, and with Isabella, a young admirer of David and his work.

Furthermore, the history of the house he lives in begins to seep into his life - in a locked room within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. At the same time he receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him an irresistible offer. He is to write a book unlike anything that has ever existed—an attempt at a new religious work with the power to change hearts and minds. Yet as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.

Reception

The Canadian Press's Maclean's Magazine placed The Angel's Game as number one for their top ten hardcover fiction books for the week ending July 7, 2009.[1] Marley Walker called it "Zafon's ambitious new historic melodrama."[2] USA Today praised The Angel's Game as "a multi-layered confection that combines undying love, magical realism, meditations on religion, the importance of books and a love affair with the vibrant city of Barcelona."[3]

Andrew Reimer said, "Here is more of the same from the author of The Shadow of the Wind " which "is bound to make his fans whoop with joy." However, he also added, "the climax of this new tale is a bit of a mess, with too many twists and turns and perhaps a few too many corpses."[4] Terrence Rafferty wrote that "Ruiz Zafón’s flamboyant pulp epic is something altogether sillier, a pact-with-the-devil tale whose only purpose is to give its readers some small intimation of the darker pleasures of the literary arts, the weird thrill of storytelling without conscience."[5]

Aravind Adiga of The Age complained that there was "plenty that is ludicrous, clichéd and schematic," but explained that "[l]overs of Barcelona will enjoy Ruiz Zafón's skillful use of that city's architecture--Gothic and Modern."[6]

References
  1. "Top Ten list", The Canadian Press, 9 July 2009, retrieved 9 March 2011
  2. Walker, Marley (21 June 2009), "Ambitious Historical Melodrama Playfully Entertaining", Winnipeg Free Press, retrieved 9 March 2011
  3. Memmott, Carol (16 June 2009). "Zafon Writes like an Angel in 'Game'". USA Today. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  4. Riemer, Andrew (6 Jun 2009), "It's a devil of a game", Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 9 March 2011
  5. Rafferty, Terrence (2009-06-24). "Writing for the Devil". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  6. Adiga, Aravind (Jun 13, 2009), A Shadow of the Shadow, retrieved 9 March 2011
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