The prince of the mist - Planeta editorial.
El Príncipe de la Niebla is a junior mystery and suspense novel, written by the Spanish Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and published in 1993. This is the first novel published by the author. He explains, in a brief note at the beginning of the book, that, in the absence of an editor, he had the idea of entering the work in a literature contest, which he won, and this caused him to dedicate himself entirely to writing.
This book is the first of the Mist Trilogy, followed by The Midnight Palace y The Lights of September. The work has a maritime atmosphere that contains a very dangerous mystery. The main topics covered are: the importance of the passage of time, as well as taking advantage of every second; the understanding of the various phases that human beings go through, the passage from childhood to a more mature stage, friendship and magic.
About the context
The story begins when Max Carver must move with his parents and sisters a house next to the beach in a small town on the shores of the Atlantic. This transfer occurred because of the war in mid-June 1943, when the boy was just 13 years old. Max, used to living in the same place for ten years, finds the idea appalling, but everyone in the family had their own opinions.
Things start to take a more positive turn when Maximiliano Carver, watchmaker, inventor and father of Max, gives you a beautiful pocket watch carved in silver for your birthday, just the night before move in.
However, the young man has a dark foreboding. The feeling that something is wrong recedes a bit when Max discovers the sea for the first time on his way to town. At that very moment he promises that he would never live in a place far from the ocean. This is a youth book with fantastic settings that will catch any reader.
The beginning of the mystery
A strange town
When arriving at the town, Irina, Max's younger sister, is intercepted by a large tabby cat, who immediately steals her heart. The girl begs her parents to let her keep it, which her older sister, Alicia, does not like. At that moment, and while observing that scene, Max notices that the town clock works in reverse, which is curious to him.
A house with a dark past
After a long journey, the family perches in front of their new two-story house at the northern end of the beach. Apparently it had been empty for some years, and to make things more interesting, Maximilian Carver tells you the story of its construction. The reason why at that time They were allowed to escape from the city and from the war, it was because a great tragedy occurred there years ago.
The mansion was built in 1928 for the London doctor Richard Fleicshmann and his wife Eva Gray, like a summer house.
The Fleicshmanns didn't have children, and they weren't very social either. However, when moving to the beach house, the woman became pregnant while later giving birth to a boy they named Jacob, and whom they loved with all their heart.
Image of the writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
At its peak of happiness, misfortune came, for in 1936, Jacob was found dead. He drowned in the ocean, or so Maximilian Carver told them. As if the story of that death had been anything but, the Carver family entered their new home and began to unpack.
A forest with a dark secret
In the process of settling into the new home, Max realizes that, outside, next to the forest, is a strange garden of statues that seem to move.
Main characters
Max carver
13 years old, Max is intelligent and has a great ability to detect the feelings of others and make people feel good. Despite his age, Max is a reasonable boy with a great ability to solve mysteries.
Alicia carver
She is the eldest daughter of the family. Although Alicia is lost in her own thoughts at first, when the going gets tough, she can be a very brave girl with a big heart.
Roland
Max's friend and Alice's love interest. Roland, 16 or 17, is an attractive young man who takes Max to see the town. Later, he, Max and Alicia have great adventures diving in the bay around a cargo ship, the Orpheus, sunk years ago in a storm.
Mr cain
The villain. Doctor Cain, or Prince of the Mist, is a dark and malevolent fellow who changes shape at will. He wears elegant suits, his eyes change color and he never blinks. He appears in the plot as the main rival of the protagonists, acting as a magician who grants wishes in exchange for a very high price.
Victor Kray
Roland's adoptive grandfather and friend of the Fleicshmanns. This man is the builder and keeper of the town's lighthouse, and is the one who holds the key to uncovering the enigma of the events succinct in the plot.
About the plot
The book has 18 chapters, plus an author's note and the epilogue. In the play, Ruiz Zafón reveals the secrets of the story in a charming, lurid, and sometimes melancholic way.
Mention is made of how fragile human life is, and that time, as it is known: "does not exist, and that is why it should not be lost." The characters are credible, as well as endearing, and they mature with the plot.
Quote by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
About the Author
Carlos Ruiz Zafón studied information science, and used to dedicate himself to the world of advertising, being at some point creative director of an important Spanish company. However, his love of reading immersed him in the craft of writing. And look, he was not wrong in choosing this path, currently the author's books are among the best-selling fiction stories from Spain.
His first novel, classified as “youth literature” —The Prince of the Fog—, was awarded the Edebé prize. This work has a peculiarity: anyone with a taste for mysteries can enjoy it, no matter how old they are.