The Angel's Game

~One of the best books I've read in recent years was The Shadow of the Wind by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon (which I reviewed some time ago). I'm very excited about his upcoming next book, The Angel's Game, which will be published in the U.S. just a few months. The Spanish -> English translation will once again be done by Lucia Graves, which should bring a welcome sense of familiarity to the narrative flow.

The Angel's Game is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind (it takes place in the 1920s, where Shadow was set after World War II). The mysterious Cemetery of Forgotten Books will return, as will the bookshop of "Sempere & Son". Here's a description:

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels 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. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner.

Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has existed - a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realises that there is a connection between this haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.

Set in the turbulent 1920s, THE ANGEL'S GAME takes us back to the gothic universe of the Cemetery of the Forgotten Books, the Sempere & Son bookshop, and the winding streets of Barcelona's old quarter, in a masterful tale about the magic of books and the darkest corners of the human soul.

For fun, check out the a movie-style trailer for the book on the author's website!

I'm looking forward to this novel immensely. If you are too, stop by the author's website for a real-time clock counting down the seconds until the novel's U.S. publication. As I write this, the clock is ticking down from 74 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, and 30 seconds. To save you some math, that translates to June 16th.

(By the way, there are some other cool things on Zafon's English website, like a free-to-download soundtrack for The Shadow of the Wind and an interactive "Shadow Walk" that uses tags in Google Maps to show where the action in the novel took place.)