Reading a good novel is like falling in love. There is that first contact, where you sample the first few pages with some reserve, testing the waters to see if the book has potential. You get drawn in and you savor the book with reckless abandon, pouring your heart out in the experience, wanting it to never end.
It does end, inevitably. But unlike most love affairs,whether the novel offers a happy ending or not, your heart doesn’t get broken, and you get to bask in the afterglow of having read a damn good book.
That is exactly how I felt when I read Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind (let’s call it SOTW for short) last year, which I count as one of the best novels I have ever read. Thus when I heard Zafon was releasing The Angel’s Game (Book #90 of 2009), I was a bit apprehensive as I wondered how it would live up to SOTW.
Of course, that didn’t stop me from calling Fully Booked and reserving a copy (as if people were shipping out to the nearest book stores and buying it in panic) as soon as I got the alert that it was in stock already (June 4th). And that didn’t stop me from braving the rain to get my hands on the book that very same day.
Tonight I finally finished the book, and I am bumping it up the review list (ugh, major backlog) because I know a lot of people are waiting to hear about the book, especially my American readers who will get their copies on the 16th (they’re selling the UK edition here, but I heard Zafon is touring the US – 10 bookmooch points for a signed tpb or hardcover of SOTW? *groveling* and you can send it to my aunt in California, too!)
And because I know these people will read the book too, I promise to keep it spoiler free. Review after the cut.
You can read the first chapter at the Orion website.