The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translated by Lucia Graves ‘Never mind the number of candles on your birthday cake,’ writes Zafon in his introduction to The Midnight Palace, ‘for those in the know, it’s what lies beneath them that matters’. Zafon’s first four published novels were intended for young adults. The Midnight Palace, …
Category: young adult fiction
Dust and Daemons
La Belle Sauvage (Volume One of The Book of Dust) by Philip Pullman Readers of His Dark Materials will recall that the story resolved satisfactorily at the end of The Amber Spyglass. It may not have been the ending many readers wanted, but there was a certain logic to it, one that left open the …
Not all universes are the same (3)
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman "While the beasts of prey, Come from caverns deep, View'd the maid asleep." These three lines by William Blake from his poem The Little Girl Lost preface the first chapter of The Amber Spyglass, the final volume of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Aficiandos of Blake will know …
Not all universes are the same (2)
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman The Subtle Knife is the second book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. At the end of Northern Lights, we left Lyra on the bridge from her universe to another. Now the author leaves us in suspense to introduce a new protagonist. Will Parry is a twelve-year-old boy …
Not all universes are the same (1)
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman ‘Lyra looked, and there was no mistake. Pantalaimon clutched at her, became a wildcat, hissed in hatred, because looking out with curiosity was the beautiful dark-haired head of Mrs Coulter, with her golden daemon on her lap.’ The main protagonist in Northern Lights is Lyra, a twelve-year-old girl who lives …
All About Dust
Browsing in the local Waterstone's bookstore today [which I often do on Friday afternoons], I was delighted to see they are already promoting Philip Pullman's new work, to be published on October 19th. Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials, was a sensation when it was originally published in the late nineties. Its controversial subject matter raised …
The Midnight Palace
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (translated by Lucia Graves) Re-post of original review Secret Societies and Ghostly Terror by Bookheathen) ‘Never mind the number of candles on your birthday cake,’ writes Zafon in his introduction to The Midnight Palace, ‘for those in the know, it’s what lies beneath them that matters’. Zafon’s first four published novels …
