El príncipe de la niebla (1993)

The Prince of Mist (Spanish: El Príncipe de la Niebla) is a 1993 mystery and horror young adult novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It was initially published in Spanish by Editorial Planeta and later in an English translation by Lucia Graves by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in 2010. The Prince of Mist was Zafón's first novel.

Plot summary

It is June 1943, and 13-year-old Max Carver, son of a watchmaker, has moved with his family from the city to get away from World War II. Max's new house was formerly owned by Richard Fleischman. Max experiences mysterious events which have to do with his son, Jacob Fleischman, who had drowned. Over time, Max discovers a sculpture garden near his house, where strange things happen. Max finally makes a friend, Roland, who is older than Max, around the age of his sister, Alicia, who is 15. After diving near the wreck, the Orpheus, Max has more and more questions, which will be answered by Victor Kray, grandfather of Roland.

Chapter 1

The story opens in 1943 in an unnamed city. It is mid-June, the day of the protagonist, Max Carver's, thirteenth birthday.

Maximilian Carver, Max's father, and an eccentric watchmaker, tells Max and his family that they are leaving their lives in the city, which is suffering a war, to live in a town on the coast.

We meet the family: Andrea Carver, Max's mother, and Max's sisters: Alicia, the elder, and Irina the younger. They reluctantly accept their fate, although Max is especially unhappy about having to leave his friends in the city.

Before retiring to bed, Mr. Carver gives Max his birthday present: a watch made by his father, with an engraving on the back that says, Max's time machine.

They arrive at the train station, and Max sees that the station clock is slow. His father jokes that he has work already.

Mr. Carver finds, and then employs two men, Robin and Philip, to help the family carry and transport their luggage.

Max feels someone watching him, and turns to see a large cat with luminous yellow eyes watching him. The cat befriends Irina, who takes an immediate liking to the creature; she begs her parents to let her bring it with them, and they eventually concede.

Before they leave the station, Max notices that the clock is even further behind than he had thought, but as he watches it for a moment, he realizes it is actually turning backwards.

Chapter 2

As they drive through the town, the family begins to warm up to the sights, noticeably calmed by tranquil coastal setting. Maximilian Carver is delighted by his family's reactions, and visibly enthused about their new lives on the coast.

Max gazes at the ocean, which is covered by a light mist, and thinks he sees the silhouette of a ship sailing on the horizon. But it quickly disappears.

On the way to their new home, Mr. Carver tells them the history of the house. It was built in 1923 by Dr. Richard Fleischmann, and he lived there with his wife, Eva. They had a son, Jacob, on June 23, 1925. The family lived happily until the tragedy of 1932, when Jacob drowned playing on the beach near his home.

After that, Dr. Fleischmann's health deteriorated, and after he had died, his widow, Eva, left the house to her lawyers to sell, and fled elsewhere.

When they arrive, the porters leave quickly, and before they have even taken their first steps into the house, the cat leaps from Irina's arms, letting out a satisfied meow as it is the first to touch down in the foyer.

The home is musty and dusty, so the family sets out cleaning it up. The girls are horrified to find huge spiders in their rooms, so Max is charged with disposing of them. Before he can terminate a terrible-looking one, the cat aggressively devours it.

Max looks out the window, and beyond the yard, and can vaguely make out a small clearing enclosed by a wall of stone. Inside, there appears to be an overgrown garden, with a circle of stone figures – statues. The wall enclosure is secured with spearhead points along its edge, each embossed with a symbol of a six-pointed star enclosed in a circle.

Chapter 3

Max awakes with a start from a bad dream the next morning. Outside, dawn is breaking, and the air is clouded with a hazy mist. No one else is awake, and he decides to go outside and explore the mysterious garden he had observed through the window the night before.

He must break a lock to access the garden, and he is overcome with a foreboding feeling as he enters. Inside, he discovers the statues depict ominous-looking circus characters, including a lion tamer, a contortionist, a fakir, a strong man, and some other ghostly characters, all are arranged in a star pattern around one central figure on a pedestal: a terrible clown, with arms outstretched and hands in a fist. At the clown's feet, Max sees another small paving stone with the same six-pointed star inside of a circle inscribed on its surface. Max looks up again, and sees the hand of the clown is now open to the sky. Afraid, he flees back to the house, not looking back.

Finding his family now awake and preparing breakfast, Max decides not to tell them what he has seen because he knows they will be skeptical, and he doesn’t want to crush his father's excitement about their new home.

Maximilian Carver eagerly tells the family about his own discovery in the shed outside: an old projector and a box of old films, as well as two bicycles.

Chapter 4

Max helps his father restore the old bicycles and they discover they have barely been used. He asks his father casually about the garden out back, but his father doesn’t give much of a response.

Max takes his bike for a ride, and begins to explore the town. Soon, he meets a boy a few years older than he is, named Roland, who is also out riding his bike. Roland offers to show him around, and Max takes him up on the offer.

The two pedal around town for hours, and Max is barely able to keep up with the older boy, but enjoys the tour nonetheless.