Le prince de la brume

This young adult horror story was Zafon's first published novel and it reads like a classic adventure tale similar to those I remember from my early teens. The unidentified setting was originally intended to be southern England. Its descriptions are detailed enough for me to be easily able to envisage the immediate surroundings of the village and coastline, while remaining vague enough on the regional location that the book could be imagined into many locations. In the convenient vanishing of parental influence and other genre staples, there are nods to Famous Five-type stories, but I liked that Zafon certainly has his own tale to tell here. Our three teenage heroes, two boys - Max and Roland - and one girl - Alicia - must contend with a recalcitrant lighthouse keeper and the violence of nature, before they even start to fight back against the malevolent Prince of Mist. I didn't like the inherent sexism of Alicia's role seeming primarily to be bait and to need rescuing, but other than that I enjoyed reading this novel. It's a light tale and a fun afternoon's diversion.