The Midnight Palace

By: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

In the heart of Calcutta lurks a dark mystery....

Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, The Midnight Palace begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life....

Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere's 16th birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night - and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces.

©2011 Carlos Ruiz Zafon (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Not my favorite Carlos Ruiz-Zafon book

I was not much taken by this book. I found the plot unsatisfying and at times juvenile. I have read his other books and found them riveting. Sadly, it was not the case for this one. I also don’t care much for the background sound effects and music. The narrator did a good job, but the audio book was edited in such a way that there was no pause between the chapters.

Masterful

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a master at evoking imagery. The performance includes ambient music and sound at parts. This is a wonderful audiobook production, as has been my experience with his other titles with this production company.

not Zafon's strongest

you can tell he was still finding his voice. the voice acting performance was pretty good though.

good listen!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Midnight Palace to be better than the print version?

I thought that the sound effects in the book added to the drama of the story. The reader has a great voice, I enjoyed him!

Loved it!

The story was told beautifully and was engaging. Really made my 10 hour drive more enjoyable!

Not my favorite of Ruiz Zafón’s work

I suppose I should have heeded the other reviews, but the premise sounded interesting, and I really liked the Cemetery of Forgotten books series. The writing was okay, but I found the story lacking overall. Just not his usual magic.

Pleasure to read

MR Zafon’s use of vocabulary is a pleasure. His imagination keeps you moving through as though you were there. I would ask the publisher to discontinue the use of sound effects behind the reader as it sometimes makes it difficult to understand the reader.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon: Master Storyteller

I never tire of the works by Mr. Zafon. He is a master storyteller. His skill at crafting words and sentences is world-class. I have no idea as to how he comes up with his ideas, but they are always original and dramatic and hold one's interest. The Midnight Palace is another example of this author's gift at original storytelling.

If you have ever been a part of a young group of pre-adults who have banded together to support each other's young lives, then you will like this story. If you have never been a part of a young group of pre-adults who have banded together to support each other's young lives, then for a moment in time, join this young group and be a part of this extraordinary story.

Some have said that the author only writes for young readers. As I write this review, I am 68. Perhaps I am just young at heart. No...that might be, but the reason is that I like a great story written by someone who knows how to write.

Many thank-yous to the translator for allowing the English-speaking people to enjoy another work by Mr. Zafon. And, many thank-yous to the narrator, Jonathan Davis, for a job well done.

Another lovely book, beautifully presented.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Mr Zafon's prose is magical. There is a rhythm and meter to his work that captures my imagination, inspires it to new heights, then flings it free to fly along the story. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a tall tale, beautiful imagery, and a little magic. Jonathan Davis is an excellent narrator, he brings so much to the characters but doesn't overpower the beauty of the story.

The Midnight Palace

I'm a little confused about this book. I didn't quite get the reason behind why Ben and Sheere were such a target. It was explained in the book, but I thought the reasoning was a bit simplistic and didn't really make sense. But then, maybe the reasoning was complex and over my head. Or maybe, it was lost in translation.

Another thing that I questioned was the characters' names. The setting is Calcutta and several of the main characters' names were English. Ben, Ian, Isabella. Mind you, it was easier to follow the story with the simple names and it is Young Adult.

As for the story, I did enjoy it when I set aside my grumblings. I liked the characters and their relationship to each other. It was short and sweet, and the descriptions allowed me to paint the pictures in my mind.

The narration by Jonathan Davis was very good. I enjoyed his characterizations with various accents. You could hear the evil of Jawahal in his voice. My only complaint was that there were no breaks between chapters to warn you of a change. It was one sentence after another, in spite of a switch in location or character. That may have happened in editting, so I won't blame Jonathan Davis for that.