Having spent some weeks in Barcelona this past summer, I was intrigued to read Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s series of novels about writers and booksellers in Franco-era Spain. I actually started with the third book in the series, The Prisoner of Heaven. I enjoyed it immensely and am hoping to read the other two, The Angel’s Game and The Shadow of the Wind before the end of the year. A fourth novel is expected soon, to complete the set. The books are not time sequential and do not have to be read in order.
Daniel Sempere runs a bookshop with his father, just off Las Ramblas in the gothic quarter of Barcelona. Daniel, his wife Beatriz and their newly born son, Julián live above the shop. They are happy, but Daniel has some doubts about his wife’s commitment to their marriage. Sempere and Son have only one employee, Fermín Romero de Tores and it is Fermín’s story that is divulged inThe Prisoner of Heaven.
Cannonball Read V 
I actually didn’t like this one that much. I didn’t like the way Daniel progressed compared to his character in The Shadow of the Wind. However, I think I may have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t read The Shadow of the Wind first so maybe the order helps. I know they are saying you can read these out of order, but I’m not sure how much I’m buying that because The Prisoner of Heaven takes place after The Shadow of the Wind. However, I think The Angel’s Game would make much more sense after reading The Prisoner of Heaven than before reading it.
I enjoyed your review – as I said, I’m just not sure if I’m sold on how they are marketing the series. I think reading The Prisoner of Heaven after The Shadow of the Wind would be kind of like reading Bitterblue after Graceling – definitely doable but I think readers would get more out of it the other way.
I have just started The Angel’s Game and am liking it so far. I haven’t felt out of place or confused so you may be right. I think it will be interesting to see how my perception of the series changes, since I will end up basically reading last to first. I do love his way of writing, and have huge complements for the translator(s) as I rarely get the impression that something has been mistranslated or is not contextually accurate.