History Literature / ThePrisonerOfHeaven

* WritersCannotDoMath: In addition to changing details of Fermin's past, Zafon is radically inconsistent with ages and dates. At one point, it's mentioned that Daniel started dating Bea when he was 16, but in the previous book he's explicitly stated to be eighteen. This is further inconsistent with the fact that Daniel is in his 20s in this book but he got Bea pregnant only weeks into their relationship and they got married right away. On top of this, the pair are stated to have been married for some time at the start of the book but their son is only a few months old, which is further inconsistent with the dates of her pregnancy and subsequent wedding.

* AllThereintheManual: Although the introduction claims that the reader doesn't have to have read the other books in the series to understand it, little about [[spoiler: Fermin's relationship with Martin]] makes sense unless you've read The Angel's Game.

** [[spoiler:At the end of ''Literature/TheAngelsGame'', Martín was shown to be living alive and well in exile after the Civil War, having gained some peace for himself (though being seemingly cursed by Corelli). Now it turns out nothing of this happened: he foolishly returned to Spain in midst of the war and was captured and jailed, with the previous conclusion having happened only on his head.]]

* WritersCannotDoMath: There seems to be a bad case of this in the novel. It's claimed tha Daniel started going out with Bea when he was 16, but he's explicitly stated to be 18 in ''Shadow of the Wind'', although the dates in this very book are still consistent with ''Shadow''. Similarly, it's mentioned that Bea and Daniel have been married for almost two years, but their son Julián's is only a few months old, which doesn't fit given that Bea was already pregnant when they married.

After the events of ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind'', Daniel Sempere has settled into married life with Bea Aguilar and their son Julián is about to turn one. One bad day, however, a mysterious old man named Sebastián Salgado comes to leave Fermín a note from their past together in a fancy edition of ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''. In the inevitable flashbacks, Fermín reveals what really transpired in all those years he was a prisoner of the Francoist order: his stay in the Montjuic Castle prison, his relationship with Salgado and the schizophrenic novelist David Martín, and his true role towards the Sempere family. Daniel will discover a nasty secret involving the mysterious former Minister of Culture Mauricio Valls and the death of his own mother.

* BroadStrokes: Fermín's background as given in his crying confession in ''The Shadow of the Wind'' is vaguely similar to the one shown in this book, although very different otherwise.

* CliffhangerCopout: Despite the introduction's claim that the book can be read as a standalone story, none of the plots are resolved, and the book literally ends with Daniel telling the reader [[spoiler: "it had only just begun." Notably, we never learn Martin's fate, who stole Salgado's money, why Valls disappeared in '56, or what the original plan was involving luring Daniel to the hotel.]]

* HappyEndingOverride: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Literature/TheAngelsGame'', Martín was shown to be living alive and well in exile after the Civil War, having gained some peace for himself (though being seemingly cursed by Corelli). Now it turns out nothing of this happened: he foolishly returned to Spain in midst of the war and was captured and jailed, with the previous conclusion having happened only on his head.]]
* {{Rewrite}}: Fermin's past is revisited, but now it is almost completely different from the one he confessed in ''The Shadow of the Wind''.

The novel, part of the tetralogy ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books'', is basically a large, [[{{Rewrite}} rewritten]] {{flashback}} by Fermín and a tie-in for the next and last book of the trilogy, breaking Zafón's tradition of writing books that could be read as self-contained stories. It was followed by ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits''.

* {{Flashback}}: About 1/3 of the book is an extended flashback to Fermin's life prior to the events of The Shadow of the Wind.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Subverted. It initially seems the book will be entirely about Fermin's past: the first seventy pages are narrated by Daniel before we segue into a 150-page flashback that takes up about half the book. The story then abruptly shifts back to Daniel for a 120-page wrap up.

* {{Flashback}}: A huge flashback by Fermín is inserted in midst of the book.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Valls is bespectacled and is a piece of work.
* ExternalRetcon: It is revealed here that [[spoiler:the entire ''Literature/TheAngelsGame'' was just a story written by the insane Martín, with its ending being pure delusion. Instead, Martín was captured in Spain several years earlier and given for death.]]

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Subverted. It initially seems this way, as there are around 70 pages narrated by Daniel before Fermín goes on with his story for 150, but at the end Daniel takes it again for 120 and ''something'' significant happens there.
* WritersCannotDoMath: There seems to be a bad case of this in the novel. It's explicitly claimed tha Daniel started going out with Bea when he was 16, but ''Shadow of the Wind'' had him being 18 at that point, and the dates in this very book still point to the latter. Similarly, it's mentioned that Bea and Daniel have been married for almost two years, but their son Julián's age is said to be of mere months, which doesn't fit given that Bea was already pregnant when they married.

After the events of ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind'', Daniel Sempere has settled into married life with Bea Aguilar and their son Julián is about to turn one. One bad day, however, a mysterious old man named Sebastián Salgado comes to leave Fermín a note from their past together in a fancy edition of ''Literature/TheCountOfMontecristo''. In the inevitable flashbacks, Fermín reveals what really transpired in all those years he was a prisoner of the Francoist order: his stay in the Montjuic Castle prison, his relationship with Salgado and the schizophrenic novelist David Martín, and his true role towards the Sempere family. Daniel will discover a nasty secret involving the mysterious former Minister of Culture Mauricio Valls and the death of his own mother.

The novel, part of the tetralogy ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books'', is basically a large, [[{{Rewrite}} rewriting]] {{flashback}} by Fermín and a tie-in for the next and last book of the trilogy, breaking Zafón's tradition of writing books that could be read as self-contained stories. It was followed by ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits''.

* BroadStrokes: Fermín's background as given in his crying confession in ''The Shadow of the Wind'' is vaguely similar to the one shown in this book, for otherwise they are very different.

* ContinuityDrift: Fermín's background and role in the series is completely rewritten from the version he gave while tearfully opening up to Daniel in ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind''. Instead of spending only some days in Montjuic Castle being tortured by Fumero as told in ''Shadow'', he comes to the castle with the torture already on his back (StealthPun here) and spends a much longer time there. He also escapes with the aid of David Martín, instead of being abandoned half dead by his torturers, and the person that heals and hides him is a wealthy Gypsy instead of a widow. Finally, instead of being forced into poverty and encountering fortuitously the Sempere family, he goes to live with Brians precisely in order to watch over the Sempere family before becoming voluntarily homeless.

* WritersCannotDoMath: There seems to be a bad case of this in the novel. It's said there Daniel started going out with Bea when he was 16, but ''Shadow of the Wind'' had him as 18, and the dates in this very book still point to the latter. It's also said that Bea and Daniel have been married for almost two years, but their son Julián's age is said to be of mere months, which doesn't fit given that Bea was already pregnant when they married.

''The Prisoner of Heaven'' (originally ''El prisionero del cielo'') is a 2011 novel by late Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

The novel, part of the tetralogy ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books'', is basically a large [[{{Retcon}} retconning]] {{flashback}} by Fermín and a tie-in for the next and last book of the trilogy, breaking Zafón's tradition of writing books that could be read as self-contained stories. It was followed by ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits''.

The novel, part of the tetralogy ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books'', is basically a large retconning flashback by Fermín and a tie-in for the next and last book of the trilogy, breaking Zafón's tradition of writing books that could be read as self-contained stories. It was followed by ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits''.