The Phantom of Manhattan (Windsor Selection S.)

by Frederick Forsyth

[cornerfolds]

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I have been eying this sequel to The Phantom of the Opera for years, but had been very hesitant to pick it up because of the awful rating on Goodreads. Upon further inspection, it seemed the rating was largely due to the arrogance of the author in his introduction to the book. My love for Phantom has stemmed largely from the musical, so I'm not too terribly upset by another author saying he could basically do it better than Gaston Leroux. I went into The Phantom of Manhattan not knowing what to expect, but fully intending to give it a fair chance!

This book is... strange. I'll start by saying the audiobook production of The Phantom of Manhattan is fantastic! It's performed by a full cast and each narrator truly acts their part. Throughout the reading experience, I'll admit I got excited every time Eric was present. Strangely enough, this didn't happen often. The majority of book is told in exposition and dialogue and most of it is told by random, new, inconsequential characters. Although this is the continuation of Christine and Eric's story, they are barely involved at all other than a mention here and there.

As you can see, my main issue with The Phantom of Manhattan is that there are way too many new characters and too few of the old. There are a couple reporters, one of whom basically tells us his entire life story. There is an Irish priest who we get to know way too intimately than we need to. Then there's the strangest character of all - Eric's business partner, Darius. I didn't understand his purpose at all. At. All. Similarly, there is a huge focus on gods - the Catholic God and the god of gold, who (I'm pretty sure) has an actual name. Both of these gods speak back to their worshippers in really weird dialogue that seemed totally out of place.

Along with the strange new characters, old characters are missing and are definitely missed. Meg Giry has a very brief part as Christine's maid, which... what now? Meg's mother dies in the very first chapter and is the ball that gets the whole story rolling. I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I absolutely HATE what the author has done to Raoul. I have never liked Raoul as a character, but I at least want him to be a decent rival for the Phantom instead of what he has become here. (Let me know if you want spoilers.)

The story itself is just all over the place. I did like that there was some background on how Eric came into his wealth, but that is about where the positive notes end for this one. I really feel that if there had been more focus on Christine and Eric, this would have been much, much better. The ending was far too abrupt and just didn't make sense when taken as part of the whole.

Unfortunately, I can't really recommend this as a sequel. If you're looking for more Phantom in book format, I definitely recommend Of Metal and Wishes, an amazing Phantom retelling.