Carlos Ruiz Zafón was a Spanish novelist known for his 2001 novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind). The novel sold 15 million copies and was the winner of numerous awards. It was included in the list of the one hundred best books in Spanish in the last twenty-five years, made in 2007 by eighty-one Latin American and Spanish writers and critics.

My affection for dragons comes from a long time ago. Barcelona is a city of dragons, which adorn or guard many of its facades, and I fear that I am one of them. Perhaps for that reason, out of solidarity with the little monster, I have been collecting them for many years and I offer them refuge in my home, a dragon sanctuary of sorts. As of today, there are more than 400 dragon creatures that make up my census, which increases every month. In addition to having been born in the year, of course, of the dragon, my ties to these green fire-breathing beasts are numerous. We are nocturnal creatures, fond of the shadows, not particularly sociable, not very friendly with hidalgos and wandering knights, and difficult to know.