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The Mask of Zorro
Zorro, the masked crusader, tries to save Alta California from a greedy tyrant, the corrupt governor of Los Angeles
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
7 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
About the author
James Luceno
118 books1,064 followersJames Luceno is a New York Times bestselling author, best known for his novels and reference books connected with the Star Wars franchise and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and novelisations of the Robotech animated television series. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and youngest child.
He has co-written many books with Brian Daley as Jack McKinney.
He has co-written many books with Brian Daley as Jack McKinney.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 14, 2016
Two stars for the novelization.
Ten stars for the 1998 movie .
Must. Stop. Buying. Novelizations.
Really not worth it .
February 26, 2023
This was a great adaptation of the movie. Lots of extra backstory about Santa Anna and the Mexican revolution. Includes many deleted scenes. Really enjoyed this.
September 8, 2025
The Mask of Zorro, by Ted Elliott and three other contributors
In some ways, The Mask of Zorro looks like an animated movie, with a story that has some childish humor and a character that fights all the bad people and beats them in every possible way, while helping the poor, opposing the filthy, ruthless rich.
Nevertheless, this motion picture has been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Actor in a Leading Role – Comedy or Musical…
Antonio Banderas is the nominee and he is indeed dazzling, fulminant, dashing, spectacular, and funny and accomplished in the role of Alejandro Murrieta aka Zorro, a hero that puts to shame the likes of Ironman, the Avengers and other such cartoon characters.
Zorro has been portrayed in a resplendent, sparkling manner by Alain Delon –it is difficult to know if and to what extent the makers of this version have been inspired by the original- and in this newer version, Don Diego de la Vega is the older hero, played by the magisterial, imperial Anthony Hopkins, who is very impressive in a role wherein he manages to combine reflection, sadness, tenderness with bravery, determination, fighting skills, devotion, kindness and manhood.
The ravishing, attractive, aristocratic, passionate, beautiful, seductive, loyal, sophisticated Elena is portrayed by Catherine Zeta- Jones, very convincing in the leading role of a romantic woman, impressed and at the same time opposing the protagonist, even fighting him with a sword.
Spoiler alert:
Elena thinks she is the daughter of the evil, rich Don Rafael Montero- and for practical purposes, she is, in a twisted, tragic manner she is the adopted daughter of her father’s mortal enemy- but she –and the audience- is not meant to know that until rather late in the film.
In the background, Spain concedes California to Santa Anna, the vicious Don Rafael has a cruel, mischievous plan to extract gold from a mine that he keeps secret, where he abuses, tortures and kills people, using even children for his nefarious plans.
Some viewers – the under signed anyway- can be turned off to a certain degree by the rather socialist views of the older and younger Zorros, who take from the rich and give to the poor, respecting the tradition of Robin Hood and other outlaws, which are defined by some as libertarians or even communists.
The old Zorro is seeking revenge, for the murderous Don Rafael Montero had killed his wife, taken his daughter and abuses and tortures so many more in his ruthless, selfish effort to become ever richer and more powerful
In this fight he trains young Zorro aka Antonio Banderas, offering the public moments of mirth, while showing some cruelty towards an apprentice that shows talent, skill, but not enough to satisfy the demands of the noble Don Diego de la Vega.
When the younger man is good enough with the sword and beats hordes of enemies with unbelievable agility and ease, the master states that he still needs something which is essential and that is charm, sophistication and the ability to pass for an aristocrat for these opponents they face would not even look at the eyes of a servant.
Don Diego wants to introduce Alejandro Murrieta in the inner circle of his mortal enemy, passing him for a rich man who can be used, teaching his student that the nobles “never say what they mean and never mean what they say”.
Young Zorro is enticed, infatuated with Elena and it seems to be reciprocated, even if with pride and fierce passion, she opposes advances from the young stranger, while at the same time flirting and dancing with him- a high point, spectacular scene takes place while the two dance, offering an amazing show.
When Alejandro enters a stable, dashing Elena is waiting and the man has to change his macho attitude, for the young lady knows how to fight and she is excellent at it, until the famous fighter takes control and keeps taking clothes off his opponent with…his sword.
When father Don Rafael – at this stage she still thinks he is her real father- arrives at the scene of the battle of sexes, she states that the young man fought with her and he is strong…very strong.
The villain takes Alejandro and other people that he wants to use in his scheme of making money and taking advantage of his enemies to the mine where he has gold to show them, where children work with old men, under the whip, facing torture and abuse.
As one of them tries to attack the vicious, ruthless Don Rafael, his stooges and new partners in crime, he is killed with a shot.
A fight ensues, where there are explosions, the workers are locked in cages, they are in danger of dying, the heroes Batman and Robin- sorry, Young and Old Zorro- fight with the ability of Superman, Batman, Rocky, Terminator and some other Super Heroes combined and send scores of enemies into the ground.
This seems preposterous and incredible, but there are elements of mockery that make the whole show acceptable, even enjoyable, for Zorro has many moments- well, a few anyway- when he is ridiculed…
Take his horse: when the hero selects it, he says the animal should be proud- but he is not- he keeps telling the horse to come and wait for him to jump from the roof, but he lands on the ground, the smart animal would not dignify the big ego with servility and sends the protagonist to the ground at least another time.
In some ways, The Mask of Zorro looks like an animated movie, with a story that has some childish humor and a character that fights all the bad people and beats them in every possible way, while helping the poor, opposing the filthy, ruthless rich.
Nevertheless, this motion picture has been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Actor in a Leading Role – Comedy or Musical…
Antonio Banderas is the nominee and he is indeed dazzling, fulminant, dashing, spectacular, and funny and accomplished in the role of Alejandro Murrieta aka Zorro, a hero that puts to shame the likes of Ironman, the Avengers and other such cartoon characters.
Zorro has been portrayed in a resplendent, sparkling manner by Alain Delon –it is difficult to know if and to what extent the makers of this version have been inspired by the original- and in this newer version, Don Diego de la Vega is the older hero, played by the magisterial, imperial Anthony Hopkins, who is very impressive in a role wherein he manages to combine reflection, sadness, tenderness with bravery, determination, fighting skills, devotion, kindness and manhood.
The ravishing, attractive, aristocratic, passionate, beautiful, seductive, loyal, sophisticated Elena is portrayed by Catherine Zeta- Jones, very convincing in the leading role of a romantic woman, impressed and at the same time opposing the protagonist, even fighting him with a sword.
Spoiler alert:
Elena thinks she is the daughter of the evil, rich Don Rafael Montero- and for practical purposes, she is, in a twisted, tragic manner she is the adopted daughter of her father’s mortal enemy- but she –and the audience- is not meant to know that until rather late in the film.
In the background, Spain concedes California to Santa Anna, the vicious Don Rafael has a cruel, mischievous plan to extract gold from a mine that he keeps secret, where he abuses, tortures and kills people, using even children for his nefarious plans.
Some viewers – the under signed anyway- can be turned off to a certain degree by the rather socialist views of the older and younger Zorros, who take from the rich and give to the poor, respecting the tradition of Robin Hood and other outlaws, which are defined by some as libertarians or even communists.
The old Zorro is seeking revenge, for the murderous Don Rafael Montero had killed his wife, taken his daughter and abuses and tortures so many more in his ruthless, selfish effort to become ever richer and more powerful
In this fight he trains young Zorro aka Antonio Banderas, offering the public moments of mirth, while showing some cruelty towards an apprentice that shows talent, skill, but not enough to satisfy the demands of the noble Don Diego de la Vega.
When the younger man is good enough with the sword and beats hordes of enemies with unbelievable agility and ease, the master states that he still needs something which is essential and that is charm, sophistication and the ability to pass for an aristocrat for these opponents they face would not even look at the eyes of a servant.
Don Diego wants to introduce Alejandro Murrieta in the inner circle of his mortal enemy, passing him for a rich man who can be used, teaching his student that the nobles “never say what they mean and never mean what they say”.
Young Zorro is enticed, infatuated with Elena and it seems to be reciprocated, even if with pride and fierce passion, she opposes advances from the young stranger, while at the same time flirting and dancing with him- a high point, spectacular scene takes place while the two dance, offering an amazing show.
When Alejandro enters a stable, dashing Elena is waiting and the man has to change his macho attitude, for the young lady knows how to fight and she is excellent at it, until the famous fighter takes control and keeps taking clothes off his opponent with…his sword.
When father Don Rafael – at this stage she still thinks he is her real father- arrives at the scene of the battle of sexes, she states that the young man fought with her and he is strong…very strong.
The villain takes Alejandro and other people that he wants to use in his scheme of making money and taking advantage of his enemies to the mine where he has gold to show them, where children work with old men, under the whip, facing torture and abuse.
As one of them tries to attack the vicious, ruthless Don Rafael, his stooges and new partners in crime, he is killed with a shot.
A fight ensues, where there are explosions, the workers are locked in cages, they are in danger of dying, the heroes Batman and Robin- sorry, Young and Old Zorro- fight with the ability of Superman, Batman, Rocky, Terminator and some other Super Heroes combined and send scores of enemies into the ground.
This seems preposterous and incredible, but there are elements of mockery that make the whole show acceptable, even enjoyable, for Zorro has many moments- well, a few anyway- when he is ridiculed…
Take his horse: when the hero selects it, he says the animal should be proud- but he is not- he keeps telling the horse to come and wait for him to jump from the roof, but he lands on the ground, the smart animal would not dignify the big ego with servility and sends the protagonist to the ground at least another time.
May 16, 2022
i read this in my spanish class and honestly my breakdown is one star because i liked one chapter and another star for pity. about half of this book felt like a fanfiction that i kept checking whether i was on wattpad or tumblr. maybe the movie is better but this really didn't feel like a proper piece of literature to me. now if i pretend that this is an actual piece of literature for a hot minute, i'll say that this entire thing was way too rushed, from the random time skips to elena and alejandro's relationship. also the characters had weird motives. for example why did montero only want elena like he couldn't adopt a kid or just let her live somewhere else??? and his arc with diego had no backstory and was literally nowhere except three sentences in chapter one. also why did alejandro have a ripping-off-clothes-with-a-sword fetish?? the imagery and description of events such as dancing were very awkward and written very weirdly that i kept wondering if they were gonna do something like bad in front of everyone. i also found elena kinda annoying with hints of pick me and damsal in distress like she turned on her "dad" in less than 0.00001 seconds like you literally didn't doubt what diego said for a second? if diego found out about their "sword fight turn play date" he would not approve of their relationship. speaking of diego he was the only character that made some logical sense; like i get why he was sad and stuff. also all the characters except diego and alejandro had no back story like im so confused as to how jack has three fingers and why his name is literally jack three fingers and not jack like we get you have three fingers why do you need to add it to your name?? there was no well-developed plot: it was just a random string of events that were hanging by a precarious thread, and only some of the order (aka the back half) made sense. overall way too rushed and the "romance" in chapter eight and in general could've been taken bad out of context.
November 21, 2017
I have an entire shelf of movie novelization books (I dunno, some people collect black Santas) about time I finally got around to reading this one. If it's been awhile since you've seen the 1998 TriStar Pictures movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, do make the effort to stream it or check the DVD out of your local library like I did. It really had been awhile for me.
Too bad this novelization is not as much fun to read as watching the swashbuckling movie. To the credit of the author, there is an awful lot going on-all those intertwining character arcs, nonstop action sequences-making it a challenge to keep the readers' attention when nothing new is added to the story in this format. No need to read the book when you've already seen the movie.
Aside from a few brief "deleted" scenes such as Elena overhearing her father and Love plotting to kill everyone at the gold mine, all 213 pages are just a retelling, almost word-for-word dialogue, of the movie. No swearing, no blood, just lots of action and when Alejandro as Zorro parries swords with Elena in the fight scene in the barn, the kisses he steals are just that...kisses.
Two stars for the author failing to make his narrative of an action-adventure film more exciting to read about and relive in the reader's mind.
Too bad this novelization is not as much fun to read as watching the swashbuckling movie. To the credit of the author, there is an awful lot going on-all those intertwining character arcs, nonstop action sequences-making it a challenge to keep the readers' attention when nothing new is added to the story in this format. No need to read the book when you've already seen the movie.
Aside from a few brief "deleted" scenes such as Elena overhearing her father and Love plotting to kill everyone at the gold mine, all 213 pages are just a retelling, almost word-for-word dialogue, of the movie. No swearing, no blood, just lots of action and when Alejandro as Zorro parries swords with Elena in the fight scene in the barn, the kisses he steals are just that...kisses.
Two stars for the author failing to make his narrative of an action-adventure film more exciting to read about and relive in the reader's mind.
May 21, 2025
Okay, so this is a little bit of an oops. I recently found a copy of the original Zorro novel at a used bookstore, and thought I had found the audio book. Only, the one I found is the "Mark of Zorro", not the mask, so it's back to the drawing board there. This was still an entertaining listen, though.
February 19, 2022
I like the perspective of the book, not gonna hold you that was good, but I couldn't fully get into it. Especially when the girl seems super realistic for a second, then just drops back into the trope at the last second when the hero comes in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2018
This isn’t what I listened to. It was a Hollywood audio recording. The story was abridged &/ adapted but it was a quality production.
Read
July 6, 2021Buen libro!
May 9, 2024
Good read, def reads like a fanfiction where it seems to rush things a lot but still enjoyed the story nonetheless
December 27, 2021
"When the world shoves you around, you just gotta stand up and shove back. It's not like somebody's gonna save you if you start babbling excuses."
Rare when the movie is better.
Rare when the movie is better.
September 10, 2008
When I bought the book at first,I thought it's the original novel or something!there wasn't any "the movie tie in" on the cover.so I got a little disappointed,but when I read it,I liked it!it's as wonderful as the movie!^^
January 10, 2009
Buch zum Film mit Antonia Banderas, Anthony Hopkins und Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Als Teenager habe ich viel und oft solche "Bücher zum Film" gelesen, mit Zeit sie aber immer schlechter gefunden. Dieses hier war wieder mal eines der besseren Sorte, das ich ganz gern gelesen habe.
Als Teenager habe ich viel und oft solche "Bücher zum Film" gelesen, mit Zeit sie aber immer schlechter gefunden. Dieses hier war wieder mal eines der besseren Sorte, das ich ganz gern gelesen habe.
March 23, 2016
Das Buch gefiel mir viel besser als erwartet. Das hat nicht zu sagen, dass die Story besonders packend oder so wäre. Es ist im Grunde eine simple Story deren Ausgang man von Anfang an sehen kann. Keine großen Überraschungen und daher auch keine großen Enttäuschungen.
November 6, 2010
exciting book
July 21, 2015
P29 sa Booksale papuntang MRT, iniwan ko na sa bus kasi ang bigat ng bag ko. Oks naman.
June 12, 2020
Are you looking for something?
A sense of the miraculous in everyday life.
A sense of the miraculous in everyday life.
August 16, 2011
I good book to read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews