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ATZ: P

This book I liked a lot more than the previous one. Once they start to get into the political/religious themes (and it must be recognized that in that era they were almost the same), the story of Alatriste improves a great deal.

These are books that are read extremely fast. If the rest of this saga continues with this quality, they will fly by for me.

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The story of this novel, set in 1623, is related by Iñigo Balboa, a thirteen-year-old boy. He is the son of Mercenary Captain Alatriste's fallen battlefield comrade. Against his better judgment, Diego Alatriste agrees to assist Vicente de la Cruz and his two sons in rescuing his daughter from a convent. Allegedly, women are being sexually abused there.

During the rescue, it becomes clear that the mission is a trap. While Alatriste manages to escape, Iñigo falls into the hands of conspirators led by Gualterio Malatesta, an Italian Mercenary in the service of Luis de Alquézar, the King of Spain's secretary. They hand over Iñigo to the Spanish Inquisition, who views the boy as a traitor since Vicente de la Cruz is of Jewish origin.

Alatriste calls in favors and strikes dubious bargains with manipulative nobles to get Balboa freed from the death sentence. The story is filled with danger, brutal swordplay, a complex conspiracy, and historical facts and settings. Religion plays a crucial role in the account, both in terms of the overall plot and the title.

Through the story, Iñigo looks back from the perspective of an older adult, lamenting that his country has been steadily declining. At the same time, we see in Alatriste a character who is both a stoic humanist and a hired killer. We also encounter Francisco de Quevedo again, a friend of Alatriste. Overall, I rate this novel five stars out of five.

Though the High Inquisitor made an appearance in the first book, it is in this story that the practices of the Spanish Inquisition are depicted with much greater clarity. The tactics described by poor Íñigo are truly appalling.

I must admit that I had a liking for Íñigo in the first book, but in this one, my affection for him grew even stronger, despite his helpless infatuation with Angelica de Alquezar. For a thirteen-year-old, he has some very strong opinions about the state of Spain and uses rather forceful language. I really appreciate the way Pérez-Reverte has crafted this character.

More of the character of Captain Alatriste is also brought to light. He remains largely an enigma to Íñigo and, by extension, to the reader. However, his sense of duty (and perhaps even a hint of affection) towards the boy is clearly evident, despite Íñigo's mistakes. The mystery surrounding Alatriste only adds to his allure.

I thoroughly enjoyed Purity of Blood and I'm eagerly looking forward to The Sun over Breda.

Solid prose with just the right amount of swagger and poetry.

Although a bit thin on the plot, it compensates with enough swirling capes and flashing daggers.

Plus, there's a riveting account of an Inquisition auto-da-fe from the victim's p.o.v., providing the requisite chills and thrills ala Dumas, père.

The swashbuckling adventure is set in Perez-Reverte's version of Spain's 17th century golden age.

During this time, Spain had "Europe and the world by their tender testicles."

It was a Spain that boasted Cervantes and Velazquez among its citizens, yet also hosted the Holy Inquisition and its egregious abuses.

There are other historical characters and references.

The full significance of these would go over the head of those not intimately familiar with Spanish history of this period, like me, for example.

However, the novel manages to be both entertaining and passionately informative about its subject.

This is enough to make it a fast and interesting read.

Second installment of the adventures of our favorite captain (who wasn't actually a captain, but rather a sergeant, as you can see from this image, but his men respected him so much that they called him captain). Here, Reverte paints a vivid fresco with many scenes: the distant tercios in Flanders, the detective-like crime that must be solved as soon as possible, and the very bad guys who are maneuvering in the distance, and not so much in the distance, as part of a larger arc. The descriptions of Madrid, the scenes, the dialogues, everything is extremely careful, and I have enjoyed it like a great adventure book, with a philosophical and tired background, in the style of Reverte.

The story unfolds with great detail, taking the reader on a journey through different locations and situations. The characters are well-developed, and their actions and decisions drive the plot forward. The author's use of language is masterful, creating a vivid and immersive world that the reader can easily get lost in. Whether it's the descriptions of the battles in Flanders or the political intrigues in Madrid, every scene is brought to life with great skill.

Overall, this is a great book that combines adventure, mystery, and philosophy in a unique and engaging way. It's a must-read for fans of historical fiction and adventure novels, and it's sure to keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Pues pienso de este exactamente igual que el primero. Es una pena que Alatriste no me hubiese enganchado antes. El señor Perez-Reverte es un claro referente del buen hacer de un escritor. Su escritura refleja seriedad, documentación y unas maneras exquisitas. Espectacular y gran desconocido para mí hasta ahora, y del que sin duda seguiré leyendo a su Alatriste y las demás obras.

Esta obra es espectacular con las descripciones de la Santa Iglesia y los tejemanejes de los poderes. Y yo me pregunto si lo de la España actual nos viene ya de lejos o si el señor Perez-Reverte se deja llevar y le gusta hacer leña. Lo dejo a criterio personal. Sin embargo, lo que no cabe duda es que la calidad literaria de sus obras es altísima. Me ha cautivado desde el primer momento y me ha hecho sumergirme en un mundo lleno de intriga, acción y personajes memorables. Espero con ansias seguir explorando más de sus obras y descubrir lo que más tiene que ofrecer.

The intention seems to be the same as in Akunin's historical series - to reproduce the language and spirit of bygone times.

Spanish is a colorful language, and in the described times, the grandeur of Spain was presumably especially magnificent.

Of course, no translation can reproduce this. The translator can only attempt to imitate the original somehow, and it's not even very clear how to convey all the refined but surely not literally translatable turns of phrase.

My low rating is probably not very logical. It is caused by the fact that a miracle did not happen and I did not feel a sense of empathy in the rights of another country. But translations of Dumas do arouse the desire to live in France in those times and be a musketeer...

Possibly, the translation is not of very high quality. There are flaws like "You'll lose your head, don't knock your head off."

The book didn't "grab" me in any way, and I don't want to read further books in the series.

Well, I truly wasn't anticipating the Spanish Inquisition. (If no one else has the courage to mention it, then I surely will.)

Whatever the connection of these events to the Affair of the Two Englishmen, Íñigo Balboa's narration is becoming more intense. The wars are not progressing favorably, and Spain seems hell-bent on shooting itself in the foot by emphasizing grand shows of piety and style over practicality. Especially significant is the issue of "Purity of Blood" mentioned in the title. It is crucial for the nobility to conceal the existence of a Jewish branch in the family from generations ago. The demand for spiritual purity is so great that Jewish financiers in Portugal - or at least those unable to prove pure Old Christian bloodlines - are persecuted and driven out of the country by the Inquisition, even though those financiers could have counterbalanced the Genoese bankers who pose a threat to the country.

The Spanish Empire may still be considered Golden, but that gold is merely tinsel and brass, and difficult times are on the horizon.

I discovered that I favored those sections where Íñigo was not physically present (despite the challenge of explaining how he can still narrate it). His role as a narrator is more understated, less inclined to become overly philosophical or sentimental.

Moreover, when he is absent, the likelihood of something stupid happening is reduced. I must ensure that he never behaves like a fool in front of his clearly dangerous obsession, Angélica de Alquézar. However, his behavior is very similar to that of Spain in a broader sense.

4.5/5 Stars.

We have come across the church! In this installment, Captain Alatriste and, above all, our narrator, Iñigo Balboa, his pupil, are trapped by the sinister and inexorable mechanisms of the terrible, yet effective Holy Inquisition.

Pérez-Reverte does not hold back when it comes to analyzing, through the mouths of his characters, the causes of the inexorable decline that, already in the early days of Felipe IV, seem evident in the Spanish Empire. Rampant corruption, obscurantism, hypocrisy, ignorance, abuse of power, nepotism. All of this is exploited by the powerful (including the aristocracy and the Church) to manipulate and squeeze the people, and by many others to live off the story and not get their hands dirty. The empire is getting closer and closer to collapse. An empire that, a few years later, will be besieged on all fronts, with the 30 Years' War in Europe, the rebellion of Catalonia and Portugal, and economic ruin. Little by little, the pride of a society that believed itself practically invincible and chosen by God will turn into a ruined, exploited, pessimistic, and jaded society......although this is already another story that we will see in the next installments.

The picture of the era that the author presents to us, as well as his handling of the language, is simply masterful. I vote for that, and I didn't expect so much.

Finally, our young hero can get out of the clutches of the Inquisition unharmed, and he prepares, together with our captain, to march to Flanders under the banners of the Old Tercio and under the cross of St. Andrew of the Empire.

Highly recommended.

3.5 stars

I must confess that I was let down by the eponymous first book in Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s ‘Captain Alatriste’ series of swashbuckling romances. It might have been due to unjust or incorrect expectations, but I recall being rather bewildered by my reaction. I have a penchant for a good swashbuckler, yet despite this, I find myself disappointed more often than not when I pick up such books. Sabatini has one truly outstanding entry in the genre that I’ve read (the superb Scaramouche), but I’ve been distinctly underwhelmed by every other book of his that I’ve taken on…much to my chagrin. Doyle's 'Brigadier Gerard' stories are wonderful, but they are as much comedies as they are swashbucklers. I revere Dumas père, but must admit that even his voluminous output has its highs and lows and contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that most of his works should really be classified as true swashbucklers (though historical romance is such a close relative that they really ought to just get a room already).

It was, therefore, with some trepidation that I took up volume two in the Alatriste series, _The Purity of Blood_. The core of the story centers around the titular ‘purity of blood’ that one must be able to prove (especially if one has any Jewish descent in one’s family tree) to be considered an ‘Old Christian’ and the trouble (to put it mildly) faced by those conversos unable to do so to the satisfaction of the authorities, especially the infamous Inquisition. Alatriste and Íñigo are drawn into a plot that initially seems to be merely a family matter, until it becomes evident that there are tentacles spreading out from it into much higher levels of society. Buckles are swashed, secrets are revealed, and danger & death are always lurking in the background. Through all of this, Pérez-Reverte is able to bring into a swashbuckling adventure reflections on the decay and hypocrisy inherent in the Spain of the ‘Golden Age’; a golden age that, not surprisingly, leaves a lot to be desired and, when seen up close, is neither better nor worse than any of mankind’s other blunders throughout history.

I will admit to once again feeling more or less indifferent for much of the novel. Overall, it was fairly good...an intriguing mystery setting things up on the first page and a fast-paced adventure that took off with little to no preamble, but I was still not sufficiently captivated by the adventure to feel myself drawn into the world Pérez-Reverte was creating. I know he’s capable of this as he’s done it to perfection for me in the more slower-paced The Fencing Master and the intriguing occult-literary mystery The Club Dumas, but so far in his pure swashbucklers, I am not always fully engaged. There were moments, though. The conceit of the book is that it is a first-person memoir being told by Íñigo Balboa, Alatriste’s ward and companion ever since the boy’s father, an old soldier buddy of Alatriste’s, died in the latter’s arms and asked him to care for his son (more on this later). This conceit allows us to enter into Íñigo’s mind as his remembrances of his youth take on the bittersweet flavor of a man looking back on his halcyon days from the perspective of old age. Two moments here struck me as particularly moving. In the first, Íñigo recalls the vision of Angélica de Alquézar, the great love of his life; a love that is not without its own ambivalent qualities:

At times, when memories seem so sweet that I long even for old enemies, I go and stand before the portrait Diego Velázquez painted of her, and stay for hours looking at her in silence, painfully aware that I never truly knew her. But along with the scars that she inflicted, my old heart still holds the conviction that that girl, that woman who inflicted upon me every evil she was capable of, also, in her way, loved me till the day she died.

The second was in a moment of truth for Íñigo in which his mettle and devotion to his master are tested. In this moment, he finds

“…that there are some things no man can tolerate though it cost him his life or, precisely, because that life would not be worth living if he yielded.”

I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that Íñigo proves himself worthy of the Captain’s respect and devotion.

Despite these moments that allow Pérez-Reverte’s novel to be tinged with that golden glow of memory so often attributed to the ‘Golden Age of Spain’ in which these adventures take place, the memoir format is not without its complications. The fact is that Íñigo spends a large portion of his time separated from the Captain (no need to go into details here, that really would be a spoiler) and yet we still get whole chapters told from the perspective of Alatriste without losing the assumption that ultimately it’s all coming from Íñigo’s mouth (or pen). I’m not normally a stickler for the whole “what is the conceit of how we received this narrative” thing (though it is becoming something I think about more) and usually just go with the flow, but it did grate a bit here for me. I can’t believe that the taciturn Alatriste told Íñigo anything but the barest details of what he did while they were separated, yet we still get a view into not only Alatriste’s actions, but his thoughts and words as well (not to mention those of the various friends and enemies with whom he interacts). I liked those chapters just fine as third-person narrative, but they didn’t really work for me as parts of Íñigo’s memoirs. That quibble aside, I found that as the book neared its conclusion, I was warming up to it much more than my experience in the first half would have suggested. I would still say, though, that this is in some ways a book that works less as a thoroughly exciting adventure in and of itself, but is rather a further setup for the long-term adventures of Alatriste and Íñigo, especially in regards to the relationships they have both with each other and with those who will prove to be the greatest thorns in their sides. Alatriste has a great moment at the end of the book with his nemesis, the thoroughly evil (yet still interestingly complex) swordsman and assassin Gualterio Malatesta, while the aforementioned reasons for the complex feelings of Íñigo for the lovely and deadly Angélica de Alquézar get some page time as she is shown to play a small, though key, role in the stratagem that nearly proves to be the end of our two heroes. All in all, I wasn’t completely swept away by this story, but it planted enough seeds that promise potential greatness that I am committed to following along with the adventures of these two unlikely heroes for at least a little while more. I hope Pérez-Reverte proves to live up to the promise.

Calling one of Arturo Pérez Reverte's books "fun" or "interesting" is a complete misrepresentation of the genius that this author possesses.

The action within the pages is, without a doubt, thrilling and exciting. However, a book that includes Francisco de Quevedo as one of the primary supporting characters, and does so masterfully, seamlessly weaving his beliefs and his poetry into the fabric of the action, truly deserves to be evaluated on a much higher plane than the average book.

Having a main character whose second last name is "Tenorio" and whose "uncle"'s exploits were immortalized by Tirso further elevates this book to the very top of that elevated scale.

The presence of a young narrator who holds the promise of much more to come, not only regarding Captain Alatriste but also about his own adventures, leaves the reader eagerly anticipating the next installments in the series. At the same time, one is always aware of the fact that although designed to bear a resemblance to the Three Musketeers, this novel is far deeper, darker, and brimming with even greater promise.

And then, after having caught all the cultural and historical references, one is left wondering which ones might have been missed. This then forces the decision of whether to move on to another book in the series or to reread this one in the hopes of uncovering even more of these hidden gems.

The second installment of the series "The Adventures of Captain Alatriste" features the veteran soldier Diego Alatriste and his young protege Íñigo Balboa. This time, Alatriste is embroiled in a dangerous mission that will lead him to face powerful enemies in the Spain of the Golden Age. I won't go into too much detail in this review, as you have the synopsis in the book and also very good reviews from some colleagues here.

\\n  "Any decent man can choose the form and place where he dies, but no one chooses the things he remembers."\\n

\\n  "One never knows what the dice will roll, and they always start to roll before one even realizes it."\\n

This continuation more than meets the expectations generated by its predecessor. Here you can find, to name just some of its virtues, great adventures, wonderful characters, deceptions and tricks, action, a fast pace, sharp dialogues like those of the Basques, and a masterful setting of 17th-century Spain. One couldn't ask for more. Just go for the next one.

\\n  "Your honors should always distrust those who read only one book."\\n