Captain Alatriste

Captain Alatriste (1996) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

My mistake came in reading this after reading Steven Brust. Following one swashbuckling adventure with another is bound to lead to comparisons, and as there are few whose writing I love more than Steven Brust, anything else is going to come across as weak by comparison.

Which is not to say that this is a weak book, because it isn’t. It is, in fact, an excellent book. It’s only failing was in not being another Steven Brust book, for which it can hardly be blamed.

Inigo Balboa’s father was killed in battle, and Diego Alatriste y Tenorio–better known as Captain Alatriste– said he would care for Balboa’s young son, perhaps not realizing that Inigo’s mother would take him up on the offer. And so Inigo ends up a page of sorts to Captain Alatriste, who is residing in Madrid because the last injury he took is not healing well.

As an ex-soldier, Captain Alatriste does not have a large number of job possibilities, and so he works as he can, when he can, living by the sword.

My earlier comparison to Steven Brust’s The Phoenix Guards would not be amiss, nor would a comparison to The Three Musketeers, as Captain Alatriste is a swashbuckling adventure, with plenty of fencing and a large dose of intrigue.

What is interesting is that while I expected this book to be more like The Fencing Master, I would have been hard pressed to recognize this as by the same author. The tone is very different, as is the style. The narrator is Inigo, who is relating the events years after they occurred, although he does relate Captain Aritriste’s thoughts and impressions, stating that these things were told to him later.

What remains the same, however, is excellent storytelling, with a tale that immediately draws you in. And the writing was good as well. The following passage particularly struck me:

I, at my tender age, still did not know that it is possible to speak harshly about what we love, precisely because of that love, and with the moral authority that love bestows upon us.

Although I did not enjoy this translation nearly as much as the translations of The Fencing Master and The Flanders Panel, the writing was still good–especially the poems.

One thing I find curious, however, is the use of profanity. I loaned The Fencing Master and The Flanders Panel to my grandmother without hesitation, however, I am not sure about Captain Alatriste. Though I probably will loan her book, with a warning about the language, so she knows what to expect. I suppose, however, that as Captain Alatriste was a career soldier, a certain amount of vulgarity is to be expected. I suppose I simply was not expecting that much profanity in a swashbuckling adventure, and don’t know enough about the language spoken at the time to know which would be more valid.

If you like adventure–especially with lots of fencing-then you’re going to like Captain Alatriste. And I am looking forward to the next book, Purity of the Blood.
Rating: 7/10

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