The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Pérez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) Don Jaime Astarloa is the fencing master of Madrid. He has a fencing school, and has private clients, including Luis de Ayala, the Marques de los Alumbres, but Don Jaime is getting old. His world is disappearing into the past, replaced with pistols. […]
The Painter of Battles (2009) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Sayers Peden Andres Faluques was a renowned war photographer, but after he retired, he decided to again take up painting, which he’d given up in his youth for photography, because although he was a proficient painter, he wasn’t a great painter. But he was a […]
Purity of the Blood (1997) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Sayers Peden Purity of the Blood is the second Captain Alatriste book. Inigo continues the story of Captain Alatriste, who remains in Madrid, still talking of returning to war, but still looking after Inigo, and still taking commissions to make ends meet. This time he […]
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 […]
The Nautical Chart (2000) Arturo Perez-Reverte Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden It took me awhile to get into The Nautical Chart. The other books I have read by Arturo Perez-Reverte have drawn me in immediately, but not so for this book. I started reading the book back in December, but kept picking up other books […]
The Queen of the South (2002) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Andrew Hurley If you’d like to know the power of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s writing, pick up this book, read a few pages, then put the book down and try to forget the story. A couple of months ago I picked up a book, thought it looked […]
The Flanders Panel (1990) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa I enjoyed The Fencing Master so much that I picked up The Flanders Panel and two other of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s books to read, in the hopes that I would like them just as well. While restoring the painting “The Game of Chess” Julia discovers […]
The Club Dumas (1993) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Sonia Soto (1996) I started this book, but couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of familiarity. Then I realized that I’d seen a movie of this story. The Ninth Gate (starring Johnny Depp) was the movie of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s The Club Dumas. So I’ve put it down for […]
The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) I initially didn’t realize that this books were originally in Spanish, and was a little unsure when I realized they were translated, but then decided that it shouldn’t make a difference, and so happily read the book. The Fencing Master is set in […]