SuzanneRating:
Review
This tale takes us all the way back to 1600’s Madrid, where ex-soldier Diego Alatriste makes his living as a mercenary sword for hire, sometimes by the skin of his teeth. Alatriste has a fatalistic mentality suited to his times. He’s nothing if not courageous, and answers to no one but himself. His story is told by his young ward Iñigo, the son of his late friend. Alatriste agrees to take a very well-paying job proposed to him by two men who don’t want him to know who they are. He’s supposed to rough up a couple of travelers from England, but when the time comes to do the deed, things are not as he expected. Alatriste’s story is dosed liberally with non-fiction characters from this era in Spain, like his poet friend don Francisco de Quevedo and the creepy president of the Spanish Inquisition, Fray Emilio Bocanegro. Even painter Diego Velazquez makes an appearance. I liked this story more than I thought I would, given that it takes place four hundred years ago. Life in Madrid back then was so different from now it almost seems like a fairy tale, but it wasn’t!
Best Line:
“May Christ unleash a thunderbolt to incinerate all the spineless lackeys who were “just following orders”, and take with them the bastards who gave the orders as well. (pg. 220)
KimRating:Review
Though I was a little bored with this story, I fell in love with Captain Alatriste in the first few pages of this slim novel. Our title character is hired to do serious harm to a couple of seemingly innocent travelers one night, and when the Captain tries to complete his assignment, he is struck with doubt and does little more than frighten the travelers. And then all hell breaks loose when the travelers’ identities are revealed, for the Alatriste, his young charge Inigo Balboa (an apt narrator in this story), and some of Alatriste’s closest friends. I could see this story made into an excellent movie with Benjamin Bratt as the good Captain.
Best Line:
“After all, however cloudy it may be, the shadow is always sewn to one’s feet.”
