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vilandra's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the characters and it’s well written, but it’s just so obviously the set up for future books that I didn’t enjoy it as much as earlier Reverte work. I think I would rather they had combined this with the next book, so there weren’t as many allusions to future events with no payoff.
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
2.0
Pages: 242
“No era el hombre más honesto ni el más piadoso, pero era un hombre valiente.”
Spoiler
I had made a promise to myself last year to start reading more in Spanish again, but apparently that promise was soon forgotten... I only just managed to squeeze in this story before 2017 ended, which definitely wasn't what I had originally planned for the year. I have read Arturo Pérez-Reverte's work in the past, so I thought the first book of the Adventures Of Captain Alatriste would be a safe bet. This first book is simply named after the main character of this series set in 17th century Spain: El Capitán Alatriste. I have a weak spot for both historical fiction and books set in one of my favorite countries, Spain, so I thought I would really enjoy this one. Unfortunately, things turned out to be different. I know Spanish isn't my native language, but I both have a degree in Spanish Philology and have been using Spanish daily for years, so I can confirm the language itself wasn't a barrier. What did slow me down considerably is the general tone and pace of the story, and the fact that nothing much happened during the story. Not only was the historical setting quite weak and could have been elaborated a lot more, but I also found the way the story was told through someone close to Alatriste not entertaining at all. This probably has a lot to do with the writing as well as the lack of a proper plot and more action... I did appreciate the incorporation of old Spanish literature in the text. But still, I definitely won't be continuing this series any time soon.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
book_nut's review against another edition
3.0
Liked it; it was kind of a Spanish Three Musketeers (I liked the illusions to the Dumas book best), but... it kind of just ended. I don't mind series books, but I do like each one to (mostly) stand on their own. I felt like I was only getting half of a story. Which is never fun.
kristennd's review against another edition
4.0
Fast and fun. After the disappointment of his more modern stuff, it was nice to get back to swashbuckling and court intrigues. And I loved how he incorporated at least one bit of classic fiction into the story.
borealis85's review against another edition
2.0
Stereotypical adventure novel where the main character is typical aging battle hardened superstar. This is one of those books you get the feeling of already having read dozens of. There are some historical characters but none of them, nor the fictional ones have much depth on them.
BUT I might still continue the series just to see are there any surprises at all in the plot. Plus, this is of course a good snack after some brainworm like Dostoyevsky.
BUT I might still continue the series just to see are there any surprises at all in the plot. Plus, this is of course a good snack after some brainworm like Dostoyevsky.
stacialithub's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this more than I did. It was fine but not quite the swashbuckling adventure I had hoped it would be. Perhaps the storytelling style or the translation didn't do justice to the plot and characters. I'm glad a Goodreads member (Clif Hostetler) wrote about the historical event around which the plot revolves; reading his commentary, plus researching some of the history on my own, made the story much more interesting to me.
Since the story is told in past tense by Captain Alatriste's assistant, I found the story 'off' in some parts where Alatriste's thoughts & actions were detailed when the assistant was not even present. Still, I enjoyed the history & descriptions of Madrid.
Since the story is told in past tense by Captain Alatriste's assistant, I found the story 'off' in some parts where Alatriste's thoughts & actions were detailed when the assistant was not even present. Still, I enjoyed the history & descriptions of Madrid.
miguelroyo's review
4.0
Perfectamente llevado bajo la clá¡sica receta del folletin de picaresca a lo Dumas. Sabroso, anecdótico y emocionante. De mis series de libros favoritas.
collegecate's review against another edition
3.0
This it's a re-read. I like this guy's work a lot and it stands up to rereading. I think I like this one even more having recently read The Three Musketeers and the histories of Charles I and II. I don't think I realized the first time I read this that the historic event of the price of Wales traveling to Spain was real. Nor did I catch the snide reference to lady De Winter.