A review by jmyodafriend
Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Part historical fiction, part swashbuckling adventure, there's a pretty good story here that keeps you guessing for awhile. However, the narrative frequently gets lost in run-on sentences. I enjoyed the title character, who we see from the perspective of his young teenage ward, although we don't really learn much about the boy. Life in 17th century Madrid, along with its politics, religion, and culture, is vividly and believably described. The ending leads to a sequel, but I'm not sure I'm interested enough to follow the captain further.