Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Teresa, the “Queen,” is just the girlfriend of a drug runner pilot in Mexico until he gets himself killed. Given an escape to Spain, and a stint in prison, she and her prison-mate Patty enter the big business of running drugs themselves especially between Spain and Morocco. Oddly Teresa comes off a hero and the audience cheers for her. The novel is complex and exquisitely told. The level of detail of running drugs and the enemies it creates demonstrates the level of skill of this author and his research. The author is quite simply brilliant.… (lisätietoja)

Ésta es la historia de un hombre, tres mujeres, una revolución y un tesoro. La revolución fue la de México en tiempos de Emiliano Zapata y Francisco Villa. El tesoro fueron quince mil monedas de oro de a veinte pesos de las denominadas maximilianos, robadas en un banco de Ciudad Juárez el 8 de mayo de 1911. El hombre se llamaba Martín Garret Ortiz y era un joven ingeniero de minas español. Todo empezó para él ese mismo día, cuando desde su hotel oyó un primer disparo lejano. Salió a la calle para ver qué ocurría y a partir de ese momento su vida cambió para siempre...

Revolución es mucho más que una novela sobre los dramáticos acontecimientos que sacudieron la república mexicana en el primer tercio del siglo XX. Es un relato de iniciación y madurez a través del caos, la lucidez y la violencia: el asombroso descubrimiento de las reglas ocultas que determinan el amor, la lealtad, la muerte y la vida.

«Toda la vida escuché en mi casa la historia de aquel amigo de mi bisabuelo, ingeniero de minas, que trabajó en México en plena revolución. Ese recuerdo remoto me ha aproximado a mi propia relación con la aventura y me ha llevado a escribir esta historia. Es una novela de iniciación y aprendizaje y es, de algún modo, mi propia biografía de juventud. Es mi Flecha de oro ». Pérez-Reverte… (lisätietoja)

I give this book a lower rating than the previous books in the series, and it's not because it does anything particularly wrong. It's a rather entertaining yarn about a heist (or black op, since it's done at the behest of the authorities) commanded by Captain Alatriste during Spain's Golden Century.

The problem is that the mannerisms of the series are starting to tire me out. The narrator interrupts the story so much to give us the same lecture on how Spain at that time combined greatness in the arts and in the bravery of the people with corruption and self-defeating mismanagement. OK, OK, I get it. How could I not, I'm Spanish myself. But really, it's a simple enough message, there's no need to hammer it down so much. Reverte really should let the series grow beyond that.

The narrator, Iñigo de Balboa, Alatriste's young protégé, keeps teasing us with details of what's going to happen between him and his love and nemesis, the heartless Angelica... OK, count me in. I would like to see that, but until then, could we please concentrate on the story at hand?

Having said that, Alatriste is a great character. Complex, multi-faceted, cynical, generous, brave... a hero and a rogue at the same time.

The story itself, once you remove the embellishments and the repetitious discourse, is straightforward but effective.… (lisätietoja)

The last of the Captain Alatriste novels up till now. Supposedly there are two more planned, but there has been nothing since 2011 (I'm writing this in 2024).

It's just another Alatriste caper. I enjoyed it and thought it was a step up from the previous ones. Now that Íñigo is older, we see a clearer picture of Captain Alatriste, and the effect his lifetime as a soldier or mercenary has had on him. There were some emotional moments between him and Íñigo that I enjoyed.

The story was a bit slight, though. I often have this sensation with these novels, as if they were a novella extended into a novel. Reverte takes his time, with lengthy descriptions and the narrators opinions (really Reverte's) about the history of Spain. Which are fine, but we have just read about them them too often in this series.

There's no real resolution to any of the long-running plot threads, like Íñigo's love for the cold-hearted Angelica or Alatriste's rivalry with Malatesta. Enjoyable little story, nevertheless.… (lisätietoja)