Книги автора Arturo Perez-Reverte
Жанр: Daedalus Books
Год: 2008
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»The fourth novel in the immensely satisfying Captain Alatriste series by Arturo Pérez-Reverte opens with a Spanish galleon sailing into a home port that is festooned with English corpses. The slain enemies, fruit of a failed Anglo-Dutch attack on Cádiz, 'hung from gallows erected on the shore, along the edge of the vineyards... bunches of grapes ripe for harvesting, except that these grapes had been harvested already'. Such carnage is a welcome sight to Spanish eyes in 1626, even eyes as jaded as those of our hero, Alatriste. For us, though, the scene is unsettling. Instead of action, we find action's putrefied aftermath. The tone is not triumphant but exhausted. Alatriste, his young protégé Ínigo and his battered comrades are tired of adventures. But they need another one that pays well. An air of cynical resignation pervades The King's Gold. Pérez-Reverte, even as he stages exhilarating scenes, darkens the mood, making this novel one of his finest. 'War is at least clean', Alatriste observes, whereas the business of empire is extremely grubby. The gold at the center of this novel has been smuggled from the West Indies and is destined not for King Philip's treasury but for 'private pockets', perhaps even for the coffers of Spain's enemies. Pérez-Reverte succinctly explains the political and economic background, which we discover along with Alatriste as he learns the details of his mission: to recover the king's treasure from a ship off Seville. Not for glory or patriotism — both sullied terms in Alatriste's world — but for the gold itself. 'Spain is going to the dogs', a courtier reflects. 'Everyone steals, cheats, and lies and no one pays his debts'. Except for Alatriste, whose dented moral compass still steers him toward loyalty and a man's word'. Since there were no old gods in whom one could trust', Ínigo observes, 'no great words that could be bandied about during combat, it was a salve to everyone's honor — or, at least, better than nothing at all — to have a king for whom one could fight.' A wistful narrator, Ínigo recalls not only their daring escapades but also his youthful self, hopelessly in love with the manipulative Angelica. Even stock scenes of romantic assignation, swordplay, torture and execution appear fresh and profound in these pages, tinged as they are with longing for a time that never was as glorious as other swashbucklers would have us believe».
Название: Purity of Blood
Жанр: Penguin Group
Год: 2008
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A desperate father hires Alatriste to rescue his daughter from a convent where a powerful priest is said to be using the girl as his personal concubine. Soon Alatriste discovers that he has become part of a religious and political conspiracy that leads all the way to the highest levels of the Inquisition.
Название: Limpieza De Sangre
Жанр: Punto de lectura
Год: 2010
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In this second part, a woman has been found strangled in front of a local church. On her lap, a bag full of coins and a note «For masses for her soul» is found. In a nearby convent for young society ladies, the chaplain is having «unconventional» encounters with his novices. Captain Alatriste will soon discover how these two facts are connected by an entangled net of power, faith, and death.
Название: Purity of Blood
Жанр: Daedalus Books
Год: 2006
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In this follow-up to CAPTAIN ALATRISTE, the valiant Diego Alatriste returns for another adventure of swordplay, narrow escapes, and political intrigue within the corrupt Spanish court of the 1620s. Sword-for-hire Alatriste accepts a commission from Vicente de la Cruz to assist him and his sons in freeing his daughter, Elvira, from a convent where she is forced to submit to the attentions of an influential and lecherous priest, Fray Juan Coroado. De la Cruz must resort to this desperate measure because when he last attempted to see his daughter, Fray Juan threatened to reveal the stain on the family name — i.e., that de la Cruz's great-grandfather was a Jew. Death awaits anyone caught breaking into a convent, as Alatriste well knows, but the true risks of the rescue attempt only become plain after he is faced with a shocking betrayal.
Название: The Fencing Master
Жанр: Random House Inc.
Год: 1999
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Jaime Astarloa is a master-fencer of the old school, priding himself on the precision, dignity and honour of his ancient art. It is 1868; Spain teeters on the brink of revolution, his friends spend their days in cafe's discussing plots at court, but Jaime's obsession is to perfect the irresistible sword thrust. Then, Adela de Otero, violet-eyed and enigmatic, appears at his door. When Jaime takes her on as a pupil, he finds himself embroiled in dark political intrigues against which his old-fashioned values are no protection.
Название: The Flanders Panel
Жанр: Random House Inc.
Год: 1997
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In the 15th-century Flemish painting, two noblemen are playing chess. Yet, two years before he could sit for the portrait, one of them was murdered.
Название: The Sun Over Breda
Жанр: Daedalus Books
Год: 2007
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Arturo Perez-Reverte has enthralled readers and critics around the globe with his Captain Alatriste series. Having sold four and a half million copies to date in the Spanish-speaking world, the series has made Perez-Reverte a literary superstar and his fictional seventeenth-century mercenary a national icon. And the appeal of Perez-Reverte's adventurer and his exploits continues to grow, as evidenced by the extraordinary reception for the first two translated volumes in the series-Captain Alatriste and Purity of Blood. And now, in The Sun over Breda, Perez-Reverte continues his thrilling chronicle of the swordsman-for-hire, as Captain Alatriste takes up his blade and rejoins his elite Cartagena regiment as they take part in the battles and siege of Breda. Fifteen-year-old Inigo Balboa enlists to serve as his master's aide, and narrates their further adventures of swordplay and skirmishes, of mutiny and wartime honor. And, back in Spain, Alatriste's nemesis Luis de Alquezar grows more powerful, as Inigo's mysterious friend Angelica hints at some plans upon his return.
Название: The Sun Over Breda
Жанр: Orion Books
Год: 2009
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Flanders, 1625. After his tussles with the Inquisition and the intrigue of the Spanish court, Captain Alatriste has returned to the mud and desperation of the long war in Flanders. This is Iñigo's first experience of war and the realities of hand to hand combat. It is on the battlefield that he will finally have the chance to become a man and prove his worth. The troops are weary and ill-nourished and the winter has been long. As Spain sinks ever further into depravity and corruption, the soldiers have not been paid and must survive by whatever ways they can. Mutiny is in the air, on the lips of every Spaniard but they are strong and their famous iron discipline has brought them many victories against the Calvinist forces of the heretics. Reputation, honour, and the glory of Spain will keep them in the fight, but for how long? Meanwhile, the Captain's trusted friend Quevedo's star is rising at court and he keeps Alatriste appraised of the machinations of his arch-enemy Luis de Alquézar and the notorious assassin with the black heart, Gualterio Malatesta.
