Captain Alatriste: Adventures of a 17th-Century Swordsman
Organization
The book contains eleven chapters:
- Tavern del Turco: In this first chapter, Iñigo, the narrator of the story, tells us about the life of Diego Alatriste y Tenorio, a man who was neither honest nor pious, but a brave man, in Madrid at that time. This first chapter tells us how he handles a little job for Saldaña. It also tells us about a typical day in the Tavern of the Turk, a tavern frequented by Alatriste, Iñigo, Quevedo… and some other outsiders.
- The Masked Men: The meeting for the job commissioned by Saldaña was on the outskirts of Madrid. The place was terrifying; it was dark, and only a lantern allowed them to see something, just barely. They entered a house that seemed abandoned. There were the men who told him what he should do: injure and leave two Englishmen with little blood. It would be at night, when they reached Madrid. So, when they left, there were other men; they were told the opposite of the first, to completely end their lives. The men who went to the meeting were two: Alatriste and Gualterio Malatesta, a dangerous Italian murderer.
- A Little Lady: Iñigo tells us how he spent his life in Madrid at that time. Mainly, his life, like Alatriste’s, is set in the Taberna del Turco, surrounded by people much older than him. One day, when Iñigo looked out the window, a coach stopped in front of him. From the coach emerged the most beautiful thing in the world, Angelica Alquezar.
Captain Alatriste
Arturo Pérez-Reverte wrote this book in 1996. It is written in the first person; the story is told in the first person because the narrator has lived it. This book is written in prose.
Summary
Captain Alatriste was a veteran soldier who lived in Madrid as a swordsman for hire. The book recounts one of his adventures, in which a friend gets him a mission that could earn him good money. Meanwhile, he has to take care of Iñigo, the 13-year-old son of a deceased comrade of his. Following directions from his friend, he goes to a meeting in which two masked men charge him and the Italian, Gualterio Malatesta, to ambush two Englishmen: Thomas and John Smith. However, before ending the meeting, and after leaving one of the masked men, Fray Emilio Bocanegra, president of the Inquisition, appears, ordering them to annihilate them.
Being in the middle of the ambush, Alatriste decides to spare the lives of the two Englishmen. Indeed, he stops the Italian who was thrusting his sword into the heart of one of them. There was a fight, and the Italian threatened to take revenge. Then, they took refuge that night at a friend’s house for fear that those who entrusted him with the mission would find him. Later, he learns that he was betrayed: the two Englishmen were Prince Charles, who was to become the boyfriend of the Spanish Infanta, and the Marquess of Buckingham, who came to Madrid in disguise.
The next day, everyone knew that the two Englishmen were there, but no one knew that they had been about to die. But as the captain left the city and went out as usual, he suffered ambushes in which they tried to eliminate him, and he emerged victorious with the help of Iñigo and Charles himself, who owed him his life.