Pirates of the Levant is the 6th book of the Alatriste series. Set in the Mediterranean during the tumultuous 17th century, Alatriste and Inigo serve aboard a rowed Spanish galleon raiding the enemies of Spain (mostly 'Turks' and the English), which culminates in a nail-biting, hard-pressed battle at sea. I'm a huge fan of Perez-Reverte's work, but was at first a little disappointed with this effort. The first third seems a bit lackluster, with long passages on the 'fading light of Spain,' etc. Nonetheless, it does fall into a comfortable step, and by the last half of the book I felt I was back in a classic, rollicking tale of the taciturn (but ferocious) Captain and his love-sick teenage companion. Not one of Perez-Reverte's best, but still quite good by any account. (7 out of 10)
Great Book! Kings Gold is the best of the lot so far if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteAh, a very good choice but I think my favourite is still 'The Sun Over Breda' (but that may be coloured because I was fortunate enough to see Velazquez's original painting at the Prado - an absolutely stunning piece of work).
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