The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet: A Novel [Paperback]

The terrific Captain Diego Alatriste series continues with "The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet." For me, this was one of the best books in the string. Besides the expected informed commentary on the decline of the Spanish empire, 17th Century court politics and early Spanish literature, this novel has an unusually good plot, with enough uncertainty to keep the reader interested to the last page.

The Inigo Balboa narrator/character grows in voice and interest as his passion for one of Alatriste's arch enemies grows from puppy love to the real, carnal thing; and as he is accepted as a young adult by the rest of the cast of characters.

Author Perez-Reverte's great strength in these books (in my opinion) is his delivery of a range of characters that seem authentic, even in their extremes of heroism or villainy. The good guys are both principled and honorable (by their own standards) men and women, but have no compunction about killing or selling their virtue when duty, honor or upper mobility requires it. The black hats are also just acting according their own ends-justify-means standards.

"The Cavalaier in the Yellow Doublet" has plenty of snap and zing for any reader of action novels, and enough intelligence, wit and interesting social and political history to satisfy readers looking for something more complex. Excellent book. Recommended.

I first met the novels of Arturo Perez-Reverte at a local bookstore. I was looking at a novel by mystery writer Anne Perry, and right next to it was "The Flanders Panel." And reading the back cover pushed me into a whole new world. I read all of Perez-Reverte's works then in English, with "The Queen of the south" just published in hardback. And not too long thereafter came the Captain Alatriste novels.

Critics will likely compare these five novels of 17th century Spain to shoot-em-up westerns. But the rest of us won't care. Diego Alatriste, assisted by his young protégé Inigo Balboa, fights his way to and through survival, love, intrigue and conspiracy in the streets of Madrid and the battlefields of Holland. Along the way, the reader learns about life, literature, culture and politics in 17th century Spain.

In his latest adventure, "The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet," Alatriste discovers that his current paramour, an actress currently wowing Madrid, has also caught the eye of King Philip IV. According to the mores of Spanish society, Alatriste must yield. Of course, Alatriste was never one for the mores of any society. As the tensions rise, Alatriste and Balboa trip over a conspiracy - a plot to assassinate the king.

The novel has all the hallmarks of a Perez-Reverte adventure - well researched history and culture; the sights, sounds and smells of 17th century Madrid; the leaning on playwrights and poets of the age to help tell the story through dialogue and verse; the use of real historical figures; heroes who are all too human; and romantic entanglements immersed in intrigue.

And while there's not really a sword fight one very street corner, it often seems that way. And what great scenes Perez-Reverte paints when the swordsmen clash.

I probably don't need to admit this here, but I never finished DON QUIXOTE. I started it in high school, I think. I had a tattered paperback copy that I salvaged from the wreck of my grandfather's library. If I remember correctly, it was a scholarly translation with lots of footnotes that would have made sense if I knew anything about the Spanish language in the medieval period. And that may have been why I never finished.

It wasn't because I didn't love Don Quixote or Sancho Panza (I did), and it wasn't because I didn't enjoy their adventures (I think I did at the time). It was more that the richness of the language and the depth of the references were well beyond me --- the weakness was not in Cervantes but in my inability to perceive his genius.

I mention all this because THE CAVALIER IN THE YELLOW DOUBLET comes from the same literary tradition, and Cervantes himself appears (albeit offstage) as a minor character. It is the fifth book to feature Captain Alatriste, a 17th-century Spanish rogue in an era when roguery was as common as japery is today. Alatriste carries a sword and uses it well enough to stay alive in trying circumstances. Unlike Cervantes's Quixote in his self-titled tale, the Captain is no idealistic madman, and the trouble that he gets in is not generated from his own imaginings. But the story is told in much the same manner, complete with the same poetic flourishes and baroque trappings.

And this is by no means a bad thing. Arturo Perez-Reverte does masterful work here in recreating Madrid in the fading hours of the Spanish Golden Age, and he populates his work with such memorable characters as Alatriste's love-struck squire (who doubles as narrator), a flattering court poet, scheming hidalgos, and an Italian desperado who serves as Alatriste's nemesis. The plotting is deft and intricate where it has to be, and the action scenes are as sharp and intricate as the Captain's sword.

But when the swashbuckling is over and the swords (often red with the blood of an unlucky opponent) are sheathed, Perez-Reverte returns, over and again, to a more poetic form. And when he does --- well, one wouldn't want it said of oneself, mind you, but one can imagine a typical sort of modern American reader, one not enamored of classical Spanish poetry, who might be tempted to say something such as "Oh, for the love of El Cid, what's with all the poetry?" (This subset of readers may include those who have read and enjoyed THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH, in which Perez-Reverte writes about the thoroughly modern topic of Mexican drug cartels and features the more contemporary poetry of the narcocorridos, the folk songs of the drug runners.)

To such a reader (which is to say to most readers), I can only counsel the virtues of patience and persistence. THE CAVALIER IN THE YELLOW DOUBLET may read like Cervantes, but Perez-Reverte's heroes are far closer to Dumas and Hope in spirit. The sword fighting is frequent, and coupled with hearty portions of romance and high-level intrigue. And Captain Alatriste, if you have not encountered him, is definitely worth your acquaintance --- he is rugged and daring with a stubborn, fatalistic streak. I may not have finished DON QUIXOTE, but I'll gladly spend time with Perez-Reverte when I can.

--- Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds

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