What strength this book musters, comes about from the conflict between portraying the soldier of fortune as much admired while simultaneously deploring his actions and the society which motivates those actions. Otherwise it is a pretty straight violent series of inadequately prepared blundering about redeemed by a last minute help of friends. All very macho and male gaze. ( )

Much of the appeal of the first Captain Alatriste book came from the fact it was throwback romantic adventure of the Alexandre Dumas mould, but Purity of Blood, the second book in the series, sees author Arturo Pérez-Reverte alter this winsome formula, with mixed results. Purity of Blood is rather darker, with its title and plot inspired by the persecution of Jews in the 17th-century Catholic Spain where the book is set. Anti-Semitism, mob hatred and the sadistic torture of the Inquisition are the dominant aspects of this Alatriste sequel.

It still works well enough, with Pérez-Reverte's quality of prose a high point of the book. The main characters remain interesting – though they scarcely develop – and the book improves as it progresses. The problem is that it doesn't align with that romantic adventure ethos that is the great charm of the series. The anti-Semitism and torture and public burnings are unpleasant to read, and while this serves the author's intention to educate us that this Golden Age of Spain was often "a venal world built upon hypocrisy and spurious manners" (pg. 241), it is fatal in that it spikes any triumph our characters might achieve in the plot. I felt that our hero, Alatriste, lost this battle. The good guys are thoroughly and painfully defeated, and the one bad guy to get his comeuppance gets it almost perfunctorily, in the epilogue.

When this is added to other about-turns in the plot, the lack of tension, and the narrator Íñigo's constant adoration over Angélica de Alquézar (who, with his full knowledge, tries to have him killed and tortured), one easily tires of Purity of Blood, and finds it a bit untidy. It's not enough to make the reader seek to wound the story, but it does give a worrying suggestion that this series may in the end not prove as good as it could be. ( )

If I could give a minus rating I would. Coming to this from a Sharpe/Aubry reading background I expected better. Alatriste has a pistol (never used) , stabs his enemies, is attacked by a woman (belt her in the mouth already!). Like Cornwall's Uthred novels organized religion has WAY TOO MUCH power and ,in Britain, the Spanish inquisition has Monty Python overtones. I hope it gets better (higher body count would help). ( )

Purity of Blood is the next adventure of Captain Diego Alatriste and his ward, Inigo Balboa. Written in 1997 but just translated last year - I suspect Perez-Reverte, or his publisher, is parceling the books out to ensure a steady audience. The beginning and denouement are a little dodgy, but there’s plenty of action, several of the previous novel’s villains reappear and are suitably thwarted by The Captain, and the breathtakingly beautiful but heartbreakingly evil Angélica de Alquézar continues to captivate Inigo. And, of course, there’s The Spanish Inquisition, which nobody expects. The “purity of blood” refers not to what leaks out when Alatriste perforates somebody with his rapier, but instead to the need to demonstrate that your family was not Jewish converts in order to achieve or maintain any sort of position in Spain. I like this novel better than the previous one - a little more atmospheric, perhaps. ( )

Thoroughly enjoyable swashbuckling romp, set in the Spain of Velazquez and Philip IV. Captain Alatriste, a hired sword and man of honour, is a suitably noble hero in a corrupt and inglorious age. His page, Inigo, narrates a tale full of plots, intrigues and honour. If you enjoy Dumas, or Cyrano de Bergerac, or Zorro, then I recommend this. ( )