Overview

• The eighth Alatriste novel, published in Madrid, arrives with a first print run of about 180,000 copies as the saga surpasses seven million sold.
• Set a year after the previous installment, the story places Alatriste in 17th‑century Paris during the Siege of La Rochelle.
• Pérez‑Reverte stages a deliberate crossover with Dumas’s musketeers, including D’Artagnan and Cardinal Richelieu, as a literary tribute.
• The author says his own aging has shaped a more reflective, morally complex Alatriste marked by memories and remorse.
• He describes the series as adventure rather than ideology and notes the character draws rejection from political extremes in Spain.