Rating: 
Summary: A Most Excellent Book
Review: I was riveted by this story from beginning to end.
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Summary: Touche!
Review: A brilliant work of fiction, though hard to pigeonhole. Is it a crime mystery? A love affair? An exciting historical intrigue? Hmm... If Athos in The Three Musketeers had been a poet, this is the type of story he would have written. The protagonist is a romantic older Spaniard (Shades of Quixote!) once renowned as the best swordsman in Europe. Time has passed him by. In the 1860's swordsmanship is becoming a quaint relic. In fact, it's turning into a sport. This is anathema to the master, a former duelist, who is a purist to the core. In some ways he is a Christlike figure, in this world but not of it. A bloody revolution threatens the country, but what has that to do with his art? Like Cyrano, he is incapable of being pragmatic: "Among the many vices I am proud to say I do not have is common sense." All of which have brought their logical consequences. As the story unfolds, he is teaching a small group of students, barely making ends meet. He has neither family or friends, and fears the inevitable decay which time will bring him , now that his last hope has dwindled, to die "properly" in battle. He treasures the lingering memory of at love affair,long past and the joy of his art, but it is not much to keep him going, not much of a life. The master is not embittered, merely resigned to his fate and settled in his ways. This is the set-up to the story Then SHE enters. The beautiful and enigmatic young woman, who appears to be quite deadly with the blade herself. She seek instruction. Or so she says . . . The plot accelerates exponentially with a fury through all manner of twists and turns. Yet Reverte manages to keep the bittersweet and poetic tone throughout the novel. Here, as in "The Seville Communion" , he is at the top of his form. A good, good story.
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Summary: An old man returns to two battlefields
Review: The skill he has mastered, fencing, has been replaced by the gun and his code of honor has led him only to a life interrupted by flight. He enters old age, fit and healthy, but prepared for a life of genteel poverty, a magician with a sword searching for the secret of the unstoppable thrust. This dry remnant of a life is remade when a beautiful young woman wants to know his best move, the move that marks the highwater of his accomplishment. Against a background of imminent revolution, in a world that know longer understands or accepts the code he was raised to defend, The Fencing Master solves several mysteries, including some about himself in this stunning brief thriller. A marvelously executed book. As someone else has noted a diagram of the fencing terminology would have permitted us to follow the sword fights easier, but that didn't interfere with my enjoyment.
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Summary: Predates his much better other books
Review: Although this is the fourth of Pérez-Reverte's book to appear in English, it actually predates The Flanders Panel, The Club Dumas, and The Seville Communion. Originally published in 1988, this earlier book is an entirely historical thriller set in Madrid in 1868 amidst Spain's September Revolution, which apparently heralds the end of the monarchy as plots abound and the Bourbon Queen Isabella II is rapidly losing control and influence. One of the novel's flaws is that this period of turmoil is so chaotic and confusing that, although the reader knows the political machinations and plots will somehow prove integral, it's presented rather tediously and is hard to follow. On the whole, the prose is not nearly as rich and accomplished as in his other books. The story follows an aging fencing instructor, Don Jamie, whose personal code of honor defines him as he attempts to live outside the "real" world around him. He is a rigid and exacting "maestro" to the few remaining pupils he has (guns have all but supplanted swords), and an amusingly old-fashioned expert to the wealthy nobleman he spars with every day. His only other human contact is with a group of yammering men who gather every day in a café to argue politics-and whose main function is to deliver the political background the reader requires to understand the rest of the story (although as indicated above, their arguments are not very effective in this). Don Jamie is a portrait of a faded gentleman, with all his best experiences behind him, he almost revels in his self-constructed persona of a man of honor (and little else). When a beautiful woman comes to his door and demands instruction in the male-only art of fencing, it catapults him into a dark intrigue. It's another flaw of this early Pérez-Reverte work that readers will see what's coming almost from the moment she first steps onto the page, and only the details need to be revealed. Indeed, those who have reader his intricately plotted other books, will likely be disappointed by the relative simplicity of the story. What is perhaps more intriguing are the timeless questions raised about honor and its role in a world where honor means little. Don Jamie's disengagement from the world around him has tragic consequences, so is he a failure for clinging to tattered ideals, or should he be lauded for his commitment? In that sense, this book has a more moral center than any of Pérez-Reverte's others. One other minor flaw is the lack of a fencing glossary or any diagrams. The terminology of fencing and its maneuvers are so integral to the story and so arcane to most modern readers that the publisher does both the book and the reader a major disservice by not providing any supplementary material. For those with access to a video store with a good selection of international titles, the book was made into a film in Spain called El Maestro de Escgrima.
Rating: 
Summary: A man who lived to long
Review: This book reminded me yet again why I enjoy Arturo Perez-Reverte. His creates memorable characters. Don Jaime the fencing master in question is a elderly man who has deliberately chosen to live by a code of honour and behaviour, which puts him at odds with the society and time in which he lives. In the words a character in the story "you did not die at the right time". The plot of the fencing master is simple in itself and is derivative of any one of half a dozen classic mysteries. But the plot is only the frame to allow the author to explore what happens when such a man such as Don Jaime is forced to interract with the world, that he has rejected a world that is dishonourable and full of intrigue. Can he remain true to himself and his code
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Summary: Great Antiquarian Thriller
Review: Jaime Astarloa, a middle-aged fencing master and walking anachronism serves as the pivot around which a web of political intrique is woven during tumultuous times in 1866 Madrid. The story features everything one could want from a good thriller - a beautiful woman, a noble protagonist, a few murders and a great scandal. Arturo Perez-Reverte's speciality in my book is spinning stories which weave beautifully antiquarian and esoteric details into him. However, unlike Umberto Eco, you will not need a Master's in Philosophy to really enjoy his work. This novel ought to appeal to a variety of interests - Latin culture fans, historians, fencers, or just those looking for a good murder mystery. Buy the book and en garde!
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Summary: An elegant, powerful, period thriller - A gem of a book!
Review: What a gem of a book! This is a splendidly original, elegantly written, period thriller that is near impossible to put down. The tale is set in 19th century Madrid, a time of political instability and intrigue, against the backdrop of rumored coup plots against the Spanish queen. Don Jaime Astarloa, a proud, aging, master fencer and teacher, practices his noble art which he sees slowly losing its place within aristocratic society. He is approached one day by a beautiful yet mysterious young woman who requests that he take her on as a student. Though reluctant at first to instruct a woman, Don Jaime soon discovers that she is a skilled fencer. The mystery surrounding her grows, however, when she abruptly discontinues her lessons after learning an arcane yet deadly technique that only a select few fencers can perform. Soon thereafter, a series of murders takes place that forces Don Jaime to question whom he can trust and whether he himself is safe. The Fencing Master combines a gripping plot, elegant prose, and intense, powerful descriptions of fencing duels that may at times leave you breathless. Think of the grace and beauty in Hemingway's depiction of bullfighting in The Sun Also Rises, and you may have some sense of how masterfully Perez-Reverte has captured the essence of the art of fencing. With each turn of the page you will feel transported to a different time and place. The stylish prose and authoritative narrative voice fill this novel with an authentic period feel. And each sentence conveys an understated sense of strength, pride, honor, integrity, and passion that make this book and its hero simply unforgettable.
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Summary: Conversational Review
Review: I really liked the ending of the book. It was a satisfying ending - especially with its 'hero/good guy' being the one who comes out alive and victorious. I own another book by the same author, The Club Dumas, but I haven't read it yet. I hope when I do get around to reading it that the same vivid, full descriptions are used. At the conclusion of the book that I read, I felt if I closed my eyes I could see the very scene that was being described for me. Further, the parts of the book that deal with the hero (the fencing Master), and his extraordinary student (who is a female) prove the author to be a very subtle and keen man. He easily catches the moments and miniscule feelings that truly show how such a man as the Master would have reacted. Indeed, how many of us men would react. I laugh as I write that. Many women will immediately add their comments that 'Yep, we know how men will act!' But the charm of the Master is that he is an older man - in his fifties. He is also chivalrous and convinced of the life that he leads. He speaks disdainfully of guns (a new thing during the time this novel takes place) because they are for cowards. He refers to fencing as a beautiful art - but a martial art. He rebels against the tendency to study fencing to be graceful or as a hobby. The novel runs through many politics at the time, not necessarily true to history. I didn't "get" much of what was being said with that. Mainly, because it isn't my area of interest, I guess. And it doesn't matter that I didn't, because our dear fencing Master has a solid disinterest in the politics and newspapers of his country as well.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best book
Review: I have read three of Arturo Perez-Reverte's books: this one, "The Club Dumas," and "The Flanders Panel." I was somewhat disappointed in this one. Don't get me wrong, he still has his old style: great description of characters, nice prose, etc., but this story just didn't get my interest as quickly as "The Club Dumas" or "The Flanders Panel." It was a very fast read, which could be either a bad thing or a good thing. The other two books had some sort of "hook," but this one didn't. I must say I was slightly disappointed, but I will continue to read this author. If you've never read this author before, read the other books first, then read this one.
Rating:
Summary: a study in character
Review: My wife found this book for me since I like to fence and we both read so much. The fencing sections of the book are excellent but even more rewarding is the study in Dom Jaime's character. Perez-Reverte's philosophy is well worth embracing and its conveyance through the characters is masterful. The themes are ageless - as is fencing!
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