Pérez-Reverte's summer reading advice with a special nod: "Come back in September..."

“Take advantage of August to get into the mood,” Arturo Pérez-Reverte blurted out on his X account, casually, but with the accuracy of a veteran arquebusier. His message isn't just another one of the season's: it's a signal for Captain Alatriste's faithful. The writer is thus issuing a clear warning: the most famous swordsman in Spanish literature is about to return.

September 3rd is the key date. On that day, Alfaguara will publish Mission in Paris, the long-awaited new installment in the captain's saga. More than a decade after The Bridge of Assassins, Reverte brings back his iconic character for a new adventure, this time set in the French capital. Fans of the series have just over a month to refresh their memories and dust off the previous novels.

A visual clue reinforces the warning: the image shared by the author shows a bookstore display filled with volumes from the saga, with a sign that makes it clear: "Alatriste returns. This summer, relive the adventure." There's no better way to set the stage than by re-immersing yourself in the battles, betrayals, and sword fights that defined an entire generation of readers.

The return is not only literary, but also emotional. For years, many readers grew up with Diego Alatriste y Tenorio as a beacon of integrity in dark times. Now, in a world that is no longer the Golden Age but is still full of shadows, his figure takes shape again as if he had never truly left.

Pérez-Reverte knows this well: classics never go out of style. His summer warning is no coincidence. August is a time of heat, yes, but also of reading. Of journeys to the past from the hammock or the towel. Of reunions with characters who left their mark. That's why the author suggests—with that tone of his, somewhere between a challenge and a wink—that it's the ideal time to revisit the pages of Captain Alatriste.

“Get into the mood,” the writer insists. As if more than opening the first book of the saga were necessary for Madrid's taverns, damp alleyways, and battlefields to come alive again. As if much were needed to remember why, more than 25 years ago, so many readers decided to follow in the footsteps of that Flanders veteran with a sad look and a quick sword.

“Take advantage of August to get into the mood,” Arturo Pérez-Reverte blurted out on his X account, casually, but with the accuracy of a veteran arquebusier. His message isn't just another one of the season's: it's a signal for Captain Alatriste's faithful. The writer is thus issuing a clear warning: the most famous swordsman in Spanish literature is about to return.