I’ve read many historical fiction novels about the Reconquista, and I’ve begun to notice a recurring trend in this type of storytelling: the events are often presented through the perspective of a secondary character, giving the narrative an almost memoir-like approach. José Ángel Mañas’s ¡Pelayo! is no exception. The title of this book is Pelayo, which according to tradition he founder of the Kingdom of Asturias and was the major Christian leader to resist the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula; starting The Reconquista. However this book is not presented to us from his point of view, instead it’s narrated to us by his sister Ermesinda (or Adonsinda as named in this book).The story is narrated to us from her point of decades after the events happened. From the events leading to Civil War in the Visigoth Kingdom, to the coming of the Muslims, to rebellion of Pelayo.

As a story, I think anyone can pick up this book and enjoy a well crafted history fiction novel. That’s easy to follow (does not have large list of characters). The author takes some complex set of events, and presents them to us in an easy to understand manner. For me this meant, that I read an entire novel without learning anything new, whether legendary or historically accurate. Thus said, I overall enjoyed this book from start to finished, even if the story lacked depth.