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Creator / Rafael Sabatini

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Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born English writer of historical adventure stories.

The two best known are Scaramouche and Captain Blood: His Odyssey, both of which have been filmed multiple times. The 1935 film version of Captain Blood launched Errol Flynn to stardom.


    Rafael Sabatini's works include: 
  • The Lovers of Yvonne (AKA The Suitors of Yvonne) (1902)
  • The Tavern Knight (1904)
  • Bardelys the Magnificent (1906)
  • The Trampling of the Lilies (1906)
  • Love-At-Arms (1907)
  • The Shame of Motley (1908)
  • St. Martin's Summer (1909)
  • Mistress Wilding (AKA Anthony Wilding) (1910)
  • The Lion's Skin (1911)
  • The Strolling Saint (1913; revised 1925)
  • The Gates of Doom (1914)
  • The Sea Hawk (1915) — Provided the title, but little else, for Errol Flynn's 1940 The Sea Hawk
  • The Snare (1917)
  • Scaramouche (1921)
  • Captain Blood: His Odyssey (1922)
  • Fortune's Fool (1923)
  • The Carolinian (1924)
  • Bellarion the Fortunate (1926)
  • The Hounds of God (1928)
  • The Romantic Prince (1929)
  • The King's Minion (AKA The Minion) (1930)
  • Scaramouche the Kingmaker (1931)
  • The Black Swan (1932) — Adapted into a 1942 Tyrone Power film of the same name; Not to be confused with Darren Aronofsky's similarly titled 2010 film.
  • The Stalking Horse (1933)
  • Venetian Masque (1934)
  • Chivalry (1935)
  • The Lost King (1937)
  • The Sword of Islam (1939)
  • The Marquis of Carabas (AKA Master-At-Arms) (1940)
  • Columbus (1941)
  • King In Prussia (AKA The Birth of Mischief (1944)
  • The Gamester (1949)

Works by Sabatini with their own trope pages include:

Sabatini's other works include the following tropes:

  • But I Read a Book About It: The titular Bellarion was tutored and adopted by one of the finest mercenary captains of the time, and was also familiar with books. This leads to situations where he ends up being the Only Sane Man who comes up with sensible plans. Including against his own foster-dad, sometimes.
  • Contrived Coincidence: In The Tavern Knight, the title character ends up working with a young man who happens to be his long-lost son.
  • Creator Thumbprint: Almost every work or series of his will have at least one Duel to the Death (or at least to incapacitation) at some point, most famously in Scaramouche.
    • There will also be misunderstandings, lies, intrigues, and thwarted love.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Protagonists are often "ironical" and otherwise witty.
  • Death by Irony:
    • The Justice of the Duke is an anthology of stories where Cesare Borgia doles these out.
    • In The Tavern Knight, Kenneth/Jocelyn dies after he decides to be brave. Which is directly contrary to how he acted the entire book, and in order to avenge the father he thought he hated. For bonus points, it was at the hands of the man who tried to use Kenneth to do this to the title character.
  • A Family Affair: In Bellarion, Facino Cane's younger wife Beatrice keeps flirting with the title character - her adopted son - in as deniable a manner as she can contrive, and he keeps rejecting her. Imagine Joseph, but without the rape accusation, and Potiphar found an excuse to send Joseph away.
  • The Highwayman: Sabatini wrote many stories about highwaymen, including several concerning the fortunes of a charming rogue who called himself "Captain Evans".
  • Historical Domain Character: Too numerous to list.
  • Historical Fiction: Most of what he wrote. He seemed to have a particular fondness for setting works in or around some major war or time of historical strife, most often The French Revolution.
  • Not in This for Your Revolution: This is a recurring theme in Sabatini's novels. A non-idealistic character is pointedly not joining a cause supported by other, idealistic characters. Then the enemy of the idealists hurts the non-idealist, or those he cares for. This is a Bad Move.

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