The Rebellion of the Good, by Roberto Santiago

The Madrilenian Robert Santiago He is a multifaceted man. Recently, he has returned to the forefront of news after publishing the novel The rebellion of the good, but he has a prolific career behind him.

This covers so much writing children's fiction and for adults like that of the film script and even the film direction. Nevertheless, The rebellion of the good It is still his second literary work for adults. Next, we are going to get to know Roberto Santiago a little better and review his narrative work and his work in cinema.

Brief biography of Roberto Santiago

Santiago was born in Madrid on July 5, 1968. He studied Sound and Vision at the Complutense University and, later, Literary creation at the Madrid School of Letters. While working as a scriptwriter on Spanish Radio Television, he began to publish his first literary works, aimed at a children's and youth audience.

A little later, he began directing episodes of television series and participating in films. Among the first, he has been director of some chapter in The Ulysses syndrome and, as for the latter, in addition to directing the ones we will see below, he has written the scripts for The game of truth, The art of stealing y Charlotte's diary.

Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards. His theatrical work Share 38 got the Enrique Llovet in the year 2000. The youth book The protectors he achieved the Steam Boat Award y Jon y la máquina del miedo he won Edebé of Children's and Youth Literature in 1999.

In fact, in general, for all his work dedicated to the youngest people he has received the Cervantes Chico Award. And The rebellion of the good, the work that concerns us, has won the Fernando Lara from Novel.

Films directed by the writer

As a film director, Santiago made his debut with the short film Roulette in 1999, which was followed happy men. But perhaps his most famous film is The longest penalty in the world, which was seen by more than a million people and which was nominated for the Goya for best adapted screenplay (it was based on a story by the Argentine Osvaldo Soriano).

Then came titles like The suicide club, filmed from the novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson; At the end of the road, a comedy set on the Camino de Santiago, Are you there y Ivan's dream, sponsored by Unicef ​​due to its values ​​for children.

For its part, Only for two It's a romantic comedy and Harvest a horror film that has won awards at independent festivals such as Oregon. Finally, The very football It is a film based on his famous series of youth stories of the same title and which we will tell you about below.

The children's and youth literature of Roberto Santiago

If you have small children, you surely know the saga titled, precisely, The very football. Not in vain, this set of books has caused a real sensation among the youngest. More than five million copies have been sold in twenty countries and, as we said, it has been made into a film by its creator.

Its protagonists are the members of the Soto Alto school's 7-a-side soccer team, who, in addition to enjoying their favorite sport, have to solve peculiar mysteries. However, Santiago's first novel for children and young people was the thief of lies, which appeared in 1996 and was followed by titles such as Forbidden to be fourteen years old or the already mentioned Jon y la máquina del miedo.

Later, he created other narrative series aimed at the little ones. For example, the strangers of time, the eleven, The rebellious princesses o The pirate gamers. The latter has as protagonists two young content creators on Twitch who, after a domestic accident, acquire superpowers.

As for the the eleven, also focus on the world of football, while the strangers of time It allows us to follow the Balbuena family on their time travels through different periods in human history. Finally, The rebellious princesses It is about the adventures of a group of aristocratic girls who are far from adapting to the obligations of their class. Instead, they prefer other activities such as playing the drums or playing tricks.

But his stories grouped under the heading of Second Parts because they extend very famous children's stories. Among the titles are Little Red Riding Hood: Where is the Big Bad Wolf?; Hansel and Gretel, the return of the witch; The ugly duckling and his faithful followers o Sleeping Beauty; another insult to the fairy. Thanks to his enormous task in disseminating literature for the youngest, as we told you, Roberto Santiago has received the Cervantes Chico Award What does the Alcalá de Henares City Council every year since 1992.

The Madrid writer's narrative for adults

It is still surprising that a writer as prolific in children's and youth novels as Roberto Santiago has only published two works for adults. It is true that, as we explained to you previously, he has created dramatic texts to be represented.

Among these, the comedies Nude y Women's happinessas well as dramas Dots y Lady Chatterley's mole, the latter based on the famous literary character of DH Lawrence. But the time has come to talk to you about the two novels by Roberto Santiago. Let's go see them.

Ana, a detective story

The Madrid writer's first narrative work for adults is un thriller in the broadest sense of the term. Furthermore, his protagonist is such a powerful character that he has starred in a television series titled Ana Tramel, the game. The creator of him was Santiago himself and the actress took on the role of this character. Maribel verdu.

Ana is a criminal lawyer who had a bright future. The most important law firms fought over her until a dark fact of his past completely changed his life. She now ekes out a living in a mediocre office writing administrative resources and drinking glasses of whiskey.

However, everything takes a radical change when she is forced to defend her brother. Alejandro, who is accused of killing a casino manager. To do so, she will ask her old friend for help. Sea Shell, who provides you with a unique team of collaborators. Among these, a veteran investigator, a novice lawyer and a peculiar intern with a gambling problem. In short, Ana Tramel is an intelligent character, although with destructive tendencies who deserves more novels.

Likewise, the work has a lot of the literary style of George simenon, recognized model for this genre by Roberto Santiago. But the Madrid writer has known how to create your own voice inside of the thriller to offer us an addictive story.

The rebellion of the good, the power of Evil

This latest novel by Roberto Santiago also belongs to the black gender. It arrived in bookstores in 2023 and, as we have already told you, it obtained the Fernando Lara Novel Award that same year. It is a story with an absorbing plot that is based on the following premise: "For Evil to triumph, all it takes is for the good guys to do nothing." It is a well-known phrase attributed to the British philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke, although it has also been used by characters like John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

The protagonist of The rebellion of the good is another lawyer, Jeremiah Abi, as peculiar as Ana. It all starts when she hires him Fatima Montero to represent her in the divorce proceedings against her husband. He has cheated on her with a minor and she, hurt by her pride, just wants to destroy him.

And Fátima is a powerful woman and not at all accustomed to contempt. Not in vain, she owns one of the pharmaceutical companies Most important in the world. But, when the irreverent Abi, who has also been the victim of his ex-wife's deception, begins to investigate, he begins to discover very dark aspects of his client's emporium. Among them, extortion, blackmail and even tests with human guinea pigs.

Although the lawyer and his firm are close to bankruptcy, he will launch an unequal fight in court against the pharmaceutical company. His sense of justice prevails, but he will find himself facing a powerful entity with very long tentacles.

Throughout more than seven hundred pages, Roberto Santiago immerses us in a absorbent weave which has several unexpected twists. In fact, reading it, you will see characters fall as if they were disappearing from a bloody board. It is a novel that defends the idea of ​​justice and that, when it comes to fighting for Good, there are no limits.

As we progress in reading The rebellion of the good, we sympathize with him modern donkey What Jeremiah Abi becomes. He is a man capable of standing up to the owners of the world in defense of Good, even if it costs him much more than his work and his clients.

In conclusion, The rebellion of the good It is the latest novel by the writer and filmmaker Robert Santiago. It is un thriller economic and social that manages to capture our attention without us being able to put the book down. We put ourselves in the shoes of his protagonist in her fight against Injustice and Evil. Go ahead and read it, Will not disappoint you.