Reviews

The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Large Print by Alexandre Dumas

picklednonsense's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

em1246's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Starts well, with the daring plan to put Charles II on the Throne but then loses its way a bit. Think it suffers from being the first part of a huge novel

keirmorse's review against another edition

4.0

This is the third book in the Musketeers Trilogy which is generally split into three volumes for the English translation: The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière, and The Man in the Iron Mask. It was pretty average for a Dumas book. He wrote better and he wrote worse. If you liked both The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After, you'll probably like this too. I think it was actually an improvement on Twenty Years After. Probably worth mentioning is that Dumas makes a huge amount of unexplained references to the first two books in the series, especially in the first third of this book. He makes it very clear that you should have read both The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After before reading this and that you should remember everything about them. I found this annoying at times because it's been years since I read the others.

alice_ungureanu's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

cprosser's review against another edition

becca

sminismoni's review against another edition

3.0

I tend to enjoy whatever Dumas writes, with his blend of suspense, adventure and comic interludes. However I can't quite put this book in the same league as "The Three Musketeers" or even "Twenty Years After". The plot was somewhat disjointed, and it was difficult to tell what the main point of the story was. In the second half of the book, the action moved slowly and focussed greatly on peripheral characters i.e. members of the French and English nobility. D'Artagnon made a creditable appearance but the Vicomte de Bragalonne himself played a small role considering that the book was named for this character.

kessler21's review against another edition

4.0

This is the beginning of the third book in the The D'Artagnan Romances.

First is [b:The Three Musketeers|7190|The Three Musketeers (The D'Artagnan Romances, #1)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320436982s/7190.jpg|1263212], then [b:Twenty Years After|7184|Twenty Years After (The D'Artagnan Romances #2)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1165607713s/7184.jpg|666376]. The third book is so long, it is normally broken up into 3 or 4 volumes. The last volume is [b:The Man in the Iron Mask|54499|The Man in the Iron Mask (The D'Artagnan Romances, #3.4)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503316348s/54499.jpg|2971402].

[b:The Vicomte de Bragelonne|369042|The Vicomte de Bragelonne (The D'Artagnan Romances, #3.1)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1174184067s/369042.jpg|21838371] covers 1660, near the beginning of young King Louis XIV reign, includes King Charles II of England regaining his throne, and ends with Cardinal Mazarin dying, a struggle for power in the French government, and King Louis XIV growing into a more decisive ruler.

D'Artagnan is still at the center of this novel and after 35 years of service, he has become disgruntled by un-kept promises by royalty, resigns from his service as a Musketeer, and seeks his own fortune by helping King Charles II regain his throne. (King Charles I was dethroned and beheaded by the people lead by politician Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell's son abdicated the throne leaving parliament ruling England) Porthos and Aramis do not play a large roll in this volume, but Athos does. The Vicomte de Bragelonne is Athos son Raul.

I love the history. I know much about England and Britain's monarchies, but I know very little about French history. Alexandre does a great job weaving history and fiction as always. The story of the Musketters was not as exciting as the two previous novels. It has been observed that this final book is more of a history of King Louis XIV than a story of the Musketeers but I don't mind. I still love it. Alexandre Dumas is a favorite.

I am reading the 4 volume version. The next volumes are [b:Ten Years Later|70032|Ten Years Later (The D'Artagnan Romances, #3.2)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348889346s/70032.jpg|56614681], [b:Louise de La Vallière|937643|Louise de La Vallière (The D'Artagnan Romances, #3.3)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1179623535s/937643.jpg|16183198], and [b:The Man in the Iron Mask|54499|The Man in the Iron Mask (The D'Artagnan Romances, #3.4)|Alexandre Dumas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503316348s/54499.jpg|2971402].

ogrebattle's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

bibliobethreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

krobart's review against another edition

3.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/05/27/review-1668-the-vicomte-de-bragelonne/