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A review by havespacesuitwilltravel
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas
5.0
This book begins the old men part of The Three Musketeers series which is the best part as the writing and characters become more mature.
The majority of the Dartagnan romances take place while the main characters are 40+ so this book establishes much that continues into the next novels. In this book the reader is reintroduced to each of the four characters as Dartagnan tries to get the old friends back together. Aramis is a great ladies man full of political schemes, Porthos is a gargantuan blockhead but is utterly devoted to his friends, Athos is the most honorable and honest man alive, and Dartagnan is still ambitious, intelligent, cunning, and with a wrist of iron.
I don’t want to spoil anything but the heroes work separately for much of the novel but when the four characters begin working together it is excellent. Where The Three Musketeers was the story of Dartagnan with his 3 friends as side characters, this book is more of an ensemble cast with each of the 4 having moments in the spotlight, specifically Athos has some great moments and development.
For history fans this book covers the revolts known as the Fronde. I had never heard of it so it was a joy to learn a little about the Fronde and Cardinal Mazarin. Also, there is some British history mixed in.
The only issue I have with this book is that it’s ending isn’t as good as the endings of the other Dartagnan books. Other than that this book is a great adventure classic. If you’ve read The Three Musketeers you owe it to yourself to read it. While it is primarily an adventure novel there are some interesting themes such as fatherhood, taking responsibility for previous errors, and, of course, loyalty to friends. If you’ve already read this book go read vicomte de Bragelonne immediately. If you haven’t read The Three Musketeers go ahead and read this one, you might be a little lost but you’ll enjoy this tale of intrigue, exploits, and excitement regardless.
The majority of the Dartagnan romances take place while the main characters are 40+ so this book establishes much that continues into the next novels. In this book the reader is reintroduced to each of the four characters as Dartagnan tries to get the old friends back together. Aramis is a great ladies man full of political schemes, Porthos is a gargantuan blockhead but is utterly devoted to his friends, Athos is the most honorable and honest man alive, and Dartagnan is still ambitious, intelligent, cunning, and with a wrist of iron.
I don’t want to spoil anything but the heroes work separately for much of the novel but when the four characters begin working together it is excellent. Where The Three Musketeers was the story of Dartagnan with his 3 friends as side characters, this book is more of an ensemble cast with each of the 4 having moments in the spotlight, specifically Athos has some great moments and development.
For history fans this book covers the revolts known as the Fronde. I had never heard of it so it was a joy to learn a little about the Fronde and Cardinal Mazarin. Also, there is some British history mixed in.
The only issue I have with this book is that it’s ending isn’t as good as the endings of the other Dartagnan books. Other than that this book is a great adventure classic. If you’ve read The Three Musketeers you owe it to yourself to read it. While it is primarily an adventure novel there are some interesting themes such as fatherhood, taking responsibility for previous errors, and, of course, loyalty to friends. If you’ve already read this book go read vicomte de Bragelonne immediately. If you haven’t read The Three Musketeers go ahead and read this one, you might be a little lost but you’ll enjoy this tale of intrigue, exploits, and excitement regardless.