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A review by duffypratt
The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas
4.0
The D'Artagnan books are a trilogy - The Three Musketeers, 20 Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne. I'm actually not sure what the French name is for this 3000 page monster. It gets divided up into 3, 4 or sometimes 5 volumes. I'm reading a Kindle version which is in four volumes, each at a modest 750 pages or so. And this is the first installment.
Like all the D'Artagnan books, this is great fun. This one involves Louis XIV as he ascends to the throne, and what he needs to do to get out from under the thumb of Mazarin. D'Artagnan is disgusted with Louis, largely because Louis considers himself unable to help Charles regain the throne of England. Naturally, since Louis can't help, D'Artagnan decides that he will get back the throne for Charles all by himself. Athos, it appears, has similar plans, and the two of them acting independently of each other, and somewhat at odds, manage to accomplish the task.
D'Artagnan then gets re-enlisted into Louis service, where his is finally made the head of the Musketeers. He is also given considerable license to act on his own, and is made into a spy for Louis, who needs information about certain nobles who are threats to his power base. While spying, he encounters his friends Porthos and Aramis, who are working somewhat at odds with him (especially Aramis, who always seems to be a bit of a snake). There is a race back to Paris with the news of what D'Artagnan has learned, and a certain amiable tension has been established between D'Artagnan and Aramis.
This is an extraordinary amount of good stuff in what amounts to the first act of a very, very long book. I'm halfway through volume two right now, and it is considerably different that what has come before, but just as fun. These D'Artagnan books are just wonderful, about as good as this sort of light historical romance can get.
Like all the D'Artagnan books, this is great fun. This one involves Louis XIV as he ascends to the throne, and what he needs to do to get out from under the thumb of Mazarin. D'Artagnan is disgusted with Louis, largely because Louis considers himself unable to help Charles regain the throne of England. Naturally, since Louis can't help, D'Artagnan decides that he will get back the throne for Charles all by himself. Athos, it appears, has similar plans, and the two of them acting independently of each other, and somewhat at odds, manage to accomplish the task.
D'Artagnan then gets re-enlisted into Louis service, where his is finally made the head of the Musketeers. He is also given considerable license to act on his own, and is made into a spy for Louis, who needs information about certain nobles who are threats to his power base. While spying, he encounters his friends Porthos and Aramis, who are working somewhat at odds with him (especially Aramis, who always seems to be a bit of a snake). There is a race back to Paris with the news of what D'Artagnan has learned, and a certain amiable tension has been established between D'Artagnan and Aramis.
This is an extraordinary amount of good stuff in what amounts to the first act of a very, very long book. I'm halfway through volume two right now, and it is considerably different that what has come before, but just as fun. These D'Artagnan books are just wonderful, about as good as this sort of light historical romance can get.