The Three Musketeers

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The start of a 5-book adventure - Rated
The Three Musketeers is Dumas at his best: lively, exciting, vivid and enthralling. Here D'Artagnan arrives in Paris for the first time with a chip on his provincial shoulder and manages to upset the three musketeers of the title - Aramis, Porthos and Athos - before them bonding in male friendship. Once that happens the plot really takes off with duels, secrets, political machinations, sexual intrigue, love, lust, evil and danger galore.

You will need to engage a little with French politics of the time, but this is probably the easiest and the lightest of the 5-book series in that sense. Once you've finished this carry on with Twenty Years Later, The Vicomte de Bragelone, Louise de la Valliere and the climax in the Man in the Iron Mask.

Swashbuckling Good Fun!! - Rated
What fun! This books just jumps right out and keeps moving along (except for a couple of slow spots -- but needed to develop the character's past, etc.) The cameraderie between the Musketeers is awesome and they are incredibly wonderful scamps.

D'artagnon was adorable, as were Athos, Aramis and Porthos. The evil Milady was truly EVIL and WICKED. The dialogue was brilliant (as always), it just crackled right along. I think we all know the basic story and how it ended, but reading the book was much more enjoyable than the movie, as they always are. It did bring back many memories of that wonderful version from the 70's, with Michael York and Raquel Welch. I will have to revisit that. I also highly recommend reading the sequels, Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière and The Man in the Iron Mask. Dumas rocks!!

Prepare to buckle your swash... - Rated
What can one say about this book? It has always been a favourite of mine since I first read it at the tender age of 12 some thirty years ago.

The characters have become some of the most famous in fiction (for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has read this book) and the plot is driven forward with energy, humour and, dare I say, panache.

If you want to devour a good book then sit back, read this and relish the company of M D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis.