The Vicomte De Bragelonne

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More swashbuckling fun from the Musketeers! - Rated
This book is part one of a three part series, the next two being the Louise de la Valliere, and the final being the more well known Man in the Iron Mask. I understand this was originally one HUGE book, but is now more commonly broken up into these three books.

This book starts about ten years from where Twenty Years After ended. Although the book is titled the Vicomte de Bragelonne (who is the son of Athos), we don't see much of him except for the first and last parts of the book. The rest is filled with the adventures of D'Artagnan and Athos while they separately scheme (unbeknownst to the other) to aid Charles II of England to claim his throne. LOL, D'Artagnan's scheme in regards to General Monk. Aramis and Porthos are up to something mysterious and make only the briefest of appearances. The rest of the novel is filled with the mysteries and intrigues of the French court, and ends with the marriage of Henrietta (Charles II's sister) to Louis XIV's younger brother, Phillip.

If you loved the musketeers, history and intrique it is well worth your time to spend on these books.

Not Dumas' Best - Rated
I don't recommend this book but if you should decide to read it, you should be aware that it is not a stand alone story. It is a sequel to "The Three Musketeers" and "Twenty Years After" and I strongly recommend reading those before reading this one. Also, the story that begins in this one continues in "Louise de la Valliere" and ends in "The Man in the Iron Mask" so be prepared to read those as well if you start this one.

After reading and enjoying "The Three Musketeers" and "Twenty Years After" I picked up this one expecting to read another wonderful story about Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. Well, with the exception of "The Man in the Iron Mask", I can't recall ever being more disappointed with a book than I was with this one.

First of all, the book has very little to do with the four musketeers. So if you want to read it for the characters, you will be greatly disappointed. Aramis and Porthos are hardly in this book. They don't even appear in it at all until nearly 500 pages into it. (The book has about 650 pages.) And then they pretty much have a "Blink and you'll miss them" type of appearance. Athos is in it a fairly good bit during the first half, but he is absent for most of the second half. D'Artagnan's appearance in the book is decent especially when compared to that of the others.

I was also disappointed with the amount of time that Athos' son, Raoul, was in the book. I had liked his character and his relationship with Athos in "Twenty Years After" and was hoping to learn more about him and his relationship with his father in this book. Raoul wasn't in the book very much either considering the book's length and little time was spent on the relationship between Athos and Raoul. I was also hoping to learn more about Raoul's relationship with his friend, the Comte de Guiche and Raouls's relationship with Louise de la Valliere. But again, the book spent little time on these relationships. At least half of the book involved other characters whose names I can't even remember because Dumas failed to make them memorable. King Louie XIV, Queen Anne, and Cardinal Mazarin were involved but other than that I can't name anyone. The character development in this book was just really pathetic.

Now that I've told you about the characters, I suppose you would like to hear something about the plot. Well, the fact is the book doesn't have one. It consisted mostly of pointless scenes that had absolutely nothing to do with the stories that developed in "Louise de la Valliere" and "The Man in the Iron Mask". Basically, Dumas kept starting stories and then abruptly ending them which made the book a very confusing and tedious read for me. I kept reading this book and the next two hoping that the purpose of these stories would be explained to me but they never were.

Still, you need to read this one if you want to read "Louise de la Valliere" and "The Man in the Iron Mask" because there are a few scenes in it that are important to understanding the next two books. However, the next two aren't worth reading through this one to get to. "Louise de la Valliere" is a little better than this one but not by much. "The Man in the Iron Mask" is an appalling disaster that I would strongly recommend anyone to avoid.

Something's simmering - Rated
As this is the first book in the trilogy, and as the all three were originally published as one book, the overall direction of the series is just beginning to emerge towards the end of this part. That said, the bubbling and boiling tensions are starting to mount. The sub-plots and schemes can stand alone, but the sum of the whole will be greater than that of its parts.

There is not as much swash-buckling hero fights as in earlier musketeer stories; there is much more political conspiracy, and a touch of romance.

Dumas does it again! - Rated
The beginning of the end. This is the final instalment of the musketeers trilogy, and this is no doubt where much confusion arises. After the completion of The Three Musketeers in 1844 and Twenty Years After in 1845 Dumas once again returned to the musketeers for one final outing. Published in serial form between 1847 and 1850 The Vicomte De Bragelonne is a massive work. So massive in fact that it is normally not published as one edition (as is the case with the current Oxford edition). Instead it is split into three parts, the first part of which is, confusingly, normally called The Vicomte De Bragelonne. The second and third parts are given the titles Louise De La Valliere and The Man in the Iron Mask respectively. Thus while the first part can be read alone it will feel incomplete, also the second and third parts should not be read out of order as they will not make sense.

Once again Dumas grounds his action is history. The time is ten years after Twenty Years After; D'Artagnan and Athos both wish the restoration of the English monarchy, Cardinal Mazarin is falling ill and Louis 14th is coming of age.

This is the brilliant story we have come to expect from Dumas however it is worth pointing out that the musketeers play a much smaller role than they have done previously, indeed Porthos barely appears in the first instalment. However the book is as gripping, vivid, thrilling and entertaining as ever.