Okay, at this point, I think I need to be clear about what series I am reading and commenting on. The D'Artagnan Romances were all originally published as serials, and they were later published in book form as a trilogy:
Book 1: The Three Musketeers
Book 2: Twenty Years After
Book 3: Ten Years Later
Apparently, Ten Years Later is such a tome that it has been further split into 3, 4, or 5 volumes, depending on the publisher. I am reading a set of FREE ebooks available on Amazon.com, and this series consists of a 4-volume version of Ten Years Later. This means I have read / will be reading these ebooks:
Book 1: The Three Musketeers
Book 2: Twenty Years After
Book 3a: The Vicomte de Bragelonne
Book 3b: Ten Years Later
Book 3c: Louise de la Vallière
Book 3d: The Man in the Iron Mask
So, on to my thoughts of The Vicomte de Bragelonne...
Even more than the first two books, The Vicomte de Bragelonne is slow to start. This book seems to be named about as appropriately as The Three Musketeers, which is to say, not very appropriately at all. (The Three Musketeers, of course, follows FOUR close friends in the King's service - D'Artagnan especially - not just Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.) In The Vicomte de Bragelonne, we get a brief glimpse of the Vicomte de Bragelonne at the very beginning, but then he goes his own way, and we don't see him again until about two-thirds of the way through the book. At best he is a supporting character, so why name the book after him?!
We trudge through some preliminary scenes that set the stage, and D'Artagnan - our protagonist - doesn't even enter until about 11% into the Kindle version I am reading. We are immediately faced with a major question about D'Artagnan, but rest assured, Dumas will explain everything in due time. Athos comes in around 22% into the Kindle version, and that's when the story really picks up.
This installment has even more politics than the first two books, which - despite the fact that I am quite interested in real-life politics - made for less interesting reading for me. At times, when the story focused on Monk or Mazarin, it seemed like nothing was really happening, and I was just waiting for the next adventure or intrigue to start. The adventures, of course, were nothing less than what you would expect from D'Artagnan!
Unlike the first two books, there was no central antagonist in this one - no Milady or Mordaunt to tie all the adventures into one cohesive story. Sure, I do wonder how King Louis IV will reign (because I have no knowledge of French history, remember), but that's not exactly a pressing plot. Ultimately, I suppose I should cut this ebook some slack, since it was never meant to be one self-contained novel, and instead is just one excerpt of a seriously long serial.
Porthos doesn't make his entrance until 90% into the Kindle edition, but what an entrance it is! I love that guy. Aramis comes in even later.
As usual, I appreciate the sense of honor portrayed in the series, particularly from Athos. At one point, he tells Charles II, "I am never happy when I have a duty to accomplish." Another favorite quote comes from D'Artagnan: "We are not truly generous and good save from the moment when the eye has become hardened, and the heart remains tender." This statement kind of sums up the passing of time for the four friends - together they have seen war and death and betrayal, yet each holds the others in a special place in his heart, and they remain loyal to each other.
Just as in Twenty Years After, it really kills me that the four friends aren't forever on the same side. In Twenty Years After, there were divisions, but at least no real harm was done, in the end. This book takes it one step farther, and though I don't know how it will all end, right now, sadly, it seems the four friends no longer follow their "one for all" motto, and instead, at least one of them seems to be thinking only of himself.
As this is only the first part of the original book, the ending is pretty abrupt. I've already got the next book queued up on my Kindle.
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