Publisher: Barnes and Noble Books
Published: November 25th 2004
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 700
Form: Paperback
Series: The Musketeers (1)

Mixing a bit of seventeenth-century French history with a great deal of invention, Alexandre Dumas tells the tale of young D’Artagnan and his musketeer comrades, Porthos, Athos and Aramis. Together they fight to foil the schemes of the brilliant, dangerous Cardinal Richelieu, who pretends to support the king while plotting to advance his own power. Bursting with swirling swordplay, swooning romance, and unforgettable figures such as the seductively beautiful but deadly femme fatale, Milady, and D’Artagnan’s equally beautiful love, Madame Bonacieux, The Three Musketeers continues, after a century and a half of continuous publication, to define the genre of swashbuckling romance and historical adventure.

My Thoughts

When I first decided to read this book I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.  And while it started off slow, the action quickly picked up and I found myself completely immersed in the story.  I was fascinated as young D’Artagnan found himself in one scrape or conundrum after another.  I really enjoyed his character as he was quite clever and brave for someone so young.  He was also very disciplined and determined to achieve his goal of becoming a Musketeer. 

Though I didn’t care for their treatment of women at points in this novel, I couldn’t help but be charmed by Porthos, Athos, and Aramis.  I especially was taken Athos as he had more of a fatherly affection for D’Artagnan, and quite an air of mystery about him.  Their adventures were fun, and exciting, and kept me interested and wanting to know more.  

Now while Milady was a particularly despicable character, I didn’t care for how they crucified her and her actions, when the men around her encouraging her into these acts weren’t treated nearly as bad or held accountable for their evil deeds.  To me it just seemed as if the women in the novel got a bad rap while the men were all supposed to be thought of as brave and admirable.  Despite that I really did enjoy the story and look forward to reading more of Dumas’ work in the future.