First, a recap. I am reading the D'Artagnan Romances via the FREE Kindle ebooks available on Amazon: Book 1: The Three MusketeersBook 2: Twenty Years AfterBook 3a: The Vicomte de BragelonneBook 3b: Ten Years LaterBook 3c: Louise de la VallièreBook 3d: The Man in the Iron MaskTen Years Later actually refers to the ten years in between Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne, so really, I think the titles of Books 3a and 3b should have been swapped. While the Vicomte still is not consistently a central character throughout this book, he certainly plays a much bigger role here than in the book that was named after him. D'Artagnan and Athos make a couple brief appearances in this book, but mostly they are absent. Porthos is practically non-existent. Aramis is the key musketeer in this book, and chapters about him appear intermittently. Mostly they are setting the stage for The Man in the Iron Mask - which I only know from watching the Leonardo DiCaprio movie years ago. Surprisingly, the movie seems to have sufficiently equipped me to understand Aramis's secrets, and honestly, I think if I did not already know where the Aramis storyline is leading, I would be awfully confused about his doings in this book. So, if this book isn't really about the musketeers, then what's it all about? Like a Jane Austen novel, this book is mostly about the love interests of "the young people". Our beloved musketeers, along with Anne of Austria, play supporting roles for the next generation - the Vicomte de Bragelonne and King Louis XIV, among others. Relationships are complicated by multiple love triangles, and there's a whole lot of drama going on at the court. I found this book entertaining enough to keep up with it, but not especially compelling. It was easy to put it down and not pick it up again for days at a time.
Excerpt from my review at: http://susimetsa.blogspot.fi/2014/12/...Dumas' writing style, already discussed in my previous piece, continues here as well and the dialogue is rather meandering and it often takes the characters a page or two to get to the point that they wanted to express. While amusing, it adds to the feeling of unnecessary length of the plot itself - I'm sorry to say that I found the courtly games and descriptions of the extravagance relatively boring reads and the love affairs were no more interesting. The most interesting events were right at the beginning when Vicomte de Bragelonne meets Madame and takes her to Paris, and later chapters that featured Aramis in his shady manipulations. These were few and far between, however.Whereas the first instalment was a fun read, the second part was heavier going for me. However, my interest was kept up by the preparations for The Man in the Iron Mask and I look forward to reading the next part of the book in Louise de la Valliere - named after Vicomte Bragelonne's beloved. Given that de la Valliere was involved in the court intrigue of Ten Years Later and attracted the attention of the King himself, I expect the love affairs and court intrigue to continue, but I also hope to see more of Vicomte de Bragelonne and especially d'Artagnan, Athos and Porthos who were more or less absent from this instalment.
What do You think about Ten Years Later (2002)?
I am working my way through the entire Three Musketeers saga. Every time I think I am on the verge of finishing the collection, it turns out there is another installment! It is very entertaining but it is also clear that Dumas was getting paid to serialize the story. At last count, it appears to total more than 4,000 pages. I think I am somewhere in the early 3,000's (hard to tell - reading everything except the first installment on my Kindle - still, a great way to spend train commutes. He has a gift for dialogue.).
—Carmen
From Wikipedia:"The third and last of the d'Artagnan Romances following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. It appeared first in serial form between 1847 and 1850. In the English translations the 268 chapters of this large volume are usually subdivided into three, but sometimes four or even five individual books. In three-volume English editions, the three volumes are titled "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", "Louise de la Vallière", and "The Man in the Iron Mask." Each of these volumes is roughly the length of the original The Three Musketeers. In four-volume editions, the names of the volumes are kept, except that "Louise de la Vallière" and "The Man in the Iron Mask" are pushed down from second and third to third and fourth, with "Ten Years Later" becoming the second volume. There are usually no volume-specific names in five-volume editions."
—Arctic
When I made my way through the Musketeer Saga, this was one of the titles. However, my favorite Musketeer novel is Twenty Years After. The main fuss I have with Dumas's Musketeer saga is perhaps a childish one. I wish the books boasted the same nonstop action as some of the film adaptations do. Instead, they often focus on political posturing. The pace often drags.
—Jake
