Having seen the movie I knew this was going to be an emotional read, I’ve enjoyed the whole series and would highly recommend all the 6 books to everyone The Three Musketeers was definitely one of my favourite reads and this comes a close second

This book was fine. The story was better than most of today's novels. It was a somewhat difficult read but maybe that's because I don't know french. I don't want to learn french. I mean, who speaks french? People in France barely speak it. Actually, I'm not for certain on that, I've never been to France. Back to the book, there were a couple of nice twists here and there which was appreciated. This book did peek my interest on the real history on the "Man in the Iron Mask" which isn't an affect that novels of today have. If you're a fan of Dramatic Mysteries or the 3Musketeers candy-bar, this book is worth a read.

The d'Artagnan romances are now concluded and I am terribly sad (there is a postumously published story that takes places between The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After but it won't be the same)

This is a trilogy (if you don't count the last book being broken into 4 separate works) that begins as a comedy and adventure, progresses into a romance, and ends as a tragedy. Many complain that the book left unanswered questions, but isn't that the case in a life?

If you have seen the Hollywood production The Man in the Iron Mask from 1988, just go ahead and throw it out of the window. They are not the same story, just based on the same premise.

What is most interesting about these books, there really was a man in an iron mask at the Bastille. Though history has lost who this person was, there is much debate and is a major source for The Man in the Iron Mask.
Also d'Artagnan was based on a real musketeer as well as Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Though the stories at fictionalized, the wikipedia read about Charles de Batz-Castelmore, the real d'Artagnan is very interesting as well.

This series is very long, but I recommend it. What an amazing story of friends, power, politics, and adventure.

Other than the original "Three Musketeers" this is probably my favorite in the series. It only took me 8 or 9 years to read the whole series, finally! I liked it so much due to the main characters being our good ol' favorites of the four musketeers. Almost every page starring D'Artagnan was a good one! He continues to prove he is "the man" even in his old age. I also loved seeing Porthos in all his glory. One of the hardest parts for me was seeing Athos as such an old man totally dependent on his son, Raoul. He and D'Artagnan didn't share as many poignant scenes and Athos wasn't really shining in his noble characterization. Raoul has never been a favorite of mine and he seemed pathetic in most of the book to me, I felt annoyed at the pain he caused Athos and the other musketeers.
One of the strangest aspects of the book is that pertaining to the man in the iron mask. He was actually a pretty minor character. His storyline is never resolved in the book and that was the one thing that bothered me.
I'm glad I got to see the conclusion of the musketeers lives and to spend a little more time watching their larger than life personas play out the history Dumas wrote for them. A good and fun read!

Que linda historia, la escuché en Audible y todo el rato me imagignaba a los actores de la película aunque sus voces eran otras, siempre amé la película y es en síntesis mucho más graciosa y llena de detalles pero el libro es igualmente excelente!

He visto las películas pero nada se compara a la verdadera historia.
Que final tan triste pero siempre fieles y leales el uno al otro hasta la muerte, unidos por una amistad y lealtad los 4 mosqueteros.

You know given the lore this book has with the Three Muskateers I thought I would enjoy this more unfortunately the major problem here is by the time we come across The titlal character my cares to give have been burned out due to the seemingly endless exposition. Couldn't of we've gotten a glimpse of him early in the book? I get the fact that Dumas has to inform us what the Muskateers and Dartaen have been up to in the years between but did it have to take that long? The story is good and despite Athos planning near treason against the King readers will still feel an emotional pull to him due to all the previous adventures. I enjoyed Man in the Iron Mask enough but in one of those rare cases I enjoyed the 1998 film a little better.

I would have given this 4 stars if not for the ending. It was just full of deaths and losses that I couldn't help but compare this book to the famous loosely based adaptation Man In The Iron Mask circa 1990s which ended with the usurper Philippe being king, and only D'Artagnan sacrificing his life. Here, in the original, [spoilers below] only Aramis survived and he, too, was surprisingly almost painted as the antagonist in this story with his greed and ambitious ascent to papacy. Porthos, with his purity of heart and humor, I loved and mourned. Athos and Raoul, on the other hand, most heartbreaking, starting from their separation and their reunion in the grave. This being the final book to the Musketeer series, it's only fitting that it also include the Musketeers' death, but it really felt as if the ending could have been better and dare I say it: Happier. However, counting everything else, the dialogues, the conspiracies, were all written so well. Dumas' subtle humor is ever present. The honor of the men in this story is so refreshing and yet also hardly believable. Do men as honorable as Fourquet and D'Artagnan really exist in real life? I surely hope so.

All in all, I liked the story. I'll just be needing a chick-flick to lift my mood and make me forget the tragic ending of my heroes.

Edited and annotated by David Coward, from an older translation. Well, the mammoth saga of the once-invincibles comes to a rather sad end. Porthos dies because his strength gives out. Aramis flees France in disgrace because his schemes come to ruin. And Athos dies because the one thing dearer to him to God, his son, leaves his company to go die in the Africa campaigns under the Duke of Beaufort. And d’Artagnan – well, d’Artagnan’s star does not decline under the sun king, but that’s only because this once so haughty Gascon spirit humbles itself rather abjectly before the iron will of Louis (chapter 81, simply and appropriately titled “King Louis XIV”). I have one complaint with this action-packed adventure, during which in the course of 570 pages the suspense hardly slackens. Why did Aramis, General of the Jesuits, master planner always with an out at his disposal, admit defeat instantly when Fouquet announced he would denounce him? Up to that point, Fouquet had been a pawn of Aramis. Suddenly, Aramis had to flee for his life on the word alone of Fouquet. Well, maybe it was the onset of age that weakens Aramis’ resolve.

4.5/5 — WHAT WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S OVER IT'S THE END AND THEY ARE ALL GONE I NEED THEM COME BACK TO ME

I really wanted to like this but I was just so bored while reading this

This is probably one of my favorite books. I’m writing this review to encompass the entire “Vicomte de Bragelonne” story which is three books and 260 some chapters. First I want to say if you are looking at reading this book because you like the movie or are reading it as a sequel to The Three Musketeers, do not read this book. The Man in the Iron mask is the last volume in a 3 volume story and if you read it I imagine you will be incredibly lost and will not enjoy it.

This book is an epic. It tells the final stories of the Musketeers, the new adventures of Athos’ son, and the beginnings of Louis XIV reign. All of these stories intertwine and all come together to form one complete narrative. This final volume brings the culmination of all that has come before. After about 1300 pages of building copious plot threads, this book concludes them all marvelously. It is so rich in emotion; there were times I was holding back tears, wanted to throw the book across the room because characters had made me so angry, and times when the heroes triumphs made me grin ear to ear. Dumas is the master. This book has suspense, romance, tragedy, betrayal, political intrigue, etc. Essentially everything that you want in a story.

If you’ve read Twenty Years After and are wondering whether you should continue, you must. You’ll be so glad you did. This is a true classic. Even though there is kind of some weird stuff in The Three Musketeers, reading the entirety of the D’artagnan series was probably the most memorable reading experience I’ve ever had.