Following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After, Dumas continued his D'Artagnan romances with a final trilogy set during the reign of Louis XIV. Louise de La Vallière, the second novel in that trilogy, continues the suspense which began with The Vicomte de Bragelonne and will end with The Man in the Iron Mask. Filled with behind-the-scenes political intrigues and set against a tender love story, the novel brings the aging Musketeers out of retirement to face an impending crisis within the royal court of France.
It is 1661, and King Louis XIV is strengthening France's military, preparing to undermine superintendent of finance Nicolas Fouquet at the behest of wily social-climber Jean-Baptiste Colbert. D'Artagnan has assumed command of the king's Musketeers while Aramis has risen to the top of the Jesuit order. Meanwhile, Porthos remains tied to the military, and the wealthy Athos is concerned with the affairs of his son, Raoul, who finds himself smitten with the lovely Louise de la Vallière.
As always, Dumas brings French history to life with excitement and romance.
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"I love Alexandre Dumas, and this book was fun to read, but I got a little discouraged because it kept jumping around between characters. It was hard to really invest in the different storylines and characters because there were just so many of them! The last few chapters (which finally got back to the original four musketeers) were very good, however, so on account of them I will give this book four stars."
— Erin (4 out of 5 stars)
“One of the very best of the series, mixing amorous and political intrigue with an élan peculiar to Dumas…This quasi-historical series remains remarkably readable.”
— Irish Times (Dublin)“What other novel has such epic variety and nobility of incident?”
— Robert Louis Stevenson" Number three in the series, see review for Vicomte de Bragelonne "
— Tiffin, 2/20/2014" The only reason it's getting two stars instead of one from me is that the last third of the book, stuff actually starts to happen again. I really despise the courtly intrigue and romance that makes up the rest of the novel. "
— Kirsa, 2/18/2014" This is like High school drama in royal court. Jeeze Louise! It would be nice if I could get some Musketeers in my 3 Musketeers book. I'd settle for one! But they are few and far between. "
— Kelly, 2/7/2014" I'll admit right up front that this was not my favorite of the D'Artagnan Romances. As a "hard core" fan of the Four Inseparables, I wished there was more of them in this book. All the court intrigue in this one, while amusing, got a little tiring and tedious, especially since there were complicated love triangles and such--not my kind of thing. I also got sick and tired of Louise. I never minded her in any of the other books, and I loved her and Raoul, but what she did to him was heartless, and she made me angry for that, so I no longer have any respect for her character. Montalais, on the other hand, who I didn't like to begin with, I found a liked more and more as the story went on. She was a fun character and her coupled with Malicorn made for amusing situations. Dumas certainly can craft brilliant characters, that is for certain. And I did very much enjoy the parts that you did get to see the four friends, though they went too quickly for me. It was so refreshing to see Aramis still up to his shady deeds, Porthos being himself, and D'Artagnan still trying to keep up with everything though he's sick of palace life. I wished there was more of Athos as he is my favorite character next to D'Artagnan. In short, this was not a bad read, and I would definitely recommend reading it to further your knowledge of events before reading Man in the Iron Mask. That one looks like it has better prospects and I am excited to get to it! "
— Hazel, 2/2/2014" the weakest of the musketeer saga "
— Robert, 1/13/2014" As usual, always enjoy books by my favorite author. This book takes place just before the story of the man with the iron mask. "
— Ange, 12/25/2013" This book was originally one book with "The Vicomte De Bragelonne" and "The Man in the Iron Mask." Translated into English they were broken into three delightful books that give Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnion a great ending. "
— Caitlin, 12/21/2013" A lot of people don't realize The Three Musketeers had sequels. This is Book 4. "
— Omaha, 11/22/2013" Good, but I didn't like this one as much as The Vicomte de Bragelonne (which I didn't like as much as Twenty Years After). There was lots and lots of intrigue and court politics and too few appearances by the Four; my favorite part was Aramis and d'Artagnan's verbal fencing in Chapter 56. "
— Sarah, 11/15/2013" Not the period adventure material of the The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Christo. Mostly just a silly romantic novel. "
— Ross, 9/17/2013" The sad story about Louise de la Valliere, A continual of the three musketeers. "
— Andrey, 9/12/2013" I think this is my favorite Dumas book - beautiful, touching, and yet adventurous! "
— Sara, 8/5/2012" Like The Vicomte De Bragelonne, this book is almost completely setting up the story for the final book, which in turn, makes it quite a slow read, however, I enjoyed plenty, and the damn thing did pick up immensely at the end -- now i have to read the final chapter, jesus. "
— Lukas, 7/29/2012" The slowest paced of all the Musketeer books "
— Matthew, 12/24/2011" Again, a lot of reading for the scant three musketeers scenes, but this was my three musketeers year so I had to do it. "
— Ben, 10/27/2011" Better and better and better. Dumas, Dumas, Dumas! I only wish I could read these in french. Sad for me! "
— Tyger, 8/23/2011" Alexandre Dumas continues his amazingness :-D "
— Sara, 2/20/2011" Another good read following the three musketeers adventures. The translator did a great job capturing the feel. It was a bit long and I couldn't wait to finish, but the plot twists kept me turning pages. Now onto the final book. "
— Theron, 1/13/2011" This was another amazing story in the ongoing tale of Dumas' Musketeers. It was not perhaps as engaging as the previous two, but it was still a good story and any diehards like myself, would find it just as enjoyable! "
— Hazel, 12/25/2010" Sad, but awesome for my young teenager mind. :) "
— Rhaegar, 12/24/2010" I loved this third installment of the Three Musketeers saga. Dumas really captured the essence of the time period, and the main characters are quite lovable. The court intrigues are entertaining as well. I am looking forward to indulging in part four, Louise de la Valliere. "
— Melodee, 12/15/2010" A lot of people don't realize The Three Musketeers had sequels. This is Book 3. "
— Omaha, 11/16/2010" As advertised, this book is more about court intrigue than the adventures of our beloved Musketeers. I love Dumas' writing, but the story is a bit tiresome; it took me a lot longer to read this book than the first two because I was less interested. "
— Alessandro, 9/29/2010" This book was a tad slow at times, going deep into every detail Dumas could muster, but all in all, a great book, one that leaves me anxious for the next installment, "Louise de la Vallière." "
— Lukas, 9/22/2010" the third installment the the Three Musketeers saga "
— Robert, 9/10/2010" What a fun book. I thought it would be terribly dated and a bit of a rough ride, but it's wonderful, charming and actually a real page turner. "
— Monique, 8/10/2010" I love the Musketeer books. I get swept into the story and like the characterizations, I find them so interesting. "
— Jeanie, 6/27/2009Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870), French novelist and playwright, was one of the most famous and prolific French writers of the nineteenth century, producing some 250 books. He is best known for his historical novels The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, and he was among the first authors to fully exploit the possibilities of the serial novel. He is credited with revitalizing the historical novel in France. His riveting, fast-paced adventure tales that blend history and fiction have been adapted into nearly 200 films. His last unfinished last novel, The Last Cavalier, lost to historians for 125 years, was completed in 2005 and quickly became a best seller.
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.