My reading rate really slowed down in late January to mid-February because I read two real chunksters one after another. This one was the second, and A Fortunate Man was the first. This one was a lot more fun.
D’Artagnan is a youth on his way to make his fortune in Paris, carrrying an introduction to Monsieur de Tréville, who leads the King’s musketeers. D’Artagnan is a truculent lad, and he rubs up against two people who are going to affect his life. One is a stranger who makes fun of D’Artagnan’s peculiar horse, and the other is a beautiful, mysterious woman known as Milady. D’Artagnan is attacked by the man’s underlings and his letter is stolen.
Nevertheless, he presents himself to de Tréville upon his arrival, and he almost immediately meets the musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They are being rebuked for having been in a dispute with Cardinal Richilieu’s guards.
Although D’Artagnan has been taught to revere both King Louis XIII and the Cardinal, he quickly learns of the rivalry between the supporters of the King and of the Cardinal, whose machinations are the focus of much of this book. Then there is Anne of Austria, the Queen, who is at odds with both, but especially with the Cardinal.
When D’Artagnan tells de Tréville about the loss of his letter, de Tréville is very interested and tells him he will help D’Artagnan get a place with the Cadets. Almost immediately upon leaving, D’Artagnan falls afoul, separately, of each of the three musketeers and agrees to meet them one after another. I felt as if the whole of Paris at this time (1625) must have been overrun by swordfights, as these guys are all so ready to fight. Somehow, instead of killing or being killed by these men, D’Artagnan ends up their fast friend.
The plots and adventures in this novel are too complicated for me to describe in this review, but it’s the musketeers against the Cardinal, who employs the treacherous Milady as his agent. There is a plot to incriminate Anne of Austria and the Duke of Buckingham, and D’Artagnan’s mistress, who conveys messages to and from the Queen, is kidnapped. And there is a plot to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham, who is helping defend some Huguenots holed up in la Rochelle, by combining an attack of France with the Spanish (although this part of the plot does not match with what I read in Wikipedia about how Buckingham was killed).
In any case, most of the novel is a battle of wits between the four men and Milady, who is truly evil. Although she is the Cardinal’s tool, he comes off as a little more balanced, although ruthless.
This novel moves right along from one adventure to another. Dumas has to remind his readers a few times that the men’s behavior was acceptable at the time, and that is an even bigger reminder for readers today. However, in general, this is quite a fun book to read. It was a pleasure to read it for my Classics Club list.
What? Me Read? 
I’m glad you had fun reading this one. I read the whole Musketeers series a few years ago and loved this book and Twenty Years After, but didn’t enjoy the others quite as much.
I haven’t read any Dumas but am planning to listen The Count of Monte Cristo soon. Hope it’s as much fun as this one sounds!
I think they tend to be! I didn’t know until recently that most of them are based on real people. Who knew the three musketeers were real? I read a book a few years back that hypothesized that the man in the iron mask was D’Artagnan himself, because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut about something secret. I can’t remember what because it was at least 20 years ago that I read this.
I didn’t know they were based on real people either! That adds to the fun!
Yes, most of my life I thought they were fictional characters!