The d'Artagnan Romances 4 Volumes Alexandre Dumas Audiobooks in 8 MP3 Audio CDs
Alexandre Dumas
(1802 - 1870)
The d'Artagnan Romances are a set of three novels by Alexandre Dumas telling the story of the musketeer d'Artagnan from his humble beginnings in Gascony (the third novel is often split up in 3-4 novels).
Correct order: The Three Musketeers; Twenty Years After; The Vicomte de Bragelonne; Ten Years Later; Louise de la Valliere; The Man in the Iron Mask .
The d'Artagnan Romances, Vol 1: The Three Musketeers
Read by John Van Stan
Running Time:26:34:53 in 2 MP3 Audio CDs
Volume 1 introduces d’Artagnan as a young man, seeking to earn the glory of serving in the King’s Musketeers. While in pursuit of this aim, d’Artagnan befriends three musketeers – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis – who aid him in adventures against their King’s adversary, the cunning Cardinal Richelieu. "One for all, and all for one!"
The d'Artagnan Romances, Vol 2: Twenty Years After
Read by John Van Stan
Running Time:24:10:40in 2 MP3 Audio CDs
Volume 2 of The d'Artagnan Romances begins twenty years after "The Three Musketeers." Since then, d'Artagnan's career has stagnated, he’s lost touch with his friends, and the high favor earned with Queen Anne has been forgotten. His misfortune mirrors that of France, now ruled by an ineffective miser, Cardinal Mazarin, who’s avarice (among other vices) fuels a rebellion. Moreover, England is mired in civil war! Can d’Artagnan do the seemingly impossible: reunite “The Inseparables,” save the Queen and young Louis XIV from an uprising, and aid the English monarchy, all while avoiding the evil Mordaunt, son of a personal enemy long-believed to be neutralized? Well, according to d'Artagnan, "Great people only thank you for doing the impossible; what’s possible, they say, they can effect themselves."
The d'Artagnan Romances, Vol 3, Part 1: The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later
Read by John Van Stan
Running Time:31:29:59in 2 MP3 Audio CDs
Volume 3 of The d'Artagnan Romances is divided into three parts. The first begins in 1660, ten years after Volume 2, with d’Artagnan as Lieutenant of the King’s Musketeers. In this post, he is very near to achieving his dream (becoming Captain) and even nearer to his King, being young Louis XIV’s personal guard. Seeing first-hand how powerless the child King was, d’Artagnan resigns his illustrious, but dull, post to turn his sharp wit and sword toward another ambitious aim: restoration of the English monarchy. To the joy of France, Cardinal Mazarin dies, leaving a power vacuum that pulls at the ill-fated ambitions of the rich and powerful, Nicolas Fouquet. To combat Fouquet’s ambitions and wrench the nation back from the brink of bankruptcy, young Louis XIV takes the Cardinal’s dying advice and leagues with the economic and sociopolitical reformist, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Unfortunately, “The Inseparables” again find each other on different sides of the power struggle: Aramis and Porthos with Fouquet, but d’Artagnan and Athos with the King and Colbert. As d’Artagnan advises King Louis XIV, “The reign of Mazarin is over, but that of the financiers is begun. They have the money; your majesty will not often see much of it. To live under the paw of these hungry wolves is hard.”
The d'Artagnan Romances, Vol 3, Part 3: The Man in the Iron Mask
Read by John Van Stan
Running Time:30:06:01in 2 MP3 Audio CDs
In this, the last of the Three Musketeers novels, Dumas builds on the true story of a mysterious prisoner held incognito in the French penal system, forced to wear a mask when seen by any but his jailer or his valet. If you have skipped the novels between The Three Musketeers and this, a few notes will bring you into the story:
On one side – Aramis, now a bishop and secretly the Captain-General of the Jesuit Order, who believes he has found a path to a higher honor – the papacy. Monsieur Fouquet, the vastly rich minister of finance, Aramis’ ally. Philippe, the identical twin of King Louis XIV, who grew up in ignorance of his pedigree, and whose surrogate parents were murdered on the king’s order and himself sent into the notorious Paris prison, the Bastille, there held in solitary confinement.
On the other side – King Louis XIV, selected as the twin who would be king by his mother, and who intends that his brother will never challenge him. Monsieur Colbert, first minister, who is jealous of Fouquet and plots his downfall.
Unaligned and in danger of collateral damage – d’Artagnan, now captain of the King’s Musketeers and so the king’s chief defender, who suspects plots running beneath the surface and who is trying to unearth them. Athos, now the Comte (Count) de la Fer and one of the most respected noblemen of France. Raoul, Athos’ son and vicomte (viscount), desperately in love with Mademoiselle de la Valliere, who the king has taken as his mistress. Porthos, grown extremely stout and happy as the Baron du Vallon.
Aramis discovers the hidden Philippe and hatches a plot to substitute him for the sitting king, putting Louis in Philippe’s cell in the Bastille. This even succeeds… for a short while. But Aramis has not reckoned with a man whose loyalty to the throne exceeds his own welfare and who disastrously reverses the plot. Now it is time for the plotters to scurry to cover, there to figure some way to recover their lost ambitions.