Review: Twenty Years After

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Third read:

Ah! Au revoir my musketeer friends! Until the next book! Alas, we've lost some friends along the way!

With each re-read I gain so much more from this series, and I'm so in love with the characters, and the way Dumas writes them. It's absolutely fascinating to read about how four inseparable friends can be divided in opinion and yet still treat one another so respectfully. Athos in particular is a god among men, and even among his friends he's astoundingly honourable. I love how much respect he commands in this novel.

'And when I have signed, Messieurs, what will be my security?'
'My word of honour, Monsieur,' said Athos.
Mazarin started, turned towards the Comte de la Fere for a moment, scanned that loyal, noble countenance, and taking the pen, 'That's quite sufficient, Monsieur the Count,' said he, and he signed.

I cannot express how deeply I wish a person's word could be trusted the way that of Athos is.

D'Artagnan is still a hero with a keen mind, and he thinks of everything. He's also freaking hilarious and has the greatest insults ever. He's so clever he verbally backhands people all the time. LOVE. IT. Aramis is rather politically minded and still quick to anger, but he's tempered by the calm that is Athos. He still has such an intriguing role, and of course he's mixed up with another lady friend whom he's definitely not sleeping with *wink*

Porthos gets so much love from me in this novel because his devoutness simply cannot be faulted. He may be a little slow on the uptake, but he trusts his friends so completely and it makes my heart wanna burst. Every single time he says something like, 'I have no idea what you're talking about but just tell me what to do' I feel my heart expand for him.

These four men are #friendshipgoals and I will never stop loving them, and wishing that modern men were more like these heroes. I guess it's my destiny to be constantly disappointed by men for the rest of my life. *cries*

Guest appearances from de Winter and Rochefort were delightful as I missed them just as completely, and I love that d'Artagnan and Rochefort are bffs after constantly trying to kill one another in the first book. Bless them. Anne is a total menace in this one and it makes me that much sadder for the loss of Buckingham. Mazarin is a douchebag and it's sad to see d'Artagnan and Porthos working for him. Bills, bills, bills, I guess. Raoul is a total sweetheart and I'm looking forward to re-reading about him in The Vicomte de Bragelonne.

Honestly I could go on about this series forever. My heart is entirely devoted to these Musketeers.

If you don't continue with the series after The Three Musketeers, you are seriously missing out my friends.


***
Original review (after second read):
It's certainly a longer story than The Three Musketeers, with complicated politics and a whole lot of new names that are easier to remember if you do a little research of the time and put some faces to names. At times, it's easy to lose the story in trying to remember who everyone is, and whose side they are on; it can be rather tricky to follow. That being said, I will never stop loving these characters. Taking place twenty years after the original novel, our Musketeer friends have aged well, and the first saga of the novel is dedicated to renewing old acquaintances and discovering what's happened in our absence. D'Artagnan is still our hero musketeer, though he has cemented his place as a brilliant soldier and his experience is evident in the way his new adventures are written. His brilliant mind is sharp as ever, and so many of my favourite moments in this novel come from his wit, confidence and natural ability to form a plan simply because one is called for. His closeness with Porthos is quite charming, and I love how much faith Porthos has in his friend even after twenty years of separation. When it's revealed that the four friends are split between duties, I must say I felt quite unsettled, even knowing how the novel concludes (this being a re-read). Their friendship is the cornerstone of this entire series and to have those dynamics shifted makes for tense reading.
The introduction of the villainous Mordaunt sends shivers down the spine at how easily he commits evils, yet there is still sympathy to be found in the form of the musketeers' regrets of how the situation with Milady was handled in the former novel. He is written so as to be hated, but there is a depth to him that also allows for pity. It's this masterful creation of characters that has me so in love with this series. I find it easy to be caught up, and feel alongside those I'm reading about.
The inclusion of Mazarin and a Queen Anne of Austria so different from the first novel was something to get used to, particularly when the musketeers' hatred of Mazarin gave them such respect for the main villain of the previous novel. This, too, shows the power of the decades that have passed. This is a sequel cleverly written, giving respect to time and how it gives wisdom through hindsight and maturation. It is also fascinating to read about the changes that have occurred between the two time periods.
All in all, it's everything you loved from The Three Musketeers, though complicated with politics, a long list of characters, and several different arcs that lengthen the novel quite drastically. Perhaps a little too heavy, and therefore easily avoided by fair-weather fans, but this is a must read for those who fell in love with The Three Musketeers the same way I did. The depth this novel carries is truly satisfying, and you will finish it with the sense that, once again, you have said goodbye to old friends.

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