The Three Musketeers [Paperback]

Warning: spoilers
Setting
The Three Musketeers takes place in 1625 in France. The story starts in a small village called Meung where the main character, D'Artagnan and two villains are introduced. Most of the story happens in Paris, France, where the musketeers train and protect the french King Louis VIII and his wife, Queen Anne. One trip to England is made by D'Artagnan to help the queen when the evil Cardinal Richelieu tries to frame her.

Characters
The main character is D'Artagnan of Gascony. He is a young man from the country who wants to join the musketeers more than anything. He leaves home with 15 gold coins, a little old horse that gets made fun of, and a letter from his father to introduce him to Monsieur de Tréville, the captain of the king's musketeers. D'Artagnan's father had been a musketeer and served with the captain. D'Artagnan is a courageous fellow. After a fight in Meung, he ends up challenging three different men to duels. He later finds out that all three men are musketeers, and instead of dueling, he helps them to fight against Cardinal Richelieu's guards. The three musketeers then become his friends. D'Artagnan is hired by Monsieur de Tréville to train in the musketeer regiment. D'Artagnan meets and falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, one of the queen's loyal maids. Constance asks D'Artagnan to help the queen out. The cardinal is trying to get the queen in trouble with the king. D'Artagnan does help the queen. He is a loyal and devoted musketeer.

The three musketeers are supporting characters and include Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Athos is moody and has secrets. He used to be the Count de la Fère, and was married to the villain Milady de Winter many years ago. Porthos is a funny musketeer who even jokes during combat. Aramis is more serious, and later decides to become a priest. The three musketeers are all brave men who are great swordsmen and do whatever it takes to protect their friends, their king and queen, and their country.

Queen Anne is important in this story because her friendship with the Duke of Buckingham is a way for the evil Cardinal to dethrone her. She is secretly in love with the Duke.

Cardinal Richelieu is an evil man who uses the church for power. He doesn't like the musketeers and is involved in many evil plots. He is an advisor to the king, and he stirs up a lot of trouble. He uses his guards to fight against the musketeers.

Milady de Winter is another bad person in this story. She is hired by the Cardinal to do his dirty work. She convinces the Duke of Buckingham's own guard to kill the duke. A long time ago her name was Anne de Breuil and she was married to the Count de la Fère, who finds out that she is a criminal. She disappears to escape getting killed. During this story, she goes by the name of Milady de Winter. She poisons Constance and the four musketeers set out to find her and make sure she is put to death.

Monsieur de Tréville is the captain of the king's musketeers and is in charge of their training. He and D'Artagnan's father were musketeers together many years ago. Monsieur can tell right away that D'Artagnan is a good person and will be a great musketeer.

Plot
The plot is about D'Artagnan and his journey to become a musketeer. The story starts with D'Artagnan on his way to meeting the captain of the musketeers. Before that happens, he meets three actual musketeers by accident. All three were going to duel against D'Artagnan but the duels are cancelled when the cardinal's guards attack the musketeers. D'Artagnan sides with the musketeers and the four men become friends.

After D'Artagnan is hired by Monsieur de Tréville, he meets and falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, who serves the queen. D'Artagnan and the three musketeers help Constance to help the queen out of a bind. D'Artagnan does help by traveling to England and bringing back two diamonds that the queen gave to the Duke. This was part of a plot the cardinal had planned to make the queen look bad in front of the king. The queen secretly loves the Duke, and he loves her too. The cardinal hires Milady de Winter to take care of D'Artagnan. It is at this point in the plot where readers discover that Athos was a count in his previous life. The musketeers chase Milady de Winter but they are too late. Cardinal Richelieu's plan was to have the Duke of Buckingham killed, and Milady made sure it was done, before also killing Constance. The musketeers capture Milady and she is executed. The story ends with the cardinal publicly awarding D'Artagnan a commission as lieutenant in the King's Musketeer Guards. The cardinal has to reward him even though he doesn't like him. The story ends with Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan cheering "All for one, and one for all."

Author
Alexandre's main purpose in writing The Three Musketeers was to entertain readers. The sword fights and action were great. D'Artagnan was truly a hero. There was dueling, mystery, bad guys, and some romance too. The lesson learned from the story is that honor and bravery are important.

Opinion
I would recommend this book. I liked the story but I had a hard time pronouncing the french names and places. The dueling scenes were great, but too short. I will need to read the full version or watch the movie to see more action. I thought the most suspenseful part was catching Milady to have her executed. The funniest part was when Cardinal Richelieu looked like a fool at the king's ball when he tried to make the queen look bad. My favorite part of the book was D'Artagnan being brave enough to challenge three different men to duels, then finds out they are all musketeers, and ends up working with them, not against them.

I haven't read another book like this where the story takes place a long time ago in another country. I read about the past when I read the Little House on the Prairie books, but there was no duels, and the story took place in the U.S.A. I have read about suspenseful fights in The Spiderwick Chronicles, but that was fantasy. This story could have really happened.

I ordered this book for my daughter as required reading for her english class. The book was delivered on time and my daughter loves it and says that its easy to read and follow.

Warning: spoilers
Setting
The Three Musketeers takes place in 1625 in France. The story starts in a small village called Meung where the main character, D'Artagnan and two villains are introduced. Most of the story happens in Paris, France, where the musketeers train and protect the french King Louis VIII and his wife, Queen Anne. One trip to England is made by D'Artagnan to help the queen when the evil Cardinal Richelieu tries to frame her.

Characters
The main character is D'Artagnan of Gascony. He is a young man from the country who wants to join the musketeers more than anything. He leaves home with 15 gold coins, a little old horse that gets made fun of, and a letter from his father to introduce him to Monsieur de Tréville, the captain of the king's musketeers. D'Artagnan's father had been a musketeer and served with the captain. D'Artagnan is a courageous fellow. After a fight in Meung, he ends up challenging three different men to duels. He later finds out that all three men are musketeers, and instead of dueling, he helps them to fight against Cardinal Richelieu's guards. The three musketeers then become his friends. D'Artagnan is hired by Monsieur de Tréville to train in the musketeer regiment. D'Artagnan meets and falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, one of the queen's loyal maids. Constance asks D'Artagnan to help the queen out. The cardinal is trying to get the queen in trouble with the king. D'Artagnan does help the queen. He is a loyal and devoted musketeer.

The three musketeers are supporting characters and include Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Athos is moody and has secrets. He used to be the Count de la Fère, and was married to the villain Milady de Winter many years ago. Porthos is a funny musketeer who even jokes during combat. Aramis is more serious, and later decides to become a priest. The three musketeers are all brave men who are great swordsmen and do whatever it takes to protect their friends, their king and queen, and their country.

Queen Anne is important in this story because her friendship with the Duke of Buckingham is a way for the evil Cardinal to dethrone her. She is secretly in love with the Duke.

Cardinal Richelieu is an evil man who uses the church for power. He doesn't like the musketeers and is involved in many evil plots. He is an advisor to the king, and he stirs up a lot of trouble. He uses his guards to fight against the musketeers.

Milady de Winter is another bad person in this story. She is hired by the Cardinal to do his dirty work. She convinces the Duke of Buckingham's own guard to kill the duke. A long time ago her name was Anne de Breuil and she was married to the Count de la Fère, who finds out that she is a criminal. She disappears to escape getting killed. During this story, she goes by the name of Milady de Winter. She poisons Constance and the four musketeers set out to find her and make sure she is put to death.

Monsieur de Tréville is the captain of the king's musketeers and is in charge of their training. He and D'Artagnan's father were musketeers together many years ago. Monsieur can tell right away that D'Artagnan is a good person and will be a great musketeer.

Plot
The plot is about D'Artagnan and his journey to become a musketeer. The story starts with D'Artagnan on his way to meeting the captain of the musketeers. Before that happens, he meets three actual musketeers by accident. All three were going to duel against D'Artagnan but the duels are cancelled when the cardinal's guards attack the musketeers. D'Artagnan sides with the musketeers and the four men become friends.

After D'Artagnan is hired by Monsieur de Tréville, he meets and falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, who serves the queen. D'Artagnan and the three musketeers help Constance to help the queen out of a bind. D'Artagnan does help by traveling to England and bringing back two diamonds that the queen gave to the Duke. This was part of a plot the cardinal had planned to make the queen look bad in front of the king. The queen secretly loves the Duke, and he loves her too. The cardinal hires Milady de Winter to take care of D'Artagnan. It is at this point in the plot where readers discover that Athos was a count in his previous life. The musketeers chase Milady de Winter but they are too late. Cardinal Richelieu's plan was to have the Duke of Buckingham killed, and Milady made sure it was done, before also killing Constance. The musketeers capture Milady and she is executed. The story ends with the cardinal publicly awarding D'Artagnan a commission as lieutenant in the King's Musketeer Guards. The cardinal has to reward him even though he doesn't like him. The story ends with Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan cheering "All for one, and one for all."

Author
Alexandre's main purpose in writing The Three Musketeers was to entertain readers. The sword fights and action were great. D'Artagnan was truly a hero. There was dueling, mystery, bad guys, and some romance too. The lesson learned from the story is that honor and bravery are important.

Opinion
I would recommend this book. I liked the story but I had a hard time pronouncing the french names and places. The dueling scenes were great, but too short. I will need to read the full version or watch the movie to see more action. I thought the most suspenseful part was catching Milady to have her executed. The funniest part was when Cardinal Richelieu looked like a fool at the king's ball when he tried to make the queen look bad. My favorite part of the book was D'Artagnan being brave enough to challenge three different men to duels, then finds out they are all musketeers, and ends up working with them, not against them.

I haven't read another book like this where the story takes place a long time ago in another country. I read about the past when I read the Little House on the Prairie books, but there was no duels, and the story took place in the U.S.A. I have read about suspenseful fights in The Spiderwick Chronicles, but that was fantasy. This story could have really happened.

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