32. The Man in the Iron Mask - Alexandre Dumas

In the Musketeers' final adventure, D'Artagnan remains in the service of the corrupt King Louis XIV after the Three Musketeers have retired and gone their separate ways. Meanwhile, a mysterious prisoner in an iron mask wastes away deep inside the Bastille. When the destinies of king and prisoner converge, the Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan find themselves caught between conflicting loyalties.

In their mid to late 60's, the three Musketeers return again in this final installment of the series. D'Artagnan is still the captain of the King's Musketeers and stumbles into a plot to place another on the throne of Louis XIV. Always loyal, D'Artagnan grudgingly follows orders to return the imposter to prison. Knowing that the imposter is truly a better man the Louis XIV and that the conspiracy was lead by his fellow Musketeer and good friend, Aramis, General of the Jesuits, D'Artagnan begins to feel a sway in allegiance and although not going against the King's orders, he tries his hardest to save his friends from the wrath of the King. As Aramis and Porthos (who unknowingly helped commit treason out of love and loyalty to his friend) run from the King and his soldiers (including D'Artagnan), Raoul, son of Athos, decides to join the army in their expedition to Africa. After having his heart broken and wrench from his chest by his former fiance Louis de la Valliere, he knows this venture to Africa will kill him. So does his father, Athos, and he unwillingly allows his son to leave, fearing he'll never come back.

This books is full of twists and turns, happy moments and sad moments, and was a good conclusion to The Three Musketeers series. A little bit shorter than the previous two novels, The Man in the Iron Mask was definitely a page turner. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. I was so glad to have the focus back on the four friends and Musketeers, unlike the previous two novels. They are such great characters!

I was naturally a little disappointed with the ending, not only because it was the end of the series but because it was a little sad. I read a lot of reviews where people gave it a low rating because they didn't like the way it was written and had a hard time keeping track of the characters. I think that if they had read the whole series, they would have had an easier time with that and enjoyed the books more. Yeah, it's a lot of reading, but the story is so great, it's worth it! I held off reading this book for a long time because I didn't want the tale to end, but now that's it's finished, I'm glad to have read them. A bittersweet ending!

Rating: 4.5/5