The Man in the Iron Mask

by Alexandre Dumas

This is the final installment in the D'Artagnan Romances. In this book we learn the final fate of the celebrated four: Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan. A large part of this story concerns the intrigues surrounding the mysterious title character. Just in case there's anyone reading this who doesn't know the story, I won't spoil it for you.

I will say this though. I have a long standing joke with my kids. Often when I'm reading a book to them and I'm picking the book up to start reading for the evening I'll start with "And then everybody dies. The end." Well in this book, over the space of a few short chapters that's pretty much how it goes. Everybody dies. The end. I had to chuckle at that.

The D'Artagnan Romances are a monumental piece of historical fiction. I still think that the Count of Monte Cristo is a much better work but this is still one of Dumas' masterpieces. It sometimes goes too long and it often focuses too much on courtly intrigues for my taste. I much prefer the swashbuckling adventures, the plots and duels and schemes. Thankfully, this book has a bit more of what I like than the previous two books did. If you're willing to make the investment (and it's a substantial one) then this is a series worth reading.