I really wanted to like this book since I had loved Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" and the first two books about the musketeers so much, but unfortunately, I found it to be a big disappointment.

The main story in this book is a love story involving Louise de la Valliere and King Louie XIV. This story could have been very good and interesting but it wasn't because of the poor characterization. Louise and Louie were both dull and uninteresting. Dumas entirely failed to make me feel what these two characters felt. This whole story was just very weak and lacked thought.

Another story in the novel involves Aramis and a prisoner in the Bastille. The scenes that were spent on this story were good, but there were too many dull and uninteresting parts packed in between these scenes to make the read flow really well.

Then there were just several other stories thrown into the book that had no business being there. They were boring and pointless and added nothing meaningful whatsoever.

Also, Dumas seemed to have developed a fondness for long paragraphs while writing this book. There were quite a few paragraphs in the book that went on for two or three pages and they were very difficult for me to read.

And like "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", this book does not have very much to do with the four musketeers. This time, Athos is hardly in it, which annoyed me extremely since he is my favorite. D'Artagnan, Aramis, and Porthos are in it a little more than Athos but not much. The first several chapters of the book involves at least one of the four musketeers, but don't let this fool you. If you're reading this book for the characters, you will be greatly disappointed by the amount of time they have in the novel.

And I DID NOT think that "The Man in the Iron Mask" was worth reading through this one to get to. That book was an appalling disaster in my opinion.

I read the Vicomte of Bragelonne, and the story is about Raoul, son of athos. The book contain all the three stories, Bragelonne, La Valliere, and The man in iron mask. This is the original book, some editors, split the book in three, and La Valliere is the second part of it. In my opinion is not the best story of Dumas, because like a reader you simpathetic, whit Raoul and Louise cheat him whit the king. I recomend read the entire book of bragelonne.

However, despite the fact that the title character does nothing for me (my sympathy is all with Raoul), I do recommend this book. It is part of the Musketeer Cycle, after all, and that connection in and of itself is enough to keep this book in a place of honor on my shelf. As another reviewer said, you really do have to read the series in order; and I'd like to add that, with Le Vicomte de Bragelone/Louise de la Valliere/The Man in the Iron Mask, you should be certain that your books are of the same edition and from the same publisher. Different publishers tend to break these three books (which are intended to be one book) at different chapters.

Louise de la Valiere is the least action-oriented of the Musketeer novels, but the writing is brilliant and the characters are true to themselves. Also, the translation is well-done. Queen Margot is the Dumas novel that has never been properly translated in my opinion. (And yes, I do speak French and have seen the novels in their original languages.)

Just remember that Dumas is not a fan of "Happily ever after . . ."

the countes of monte cristo is a suburb read for any alexander dumas fan. although not as good as its counterpart The count of monte cristo it has its moments. another great read is Edmond Dantes.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" is an excellent choice to read. Its length is a bit long, yet it is very interesting. The story starts off with a young man, Edmund Dantes, who is a sailor on a merchant ship. Two men, one who wants his fiance, and another who wants his high rank on the ship, plot together to rid themselves of him and gain the spoils. He eventually ends up in a prison very far away, where he meets another prison captive, an old man, whom he discovers held a very high religious position. He then escapes and joins a group of pirates. He finds a mass of buried treasure, of which the old man had told him the location of. Using his newfound fortune, he returns to his homeland to avenge himself. "The Count of Monte Cristo" has excellent word usage, and the author does an excellent job of manipulating the English language. The story has a very smooth flow, with many peaks of excitement. Dumas has an excellent talent for suspense, which is plainly shown in "The Count of Monte Cristo". Although the book is a bit long and droll in the beginning, while it explains the story to the reader, it becomes much more interesting as the tale goes on. Soon, the reader is enraptured by the exciting, dramatic, and tragic plot. Dumas unveils great emotion and compulsion, which he shares with the reader in his book. Overall, the book is an excellent pick for leisure-time reading and offers a great array of entertainment.

I am a high school student and I am currently working on a research paper on Alexandre Dumas for Honors English II. This book contains some pertinent facts and information on Dumas, his works, and the era of Romaniticism.

This book isn't as great as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, or any of Dumass' other great works but it is a great book to read. If you are interested in gothic fiction or mystery you should read this book. I will tell you that the shock at the end of the book is worth reading the whole thing for. Overall, I thought it was a great piece of work.

In view of the title, I was naturally curious about this book, and had a heck of a time finding a copy. It's not on a par with THE THREE MUSKETEERS, but isn't a bad read at all. Thanks, Alex.

I read the book when I was younger and kept a copy with me for the longest time and then in my travels I somehow misplaced it...It is part of the reason I'm trying to get it again. It is a strange haunting story that has many different twists and turns in the plot. It has some poetry, suspence, and a Edgar Allen Poe-ish quality about it. It is a novel to read and re-read again. The search for this book has made a lot of bookstore staff give me a second strange look, but there's more to the story than meets the reader's eye. It is a classic horror story and should be read.

I picked up the book because I found the movie very entertaining and thought it'd be nice to read the classic novel. I bought this edition and was halfway through it before I found out it was abridged. It does not say so anywhere on the book and I frankly don't know how that is allowed. As soon as I found out I went and got the complete version of the book and started all over. It astounds me how much they cut out. They pretty much butchered the story. Please read the book because is fabulous, but not this version.

I had previously kept way from Dumas novels thinking that they were about swashbuckling and helpless maidens. Since I decided that I should read more classics this year, I picked up this book. Since the film should be releases soon, I figured I should read it before seeing the film might ruin it for me.
That being said, this book was an exceptional story, and lives up to the acclaim. Rather than recount the plot, I will give a few reasons for my 4-star rating. The action begins immediately. While some books walk into the story, this book has significant plot development in the first few pages. Contrary to my preconception, there was really no fighting in the book. The action comes as the Count's intricate plan of revenge unfolds. Dumas does a great job of combining narration with introspection. While unraveling the plot, he provides insight into the emotions and personalities of his characters. In addition, the book isn't mired by excessive language. All in all this is a great story that should appeal to both men and women. I was able to read all 508 pages in a week of leisurely reading.

On a negative point, this specific edition contains numerous typographical errors. Somone favored the letter "A" over "S" and many words are misspelled. If that is important to you, I would suggest you try another edition.

This is THE book to read. No other book that I have ever read comes close to the excitement, passion and feeling that this book portrays. As I read it, I could feel the emotions Dantes felt... Dumas does a wonderful job of grabbing the reader and pulling him/her into the story, so that it is no longer just a story... but rather, it becomes reality.

This book (which I have not read) is purported on this webiste and elsewhere to be a collaborative effort between Dumas and Williams or at least a Williams adaptation of a Dumas play. It is actually believed by many others to be the sole work of Williams and of inferior quality to anything penned by Dumas.

A must read for any book fan worth his salt... a masterful book.... I loved it tremndously......
The story is about , as most of you will know , D'Artagnan , who comes from the district of Gascon to the city to become a musketeer and his adventures with the new friends he makes from the King's musketeers.......

I recommend this book to everyone......

This novel is much more obscure and difficult to find than are the more celebrated Dumas novels such as The Count of Monte Cristo and the Musketeer novels. While it is certainly the work of Dumas, with his inimitable style and engrossing characters, it is much more a history than a Romantic novel. He frequently spends chapters upon chapters describing which army did what to whom and for how long, not that it mattered because God was protecting France. It is not a bad read, but it is a bit dry if you are not as interested in serious history as in the tales the author habitually spins.

The only reason this novel had Dumas as its author was because it was signed so. Nowadays, very little (if any) evidence suggests that he was actually the author. At any rate this novel, which deals with a dumb but honest and strong hero while portraying Aramis (who was obviously the only one of the musketeers alive at the time) as the Evil Personified, is among the worst novels I have ever read untill the end.

Alexandre Dumas n'a pas ecrit le livre" the son of porthos" mais PAUL MAHALIN(ecrivan français) Ce livre est une suite du livre"Viconte de Bragelone" de Dumas et le livre raconte la vie du fils de porthos et de Aramis(le dernier mousquetaire vivant) Pour les lecteurs qui ont aimé le viconte de bragelone je doit conseiller le livre