From AudioFile
Naxos follows its usual pattern of punctuating the narrative with carefully chosen classical musical segments appropriate to the mood of the particular part of the story. Bill Homewood reads this tale of French political intrigue in an emotionally intense British voice that is crisp and effective. He shades his characters subtly through intonation and pacing, his voice rising with excitement as various crises develop and climax. The story details the final days of the Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan, with only one left alive at the end. Heavily abridged by Homewood himself, the tale retains its essential core, and the result is exciting and satisfying. D.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Book Description
Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title—offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.

This edition of The Man in the Iron Mask includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword.

"You are about to hear," said Aramis, "an account which few could now give; for it refers to a secret which they buried with the dead...."

So begins the magnificent concluding story of the swashbuckling Musketeers, Aramis, Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan. Aramis--plotting against the King of France--bribes his way into the jail cells of the Bastille where a certain prisoner has been entombed for eight long years. The prisoner knows neither his real name nor the crime he has committed. But Aramis knows the secret of the prisoner's identity...a secret so dangerous that its revelation could topple the King from his throne!

Aramis...plotting against the King?

The motto of the Musketeers has been "All for one, and one for all." Has Aramis betrayed his friends? Is this the end of the Musketeers?



Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French


Card catalog description
A bishop, knowing that King Louis XIV of France has a twin brother who has been imprisoned in the Bastille for eight years, schemes to place the twin on the throne. An abridged, cartoon version.

ANNOTATION

An abridged, cartoon version of the four Musketeers' final adventure during which they plot to replace King Louis XIV of France with his twin brother, the true king, who has been falsely imprisoned in the Bastille for eight years.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"You are about to hear," said Aramis, "an account which few could now give; for it refers to a secret which they buried with their dead...." So begins the magnificent concluding story of the swashbuckling Musketeers, Aramis, Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan. Aramis -- plotting against the King of France -- bribes his way into the jail cells of the Bastille where a certain prisoner has been entombed for eight long years. The prisoner knows neither his real name nor the crime he has committed. But Aramis knows the secret of the prisoner's identity...a secret so dangerous that its revelation could topple the King from his throne! Aramis...plotting against the King? The motto of the Musketeers has been "All for one, and one for all." Has Aramis betrayed his friends? Is this the end of the Musketeers?

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Joyce Rice

Louis the Fourteenth, King of France, has an identical twin brother. The existence of Philippe, the twin, is known only to the Queen mother, and to the bishop Aramis, who was once a musketeer. Philippe has been reared in another country under the watchful eye of the queen's servants. His world is of horses, trees and the outdoors, while his brother basks in the royal world of kings and queens. However, King Louis is not a good king and so begins the plot to remove him from the throne and replace him with Philippe. This literary classic has all the elements to capture the interest of the upper elementary or middle school reader. There is mystery, intrigue, and suspense. Mantell's adaptation is an excellent choice for introducing younger readers to the classics, with a suggested reading level of 2.5. Children will also be drawn to this title because of the recent movie version.

AudioFile

This 1846 classic brings Dumas's saga of the Three Musketeers to a close. It contains everything from the suspense of a plot to displace the king, to the low comedy of the portly Porthos's inability to get a suit made that fits him. The high point, as with all of these swashbuckling tales, is in the action and the emotion, specifically a battle between Porthos and Aramis and more than eighty of the king's guard, and the deaths of the heroes that follow. The pace is leisurely, the narrative rich, and Christopher Cazenove performs the novel's more than twenty characters with a grace and agility worthy of a Musketeer. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

AudioFile - Don Wismer

Naxos follows its usual pattern of punctuating the narrative with carefully chosen classical musical segments appropriate to the mood of the particular part of the story. Bill Homewood reads this tale of French political intrigue in an emotionally intense British voice that is crisp and effective. He shades his characters subtly through intonation and pacing, his voice rising with excitement as various crises develop and climax. The story details the final days of the Three Musketeers and D￯﾿ﾽArtagnan, with only one left alive at the end. Heavily abridged by Homewood himself, the tale retains its essential core, and the result is exciting and satisfying. D.W. ￯﾿ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine

AudioFile - Yuri Rasovsky