The Man in the Iron Mask

By: Alexandre Dumas

Narrated by: Bill Homewood

Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The Man in the Iron Mask continues the adventures of the dauntless heroes of The Three Musketeers - Aramis, Athos, Porthos and d'Artagnan. In old age their swashbuckling ought to have been replaced by a more gentle way of life, but the veteran warriors find themselves at the center of a plot in which both hearts and heads are broken, and the very throne of France is at stake.

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Public Domain (P)2014 Naxos AudioBooks

A gripping end to the Musketeers saga

There were several points in this gripping novel that made it difficult to pull myself away. Dumas is an excellent writer and really knows how to communicate excitement and keep the reader/listener begging for more. The one disappointing thing was no mention of the fate of the man in the iron mask.

Bill Homewood is a narrator extraordinaire! Any French novel literally comes to life through his masterful reading with exquisite pronunciation. His capture of the emotional nature also draws the listener in, accentuating Dumas exceptional writing. A captivating adventure is this worthwhile audiobook.

:)

Loved this classic, but... what happened to the man in the iron mask? I suppose it's left to our imagination.

Dumas /Homewood 2016!

This has been amazing! The Count of Monte Christo, The Three Musketeers, and now this story. Homewood is more than equal to the task!

Solid but feels incomplete

Very annoying how audiobook companies will only publish a couple books out of the series. This is the 5th book in series and going from the first to 5th is kind of jarring and skipping a lot of content. Bill homewood needs to hurry up and make twenty years after!

Beautifully written, but very hard to follow.

The only other book in the series I've read is the first one, so perhaps that's why I felt so lost while listening to this. I enjoyed the Marvel Illustrated adaption of this and thought this would be a fun listen. While the writing's vivid and poetic, the story's hard to follow. There are so many characters, so many intrigues, so much that's happening that I had to reverse numerous times just to get a clue about what's going on.

Also, I never got why Philippe would be considered a better king than Louis. This is probably delusion speaking, but it feels like Dumas failed to fully develop his great premise.

False Title: It is rather - The Drawn Out Tragedy of the 4 Invincibles

Do not think that is anything like the movie or that it has much of anything to do with the plot concerning a young man in an iron mask. Much like the scene of Me Lady and her Jailor in The Three Musketeers, the focus draws to long upon dismal ill fate. The overall feel of the book could be expressed, "Oh no! - Well, at least I can remember back when they had good fortune and comradery.

An odd place to start

Bill Homewood is a wonderful narrator and has done thrilling versions of books by Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. And his narration here is first-rate. But the text itself is a puzzle. The Man in the Iron Mask is actually part of a much larger novel by Dumas, The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Different editors divide the book up in different ways. The particular version selected for this recording begins incoherently: Aramis is visiting Philippe in the Bastille, but all indications of context have been lopped off the front. For example, the first sentence is: "Since Aramis's singular transformation into a confessor of the order, Baisemeaux was no longer the same man." What order? Who is Baisemeaux? The next sentence goes on to talk about the "the place which Aramis held in the worthy governor's estimation." Governor of what? Is he still talking about Baisemeaux or someone else? The narrator mentions "the turnkey, the same who, on Aramis's first arrival, had shown himself so inquisitive and curious." Wait - this isn't his first visit? Which turnkey? Is Baisemeaux the turnkey? What was he curious about? "In this wise they reached the basement of the Bertaudiere." Um.... OK.... what's the Bertaudiere? And why are they in the basement?

Continued listening will clarify the context, but I found myself irritated by this unnecessarily rocky start. Granted this is a widely available "editor's cut" of the novel, but there ARE other versions that begin in a less confusing way. Naxos usually takes more care in choosing editions of non-English works.

For those who are interested, all parts of the massive Vicomte de Bragelonne have been recorded in an excellent version by Simon Vance.

The Man in the Iron Mask

It’s unlike any movie you’ve ever seen with that name, that’s certain. It is more in the line of a continuation of the story of the Three Musketeers. It is still very good and the story is told well by both author and narrator. I recommend you get it. Enjoy.

Awful story

Didn’t enjoy this story. It was really bad now. I started with the count of Monte cristo, which was fantastic.

Bill Homewood is excellent. The book, not so much.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A story with an interesting plot. There was a good beginning followed by hours of pointless and unrelated events.

Has The Man in the Iron Mask turned you off from other books in this genre?

Maybe the ones like the Three Musketeers.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the narrator said "the end."

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Bill Homewood is excellent. The story has no redeeming qualities.

Any additional comments?

Get something else.