Between Two Kings and More Dumas Musketeer Books -- MAILBOX MONDAY

 

MAILBOX MONDAY

I can't resist matching editions! How about you? 

I also can't resist Alexander Dumas books because, well, we are related, obviously! 😉

This set of Alexander Dumas books are five books in the "Musketeers Cycle" -- a series of books that started with The Three Musketeers and ends with The Man in the Iron Mask. 

I'm excited about this set in particular because it is the new translation by Lawrence Ellsworth, the first new translation in over 100 years. The stiff, long-winded Victorian language is gone. Ellsworth's translation is fresh and lively. If you thought the Musketeers were fun before, wait until you see how they swashbuckle now!

All told, there will be nine volumes in the series, published by Pegasus Books:

• The Three Musketeers (2018).
• The Red Sphinx (2017). This Musketeer novel, called The Count of Moret in France, has not been translated into English before. This was the first book of the project. In the storyline, it comes after The Three Musketeers. I have it in the wrong place in my picture.
• Twenty Years After (2019). This is traditionally published as one books. Ellsworth edition is split into two, Twenty Years After and the next one.
• Blood Royale (2020). This is the second half of what is traditionally published as part of Twenty Years After.
• Between Two Kings (2021). Ellsworth is breaking down Dumas's mega-novel, The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, into five separate volumes. It was originally serialized over two and a half years and is traditionally published in three, four, or five volumes. Between Two Kings is Vol. 1.
• The Court of Daggers (Vol. 2) (coming in 2022).
• The Devil’s Dance (Vol. 3) (2023).
• The Shadow of the Bastille (Vol. 4) (2024).
• The Man in the Iron Mask (Vol. 5) (2025).

Ellsworth's translation project is a huge literary undertaking. I admit, it wasn't even on my radar. Pegasus Books kindly sent me a review copy of the new one, Between Two Kings, and I went bonkers. I had to get my hands on the earlier four immediately. I can't wait to reread The Three Musketeers in this new translation and then read the rest of the books. What an adventure!

Join other book lovers on Mailbox Monday to share the books that came into your house last week. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf, and Velvet of vvb32reads are the gracious hosts of Mailbox Monday.