Not a lot of Musketeers in this sequel...

Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is part 2 of 4 in the 3rd book of 3....

I liked this book, as I find all Dumas books to be very breezy and entertaining, but this one was somewhat less fun than others. Although it's a Three Musketeers sequel, D'Artagnan and the others almost don't appear in the novel. Aramis's son Raoul, the Vicomte of Bragelonne, shows up a bit more, but really the story changes to follow the king and his courtiers, especially his brother (Monsieur), his English wife (madame), and some of the women who are their companions and maids of honor. There are intrigues regarding money and taxes and corruption in government, but most of the focus is on who the king is paying attention to.

That's fine. It's not a plot that really appeals to me, but because Dumas creates characters that the reader cares about and wants to see succeed (along with characters one wants to see thrown down) it is still entertaining and not too difficult to read.

I want to return more to Raoul and Porthos and the rest, including the Man in the Iron Mask, and suspect there will be more in part 3 of 4 in the 3rd book of the series... but it'll have to wait until I'm ready for more French court intrigue. For now, this book has to be enough.

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Where I Find the Series Is Still on Solid Ground after Two Books

Imager's Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy books by this author, in general. He writes in a very glib way, with a rolling plot that just keeps moving. I especially like the characters (here and elsewhere) and like to see them figure things out and attack problems with the help of allies.

I don't love his long descriptions of the inconsequential (what Rhenn did on almost every day from the start of the book to the end, or the menu of almost every meal in the story) or strange dialog (random meetings turning into long paragraphs of conversation about politics or philosophy). It pads a story that would be plenty long, but that's how he likes it, so that's what you get. If you want the story, you get the quirks.

I like the story, so I'll take the quirks.

Rhenn is a good character. He's a young man with a lot of nerve and imaging skill and a strong ethical sense. He's navigating a world where you can count on some people and not others, which he's figuring out, and he makes unlikely friends because he is fair and reliable. I like his girlfriend, Seliora, and her family a lot, too. They are a business family and members of an ethnic minority, people somewhat oppressed by the majority, and while Seliora and the others are very loving, they also have a very tough mentality that I admire. From the start, they embrace Rhenn in a do-anything-for-you kind of way, which included fighting behind the scenes for him, and become central to the plot. This dynamic between Rhenn and her family is my favorite part of the book.

Imager's Challenge is the second book in the series. The more the world-building gets taken care of, which is a big part of the first two books, the more the action comes to the fore, which I find more fun to read. So after I see to a few other books waiting on my TBR pile, I'm eager to get to book 3 and seeing how Rhenn is doing.

Book and series--recommended.

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