Twenty Years After

It's twenty years after the derring-do of THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and our adventurers are tired, but surely not as tired as Frederick Davidson makes them sound. In this reading, the three Musketeers and D'Artagnan sound like bored actors in a bad school play--reciting their lines and rarely interacting with each other, even in the midst of a conversation. The story's intrigue and adventure vanish. Instead, Davidson reads v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, ends every sentence on a rising note, and inserts inexplicable pauses, which make the listener think that the tape has stopped. Perhaps Davidson had never read Dumas before trying to read his work aloud? Whatever the reason, this version of a classic falls flat. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

With his bass voice and vocal flair, narrator Bill Homewood transports listeners to France, where we meet D'Artagnan 20 years after his adventures in THE THREE MUSKETEERS. Cardinal Mazarin, the power behind the throne, summons D'Artagnan and commands him to find his former friends, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. France is on the brink of a civil war, and England is in turmoil, so the hated Mazarin needs someone to do his bidding. Will the musketeers respond, or will honor, loyalty, and their fraternal bond transcend the turbulent times and the cardinal's machinations? Homewood's expressive voice, with its wide range, pairs perfectly with this story about adventure and intrigue. His pronunciation of French words adds pizzazz, and his vocal agility gives each character a unique voice. A.M. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine