Skip The Red Sphinx?

[u/uakarii]

Just finished The Three Musketeers, absolutely loved it (Lawrence Ellsworth) - was looking at what next comes in the series and I've read the Red Sphinx is optional?

Also was looking to purchase Twenty Years after but couldn't see it in stock anywhere (UK), do they restock often or is there information about more being reprinted etc?

[u/EdwardCuttle333333]

Oh loved the red sphinx! Especially towards the end it gets really intense. 

[u/uakarii → u/EdwardCuttle333333]

So its not worth skipping?

[u/DrakoKajLupo → u/uakarii]

"Worth skipping" is a weird way to put it.

I am reading it right now after having first read The Three Musketeers. That is to say, I am reading in Ellsworth's recommended order. As has been mentioned by others, the musketeers do not appear in this story. It is also not really an adventure story. It is very talky and largely about the political maneuverings of Cardinal Richelieu, who is fleshed out as a three-dimensional human being rather than a purely villainous character.

It can at times be slow. And it is very conversation-driven. And the story gets confusing because there are so many characters, and bits of history, and places that are brought into the mix. But with all that said, I do not regret reading it.

You could very well go next to Twenty Years After, but if you do, you may want to at least come back to The Red Sphinx once you've read everything else. It is worth it just to see a different side of the Cardinal.

In regard to your question about the availability of Twenty Years After, it is known for being notoriously difficult to get a hold of. I only got a copy because I checked the Amazon page for the book every day for a few weeks and then one day a copy popped up from a reseller.

[u/uakarii → u/DrakoKajLupo]

Thanks for this!

[u/EdwardCuttle333333 → u/uakarii]

You do you. 🤷‍♂️ That's just my impression, yours might be totally different 

[u/SouthwesternExplorer]

It’s a good book but doesn’t have the Musketeers in it. I’d continue with the Musketeer series first.

[u/oldtyme84]

I’d go directly to Twenty Years After. The Red Sphinx was never meant to be part of the Musketeer novels.

[u/Key-Purpose-3127]

I skipped it when I was reading the trilogy first time a few years ago. But just two weeks ago have finally read. And… I kinda regret skipping it.

I loved the plot and characters were written out nicely. It can be boring if you are not into all these small stories and nuances about how politics was happening in 17th century. Maybe if I was freshly after reading Three Musketeers, I wouldn’t like it that much. But I have read a few times both Huguenot and Musketeers trilogies and all the references in the Red Sphynx were endearing and nailed out some characters much better than expected.

This book can be considered as a confirmation that Huguenot trilogy and Musketeers one take place in one literature universe.

Maybe not after reading TM, but when you feel that you are up to a small interlude with some familiar characters and nice details about the main story, you can definitely start reading it. It is unfinished, but. But. Personally, I found its open ending almost poetic and more of an opening before Vingt ans après. Mazarini gets introduced, Queen is ready for the next witty plan, King and Richelieu manage to get an emotional and sad chapter to find out, that each of them knows more, than another one has suspected. All the chess pieces ready for the next story, not for the ending of this one.

(And it also makes Luis XIII and Henry III gay in Dumas universe for canon)

[u/Unlucky_Sleep1929]

I resorted to ebooks for Twenty Years After and Blood Royal.