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The Red Sphinx cover art

The Red Sphinx

By: Alexandre Dumas, Lawrence Ellsworth - translator
Narrated by: John Lee
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Summary

For the first time in English in over a century comes a new translation of the forgotten sequel to Dumas' The Three Musketeers, continuing the dramatic tale of Cardinal Richelieu and his implacable enemies.

In 1844, Alexandre Dumas published The Three Musketeers, a novel so famous and still so popular today that it scarcely needs introduction. Shortly thereafter he wrote a sequel, Twenty Years After, that resumed the adventures of his swashbuckling heroes.

Later, toward the end of his career, Dumas wrote The Red Sphinx, another direct sequel to The Three Musketeers that begins not 20 years later but a mere 20 days afterward. The Red Sphinx picks up right where the The Three Musketeers left off, continuing the stories of Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Anne, and King Louis XIII - and introducing a charming new hero, the Comte de Moret, a real historical figure from the period. A young cavalier newly arrived in Paris, Moret is an illegitimate son of the former king and thus half-brother to King Louis. The French Court seethes with intrigue as king, queen, and cardinal all vie for power, and young Moret soon finds himself up to his handsome neck in conspiracy, danger - and passionate romance.

Dumas wrote 75 chapters of The Red Sphinx for serial publication but never finished it, and so the novel languished for almost a century before its first book publication in France in 1946. While Dumas never completed the book, he had earlier written a separate novella, The Dove, that recounted the final adventures of Moret and Cardinal Richelieu.

Now for the first time, in one cohesive narrative, The Red Sphinx and The Dove make a complete and satisfying story line - a rip-roaring novel of historical adventure, heretofore unknown to English-language listeners, by the great Alexandre Dumas, king of the swashbucklers.

Public Domain (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Red Sphinx

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Loved it more than The Three Musketeers!

I enjoyed the Red Sphinx so much that I dare to say I enjoyed it more than The Three Musketeers. The Dove is so romantic and exciting, I occasionally gasped. I thoroughly enjoyed both and I appreciate the explanation of the historical accuracy of the characters at the end of the audiobook. Good performance from the narrator!

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Very boring

I couldn't finish it, it was too o boring. It sounds more like a historic facts book. It barely has any action.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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A rich set up, forever unresolved

More one for the Dumas scholar than the causal fan. Despite the blurb claims, The Dove isn’t really an adequate bolt-on finale to the unfinished main tale. The latter is compelling - despite some lengthy (fascinating) tangential historical asides - but having set up a rich and tangled scenario ends abruptly, long before any resolution. The Dove - a sort of courtly love dialogue between two of the relatively minor characters in the main story goes nowhere close to gathering the loose ends. So if you’re looking for a sense of closure you’ll probably be a touch frustrated.

The narration is fine, though some of the names and titles get some pretty exuberant accenting.

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Worthy addition to the series!

While not in the same league as "The Three Musketeers" or "The Man In The Iron Mask", "The Red Sphinx/The Dove" are nice additions to the series and a rare joy for all Dumas fans!
The Red Sphinx gives us a closer look at the fascinating character of Cardinal Richelieu, while The Dove works as a series of letters that admirably conclude the story in a different way.
John Lee's narration is good with a wide range of voices and a clear understanding of the text, my only criticism is his tendency to be a little ponderous in his reading, which is fixable by increasing the playback speed!

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A worthy edition if your a fan of Dumas.

A gripping tale as you'd expect from Dumas and a great insight into Cardinal Richelieu. Do not expect any mention of D'artagnan however as the story does not include the musketeers. a great translation that retains the excitement as originally written.

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    1 out of 5 stars

Very poor pronunciation of French names

Proper nouns frequently mispronounced or at least pronounced with a 'French' and not French accent. Couldn't listen beyond chapter 5. Ok for Pink Panther or Dogtagnan, not for Dumas even in English

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