The Last Musketeer
This is the first in a series of time-travel adventures inspired by Dumas’ classic novel The Three Musketeers. When 14-year-old Greg’s parents lose their fortune, the family travels to Paris to sell their antique furniture to the Louvre. A sinister museum official, Michel Dinicoeur, uses a crystal belonging to Greg’s mother to send the family back in time to 1615, when the Louvre was the king’s palace, and immediately accuses them of trying to assassinate the king. As it turns out, Dinicoeur has another identity in 1615: Dominic Richelieu, captain of the king’s guard and brother of the powerful cardinal. While his parents are imprisoned in the fortress of La Mort Triste, from which no prisoner has emerged alive, Greg escapes and meets three boys named Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who will grow up to become the Three Musketeers. Greg himself takes on the role of D’Artagnan. Together they come up with a plan to break into the prison and rescue Greg’s parents, who are scheduled to be executed in three days. While adjusting to life in the 17th century, Greg comes to realize the value of friendship as he and the Musketeers race against time to defeat the evil Richelieu and the scheming Milady de Winter.
I enjoyed this fast-paced story, and the parts where Greg is trying to adjust to life without electricity, air-conditioning, and indoor plumbing are cleverly written. The book should appeal to fans of the Dumas novel or any of its film adaptations, and it serves as a good introduction to the story of the Three Musketeers for anyone who is unfamiliar with it. Unfortunately, it contains several mistakes that lessened my enjoyment of the book. For example, there are a few mentions of the guillotine, which was not invented until the French Revolution.
