The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas · Adventure · 67 chapters · 23h 11m · 18 voices

Young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris seeking glory and falls in with the legendary Musketeers — Athos, Porthos, and Aramis — as they clash with the scheming Cardinal Richelieu and the deadly Milady de Winter.

Twenty-three hours, sixty-seven chapters and eighteen voices: the longest listen here by some distance, and the one that most resembles a serial, which is what it was. Dumas wrote for a newspaper and it shows in the best possible way — chapters end on turns, scenes are almost entirely dialogue, and the plot is carried by people lying to each other in rooms. Athos, Porthos and Aramis have to be distinguishable immediately and permanently, since they are usually all present; Milady de Winter, who arrives properly in the second half, is the most dangerous character and never once raises her voice.

The voices that carry it

Milady is the performance the book turns on. Her long manipulation of Felton late in the novel is one voice convincing another in real time, and it only works if she sounds sincere.

Chapter one plays without an account. Start listening to The Three Musketeers.

Voice cast

17 characters plus the narrator, each with their own voice. All the voices of The Three Musketeers.

d'Artagnan — A young Gascon from the provinces, barely eighteen, arriving in Paris with three coins, an old horse, and boundless ambition. Quick-tempered, brave to the point of recklessness, fiercely loyal, and irresistibly charming.
Athos — The most noble and brooding of the three musketeers. A man of aristocratic bearing hiding a shattered past — the finest swordsman of them all, deeply melancholic, and capable of great coldness.
Porthos — The largest and most boastful of the musketeers. Vain about his appearance, his equipments, and his imaginary wealth. Hearty, loud, good-natured, and genuinely formidable in a fight.
Aramis — The most refined and secretive of the three musketeers. Elegant, religious, and perpetually on the verge of abandoning soldiering for the priesthood. His piety is genuine but coexists comfortably with intrigue and violence.
Milady de Winter — Cardinal Richelieu's most dangerous agent — beautiful, ruthless, and utterly without mercy. She has been a thief, a poisoner, and a seductress. Bears the brand of a fleur-de-lis on her shoulder. Capable of convincing any man of anything.
Cardinal Richelieu — The most powerful man in France — the Cardinal and chief minister who effectively rules the kingdom. Coldly brilliant, implacable, and utterly ruthless in the service of the state. Respects ability even in his enemies.
M. de Tréville — The captain of the King's Musketeers — a Gascon himself, fierce with honor, ferociously loyal to his men, and skilled at navigating the treacherous politics of Louis XIII's court.
Mme Bonacieux — Constance Bonacieux — d'Artagnan's great love, the queen's seamstress. Young, pretty, brave, and entirely caught up in intrigue she barely understands. Loyal to the queen above all.
Planchet — D'Artagnan's lackey and servant — a Picard by birth, cheerful, gossipy, and fundamentally cowardly but capable of extraordinary acts of loyalty when the moment demands it.
Buckingham — George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham — the most powerful lord in England and the queen's secret admirer. Handsome, gallant, recklessly in love, and politically dangerous.

Chapters

Chapter I: The Three Presents of D’artagnan the Elder 35m
Chapter II: The Antechamber of M. de Tréville 24m
Chapter III: The Audience 26m
Chapter IV 17m
Chapter V: The King’s Musketeers and the Cardinal’s Guards 22m
Chapter VI: His Majesty King Louis Xiii 44m
Chapter VII: The Interior of the Musketeers 20m
Chapter VIII: Concerning a Court Intrigue 17m
Chapter IX: D’artagnan Shows Himself 16m
Chapter X: A Mousetrap in the Seventeenth Century 20m
Chapter XI: In Which the Plot Thickens 36m
Chapter XII: George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham 18m
Chapter XIII: Monsieur Bonacieux 18m
Chapter XIV: The Man of Meung 20m
Chapter XV: Men of the Robe and Men of the Sword 18m
Chapter XVI 26m
Chapter XVII: Bonacieux at Home 27m
Chapter XVIII: Lover and Husband 13m
Chapter XIX: Plan of Campaign 17m
Chapter XX: The Journey 23m
Chapter XXI: The Countess de Winter 20m
Chapter XXII: The Ballet of la Merlaison 15m
Chapter XXIII: The Rendezvous 22m
Chapter XXIV: The Pavilion 21m
Chapter XXV: Porthos 38m
Chapter XXVI: Aramis and His Thesis 34m
Chapter XXVII: The Wife of Athos 40m
Chapter XXVIII: The Return 28m
Chapter XXIX: Hunting for the Equipments 18m
Chapter XXX: D’artagnan and the Englishman 16m
Chapter XXXI: English and French 16m
Chapter XXXII: A Procurator’s Dinner 21m
Chapter XXXIII: Soubrette and Mistress 19m
Chapter XXXIV: In Which the Equipment of Aramis and Porthos Is Treated Of 18m
Chapter XXXV: A Gascon a Match for Cupid 15m
Chapter XXXVI: Dream of Vengeance 14m
Chapter XXXVII: Milady’s Secret 14m
Chapter XXXVIII: How, Without Incommding Himself, Athos Procures His Equipment 18m
Chapter XXXIX: A Vision 18m
Chapter XL: A Terrible Vision 16m
Chapter XLI: The Siege of la Rochelle 28m
Chapter XLII: The Anjou Wine 15m
Chapter XLIII: The Sign of the Red Dovecot 17m
Chapter XLIV: The Utility of Stovepipes 17m
Chapter XLV: A Conjugal 13m
Chapter XLVI: The Bastion Saint-gervais 14m
Chapter XLVII: The Council of the Musketeers 34m
Chapter XLVIII: A Family Affair 30m
Chapter XLIX: Fatality 17m
Chapter L: Chat Between Brother and Sister 17m
Chapter LI: Officer 24m
Chapter LII: Captivity: the First Day 16m
Chapter LIII: Captivity: the Second Day 16m
Chapter LIV: Captivity: the Third Day 19m
Chapter LV: Captivity: the Fourth Day 19m
Chapter LVI: Captivity: the Fifth Day 32m
Chapter LVII: Means for Classical Tragedy 14m
Chapter LVIII: Escape 16m
Chapter LIX 22m
Chapter LX: In France 11m
Chapter LXI: The Carmelite Convent at Béthune 27m
Chapter LXII: Two Varieties of Demons 9m
Chapter LXIII: The Drop of Water 29m
Chapter LXIV: The Man in the Red Cloak 13m
Chapter LXV: Trial 16m
Chapter LXVI: Execution 10m
Chapter LXVII: Conclusion 21m

About this recording

How long is The Three Musketeers?

About twenty-three hours across sixty-seven chapters — the longest work in the catalogue. The chapters are short, which makes it more approachable than the total suggests.

Is this a translation?

Yes, a public-domain English translation of Dumas's 1844 novel, sourced from a proofread edition rather than a raw scan.