Twenty Years After

By: Alexandre Dumas

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Originally published in 1845 as a sequel to The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After is a supreme creation of suspense and heroic adventure.

Two decades have passed since the three musketeers triumphed over Cardinal Richelieu and Milady. Time has weakened their resolve and dispersed their loyalties. But treasons and stratagems still cry out for justice: civil war endangers the throne of France, while in England, Cromwell threatens to send Charles I to the scaffold. Dumas brings his immortal quartet out of retirement to cross swords with time, the malevolence of men, and the forces of history. But their greatest test is a titanic struggle with the son of Milady, who wears the face of Evil.

Public Domain (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Overall, enjoyable.

The reader was not as expressive as one would have hoped. Overall, it was enjoyable and an interesting story. Last bed the mental images shown by the author.

Even better than the 3 Musketeers!

While I really don't care as much for the narrator's voice, the book is excellent!

Dumas YES, Narrator NO

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I recently discovered Dumas' D'Artangion series, starting with the first one that is narrated by Simon Vance. I then skipped "Twenty Years After" and listened to "The Man in the Iron Mask", also narrated by Simon Vance. I decided to go back and listen to the one's I'd missed, starting with "Twenty Years After", narrated by Frederick Davidson. Well, in a work "Yuck". Mr. Davidson is a sad excuse for a narrator/reader/story teller. I gave it a chance, listening for two hours. Alas, I could not take Mr. Davidson any more and decided to check the book out of the library, as Simon Vance does not narrate a version of this book. I have placed Mr. Frederick Davidson on my do not listen to list forever.

What didn’t you like about Frederick Davidson’s performance?

Terrible, will never listen to a book narrated by Mr. Davidson again, NEVER.

A grating narration of Dumas

The sample is representative of the performance, throughout. I'm not sure what compelled Mr. Davidson to represent D'Artagnan as an emotionless robot that struggles with inflection. This is indeed the full, unabridged edition and we'll translated.

Well Done

Great story and great performance! The second in the series, this story is quite an adventure and is well-delivered by the narrator.

A great revisit of great characters

I loved the story. I would have loved the whole thing, if the narrator hadn't chosen a grating, aggressive, pretentious voice for D'Artagnan. It's the kind of voice usually used for the antagonist, the voice of someone you instantly dislike.

bad narrator

this was a great story almost as good as the first but the narrator did a horrible job in the way he read characters voices

Very goof, not great.

Voice of Dartanion was quite flat like a robot by not like a military man! Story telling by readers was excellent.

Great story, unsure about he narrator.

Great story! It is perhaps better than the 3 musketeers. Initially the narrator's voice and choice of character accents and speaking mannerisms were extremely annoying and unnatural. I'm not yet sure whether it was I that became accustomed to the narrator or that he became more relaxed, but after a few hours of perseverance, the reading became quite enthralling. It was fairly easy to distinguish most of the main characters from their distinctive voices. I almost stopped listening to it after the first few hours do to the coupling of the narrator's voce and Dumas' typical long winded descriptions of irrelevant characters and events. I glad that I didn't abandon this audio book!

One of the best in the saga.

Loved everything about this book. By far the best narrator of the books in the series. For one, the only reader who sounds like a Frenchman or someone who understands French. They way he adds nuance to aaa's is amazing, you can hear the difference between 'i was mistaken and must rethink' to 'my good friend it is indeed you'. The opening of the book asks the listen to be patient, yes d'Artagnan sounds like a boorish middle aged man talking to a stingy Cardinal Marazain, but they both get much more interesting after the set up. Stick with it, it is more than worth it!