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The Queen's Musketeers #1
We Feared to Fly
New cover edition found here
Paris, 1627.
Ravaged by a new outbreak of the Black Death, France is ripe for civil unrest and rebellion. When the King’s brother marches on the palace at the head of an army backed by the country’s enemies, King Louis and his wife, Anne of Austria, are driven into exile and hiding.
Four years later, a young man from Gascony flees north after losing his entire family to the plague, and his land to armed peasants. Hungry and desperate, he finds himself falling in with three most unusual men and their even more unusual friends.
All is not as it seems, however. What sort of intrigue has young Charles d’Artagnan stumbled upon?
Author’s note: This book contains graphic depictions of sex and violence, and includes descriptions of self-injury with religious connotations. It is intended for an adult readership.
We Feared to Fly contains bonus content in the form of an excerpt from the next book in the series, No Haven Beckons.
Based on Alexandre Dumas’ D’Artagnan Chronicles, one of the historical fiction series best sellers of all time, now on Kindle.
Categories: historical fiction on France, alternate history, musketeers, 17th century.
Paris, 1627.
Ravaged by a new outbreak of the Black Death, France is ripe for civil unrest and rebellion. When the King’s brother marches on the palace at the head of an army backed by the country’s enemies, King Louis and his wife, Anne of Austria, are driven into exile and hiding.
Four years later, a young man from Gascony flees north after losing his entire family to the plague, and his land to armed peasants. Hungry and desperate, he finds himself falling in with three most unusual men and their even more unusual friends.
All is not as it seems, however. What sort of intrigue has young Charles d’Artagnan stumbled upon?
Author’s note: This book contains graphic depictions of sex and violence, and includes descriptions of self-injury with religious connotations. It is intended for an adult readership.
We Feared to Fly contains bonus content in the form of an excerpt from the next book in the series, No Haven Beckons.
Based on Alexandre Dumas’ D’Artagnan Chronicles, one of the historical fiction series best sellers of all time, now on Kindle.
Categories: historical fiction on France, alternate history, musketeers, 17th century.
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 16, 2015
26 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Steffan
85 books501 followersUSA Today bestselling author R. A. Steffan lives in New Mexico, where the sunsets paint the mountains purple, and roadrunners roam the desert endlessly in search of their coyote victims. When she’s not busy writing stories about people loving each other in all sorts of different and interesting ways, she can be found taking care of her small menagerie of critters.
A rebel to the core, she is currently sticking it to the man by illegally harvesting graywater from the kitchen and bathroom sinks to water trees outside. This fearless disregard for societal norms extends to her writing, as well. There, you will find polyamory along with straight, gay, bisexual, and non-gender conforming love of all flavors. You will also find families of choice, profound friendships, adventure, danger, and good triumphing over evil.
That, and sex. Lots of sex. Most of which is not the vanilla variety.
If any of that appeals, sign up at http://www.rasteffan.com/ to get a free starter library featuring the first books in several of her series. You can also follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RASteffanAut..., or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RA_Steffan.
A rebel to the core, she is currently sticking it to the man by illegally harvesting graywater from the kitchen and bathroom sinks to water trees outside. This fearless disregard for societal norms extends to her writing, as well. There, you will find polyamory along with straight, gay, bisexual, and non-gender conforming love of all flavors. You will also find families of choice, profound friendships, adventure, danger, and good triumphing over evil.
That, and sex. Lots of sex. Most of which is not the vanilla variety.
If any of that appeals, sign up at http://www.rasteffan.com/ to get a free starter library featuring the first books in several of her series. You can also follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RASteffanAut..., or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RA_Steffan.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 15, 2018
The plague has killed many in France, and farrier D'Artagnan is morosely riding an old horse (an ambler according to the next book excerpt) through the countryside when he meets up separately with other travellers, each of whose horses needs shoeing. He's able to oblige them at the next town which is virtually abandoned. However the few people left are fighting one another and the four men pick the side of chivalry.
I don't see the point in the flagellation scene - it was always extremely stupid to do this in a world without antibiotics or even clean water, when survival depended on health and physical strength. I take it the author is using it to highlight self-harm but since it's in a religious context I am not sure that works.
I like that the various weapons used are marked and if you click on the word a little footnote pops up explaining what it looked like.
We get a voyeur scene of an adult relationship so this short novella is for mature readers. Strong language features.
This is an unbiased review.
I don't see the point in the flagellation scene - it was always extremely stupid to do this in a world without antibiotics or even clean water, when survival depended on health and physical strength. I take it the author is using it to highlight self-harm but since it's in a religious context I am not sure that works.
I like that the various weapons used are marked and if you click on the word a little footnote pops up explaining what it looked like.
We get a voyeur scene of an adult relationship so this short novella is for mature readers. Strong language features.
This is an unbiased review.
October 10, 2018
This was much better than I thought it would be. It's an alternate Musketeers, quitely nicely done. I don't really get why the sex scene was thrown in, but it was enjoyable read.
April 1, 2015
An intriguing retelling of the immensely popular Musketeer trilogy by the Great Alexander Dumas(Who died penniless) The characters are fleshed out similarly to Monsieur Dumas's however the meeting of these characters have been changed. While reading the words I was playing it out with the actors from the BBCAmerica's version of The Musketeers. Prudes be warned, there is a sexual encounter in the book.
January 22, 2017
My Kindle copy is titled "The Queen's Musketeers -- Book 1," but this isn't a book, nor even a novella. It is more in the way of a longish story that serves as a tease for the next, presumably full, book in the series.
The story features some of the characters from the original classic, but has D'Artagnan meet The Three in a different way and sets the four bladesmen to a different mission. The writing for the swashbuckling action scenes is good and overall the story is well told.
However, the warning in the description about sex scenes is not an idle one. The one sex scene in this story is not at all in keeping with the style or the spirit of this sort of swashbuckler, nor did it contribute anything substantive. As a longtime reader of swashbucklers, I found it jarring and out of place. It discourages me from continuing with the series. Too bad--I had looked forward to some good tales of derring-do.
The story features some of the characters from the original classic, but has D'Artagnan meet The Three in a different way and sets the four bladesmen to a different mission. The writing for the swashbuckling action scenes is good and overall the story is well told.
However, the warning in the description about sex scenes is not an idle one. The one sex scene in this story is not at all in keeping with the style or the spirit of this sort of swashbuckler, nor did it contribute anything substantive. As a longtime reader of swashbucklers, I found it jarring and out of place. It discourages me from continuing with the series. Too bad--I had looked forward to some good tales of derring-do.
April 6, 2015
Surprisingly good fan fic.
July 9, 2016
Sword Fights and Romance
Fill this very nice rendition of Alexander Dumas's work, and I really look forward to reading more! Five out of five stars!
Fill this very nice rendition of Alexander Dumas's work, and I really look forward to reading more! Five out of five stars!
April 18, 2019
Charles D'Artagagnan lost his loved ones to the Black Plague and his land in Gascony to gangs of neighboring peasants. Misfortune follows D'Artagagnan when he's beaten and robbed travelling to Paris. Will D'Artagagnan's fortunes change for the better when he throws his lot in with his new acquaintances Athos, Porthos and Aramis?
The Queen's Musketeers is an action-packed, intriguing and interesting retelling of The Three Musketeers
The Queen's Musketeers is an action-packed, intriguing and interesting retelling of The Three Musketeers
March 15, 2018
Well read and with interesting sequences. I was particularly interested in the horse shoeing scenes because I'm writing about that in one of my own stories. Rated low not because I think it was bad. Steffan is one of my favorite authors. I just didn't connect with this specific story. It hits the Good Reads definition of "it's okay."
January 3, 2018
A different take
It was an interesting take on an old favorite. I thought that somethings could have been omitted but thought further that it was human and didn't detract from the story. I have an interest in pursuing the story.
It was an interesting take on an old favorite. I thought that somethings could have been omitted but thought further that it was human and didn't detract from the story. I have an interest in pursuing the story.
July 14, 2020
Good
This was a quick read. Definitely a different spin on the Musketeers than the original by Dumas but still good.
This was a quick read. Definitely a different spin on the Musketeers than the original by Dumas but still good.
January 21, 2023
Not a bad story
June 1, 2016
Another amazon freebie.
:/ I picked this one out cause I remember greatly enjoying a 3 musketeers movie back in middle school. & attempting and failing to read the impossibly long winded & boring classic.
I thought maybe a novella (seriously, it's short. Like 60-70 pages) based of the classic might be more fun & easy to read.
I thought wrong.
I didn't fully hate it though. Hence the 2 stars instead of one. I did like the main character. He was sad & angry & there was potential him. His weird self punishment religion was sad. The scene where he beat himself & his friends trying to understand it were, sadly, the best part. (That sex scene was ok) & the basic idea for the story was a good one.
But it was too short & the bad writing that was trying to sound all fancy & flowery wasn't helping. All the characters except our protagonist were bland and lifeless, the only things giving them any distinction were their names. Like so many things I read, it had the potential to be something good. But as it is, it's a very disappointing story.
So much lost potential. Maybe the stories get better as the series progresses, but I feel absolutely no interest in continuing.
:/ I picked this one out cause I remember greatly enjoying a 3 musketeers movie back in middle school. & attempting and failing to read the impossibly long winded & boring classic.
I thought maybe a novella (seriously, it's short. Like 60-70 pages) based of the classic might be more fun & easy to read.
I thought wrong.
I didn't fully hate it though. Hence the 2 stars instead of one. I did like the main character. He was sad & angry & there was potential him. His weird self punishment religion was sad. The scene where he beat himself & his friends trying to understand it were, sadly, the best part. (That sex scene was ok) & the basic idea for the story was a good one.
But it was too short & the bad writing that was trying to sound all fancy & flowery wasn't helping. All the characters except our protagonist were bland and lifeless, the only things giving them any distinction were their names. Like so many things I read, it had the potential to be something good. But as it is, it's a very disappointing story.
So much lost potential. Maybe the stories get better as the series progresses, but I feel absolutely no interest in continuing.
August 1, 2015
As a lover of all things Musketeer I was excited to sit down with this book and even more excited when I finished to find out what happens next! Absolutely loved everything about it...a terrific interpretation of the Dumas characters, particularly of the brotherly bond that is my favorite part of them. They were handled with care and allowed to grow and develop as well and it was a pleasure to read more of their adventures. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a fun read and to anyone who loves the Musketeers and all they represent.
November 12, 2015
I picked up this expecting an easy swashbuckling adventure. It is. It's also got some surprising depth, one of the few takes on the three musketeers that deals with the aftermath of the plaque and the social upheavals of the time period.
Short but good, and it's free. A great way to find out if you want to read the series or not.
Short but good, and it's free. A great way to find out if you want to read the series or not.
July 20, 2015
It's an interesting introduction of a different kind of world. (An alternate universe of an alternate universe, if you will.) The self-injury was not to my taste. I did want to see what happened next to that group of characters.
July 23, 2015
This is a wonderful book. If you are a Musketeer fan it is a must read. Book one is very short but I couldn't put it down. Fortunately I had already downloaded Book 2. R.A. has a wonderful way of grabbing you and pulling you in. I felt like I was right there along for the ride and all the action.
May 1, 2015
Very enjoyable read
I love all things Musketeer and this story does not disappoint. I enjoyed the story very much. Looking forward to more.
I love all things Musketeer and this story does not disappoint. I enjoyed the story very much. Looking forward to more.
June 27, 2016
Short & sweet, swashbuckling fun, and I would be very happy to complete this series.
November 21, 2016
Great start
In starting this one I was not quite sure how it would be. I'm glad I picked it up! Now to get the rest of them.
In starting this one I was not quite sure how it would be. I'm glad I picked it up! Now to get the rest of them.
Want to read
June 24, 2015kindle
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews