#pont au change
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I figured it’s high time to talk about Arlene C. Harris’s Les Mis spinoff series: Pont Au-Change. I’ve already purchased and read the first two books on Amazon, and plan on buying the third one after my next paycheck! Harris has stated that she intends for the series to be as long as Hugo’s unabridged novel, with four out of six volumes already published.
PAC imagines a scenario in which Valjean rescues Javert from his suicide attempt and they go off on bizarre (totally unromantic) adventures together. Although the story centers around these two, it also introduces a slew of new characters and elaborates on the whereabouts of old ones.
Javert’s physical description sounds pretty brick-accurate plus he has grey eyes and Long Flowing Hair ™️ because why the hell not. Also, although the series focuses on Javert’s character devolpment, it also elaborates on Valjean’s tramatic past and hesitant future as he comes to terms with his sainthood and learns not to be SO GODDAM SELFLESS ALL THE TIME!!!
(P.S. This is the CLOSEST thing I’ve seen to Valvert without actually having them bang. Valjean shaves Javert while he recovers post-Seine. Javert rubs ointment onto Valjean’s bee stings like an anime girl. I AM NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP!!!)
Overall, I really enjoyed Ms. Harris’s writing style and she seems to have a solid understanding of Hugo’s rhetorical, down to the elaborate chapter names and long-winded descriptions. I could have done without Javert’s blatant mysogyny, but hopefully this will be corrected in the later parts as he completes his redemption arc. I’ll try to review the other parts as I read them, from what I’ve seen things just keep on getting weirder!
