Musketeers

It is a common misconception that Les Trois Mousquetaires of Alexandre Dumas is a story of three musketeers - as the name implies.

There are, in fact, four: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis are the three that correspond to the title, but it is d'Artagnan - the fourth one - who is the main character. The story is actually about d'Artagnan joining the group and having a series of adventure thereafter. (I read the Chinese translation a few years ago. For even a modern reader like me, the book is not entirely boring.)

In a sense, Dumas was an author exceptionally ahead of his time. You know what, the Mousquetaires, and many of his other books, were mostly not his own writing; he employed a huge group of supporting staff to collect information (alas, those were the days before you could find everything from the internet), prepare the draft, and proof-read. Yes, he did contribute - not too a small part - in the final manuscript, but his major role is to present as a figurehead and create some kind of popularity in order to market the book.

Doesn't that sound a familiar trick ?

Yes, in the software industry, he is known as Bill Gates.