Diana Gabaldon – “Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade”

Publ: 2007 ISBN: 1844132005
Rating: ****


Unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring. Lord John's brother has mysteriously received a page of their late father's missing diary. Someone is taunting the Grey family with secrets from the grave, but Hal, with secrets of his own, refuses to pursue the matter and orders his brother to do likewise. Frustrated, John turns to a man who has been both his prisoner and his confessor: the Scottish Jacobite James Fraser.
Fraser can tell many secrets - and withhold many others. But war, a forbidden affair, and Fraser's own secrets will complicate Lord John's quest. Until James Fraser yields the missing piece of an astounding puzzle - and Lord John, caught between his courage and his conscience, must decide whether his family's honour is worth his life.

DIANA GABALDON see Lord John and the Hand of Devils.

Diana Gabaldon "Lord John and the Hand of Devils"

 

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series are excellent. The Lord John series - which uses one of the characters from the Outlander series - is less than excellent ; merely very good! In contrast to the Outlander books - which transcend time and have a most unusual plot-base - the Lord John books are straightforward historivcl novels with a touch of mystery. Also unlike the Outlander books those with Lord John as the main character are short - only "Lord John and the Private Matter" ranking as a novel and even then it is only half the size of her Outlander blockbusters. 'Lord John and the Hell-fire Club' is described as a chapbook and this book, "Lord John and the Hand of Devils", contains it as well as the novellas 'Lord John and the Succubus' and 'Lord John and the Haunted Soldier'. Of all those listed below the only one I have not read is 'Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade '.

The whole Lord John series has got confused with the novella being published before she had finished the preceding novel, etc. This has been further enhanced by the publishers putting the review for the Brotherhood of the Blade under the Hnd of Devils! Even to the extent of their publicity cover having the wrong plot title!

I understand another book in the Outlander series is in preparation - I cannot wait.

DIANA GABALDON (Diana Jean Gabaldon Watkins), born 1952, is the author of the internationally bestselling Outlander series - all featuring Claire and Jamie Fraser. Although American by birth, Diana has become fascinated by the history of Scotland, England, France and the USA in the mid-18th century when the struggles that would determine the shape of the modern world were taking place. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband and their children.
Outlander
1. Cross Stitch (1991)
aka Outlander
2. Dragonfly in Amber (1991)
3. Voyager (1993)
4. The Drums of Autumn (1996)
5. The Fiery Cross (2001)
6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005)

Lord John novels/ novellas/ chapbooks
Lord John and the Hell-fire Club (1998)
Lord John and the Private Matter (2003)
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007)
Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007)