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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I love Gabaldon's sly mastery of the eighteenth century lingo. Hilarious in parts, even though the three novellas comprising this volume are more strictly historical mysteries/adventures. Lord John is a fantastic character - I can't wait to read more of him.
The short stories were kind of interesting, but the novels are definitely the superior format for Lord John.
Best for Gabaldon fans, these short stories/novellas and the other Lord John books are uneven. The mysteries he solves aren't terribly well developed, and at least one ghost makes an appearance, is remarked upon, and then is promptly forgotten. But, since I quite like the character of John Grey, I enjoyed the opportunity to check in with him.
Yet another decent collection of Lord John novellas and short stories. Couldn't care less for the 'Hellfire Club' and the last one, 'Haunted Soldier' was a bit stretched out for my taste (Gabaldon's editor sleeping on the job again) but 'The Succubus' was one of my favorite Lord John stories so far. It had a perfect combination of mystery and humor all that with a gothic-fiction feel to it.
While I do enjoy all of Gabaldon’s works, even the shorter works are sometimes a little too meandering for me to remember exactly what the plot is.
Rating: 3.25* of five
Gabaldon's writing is of the kind I call "serviceable" but her characters either make you swoon, pant, sweat and holler, or they leave you completely cold. I fall on the non-hollerin' end of category A. I like these people, Lord John especially having a claim on me because he's a shirt-lifter (or Warmbruder, depending on where we are geographically).
This book is a collection of three novellas that Gabaldon wrote about the good Major Lord John Grey. One was written for this collection. Does it matter what they're about? Lord John, in peace or at war, will never suffer a wrong he can right to go unrighted; he will never allow personal comfort or convenience to stand in the way of what duty and honor require him to do; and he will never fall out of love with Jamie Fraser, featured in Gabaldon's main time travel romance series as the husband of the time traveler.
So he don't get none. Relax, ewww-ickers.
Anyway, in a marketplace crowded with mystery choices, and quite a fair few eighteenth-century historicals at that, why choose these books with their serviceable writing? Bruce Alexander, for one example, is a better writer. His Blind Justice series is very good.
Simple: Depth. Lord John Grey is part of a well-known alternate world. It's obvious that Gabaldon could act as a tour guide to eighteenth-century England and Scotland, and it's obvious that SOMEwhere in a properly ordered Creation, Jamie and Claire and Lord John are plying their different courses through the time streams. The reason to read this series starts and stops with an individual's familiarity with or receptivity to Gabaldon's world. If you've read Dragonfly in Amber and did not find it so tedious and plodding as to make you beg a merciful Goddess for death or blindness, you're likely to enjoy these books.
Recommended? Oh, sure. Why not. Start with these novellas and see if the character appeals; if so, the novels await your pleasure.
Gabaldon's writing is of the kind I call "serviceable" but her characters either make you swoon, pant, sweat and holler, or they leave you completely cold. I fall on the non-hollerin' end of category A. I like these people, Lord John especially having a claim on me because he's a shirt-lifter (or Warmbruder, depending on where we are geographically).
This book is a collection of three novellas that Gabaldon wrote about the good Major Lord John Grey. One was written for this collection. Does it matter what they're about? Lord John, in peace or at war, will never suffer a wrong he can right to go unrighted; he will never allow personal comfort or convenience to stand in the way of what duty and honor require him to do; and he will never fall out of love with Jamie Fraser, featured in Gabaldon's main time travel romance series as the husband of the time traveler.
So he don't get none. Relax, ewww-ickers.
Anyway, in a marketplace crowded with mystery choices, and quite a fair few eighteenth-century historicals at that, why choose these books with their serviceable writing? Bruce Alexander, for one example, is a better writer. His Blind Justice series is very good.
Simple: Depth. Lord John Grey is part of a well-known alternate world. It's obvious that Gabaldon could act as a tour guide to eighteenth-century England and Scotland, and it's obvious that SOMEwhere in a properly ordered Creation, Jamie and Claire and Lord John are plying their different courses through the time streams. The reason to read this series starts and stops with an individual's familiarity with or receptivity to Gabaldon's world. If you've read Dragonfly in Amber and did not find it so tedious and plodding as to make you beg a merciful Goddess for death or blindness, you're likely to enjoy these books.
Recommended? Oh, sure. Why not. Start with these novellas and see if the character appeals; if so, the novels await your pleasure.
A short jaunt and military inquiry to the countryside for LJG in this short story. Following the events of The Brotherhood of the Blade and the cannon explosion that occurred therein, John is summoned for a military inquiry regarding the events of the battle. Enraged by the commission's insinuation that he or his elder half-brother Edgar were possibly at fault for the damage to the cannon, John (of course) seeks to get to the bottom of things. With a few side-quests along the way, John and his ever-faithful vale Tom Byrd journey from London to Suffolk and back trying to put the pieces together about exploding cannons, risky and occasionally unstable gunpowder mills, and dubious political figures.
Merged review:
CSI: Prussia, out faithful friend LJG has to unravel the mystery and truth behind the deaths of several soldiers while stationed in Prussia. Can he dig past the mystical rumors of a succubus prowling the village to uncover he real plot afoot? Can he do it in time before more soldiers are killed, or worse, the French and Austrian troops advance to the town?
Another interesting and fun outing with Lord John and friends!
Merged review:
CSI: Prussia, out faithful friend LJG has to unravel the mystery and truth behind the deaths of several soldiers while stationed in Prussia. Can he dig past the mystical rumors of a succubus prowling the village to uncover he real plot afoot? Can he do it in time before more soldiers are killed, or worse, the French and Austrian troops advance to the town?
Another interesting and fun outing with Lord John and friends!
3.5 stars
This was better, because it was short stories, without a lot of connection between them - apart from Lord John.
This was better, because it was short stories, without a lot of connection between them - apart from Lord John.
I can’t believe it’s been more than a week since my last review. It has been crazy busy and I clearly haven’t had that much time to read especially with everything I’m reading these days a series which means a week or more before moving on to the next book/series. Anyways, as you all know, I’ve been rereading the Outlander series and this time I decided to read them in chronological order. This means that the Lord John Grey series had to read after the third book and I was excited to read them mainly because this was the first time I had realized they existed. Finally finishing this short mini-series, I’m moving on to the fourth book of the Outlander series.
That being said, I definitely enjoyed the Outlander series way more than the Lord John Grey short series. For some reason, I thought that this mini-series would still include Jamie Fraser to some extent but it didn’t. Actually, it wasn’t until the last book (The Scottish Prisoner) when finally Jamie made some good contributions to the book. The first two books including the novellas in between them were mainly focused on Lord John and his adventures to German and other neighboring countries. It definitely wasn’t not interesting but clearly not as interesting as Jamie and Claire and their crazy adventures throughout Europe and now America.
Lord John was someone who, while not rude nor pompous, clearly treated himself and the others around him with the respect and entitlement he grew up with. I thought he was a very respectful character and he clearly thought highly of his and his family’s honor. I believe the first two books and the novellas were mainly him trying to earn back his father’s reputation so clearly this was very important to him. I’m not sure if I particularly liked him, to be honest, since he lacked that adventure and distinct personality that Jamie so clearly had yet at the same time, Lord John was a very dignified character. I suppose I just simply did not relate to him and merely read his stories out of obligation to the entire Outlander series itself.
The one thing interesting about this was being able to clearly envision what London was like during the 1700s as well as the neighboring countries specifically Germany. I’m usually not a huge fan of historical fiction unless there is some fantasy/sci-fi element to it such as Outlander but I thought this was done quite nicely. There were definitely a few terms that I didn’t completely understand due to the British English versus the American English as well as, obviously, the lingo of that time.
Overall, not a bad series but if I ever decide to reread the Outlander series again, I would most likely skip this mini-series because, truth be told, Jamie and Claire are just so much more interesting than Lord John Grey.
That being said, I definitely enjoyed the Outlander series way more than the Lord John Grey short series. For some reason, I thought that this mini-series would still include Jamie Fraser to some extent but it didn’t. Actually, it wasn’t until the last book (The Scottish Prisoner) when finally Jamie made some good contributions to the book. The first two books including the novellas in between them were mainly focused on Lord John and his adventures to German and other neighboring countries. It definitely wasn’t not interesting but clearly not as interesting as Jamie and Claire and their crazy adventures throughout Europe and now America.
Lord John was someone who, while not rude nor pompous, clearly treated himself and the others around him with the respect and entitlement he grew up with. I thought he was a very respectful character and he clearly thought highly of his and his family’s honor. I believe the first two books and the novellas were mainly him trying to earn back his father’s reputation so clearly this was very important to him. I’m not sure if I particularly liked him, to be honest, since he lacked that adventure and distinct personality that Jamie so clearly had yet at the same time, Lord John was a very dignified character. I suppose I just simply did not relate to him and merely read his stories out of obligation to the entire Outlander series itself.
The one thing interesting about this was being able to clearly envision what London was like during the 1700s as well as the neighboring countries specifically Germany. I’m usually not a huge fan of historical fiction unless there is some fantasy/sci-fi element to it such as Outlander but I thought this was done quite nicely. There were definitely a few terms that I didn’t completely understand due to the British English versus the American English as well as, obviously, the lingo of that time.
Overall, not a bad series but if I ever decide to reread the Outlander series again, I would most likely skip this mini-series because, truth be told, Jamie and Claire are just so much more interesting than Lord John Grey.