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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I’m a big fan of Lord John, so I enjoyed this book. I can only describe it as a mystery with a dash of lust. I loved getting a glimpse into his life and his interaction with Percy, Hal & Jamie (it was enlightening after reading Outlander & getting Jamie Fraser’s take on things). The only part I did not enjoy was the military jargon and the descriptions of the battle & army… just not something I’m interested in. Diana does include a lot of military details & scenes in her other books too, but this one was a bit much for me. I do have to say the she did her research with this book – it is full of accurate details about the military (I goggled a lot of it, cause I like to do that with her books) and the language/dialogue she used was very authentic. I truly respect her writing and I can tell that she is also fond of LJ. If you’ve read the Outlander series and don’t particularly like LJ, I would recommend skipping this one.
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love getting more backstory of Lord John. And this one gives us even more with him and Percy - which really elucidates what happens in Go Tell the Bees I Am Gone. I had kind of gotten a hint of what had happened between them from the other books but I'm glad I read this one to flesh it out some more.
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade continues to follow Lord John Grey during the time-frame of the first part of Voyager from the Outlander series. I enjoyed diving back into John's life. This book delves deeper into John's character and seems to be more character driven rather than focusing on the mystery like the first book and novellas. This was both a good and a bad thing for me.
In some ways it's good that Gabaldon took the storyline of this series towards being more character-driven because I think that's what she does best. As I wrote in my last review of Lord John and the Private Matter, I personally think that Gabaldon's long-winded writing style works best in books that focus on the characters rather than the story because her writing style allows us to learn all the ins-and-outs of her characters. Being that Lord John is one of my favorite Outlander characters (even more so after diving into these books), I'm happy that he gets this kind of page time.
On the other hand, I was kind of impressed that Gabaldon stepped out of her comfort zone a bit in order to introduce more of a mystery with Lord John's series, rather than just your typical historical fiction series. I wasn't expecting that and as a fan of mystery, I did enjoy that aspect even if it some of the details were a little blurry.
In this book we do have a small mystery going on but it's more of a personal matter going on in John's life rather than an outside case he has to solve because of working for the crown (or out of his own morbid curiosity). I liked that she tied in a mystery to learning more about John's character, but I didn't enjoy the mystery as much in this one.
What I did enjoy though was the character-building she did for John. I really feel for his character. Even though being gay doesn't seem like it would be cake-walk in our time, being gay in Lord John's time was literally deadly as you could be hanged for being a sodomite. So I really feel bad for him because he is such a good person but he can't openly seek out relationships with those he's interested in. It just seems like he's so lonely and I want him to find happiness so badly.
Speaking of John's preferences, I have to point out that I was really surprised by how Jamie is portrayed in this book. I've always been used to seeing him from Claire's perspective and I can definitely see the appeal being in Claire's POV. But from John's POV Jamie came off as a total arse. I never really thought he treated John badly in the other books but seeing some of the interactions between them in this one I'm kind of surprised that John is attracted to him at all. As much as I like Jamie, I don't think John deserves to be treated like he is by him. I get that there's a lot of history there and a lot more going on with what's happened in Jamie's past. But I was truly surprised by how he seems from John's perspective as opposed to Claire's.
So overall, while I did enjoy the mystery much more in the first book, this book was still really good and in a lot of ways I'm glad that Gabaldon switched gears a bit in order to build up John's character a little more. I'm still not sure how important it is to read this series before continuing with the Outlander books (the next one for me is Breath of Snow and Ashes), but either way I'm glad I decided to read these.
In some ways it's good that Gabaldon took the storyline of this series towards being more character-driven because I think that's what she does best. As I wrote in my last review of Lord John and the Private Matter, I personally think that Gabaldon's long-winded writing style works best in books that focus on the characters rather than the story because her writing style allows us to learn all the ins-and-outs of her characters. Being that Lord John is one of my favorite Outlander characters (even more so after diving into these books), I'm happy that he gets this kind of page time.
On the other hand, I was kind of impressed that Gabaldon stepped out of her comfort zone a bit in order to introduce more of a mystery with Lord John's series, rather than just your typical historical fiction series. I wasn't expecting that and as a fan of mystery, I did enjoy that aspect even if it some of the details were a little blurry.
In this book we do have a small mystery going on but it's more of a personal matter going on in John's life rather than an outside case he has to solve because of working for the crown (or out of his own morbid curiosity). I liked that she tied in a mystery to learning more about John's character, but I didn't enjoy the mystery as much in this one.
What I did enjoy though was the character-building she did for John. I really feel for his character. Even though being gay doesn't seem like it would be cake-walk in our time, being gay in Lord John's time was literally deadly as you could be hanged for being a sodomite. So I really feel bad for him because he is such a good person but he can't openly seek out relationships with those he's interested in. It just seems like he's so lonely and I want him to find happiness so badly.
Speaking of John's preferences, I have to point out that I was really surprised by how Jamie is portrayed in this book. I've always been used to seeing him from Claire's perspective and I can definitely see the appeal being in Claire's POV. But from John's POV Jamie came off as a total arse. I never really thought he treated John badly in the other books but seeing some of the interactions between them in this one I'm kind of surprised that John is attracted to him at all. As much as I like Jamie, I don't think John deserves to be treated like he is by him. I get that there's a lot of history there and a lot more going on with what's happened in Jamie's past. But I was truly surprised by how he seems from John's perspective as opposed to Claire's.
So overall, while I did enjoy the mystery much more in the first book, this book was still really good and in a lot of ways I'm glad that Gabaldon switched gears a bit in order to build up John's character a little more. I'm still not sure how important it is to read this series before continuing with the Outlander books (the next one for me is Breath of Snow and Ashes), but either way I'm glad I decided to read these.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
I'm not sure if I just wasn't in the mood for a Lord John novel or if this one was really just not as good as the first in the series! I found the story was dragged out more in this one and that the "main" mystery wasn't really touched upon as much as I was hoping for - the story focused more on Lord John's love life/army battles and I was expecting a mystery like the first novel!
That being said, I really did enjoy the fleshing out of his relationships with his family and getting to know Hal better. I found myself laughing out loud during the scene where Olivia gave birth - it was so silly but so funny! I also particularly enjoyed Lord John's retelling of the scene in Dragonfly in Amber where he first met Jamie and Claire. Hearing his side of it and the embarrassment he felt at Jamie's hands was very interesting! I did find the Jamie cameos odd in this one - it seemed like Gabaldon was just trying to throw him in for all of us Outlanders.
Overall, I'm glad I read this one, as I just started rereading An Echo in the Bone and realized how much that book relied on this one! I now know who Percy is (I found my first reading VERY confusing - it seemed like I had forgotten an integral character...now I know he had never existed in the Outlander series previously!), which is helping A LOT in my understanding of AEITB!!
That being said, I really did enjoy the fleshing out of his relationships with his family and getting to know Hal better. I found myself laughing out loud during the scene where Olivia gave birth - it was so silly but so funny! I also particularly enjoyed Lord John's retelling of the scene in Dragonfly in Amber where he first met Jamie and Claire. Hearing his side of it and the embarrassment he felt at Jamie's hands was very interesting! I did find the Jamie cameos odd in this one - it seemed like Gabaldon was just trying to throw him in for all of us Outlanders.
Overall, I'm glad I read this one, as I just started rereading An Echo in the Bone and realized how much that book relied on this one! I now know who Percy is (I found my first reading VERY confusing - it seemed like I had forgotten an integral character...now I know he had never existed in the Outlander series previously!), which is helping A LOT in my understanding of AEITB!!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another solid Lord John novel from [a:Diana Gabaldon|3617|Diana Gabaldon|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1213918339p2/3617.jpg]. I like the character very much, as well as the setting and the historical details. What I didn't like in this book particular was the suspense plot. It felt not really worked out. Also the half plot with Jamie Fraser was absolutely unneccessary. If I hadn't read the Highlander books, I had hated the character based on how he acted in this novel.
Other than that an easy and enjoyable read.
Other than that an easy and enjoyable read.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
I love all the Outlander books but this just did not do it for me. It did not have the same depth in story line or characters.