Review: 'Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade' by Diana Gabaldon

[alex_beecroft]

Lord John’s mother is getting re-married, and the change threatens to stir up more than one thing which should remain hidden. For a start John is in danger of falling very much in love with his new step-brother to be, Percy, a love which is distinctly reciprocated. But in a more sinister turn of events, the fact that John’s mother now has a protector to whom she can speak of the past alarms the murderer of John’s father. Attempts are made on John’s life, his brother and mother are warned off with pages of a missing diary, and a conspiracy and scandal which has hung over the Grey family name for years threatens to burst back into life.

In the middle of all this, John and Hal’s regiment are posted to the Rhineland, to take part in several battles of the Seven Years War which seem like something of a relief after the tension at home. But tragedy follows John onto the battlefield, and when everything falls apart for him he must turn to Jamie Fraser, the Jacobite prisoner with whom he has a poisonous love/hate relationship, not only to provide him with the final clue as to the murderer of his father, but also to tell him how… whether to save Percy’s life.

I think I said in my review of ‘Lord John and the Private Matter’ that I liked that book because it was not as overwrought as the Outlander series, and because it didn’t have Jamie Fraser in it. This book, alas, was as overwrought as the Outlander series, and did have Jamie Fraser in it, with all his (to me) graceless, unattractive, overbearing, arrogant macho bullshit. Consequently I didn’t enjoy it half as much as ‘Lord John and the Private Matter.’ I like a happy ending, and this book did not have it – in fact, when I put the book down at the end I felt severely depressed. My respect for Lord John himself decreases with every instance of his inability to get over the fact that Jamie Fraser is a homophobic git who will never love him, and if I never read another book in which the tedium of troop maneuvers on the Prussian front is so excruciatingly well drawn (yes ‘Temeraire: Black Powder War’ I’m looking at you too) I will be very happy.

However, having said all of that, all the reasons why I loved the first Lord John book still apply – the gorgeous, fully immersive experience of living in the 18^th Century in London, from the effervescent Irish squalor of St. Giles to the high class literary salons and coffee shops. I’d have paid the price of the book entirely to make the acquaintance of the O’Higgins brothers and not felt short changed. The love affair between John and Percy is so tender and delightful and frustrating and just gorgeously sexy that it too is worth the admission on its own. The mystery is intriguing and kept me turning pages. I’m more in love with John’s family than ever. And as much as I don’t like Jamie Fraser, I’m well aware that there are many more people who do like him than don’t. I can’t deny that there is an intensity in the parts of the book where he appears which grips you by the throat. I personally don’t like that experience, but I know that a lot of fans of the Outlander series will find this book much more to their taste than the last. It is more... full blooded, in a way. (To a point that at times felt likely to give me a nosebleed.) If you like to be put through the emotional wringer by a book, this one is definitely for you!

Comments

[gryphons-lair.livejournal.com]

Hmmm..... I've been saying I needed to check out some new authors recently, and this sounds interesting.

Are the Lord John novels the type that really ought to be read in order, or can one pick them up in any order and not feel terribly at sea?

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think you need to read them in order, they both seem fairly self-contained. And they are very very good, even if this second one was a bit depressing. I wish I had her hand with characterization, and dialogue, and well, everything :) Having said that, I did prefer the first one, so if it was a choice between the two I'd go for that one rather than the second. I guess it depends on how intense you like your reading!

[gryphons-lair.livejournal.com]

Second one?

But Amazon says there are three Lord John books.

Don't tell me I've finally found an author I get before the Brits do? (I'm still annoyed at the lag time for Lindsey Davis's Falco series to appear here in the US. It's not like she has to hunt out a new US publisher every time!)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

The third one isn't out yet - I have it on pre-order from Amazon. 'Lord John and the Hand of Devils' comes out on Nov 27th. There are some short stories as well, of which 'the Hellfire Club' was included in my copy of 'The Private Matter'. But I've always thought it was the other way around. Temeraire: Throne of Jade was only just published in hardback in the UK, whereas it's out in paperback *and* with its sequel in the US :)

[cassiopaya.livejournal.com]

Lord John really needs to pick better love interests, doesn't he? To be honest, I really didn't like Jamie in this book much either, except for his last scene with John - THAT was flucking awesome! But yeah, the book could have done without him.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Percy was so perfect and nice that all the way through the first half I was going 'something's going to go wrong... he's probably going to try and murder John or something...' but I was lulled into a false sense of security by the time they got to Prussia, so it still managed to get me in the gut.

I didn't like the last scene with Fraser either, just because it felt so much as though it was meant to be some sort of compensation, and it *wasn't* - it was just more of the same old poisonous unrequitedness. I like John too much to want that to carry on any longer than it has to, so it felt bad to me to have that relationship win out against the more healthy one, if you see what I mean.

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

Oh no ! that's so disappointing ! I really hoped for the new Lord John book to be as good as the other two I read !
I will probably read this one too, just for 18th Century's sake, yet...
How much depressing is it ? At present I'm not in the mood for depressing stories where my fav fictional characters are hurt, physically maimed, psychologically devastated, or doomed to eternal unhappines because of their unrequited in love for stolid, totally undeserving machos, etc etc.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it right up to the moment when the John/Percy relationship went kaput. At that point John too seemed to find the rest of the book far too depressing - he had to be treated for melancholia at one point! And he was physically maimed, psychologically devastated *and* doomed to eternal unhappiness due to unrequited love, poor lad! There is a slight upturn at the end, but it wasn't enough to make me feel better after feeling that the book had run me over with a team of six horses and a gun carriage.

If you want to really enjoy it I would say it's worth getting it and reading up to the sex scene and stopping there. You're not missing a lot after that, other than angst and anguish :) (Though the O'Higgins brothers make for a star turn at the end, if you get that far.)

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

Good suggestion, thank you ! I think I will follow it. :)
And the post sex-scene part can always come useful a day I feel like reading something sad. I'm not usually so fiercely opposed to fictional angst. Just a bit stressed and over-tired. :)