Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

By: Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Diana Gabaldon has earned a massive and devoted following for her Outlander series. Now Lord John's fascinating story continues.

It is 1758, and the flames of the Seven Years' War are burning hotter than ever. The rigors and dangers of battle are actually a welcome respite for Lord John and his brother Hal, who feel the constant strain of their family's troubled history. Blending war, family secrets, and forbidden love, Gabaldon crafts a suspenseful novel that loyal fans and newcomers alike with find irresistible.

©2007 Diana Gabaldon (P)2007 Recorded Books LLC

Another great Diana Gabaldon story

While waiting for the next book in the Outlander series, this is well worth a detour!

Gabaldon does not disappoint.

Once again her richly drawn characters, including glimpses of Jamie Fraser, her creativity and her use of language come together to make an engaging story. Lord John loves, defends, loses, and entertains in new settings with old friends. This one is made even better by fantastic narration.

Fascinating Listen

Great book in the "Lord John" series. I love the way we find out so much more about characters that are popular in her "Outlander" books. Perfect narrator, I love his "Jaime" voice!

Excellence

Diana Gabaldon does it again! Excellent book and Jeff Woodman is an excellent narrator also.

Grey Family Secrets

This was an engaging story about Grey Family dynamics and their long-held family secret. I appreciated being introduced to Lord John as a relatively young man with obvious inclinations. It also explained a lot about his odd relationship with his erstwhile “step” brother, Percy, who later
weaves in and out of the Outlander series as does Lord John.

Positive surprise!

Really enjoyed this one. I felt for Lord John and his misadventures in love and war. I liked the narrator too, I could imagine Lord John having that voice.

For the Love of Scotland!

Nice new point of view of things we know have happend...love the cameo of Jamie Frazier!

Quite a good read, and the length makes sense.

Where does Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would place this book in the top 15. This is also an audio title I plan to return to, for continued listening pastimes. I enjoyed it because of the complexity of story line(s) with multiple overlapping adventures, and a multitude of characters who play across the intersecting stories. Looking at it technically - by the framework of the story, this is NOT a simple book and I found it requires quite a bit of close concentration to follow all the characters across the various stories in the book. Quite fulfilling, and a great ending as Gabaldon (again) ties everything up at the end ... even though not perfectly neatly. There's still quite enough left in the clipped ends of the ribbon she ties it all up with, to bring forth another adventure of Lord John, Tom, and Lord John's quite mysterious mother.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have shortened the war/battle section of the book, yet I realize that this is goes part-ad-parcel with the way she writes the Jamie-Claire "Outlander" series, of which this is a spin off.

What about Jeff Woodman’s performance did you like?

I am American, and a Southerner. Since I don't have a native ear for listening to an upper-crust British accent, and especially one with an 18th Century British education, I am most obliged to Woodman for making the language of the book most understandable to the foreign ear within a very few pages. The novel is definitely a challenge for the reader-listener, given the time frame of the book, and the educational level at which the main character speaks. Woodman also does incredibly well at moving between dialects, giving the Scots, the Irish, and those of the East End their own unique dialects. And he has a way with older, more lecherous men, that made me almost want to NOT listen: not because the writing was any way objectionable, but because he made these n'er-do-well old men sound so skeezy. Bravo on a fantastic performance!

If you could rename Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, what would you call it?

Lord John and the General's Wife.

Any additional comments?

I'm listening to the Lord John series in sequential order as written. What to do when I run out of titles to fill my afternoons? :)

NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST BOOK. DISAPPOINTING

What did you like best about Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade? What did you like least?

Can't say much beyond the history of the Scots was interesting and disturbing.

What could Diana Gabaldon have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The characters in this book were not developed well. There was little depth of either character or storyline.

Could you see Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Possibly, as a good gay love story.

best of Lord John stories

i have come to love all things Gabaldon and this does not disappoint-worth the reading