Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade: International Edition

Lord John Grey, Book 2

By: Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Diana Gabaldon, the number one New York Times best-selling author of the Outlander saga, brings back one of her most compelling characters: Lord John Grey.

Here Gabaldon weaves together the strands of Lord John's secret and public lives - a shattering family mystery, a love affair with potentially disastrous consequences, and a war that stretches from the Old World to the New. It's been 17 years since Lord John's father, the duke of Pardloe, was found dead, a pistol in his hand and accusations of his role as a Jacobite agent staining forever a family's honor. Now unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring.

Lord John's brother has mysteriously received a page of their late father's missing diary - and John is convinced that someone is taunting the Grey family with secrets from the grave. So he turns to the only man he can trust: the Scottish Jacobite James Fraser. 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 must decide whether his family's honor is worth his life.

©2007 Diana Gabaldon (P)2020 Recorded Books, Inc.

My Favorite Lord John Novel so Far

The Lord John short stories get woven into the places between the Lord John novels, and tie them together. Both short stories and novels tie the gap in the Outlander novels between Dragonfly in Amber where John first appears, and Claire disappears and Voyager where Claire/Jaime's story continues. This is ~1745 to ~1773.

In that nearly 30 year gap, John has been off on journeys of his own, and it's wonderful how Diana Gabaldon weaves history and research into a story in such detail without detracting from the characters or their situations. While I enjoyed Private Matter very much, Brotherhood is still my favorite, and you see John at his best, and his worst, sometimes funny and always enjoyable. There's a couple of battles, which are always my favorite parts when reading Lord John, and interaction between him and his family, and a mystery.

In this novel John is searching for answers about the death of his father, but the plot is woven with other subplots that converge neatly (or messily) when John has to face a crisis of honor, and finds the clue to both answers in Jamie Fraser.

There are plot pieces and characters here that find their way into other Lord John stories (Haunted Soldier, Custom of the Army) or Outlander (Breath of Snow and Ashes, Firey Cross, Echo in the Bone), but resolve themselves nicely for the time being within this book. I think, however that "Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner" (not yet released as of this review) will be the one to watch, and carry the events of Brotherhood and Custom forward to fill in a large gap in the rocky evolution of John and Jamie's friendship.

Yes, there are a couple of graphic sex scenes - if graphic sex of either hetero or homosexual participants troubles you, I suggest you back quickly away from any book in the Outlander/Lord John universe by Gabaldon.

The narrator, Jeff Woodman, does all the work in this series and does a great job, especially with John, Harry and Tom.

Great performance

I love being transported by being read a story. It is a treasure I enjoy.

Poor Scottish accent

Narrator voice & accent is fine for British characters, but leaves much to be desired for Scottish characters.

Miss Gabaldon always rights an engaging story

although I am a Diana Gabaldon fan true as they come, and Lord John stories are among my favorite, this one is not. There is a lot of background information that fits into the big books. There is a little more sexually explicit content in this book that does not interest me.

Great Story Line

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

Upper 10%

What did you like best about this story?

Good bromance and mystery.

What does Jeff Woodman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Excellent performance. I am going to look for other books that he as narrated.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

All around great story with sad and funny parts.

Any additional comments?

Lord John has made appearances in the Outlander series so I was somewhat familiar with his character.

Another great book by Ms. Gabeldon

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version! It was highly entertaining with history, mystery and intrigue. LOVE it!

slight companion book to Voyager

If you want more detail into Voyager (Oulander series) this is Lord John's story during some of those years. The other Lord John books remembers Jamie but does not interact with him. The other LJ books have NOTHING to do with Outlander. Keep in mind this book is about Lord John and his military career and Jamie is a small part of it. It does give a little more insight into their relationship where the others do not.

For the Love of Scotland!

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

Lord John and the brotherhood of the blade

I loved it. This character was great . I want to continue this series💓 its a good Read

enjoyed very much

Good narration, but I've gotten used to Davina Porter and missed her voices. This is my favorite of the Lord John stories so far. Hal and Percy come to life.