{"id":5228,"date":"2015-04-24T14:32:06","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T18:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5228"},"modified":"2026-03-22T09:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:13:10","slug":"lord-john-and-the-brotherhood-of-the-blade-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5228","title":{"rendered":"Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade<\/a><\/em> (2007) Diana Gabaldon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Lord-John-Brotherhood-Blade\"<\/a>Set in London in 1758.<\/p>\n

This is not my favorite Lord John story, although events that happen here are both the culmination of past mysteries, and the impetus for events in later stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut your brother is not now Duke of Pardloe?\u201d
\nDespite himself, Grey smiled, albeit wryly. \u201cHe is. But he will not use the title, nor have it used. Hence the occasional awkwardness.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lord John’s mother is to be remarried, and the step-son of his new step-father is someone Lord John recognizes from his last visit to the Lavender House. So when Percy decides to purchase a commission on Hal’s regiment, Lord John isn’t at all disappointed about spending more time with his new step-brother.<\/p>\n

But both Hal and their mother have received pages torn from their father’s final journal–the last he wrote before his putative suicide, and a journal that Hal was told had been burned (Lord John was too young to have been told of these matters, and had been sent off to his Scottish relatives almost immediately.<\/p>\n

(W)hat was galling him was not that Hal had never mentioned the wager, but the fact that his brother had never told him openly that he believed their father had not been a traitor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are so many little touches to the story that make you feel like you know the characters. Take this description of Lord John’s brother’s office.<\/p>\n

Hal\u2019s office resembled nothing so much as the den of some large beast of untidy habit, and while both Hal and his elderly clerk, Mr. Beasley, could lay their hands on anything wanted within an instant, no one else could find so much as a pin in the general chaos.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That single paragraph tells me so much about Hal.<\/p>\n

I’m sure I noted this the last time I read this book, but it again struck me.<\/p>\n

He would not have been surprised in the slightest to hear that she had broken her neck in some hunting accident, or died in leaping a horse across some dangerous chasm. The sheer ordinariness of death in childbirth\u2026 that seemed somehow wrong, obscurely unworthy of her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even today we tend to gloss over just how dangerous childbirth can be, but back then it was exceedingly common–almost expected–for women to die giving birth. It’s something to think about.<\/p>\n

Although this isn’t my favorite story, there is much within it that I like and enjoy, and can still heartily recommend it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMen are made in God\u2019s image, or so I am told. Likewise that we differ from the animals in having reason. Reason, therefore, must plainly be a characteristic of the Almighty, quod erat demonstrandum. Is it reasonable, then, to create men whose very nature\u2014 clearly constructed and defined by yourself\u2014 is inimical to your own laws and must lead inevitably to destruction? Whatever would be the point of that? Does it not strike you as a most capricious notion\u2014 to say nothing of being wasteful?\u201d
\nPlainly, the notion of a reasonable God\u2014 let alone a thrifty one\u2014 had not struck Percy before.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Delacorte Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon Set in London in 1758. This is not my favorite Lord John story, although events that happen here are both the culmination of past mysteries, and the impetus for events in later stories. \u201cBut your brother is not now Duke of Pardloe?\u201d Despite himself, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,33,8,148,56,934],"tags":[74,556,75,513],"class_list":["post-5228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-queer","category-sexual-content","category-trigger-warnings","tag-diana-gabaldon","tag-georgian-era","tag-lord-john","tag-suicide"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1mk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3335,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3335","url_meta":{"origin":5228,"position":0},"title":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils","author":"Michelle","date":"December 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon This is a collection of three Lord John novellas: \"Lord John and the Hellfire Club,\" \"Lord John and the Succubus,\" and \"Lord John and the Haunted Soldier.\" The first two stories follow in time after the novel, Lord John and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lord John and the Hand of the Devils","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/lord-john-hand-devils.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3319,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3319","url_meta":{"origin":5228,"position":1},"title":"Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade","author":"Michelle","date":"November 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon I am really enjoying this series, and REALLY like Lord John. Lord John's mother is getting remarried. Hal and John choose to meet with General Sir George Stanley, so Hal can make sure he'll be acceptable for their mother,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lord-john-brotherhood-blade.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9495,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9495","url_meta":{"origin":5228,"position":2},"title":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon This is not a novel. This is three novellas: \u201cLord John and the Hellfire Club\u201d is set in London in 1757. \u201cLord John and the Succubus\u201d is set in Germany in 1758. \u201cLord John and the Haunted Soldier\u201d is set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Lord-John-Hand-Devils-e1511010256466.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9493,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9493","url_meta":{"origin":5228,"position":3},"title":"Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon This is a boinking book, but it's also a book about family and justice and doing what is right. Although I find Hal (John's brother) sometimes rather difficult, I think in this book I truly begin to like him.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Lord-John-Brotherhood-Blade-e1511011078204.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3896,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3896","url_meta":{"origin":5228,"position":4},"title":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils","author":"Michelle","date":"July 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon Another re-read. I enjoyed these the first time around, and I'm enjoying them just as much the second time around. This is NOT a novel, this is, instead, three novellas. Because, apparently, this is as close to a short story\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"lord-john-hand-devils","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/lord-john-hand-devils-185x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5231,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5231","url_meta":{"origin":5228,"position":5},"title":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils","author":"Michelle","date":"April 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon This is a collection of three stories--novellas, really rather than short stories: Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John and the Succubus, and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier. \"Lord John and the Hellfire Club\" Set in London in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lord-John-Hand-Devils","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Lord-John-Hand-Devils.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}