Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (Lord John Grey, #2)

by Diana Gabaldon

[ibeforem]

I really enjoyed this second book in the Lord John Grey trilogy. I felt it was much more fleshed out than the first book, Lord John and the Private Matter. There is much joy and much pain in Lord John’s life during this book, and my only complaint is that the main mystery of the book — who killed Lord John’s father — often gets lost between his relationship with new step-brother Percy (and its consequences) and his involvement in the war. There were long stretches of the book where I completely forgot what the main point was. Lord John is himself an interesting character, noble and flawed both. I enjoyed his interactions with Jamie Fraser (which helped me place this book in the Outlander timeline), as well as his affair with Percy, even if that did end poorly. Not only does Gabaldon manage to tell quite an interesting tale, but she also explores what it’s like to live as a homosexual man in Georgian-era England, where such behavior is often punishable by death. As with the last book, if you are squeamish about homosexual relations, this trilogy is not for you!