Diana Gabaldon, Lord John and the Hand of Devils

Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon
Series: Lord John and the Hellfire Club
                  (Lord John Grey, 0.5)
            Lord John and the Succubus
                  (Lord John Grey, 1.5)
            Lord John and the Haunted Soldier
                  (Lord John Grey, 2.6)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three short stories about Lord John Grey. The first two are a blip in his life while the second takes a much longer view.

The Stories

It’s 1756 during Lord John and the Hellfire Club occurs just after Lord John returns from running the prison in Scotland where he met Jamie Fraser. An encounter with Harry Quarry incurs a meeting with Quarry’s cousin Robert Gerald who reminds John of Jamie. It seems there may be something more to Gerald as well but the opportunity is cut short for Gerald but spurs John on to investigate what could be a political assassination.

This was a mere blip in John’s life and I still don’t understand what happened. Gabaldon must have been in a rush when she wrote this one. I am being generous with a “2″.

Lord John and the Succubus is an intriguing encounter for John with possible romantic possibilities with the Princess von Lowenstein and Captain Stephan von Namtzen, Landgrave von Erdberg while the French-Austrian forces are gathering on the other side of the hill. As they await the enemy, it seems there is a succubus on the loose killing soldiers; the men are dreaming if they should fall asleep and desperately doing what they can to not fall asleep as well as deprive the succubus of any essence. Then there’s the kidnap attempt on the young prince and ghosts crying in the night.

This is a somewhat longer blip and I’ll give it a “3″.

Lord John and the Haunted Soldier is the best of the three which isn’t fair to it as it is a good story even if Gabaldon doesn’t really pay it proper attention. She has all sorts of ghosts popping up and I don’t really see the point in them. That said, it’s a case of sabotage for most unexpected reasons. One hand depriving the other and a demonstration of thwarted love. The one having a secondary use as a political ploy to disgrace Lord John and his family while firming up the opposition while the second is a horrible mish-mash of love gone awry, a father’s fanatical pride, and the anger of a discarded lover.

Yup, it’s pretty busy for a short story!

The Cover

The forest green cover has something to hide with its peep border at eye level as Lord John takes a glance through.

The title refers to all three short stories and the hand of at least one devil in each.

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