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mmelberg's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
kathydavie's review
3.0
Three short stories in the historical mystery series about Lord John Grey, an important peripheral character in Gabaldon's Outlander series. The first two are a blip in his life while the second takes a much longer view.
Series
Lord John and the Hellfire Club" (0.5)
"Lord John and the Succubus" (1.5)
"Lord John and the Haunted Soldier" (2.5)
The Stories
It's 1756 during "Lord John and the Hellfire Club" and 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 it does spur 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 and Title
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 Lord John and the Hand of Devils who interfere in each of the three short stories.
Series
Lord John and the Hellfire Club" (0.5)
"Lord John and the Succubus" (1.5)
"Lord John and the Haunted Soldier" (2.5)
The Stories
It's 1756 during "Lord John and the Hellfire Club" and 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 it does spur 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 and Title
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 Lord John and the Hand of Devils who interfere in each of the three short stories.
lydiaann's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
friends2lovers's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Lord John and the Hand of Devils contains three stories from the Lord John Grey series, a spin-off of the Outlander series in which Lord John is a secondary character. I read these stories (in italics) in chronological order along with the first two novels (in all caps) in the series.
1756 | Lord John and the Hellfire Club | 3★
1757 | LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER | 3★
1757 | Lord John and the Succubus | 4★
1758 | LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE | 4.5★
1758 | Lord John and the Haunted Soldier | 2★
As Gabaldon says on her website, “they’re structured more or less as historical mystery.” Each follows roughly the same premise: someone dies and Lord John figures out who’s responsible. The stories are set during the timeline of Voyager; the first story, Hellfire Club, takes place right after Ardsmuir prison is closed and John returns to London. There is no overarching plot to the series, but I do recommend reading them chronologically because characters are introduced and then return later, or events transpire that come up again in other stories.
As for the stories in this book: Hellfire Club is a decent introduction to the series; Succubus is my favorite because of the gothic vibes and spending so much time with Stephan von Namtzen; Haunted Soldier has a boring mystery plot and is a pretty lackluster follow-up to Brotherhood of the Blade. In Haunted Soldier, I was particularly annoyed by John’s continued pining over the homophobic asshole Jamie Fraser, and the way Percy seems to have been completely forgotten. Overall, Hand of Devils gets an average of 3-stars.
I’m on the fence as to whether I’d recommend this book/series. I love the character Lord John—he’s witty, complex, and I enjoy his POV. However, I’m tired of John’s (and Gabaldon’s) obsession with Jamie Fraser and so I’m wary about continuing the series since it seems Jamie is featured more prominently in the following books. Still, I’m glad I read these three books because I now have a better understanding of John’s family and backstory. After finally reading Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (Outlander #8), I was especially curious about John’s past with Percy. Because of the close connection and crossover with the Outlander series, I’m not sure if the Lord John series will be of much interest to readers unfamiliar with Outlander.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: War and Homophobia
lpiers's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
analiciasteinke's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
gabmc's review
3.0
I kind of feel bad giving this book only two stars ... but it just wasn't that great. Twice Lord John Grey thinks he sees a ghost - but it's actually two different ghosts. And if anyone is a 'haunted soldier' it would have to be Grey himself. This book starts with Grey appearing at a Commission of Enquiry regarding the cannon that blew up while he was acting as commander. The three member Commission all seem to have a grudge against him and he has to figure out why. Could it be that one is jealous of his half brother, Edgar, or is it that another has a problem with his other brother, Hal, or is it that one just doesn't like soldiers? There is almost too much going on in this short book. The ending is almost too quick and too neat.
Merged review:
This was a really fun novella starring one of my favourite literary men - Lord John Grey. He is stationed in the German Empire and is at war with both Austria and France. John is the liaison between the "Germans" (Germany didn't really exist as a country back in the 1700s) and the English. He has to deal with the death of an English soldier who was arguing with a gypsy woman. Then another body is found dead and rumours of a succubus abound. John is determined to solve the mystery but has to be very careful about who he offends in the process.
Merged review:
This was a really fun novella starring one of my favourite literary men - Lord John Grey. He is stationed in the German Empire and is at war with both Austria and France. John is the liaison between the "Germans" (Germany didn't really exist as a country back in the 1700s) and the English. He has to deal with the death of an English soldier who was arguing with a gypsy woman. Then another body is found dead and rumours of a succubus abound. John is determined to solve the mystery but has to be very careful about who he offends in the process.
ayami's review
3.0
Yet another decent collection of Lord John novellas and short stories. Couldn't care less for the 'Hellfire Club' and the last one, 'Haunted Soldier' was a bit stretched out for my taste (Gabaldon's editor sleeping on the job again) but 'The Succubus' was one of my favorite Lord John stories so far. It had a perfect combination of mystery and humor all that with a gothic-fiction feel to it.