Hello everyone!
I couldn't help myself this week.
I know this story is technically a novella and, really, in comparison to what Diana Gabaldon usually writes it might be the length of one chapter from the massive books, but ...
It's Lord John.
It's ALWAYS Lord John!
This character is one of those you just want to read about for ever and ever, and with David Berry's outstanding performance in the television series, you get the added pleasure of a stunning visual on top of that, too.
Plus, it's more from the realm of Outlander, which is always a good thing, considering.
And the bonus from this entire escapade is that, precisely because the story is so short, you can read it in one sitting, you need about half an hour's peace, and the end result is that you'll giggle your way through the thirty minutes.
So let's take a look at A Plague of Zombies, shall we?
I'll be linking all other book reviews from Gabaldon down below, I'm starting to accumulate them - but I seem to be going backwards with the Lord John stories!
I'll make a concentrated effort to actually get them up in order sometime soon. A Plague of Zombies happens to be the second-to-last novella in the series, and it takes place at the time when, towards the end of Voyager, Jamie and Claire say goodbye to John and head off to rescue Ian from the hands of Geillis, the murdering witch.
As for John, he needs to handle a Maroon uprising, so he's a little bit busy.
But what's he even doing in Jamaica?
Read on.
As you learn through Voyager itself, Claire meets John on board the British Man-of-war which is ferrying the new governor of Jamaica to its destination - the governor being one John Grey, natch.
When he arrives on the island proper, however, he's told that most of the "old guard" aka people who served the old governor have fled - and there's a slave revolt rumbling just beneath the surface.
It doesn't help that it's quite obvious he's on his own considering even the Mayor of Kingston is more a drunken sot than anything else - terrified of his own shadow.
And snakes.
Lord John discovers a small snake on the dining room table, and being the absent-minded person that he is drops it in his pocket during the scene when the Mayor runs out screaming. John himself isn't actually afraid of snakes - but he does mind the big-ass bugs in his bedroom, so he's happy to see his little slithering friend take up residence so it'll eat the bugs.
No problem. Now, to the revolt.
It's obvious that the slaves have been grossly misused by the British, something that Grey himself wrinkles his nose at because he does have a fairly strong moral compass, but he needs to find the superintendent in charge of bridging the gap between the Maroons and whites - only, he's disappeared.
And when Grey gets attacked in the night by someone reeking of rotting, dead flesh, it's time for some quick reassessment.
He doesn't actually believe in zombies, but what else attacked him?
Until he figures out the thing (person) bled all over the place after he stabbed it, which indicates it isn't dead, for sure.
No preventative measures he puts in place helps, however, as the Mayor ends up dead - and when John questions Rodrigo, the only servant left behind in the big manse, he decides, enough is enough, and heads up into the jungle and mountain, following the drumbeats.
He wakes up one morning without his companions, and is just pissed off enough to march through the jungle on foot to his destination, the Maroon camp, where he negotiates their release, and the release of the superintendent to his custody so he may be tried under British law. He learns that the Mayor was killed because he forced himself on one of the kitchen workers, who then sought a curse from a powerful shaman, but the zombies themselves aren't ACTUALLY zombies.
What happens is they're given some sort of concoction to drink, which basically fries most of their brain cells because it's such a potent drug, then they're placed into a grave and covered lightly, so that when they wake up they THINK they're dead, and must be zombies; they also don't really have any kind of willpower left so they simply obey orders.
Lord John refrains from expressing his actual feelings about this, but swears his word is truth - and to prove it, he goes with the shaman into a cave to speak with their high spirit.
In actuality, it's a snake, but considering I'm no authority on these religious practices in general, I'll just leave it at the fact that the snake likes John enough that he gets the chance to fling it at the shaman, who gets bitten. Lord John is then allowed to leave the mountain with his companions, the superintendent, and Rodrigo (now a zombie), as well as the woman who started everything, though not before the chief takes a "loa" from his shoulders, saying that John has carried it around long enough.
And that would be the beginning of John's governing position in Jamaica!
Short, sweet, and to the point, this story highlights some of Lord John's best characteristics, including but not limited to the fact that he's just the sort of person things simply HAPPEN to. He pops up in a location, and something starts unraveling, as if it was just waiting for him to show up. He has some of the best one-liners in the series and the wittiest humour possible, so if you ever get the chance, please take a look at the novellas, and his series as a whole.
It's well worth the time!
xx
*image not mine
**as for the uprising ... the Maroons went on to burn a number of plantations on Jamaica, commandeered a Portuguese pirate ship, and ended up running her aground on a beach where they were sitting ducks for the British who brought their military expertise against them (read: they shot at the beach with cannons ...)
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