Hello everyone!
When in doubt, go with something you know.
Or in this case, someone.
I've been playing catch-up with some of my other books and haven't been able to finish them yet because of some personal reasons, but thankfully there's always some old faithfuls to lean back on, and tonight's one is no exception.
I mean, when I tell you it has Lord John in it, you'll probably agree with me that you should have seen this one coming.
Lord John Grey is one of those characters that just really, really grows on you, and this isn't just because of David Berry's stellar performance in the Outlander series (I'm still over here in the fanclub camp that's begging for a Lord John spin-off!).
He's just the kind of person you can't help but love, no matter what, honestly!
So here we go. What does he think about succubi, we wonder? Read on for Lord John Grey and the Succubus.
Links to previous works connected to Lord John and the Outlander universe can be found at the bottom of the page, as always!
As for the succubi, well, it's one heck of a story.
It's the Seven Years' War, and Lord John finds himself in a tiny town between the moving military forces of France, Austria, Prussia and England, because the man speaks too many languages and is attached to a Hanoverian regiment as English liaison.
If it isn't bad enough that he's itchy all over because somebody decided to pour starch into his underwear, he has to deal with the mysterious deaths of an English and Hanoverian soldier to boot.
Mysterious in the sense that they look like they've been sucked dry of blood right after having sex, which is what a succubus does.
Which means everyone and their mother is terrified there's a monster on the loose, and Grey has to ride his white horse through a cemetery because THAT makes sense, the horse will reveal the grave in which the succubus hides during the day after all.
So while THAT's all going on, he's also uneasy about the impasse between the armed forces because while he can see the French up on the ridges above, something's telling him that it's not just the case of waiting.
Something is afoot. But he doesn't know what.
And while he's pondering that he's also fighting off the advances of the Prussian princess in whose home he (and several other officers) currently reside.
I mean, what's a man to do, especially when she hands him an old family relic that turns out to be a man's unmentionables?
Couple that with the fact that Grey is homosexual in the 18th century when this was still a crime punishable by some of the harshest treatments, and his relationship with a big, blonde Hanoverian Graf, Stephan von Namtzen, keeps changing its tone, and you have yourself a story.
Honestly, I quite like Stephan, if anyone asks me. He and Grey would be a lovely fit together (if Grey could ever get over his immortal love of one James Fraser). Von Namtzen does get jealous of Grey though, after witnessing an impromptu kiss in the hallway between Grey and the princess, but it turns out that it wasn't GREY she was after, but Von Namtzen himself, seeing as the Graf later admits to Grey they're getting married, so that his two children can have a mother.
And speaking of children, Grey finds the princess' son out and about one dark and stormy night and, while taking him back to his room, it's revealed that someone was actually trying to whisk the boy off into the unknown.
So when all is said and done, what do we have?
Not succubi, that's for sure.
But we do have Roma.
It turns out that there's a long-standing tradition between the travelling Romani and the Prussian royals, in the sense that it goes back years and the Prussians bought a few children to bury them in the foundations of important buildings like bridges and fortresses, for protection you see (gross-out alert in any event!). Plus the princess was never really known for her chastity so her son is actually the son of the husband of one of the wandering people, and they were just going to take him away to be with his family.
Grey discovers all this and more, including that Austrian troops are actually moving in the valley while the French are camped above, so it's time for a showdown, and with the child safe and sound, Von Namtzen about to be wed off, battle will be joined (no succubi in sight, since the first guy who was killed was the Roma's husband and ended up stabbed to death, and the other had an apoplectic attack and died).
And all the while, Lord John Grey does his best to try and remain unwed, get rid of that old relic, and figure out why the hell mystery seems to dog his every step.
All in a day's work, don't you know.
Highly, highly recommend this novella, which you can get in a compilation titled Lord John and the Hand of Devils, along with two others. Who doesn't want more John Grey, I ask you? He's witty, charming, incredibly earnest in his yearning, but also so intelligent you sometimes have to run along to keep up with everything.
Diana Gabaldon's writing style is incredibly immersive, and with books as short as these ones, you get a really nice treat without having to deal with the behemoths from her Outlander series.
Honestly, if you're thinking of trying out some of her works, pick up one of these.
You won't regret it.
xx
*image not mine
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