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    The Scottish Prisoner
    The Scottish Prisoner
    The Scottish Prisoner
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Scottish Prisoner

    Written by Diana Gabaldon

    Narrated by Jeff Woodman and Rick Holmes

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In this highly-anticipated new novel, Diana Gabaldon brings back one of her most compelling characters: the unforgettable Lord John Grey - soldier, gentleman, and no mean hand with a blade. Set in the heart of the eighteenth century, Lord John's world is one of mystery and menace. Diana Gabaldon brilliantly weaves together the strands of Lord John's secret and public lives. Capturing the lonely, tormented, and courageous career of a man who fights for his crown, his honor, and his own secrets, Diana Gabaldon delivers breathtaking human drama, proving once again that she can bring history to life in a way few novelists ever have.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateNov 29, 2011
    ISBN9781461846895
    The Scottish Prisoner
    Author

    Diana Gabaldon

    DIANA GABALDON is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times best-selling Outlander novels, described by Salon magazine as “the smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D.” She serves as co-producer and advisor for the Starz network Outlander series based on her novels.

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    Reviews for The Scottish Prisoner

    4.5/5

    107 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Its 1760. Jamie Fraser, Scottish paroled prisoner-of-war, is brought back to London by Lord John Gray and his brother, Harold, Duke of Pardloe. Documents accusing corruption, abuse of office, misconduct amounting to the murder of his own men, against a Major Gerald Siverly, while serving in Canada. A translation by Jamie suggesting a renewed uprising of the Jacobite's. His recruitment by Lord John and his brother to go with Lord John to bring Major Siverly back to London to face a Regimental Court Marshall. They must travel to Ireland to accomplish this. Duels fought for honour. The story will keep your interest. It is a good read.
    • 3/5
      I love the book. I wish they had cast a natural scotch man to read the part of Jamie Fraser though. Or just let the “Lord John” voice actor read it all. I feel the other gentleman mad Jamie sound rather feeble and slightly dim witted.
    • 5/5
      Having read all of Diana Gabaldon's novels, including the Lord John series, in one fell swoop during the past year, I made certain to be the first at my public library to check out The Scottish Prisoner. It was an enjoyable immersion, to be once again alongside two of the three best-developed characters from her Outlander series, Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey. Gabaldon's historic settings draw me in. Her characters reside in those settings realistically and she maneuvers the reader through the main plot and subplots with aplomb. This novel is not a mystery, though, or barely so, but an adventure involving Jamie Fraser and Lord John as they seek to stop an embryonic Irish Jacobite plot. Lord John is a fascinating character with all the attributes of a humorous and gentle man, unless provoked into fighting a duel or when in battle (he is, after all, an army officer). You would want him to be your friend. Jamie Fraser is . . . well . . . Jamie Fraser, one-half of a great love story, now in nadir along with his soul, while he resides in England as a paroled Scottish prisoner. Gabaldon's fans know from her Outlander series that matters will right themselves soon, so we tolerate his anguish, depression and irritation. Feel sympathy . . . want to pat him on the shoulder and whisper, "Just wait." Reading of the ups and downs of Jamie's and Lord John's friendship in this book -- one of the missing pieces -- is now better understood. Except for their different sexual proclivities,they bear the same code of honor, and so they do understand and mostly trust each other. It is Gabaldon's gift for dialogue - witty, thoughtful, sharp as a rapier's point -- that makes her such a delightful author to read. May she write for many years to come.Author of The Wolf's Sun A Devil Singing Small
    • 4/5
      Anything written by Diana Gabaldon is golden to me. The Outlander Series is by far my favorite series. Having something akin to the books in that series (including several of the main characters) to read while the next book in the series is being written is like a pacifier to a hungry baby while the bottle is being warmed in the microwave. I love the characters in this book, the story itself is captivating and at times down right hilarious, and I could hardly put it down. The ONLY reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I can't rate it 4.99. (Outlander and Echo in the Bone, also by Gabaldon, are the benchmark for a 5 star rating.)
    • 5/5
      Oh... Jamie... so glad to read about one of my favourite characters again! Wonderful book (as they all are) and gave me the fix I need to keep waiting for the next in the Outlander story. Really enjoyed it as a side story of my very favourite series :)
    • 5/5
      My favorite of all the Outlander/Lord John/etc “side” books. Well written, engrossing and historically accurate interwoven plots, richly developed, well loved familiar characters, as are all of Herself’s books. This book encompasses a lesser known history of life after the Rising and the impact on the survivors, giving insight into the dynamics between Jamie and Lord John. Among many other aspects, it is a story of achingly unrequited love, that of Lord John for Jamie. It flushes out their history and relationship.
    • 5/5
      The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon"Master me, or let me your master be."This short sideview of some of the characters from Gabaldon's marvelous Outlander series is a gentle, poignant tale of unrequited love between a captivating gay man and the straighter than straight Scottish warrior he loves. Following, chronologically behind the first part of Voyager, The Scottish Prisoner is a "not to be missed' adjunct to an unforgettable multi-volume tale of mystery, science, fantasy and well researched Scottish/American history.
    • 2/5
      Why this gets a two and I rate most of the series much higher? Jamie. I don't like the way the Outlander books are written. I tried to read two of them and fell asleep repeatedly.

      I really hate authors who try to write in Dialect. I don't get the rhythm of the original language when I do, I get farce on what the language must sound like. It's something the person best leave alone unless they are that Nationality and grew up there and I'm sorry but Ms. Gabaldon isn't and she's annoying to my reading ear. This means I am missing all of Jamie's background. That has a huge impact on the book for me.

      The other problem is, for some strange reason, the Jamie scenes tended to ramble. The Lord John series is nice tight and concise. This is not. It was like the author was hell bent and determined to cram an entire college lesson into a couple pages. Did it pertain? Sort of. Did it move the story along? Heaven's no. It dragged it to a stop and we had to wait until the author got over it and moved on. If it had been a verbal recitation, I would have found a cattle prod and used it on the author to get a move on.

      After sleeping on this, I finally reached a conclusion that it was like she took two short stories and crammed them together to make the book. It never quite came together. We were either jaunting off on Jamie's point of view [annoying as all get out because that's when she started to ramble] or John's point of view [which got the story going again]. And I do have to note, if she would have rambled on well, I might have actually enjoyed it. Instead my eyes started to cross.

      At the end like the beginning unless it had Lord John in it, I skipped the paragraphs with Jamie. One can only take so much emotional masturbation and Jamie's a regular god at it in this book. If I hadn't, I would not have finished it. I mean honestly by the end of the first 10 pages we KNOW he misses his wife. Then she spends the rest of the book telling us again and again he misses his wife. Almost like she had to prove it. Methinks the lad doth protest too much he loves and misses his wife. Makes me wonder if he's not in the closet.

      The first half of the book, if I tossed out 90% of Jamie scenes, it would have got a 4.5. If it hadn't had the Lord John? It didn't deserve a full star.

      I'm almost at the point where I think she's either a multiple personality one who writes Lord John and one who writes the other or she's got a ghost writer for Lord John. And if that was the case, the Ghost Writer is better.

      De gustibus non disputandum est
    • 4/5
      I didn't think Gabaldon could do it to me again, but she has! I was just as enthralled by this book as I was by the first in the series - Outlander.
    • 5/5
      A great Jamie fix while we wait for the next book. Also containes some scences from the upcoming book so we know a little more. Thank you Diana!
    • 4/5
      The Scottish Prisoner is Gabaldon’s latest book in her extended family of books set in 18th century England/Scotland/Ireland. If you are one of the handful of people who haven’t read her bestselling books, I’ll give a brief overview so you’ll know where this most recent falls in place. Gabaldon says you can read any of her books as stand alones, but even she admits you’ll get what’s going on better if you read in order. Her main series encompasses the Outlander books in which one of the main characters, Claire Randall, steps through an ancient stone circle and passes from 1945 to 1743 and into the middle of war torn Scotland. There she meets James Fraser, along with a great deal of trouble, and eventually they admit they like each other. But she’s married to someone else in 1945, so it’s complicated. There are now seven books in this main series: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone. The Scottish Prisoner is part of a related series, the Lord John Grey books, which don’t have Claire in them, but include Jamie Fraser along with his sometime nemesis, Lord John Grey, as the primary focus. The Lord John books fall, chronologically speaking, in the middle of the events of Voyager, but don’t influence the plot line of the Outlander series, although they are definitely related.The Scottish Prisoner has Gabaldon’s usual focus on character development and plot twists. Still a prisoner at Helwater, Jamie is made an offer by Lord John’s brother he has little choice but to accept. It involves traveling to Ireland with Lord John—and neither man wants to spend any time with the other. Trying to insert themselves into this unwanted journey, are even more unwanted people and ideas from Jamie’s past as a Scottish rebel. And, of course, a couple women do their best to help or deceive Jamie also, although the woman Jamie really wants haunts only his dreams. Gabaldon opens the book vividly with one such dream and its effects on Jamie. Lord John continues to be an intriguing person of conflicting loyalties and passions. He’s devoted to his regiment and the code of honor he will uphold at all costs—which is what sends him to Ireland more or less—but he is also gay, a capital offense, and his view of life does not always conform comfortably with the conventions of his time. Part of the pleasure of this book is the way in which Gabaldon manages to build a friendship between these two men quite against their will. A significant piece of the plot in The Scottish Prisoner turns on the issue of language, which I very much enjoyed. Amongst a series of damning documents, there is one that Lord John cannot figure out at all. Is it a code? No, a Celtic language, Erse, as it turns out, which both Jamie and some other ex- or not so ex-Jacobite rebels know. How accurate will their translations be for Lord John? The way in which access to a given language affects events, the “cueing” that occurs through a bit of Erse poetry, the whole notion of ancient folk traditions in Celtic and, we might say, the abuse of this folk tradition by characters provide a fascinating layer to this novel. Gabaldon has been ably assisted with the various pieces of Celtic language she interweaves into her plot by a group of experts who clearly love the revival of interest in this ancient language that her book provides. As anyone who knows me will realize, I’m always on the side of ancient languages!
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable novel of Political Intrigue set in England and Ireland. I love Gabaldons writing and relished the glimpse into Jaime's past but those expecting her Outlander series will be disappointed..  
    • 5/5
      If you are a fan of this author, then there isn't much to say. It's a Jamie fix. This is one of the Lord John Grey novels, which go along with the Outlander series but are separate stories. There is some political intrigue in this one which has Jamie traveling to Ireland with John, but there's more too. I love the meticulous research behind all of these books. Did you know that men wore corsets in the later 1700s? I didn't. They were going for a slope-shouldered, sway-backed look, according to the book. I can't picture it in my head, personally. Anyway, I digress. It's a good book!
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book, my favourite of The Lord John books. There is a lot of Jamie in it and it answers a lot of the questions thrown up in the other Lord John books about the relationship between Lord John Grey and Jamie Frazer. It gives an insight into the some of the years that Jamie and Claire are seperated and just rounds out the story for you.It comes at a good time in the series about Jamie and Claire, if you are a fan and awaiting the next installment of the Outlander series, (which is due to be published in 2013) this just wets your appitite for it!!
    • 4/5
      I have a soft spot, a very soft spot, for Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Jamie and Claire Fraser are among my favorite fictional characters. When I heard the latest John Grey novel would feature Jamie (the character has made appearances in the books but never as a major character), I made the decision that this would be my introduction into the Lord John Grey Outlander spinoff.Jamie Fraser is now a paroled prisoner of war working as a stable hand on a remote farm called Helwater in the Lake District of England. While he wouldn’t say his life is satisfying without his wife and family, he is thankful for life’s small diversions. He’s no longer in prison, he spends his days working with horses, and is close to the son no one knows is his; affording him a small reprieve from his grief over losing his wife, Claire, and their child he never met. When Tobias Quinn, a friend of his from the Jacobite Rising, shows up at the farm, he tells him he wants nothing to do with the failed rebellion or with Tobias himself. He’s lost too much, namely his wife and child, and fears losing what little freedom he has gained at Helwater. When Lord John Grey summons him to London too many memories come flooding back to Jamie and he wants absolutely nothing to do with any of them.Lord John Grey is almost as unhappy as Jamie is about the situation they find themselves in. A former warden of the jail where Jamie was held after the Jacobite Rising, he has no interest in seeing him especially since their last parting, which was on awkward terms. Lord John is in possession of documents that may contain information about a new possible uprising and he believes Jamie may be the only person who can help him figure out what the documents say. It’s an unhappy and uncomfortable match from the beginning.One of the nice things about the Lord John Grey series is that the books are meant as standalone novels. Having the Outlander background and understanding the complicated relationship between Lord John Grey and Jamie Fraser will add more for fans of the series, but if you have a love of historical fiction, this book could be a good entrance point into the Outlander world if you’re looking to try it out. It gives you a taste of Jamie’s life, what he’s lost, and while not a full background on him, it provides enough to make you want to know more about him and the wife he lost. Although, as fair warning to fans, the Jamie you meet in The Scottish Prisoner is slightly more hardened than the more good-humored Scotsman many have grown to love. Claire is alluded to numerous times and if you’re a fan of the series, this particular book is set after the battle of Culloden when Claire has returned to her own time and Jamie has been released from prison, essentially in the 20 year time period the couple spent apart in the series.The Scottish Prisoner is set in Ireland but the slightly mystical feeling you get from the series is still present as there is a plot in the works to steal an ancient relic that the supporters of the Rising hope will inspire their Cause and rally supporters in Ireland. While I could have done without this little twist --- I personally didn’t think it added much --- it did evoke the supernatural feeling of the series without the time travel element. This is my only quibble with the book though. As always, Gabaldon goes above and beyond in the entertainment department and this book will probably be a fast read for fans of the series.
    • 5/5
      This was a 'just one more chapter' read.... having read the full series of the Outlander books.... this was a special treat... as it filled out more of the interaction between Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey... I will be looking for more of connecting books in this series.... A really satisfying read...
    • 4/5
      Again another wonderful book by my favourite Author. The only thing that would give this a higher rating is if it had been a Jamie and Claire book but it's been an excellent book altogether anyway. This is one of the Lord John spinoffs. I've read some of them and I do like them but this was better than the others because Jamie Fraser is a large part of it. This takes place around the middle of the same time period her third book, Voyager, covers. Jamie has been paroled to Helwater in the Lake District and working in the stables and his secret son, William has been born and is a small boy. It is just before the reign of George II ends, 1759/60 and another Jacobite Rising may be forming in Ireland. Lord John Grey has been asked by his brother to retrieve an army officer who has gone to Ireland. He must face court martial charges of treason and he is suspected of being involved in the potential uprising. Jamie is brought to London to help translate a poem written in the Irish (as opposed to Scottish) form of Gaelic, a poem found in the officer's papers. An old aquaintance of Jamie's also makes contact and wants Jamie to help the uprising. He is coerced into accompanying John to Ireland. Does Jamie support John's quest or does he support the Jacobites? He already knows the conspiracy isn't going to work because of the knowledge he's gained from Claire who has gone back to the future. He may get the chance at freedom but will he be able to leave Helwater and his son? The book follows Jamie and John's adventures and we see how their relationship starts to head towards a friendship.