Book Review: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon

 

Goodreads Summary: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A magnificent collection of Outlander short fiction—including two never-before-published novellas—featuring Jamie Fraser, Lord John Grey, Master Raymond, and many more, from Diana Gabaldon
Among the seven spellbinding pieces, there is "The Custom of the Army," which begins with Lord John Grey being shocked by an electric eel and ends at the Battle of Quebec. Then comes "The Space Between," where it is revealed that the Comte St. Germain is not dead, Master Raymond appears, and a widowed young wine dealer escorts a would-be novice to a convent in Paris. In "A Plague of Zombies," Lord John unexpectedly becomes military governor of Jamaica when the original governor is gnawed by what probably wasn't a giant rat. "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" is the moving story of Roger MacKenzie's parents during World War II. In "Virgins," Jamie Fraser, aged nineteen, and Ian Murray, aged twenty, become mercenaries in France, no matter that neither has yet bedded a lass or killed a man. But they're trying. . . . "A Fugitive Green" is the story of Lord John's elder brother, Hal, and a seventeen-year-old rare book dealer with a sideline in theft, forgery, and blackmail. And finally, in "Besieged," Lord John learns that his mother is in Havana—and that the British Navy is on their way to lay siege to the city.

Filling in mesmerizing chapters in the lives of characters readers have followed over the course of thousands of pages, Gabaldon's genius is on full display throughout this must-have collection.

Goodreads Rating: 4.27 stars with over 14,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Short Stories, Time Travel

Goodreads Challenge: 21/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #14 Read a book of short stories or a novella (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review: 

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I finished a book I had planned for this challenge and am excited about that. When Tress and I were writing out the prompts for this year's challenge, I specifically wanted to read Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon for this prompt. It definitely gave me the Outlander fix that I needed. Since this is a set of short stories/novellas, I thought I'd list each story, give my thoughts on it, and then average out the ratings to provide me with my rating for this book. 

A note for other readers before getting into my thoughts: these stories are not in any particular order regarding how they're presented in the book (as far as I know). The introduction explains where they'd fall in the timeline of the main books and the Lord John spinoff series. I returned to this every time I started a new story to remember where it was. The good thing is that there aren't really any spoilers for the main series. Most of the stories revolve around Lord John and may casually mention Jamie, but that's about it. There is also a lot of annotation for the stories, which I liked. Some of it provided more historical context or information for the series. I also liked that Diana Gabaldon discusses her strengths and weaknesses with writing in it. 

The Custom of the Army  Rating: 3/5

I liked this story and am always up for Lord John and his chivalry. I can't say I was fully invested in this one until it got closer to the end of the story. This one was slower-paced. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite of the seven.

The Space Between Rating 3/5

This interesting story focuses on Jamie's pseudo-step-daughter Joan and her trip to join a French convent. She's escorted by one of the Murray sons, and it was a nice way to get to know a couple of characters that weren't part of the main story often. It was pretty sweet, and I enjoyed it.

A Plague of Zombies  Rating 2/5

This was probably one of my least favorite stories of the seven. It was interesting, but I couldn't really get into it. However, it leads to events in another story in the book. 

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hollows Rating 2/5

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. It follows Roger's parents and the events in WWII before Roger is orphaned. But it was forgettable compared to the other stories in this book. Some things could be interesting to play on in Book 10 if it ever comes out, but other than that, I didn't have much love for it. 

Virgins Rating 5/5

Virgins was by far my favorite story in this set of short stories. It follows Jamie and Ian in Paris as young adults; honestly, it's hilarious. I could picture it being a flashback scene on the show, which would be amazing. 

A Fugitive Green Rating 5/5

This was definitely my second favorite of the stories. It follows the events that lead Lord John's brother Hal to meet and marry his wife, Minnie. I loved it. I could honestly read an entire series dedicated to the couple's antics. 

Besieged Rating 2/5

This is the final story in the book, and it was another one that was forgettable for me. It was okay, but it left much to be desired compared to the others. I will caveat this with, I don't know if it was the story itself or that I was just ready to be done with the book at this point.


If I can do the math properly (debatable), that gives me an average of 3.14. And given that I don't PI as ratings (though maybe I should), I'll just leave it as a 3. Overall, the stories are enjoyable and worth a read if you've read the main Outlander series. It probably won't be that enjoyable if you haven't read it.