Outlander Book Club: When will we start Lord John and the Custom of the Army?

We’ve come to the end of another Lord John Grey story. That means we’re ready to start another one. Lord John and the Custom of the Army is the next one in the series.

This is a novella, which was published on its own and also makes up a collection of stories in both A Trail of Fire and Seven Stones to Stand and Fall. You can read any version as the story doesn’t differ.

What is Lord John and the Custom of the Army about?

The novel is set in the year 1759, and Lord John Grey is sent to Canada after receiving a promotion thanks to his heroic efforts at the Battle of Crefeld. He will fight in the Siege of Quebec, but while there, he comes across his cousin-in-law, Malcolm Stubbs.

If you’ve read Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, you’ll know the name John Cinnamon. This is the story where John is introduced, and we learn how he got the name and why John is so certain that Lord John Grey is his father. It is an important story when you want to gain some understanding of that.

When will we start this Lord John novella?

There are six sections to the story, so I’m planning in a way that allows us to take a bit of a break before the next book. The one after this is The Scottish Prisoner, which is novel length and will take us some time. Sometimes, we need a break from reading to focus on other things going on.

So, we’ll start Lord John and the Custom of the Army on Monday, July 22. This will allow us to finish on Monday, July 29, and then we’ll take the rest of that week off from the book club before starting The Scottish Prisoner.

You’ve got time to get Lord John and the Custom of the Army before we start breaking it down. We’ll start on Monday, July 22.