Don't mind me; I'm a part of the mass exodus from tumblr to dw and have been searching around for various things I like over here, which led me to your Lord John-related reviews (and to commenting on a months-old post, which I'm not sure is really the done thing).
I too read the Lord John series earlier this year (and then tried and failed to read Outlander more generally--you're a more dedicated soul than I to make it all the way through Voyager) and loved them. I was not expecting to particularly enjoy Scottish Prisoner, as I tend to find Jamie tedious and the John/Jamie (such as it is) storyline similarly so, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I felt like John and Jamie's relationship evolved in a complex but satisfying way, and it made me understand why John would adopt William at the end of Voyager in a way that the actual events of Voyager did not. (Though I heartily agree that the relationship we see in Scottish Prisoner and the relationship we see in Voyager are jarringly and infuriatingly mismatched.) I'll also confess that I loved the duel near the end--Lord John grappling with his sense of honor and being very much a man of his times in regards to it are my weaknesses.
I'll also note, at the end of this already too-long comment, that while I had little luck with the earlier Outlander books, I did actually read the last two in (mostly) their entirety; though they are not Lord John books per se, he's a central POV character in both, and I found myself enjoying them somewhat despite myself.
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I too read the Lord John series earlier this year (and then tried and failed to read Outlander more generally--you're a more dedicated soul than I to make it all the way through Voyager) and loved them. I was not expecting to particularly enjoy Scottish Prisoner, as I tend to find Jamie tedious and the John/Jamie (such as it is) storyline similarly so, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I felt like John and Jamie's relationship evolved in a complex but satisfying way, and it made me understand why John would adopt William at the end of Voyager in a way that the actual events of Voyager did not. (Though I heartily agree that the relationship we see in Scottish Prisoner and the relationship we see in Voyager are jarringly and infuriatingly mismatched.) I'll also confess that I loved the duel near the end--Lord John grappling with his sense of honor and being very much a man of his times in regards to it are my weaknesses.
I'll also note, at the end of this already too-long comment, that while I had little luck with the earlier Outlander books, I did actually read the last two in (mostly) their entirety; though they are not Lord John books per se, he's a central POV character in both, and I found myself enjoying them somewhat despite myself.