Hello! I was never one to be daunted by big books, and a big book this is! I started this book late June and just finished mid-August! However, it was a great read!
It was 1945 when Claire Randall traveled through time and space to 1743 where she met her husband Jamie Fraser. Now, in 1771 Jamie and his family know that war is approaching the colonies. Jamie stands under his fiery cross that calls him to war with a decision: break his oath to the Crown and be branded a traitor, or keep his oath and be branded a loyalist.
I have loved all four of the previous books, but I'll admit, I did not love this one. A lot happened, but there were also a lot of parts I found extremely boring. I mean, in a book with 1,000 pages you will definitely get some good and bad parts, but there were way to many parts that I had to drag myself through. This was definitely one of those books needed to bridge a gap, but nobody enjoys the bridge. I have, however, heard many good things about the next book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
One thing about the series in general is that there are a lot of characters. I have never been good with names and that includes fictional characters. There are a lot of side characters that don't mean much, but when they do come up you are thinking " Where did they come from?".
I also feel like Gabaldon sometimes over-complicates things trying to create a brilliant, mysterious plot. Well, no one enjoys the plots where you have one thing after another popping up until you feel like she needs to just give it a rest and let you find SOME answers. There were several parts where I would pick up the book and be like: " Now, how did they figure that out?" because Gabaldon has a writing tendency to make the event very memorable, but the solution/resolution/answers very forgettable, which makes it hard to read. And other times there are just too many things going on. Sometimes I feel like she just needs to make her books shorter.
In short, I did not really enjoy this book, but you can't move on in the series without it. I am also very excited to start the next book! So don't forget to try any books in the series, because I have been very happy with the previous ones!
It was 1945 when Claire Randall traveled through time and space to 1743 where she met her husband Jamie Fraser. Now, in 1771 Jamie and his family know that war is approaching the colonies. Jamie stands under his fiery cross that calls him to war with a decision: break his oath to the Crown and be branded a traitor, or keep his oath and be branded a loyalist.
I have loved all four of the previous books, but I'll admit, I did not love this one. A lot happened, but there were also a lot of parts I found extremely boring. I mean, in a book with 1,000 pages you will definitely get some good and bad parts, but there were way to many parts that I had to drag myself through. This was definitely one of those books needed to bridge a gap, but nobody enjoys the bridge. I have, however, heard many good things about the next book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
One thing about the series in general is that there are a lot of characters. I have never been good with names and that includes fictional characters. There are a lot of side characters that don't mean much, but when they do come up you are thinking " Where did they come from?".
I also feel like Gabaldon sometimes over-complicates things trying to create a brilliant, mysterious plot. Well, no one enjoys the plots where you have one thing after another popping up until you feel like she needs to just give it a rest and let you find SOME answers. There were several parts where I would pick up the book and be like: " Now, how did they figure that out?" because Gabaldon has a writing tendency to make the event very memorable, but the solution/resolution/answers very forgettable, which makes it hard to read. And other times there are just too many things going on. Sometimes I feel like she just needs to make her books shorter.
In short, I did not really enjoy this book, but you can't move on in the series without it. I am also very excited to start the next book! So don't forget to try any books in the series, because I have been very happy with the previous ones!