A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander Series #6)

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Overview

Eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, this sixth novel in Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander saga is a masterpiece of historical fiction from one of the most popular authors of our time.

Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldon’s New York Times–bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over -- and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence -- with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal
Anyone who has gotten this far in Gabaldon's popular "Outlander" saga knows to expect loads of steamy sex, kidnappings, medical miracles, and gritty period details. Breath's 900-plus pages don't disappoint. With the threat of the American Revolution looming, 20th-century time traveler Claire Fraser and her 18th-century Scottish husband, Jamie, must finally choose sides and prepare for war. On the domestic front, Claire's and Jamie's daughter, Brianna, experiments with piping running water to their cabin while her husband, Roger, contemplates ordainment as a minister. But what about that newspaper clipping that says Claire and Jamie die in a house fire? Knowledge of the future clearly goes only so far. Enemies both old and new add to the continuing drama of the Fraser family's survival in the hinterlands of North Carolina. Gabaldon's enjoyable formula works, even if it's taken five previous novels and a few thousand pages to get to the year 1776. Essential for every fiction collection. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/05.]-Laurel Bliss, Princeton Univ. Lib., NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780385340397
  • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 8/29/2006
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 1008
  • Sales rank: 151,801
  • Series: Outlander Series , #6
  • Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 9.10 (h) x 1.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Diana  Gabaldon
Diana Gabaldon

Diana Gabaldon is the author of five previous Outlander novels — Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, and The Fiery Cross — as well as Lord John and the Private Matter and one work of nonfiction, The Outlandish Companion. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Biography

To millions of fans, Diana Gabaldon is the creator of a complex, original, and utterly compelling amalgam of 18th-century romantic adventure and 20th-century science fiction. To the publishing industry, she's a grassroots-marketing phenomenon. And to would-be writers everywhere who worry that they don't have the time or expertise to do what they love, Gabaldon is nothing short of an inspiration.

Gabaldon wrote her first novel while juggling the demands of motherhood and career: in between her job as an ecology professor, she also had a part-time gig writing freelance software reviews. Gabaldon had never written fiction before, and didn't intend to publish this first novel, which she decided to call Outlander. This, she decided, would be her "practice novel". Worried that she might not be able to pull a plot and characters out of thin air, she settled on a historical novel because "it's easier to look things up than to make them up entirely."

The impulse to set her novel in 18th-century Scotland didn't stem -- as some fans have assumed—from a desire to explore her own familial roots (in fact, Gabaldon isn't even Scottish). Rather, it came from watching an episode of the British sci-fi series Dr. Who and becoming smitten with a handsome time traveler in a kilt. A time-travel element crept into Gabaldon's own book only after she realized her wisecracking female lead couldn't have come from anywhere but the 20th century. The resulting love affair between an intelligent, mature, sexually experienced woman and a charismatic, brave, virginal young man turned the conventions of historical romance upside-down.

Gabaldon has said her books were hard to market at first because they were impossible to categorize neatly. Were they historical romances? Sci-fi adventure stories? Literary fiction? Whatever their genre (Gabaldon eventually proffered the term "historical fantasias"), they eventually found their audience, and it turned out to be a staggeringly huge one.

Even before the publication of Outlander, Gabaldon had an online community of friends who'd read excerpts and were waiting eagerly for more. (In fact, her cohorts at the CompuServe Literary Forum helped hook her up with an agent.) Once the book was released, word kept spreading, both on the Internet and off, and Gabaldon kept writing sequels. (When her fourth book, "Drums of Autumn," was released, it debuted at No. 1 on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, and her publisher, Delacorte, raced to add more copies to their initial print run of 155,000.)

With her books consistently topping the bestseller lists, it's apparent that Gabaldon's appeal lies partly in her ability to bulldoze the formulaic conventions of popular fiction. Salon writer Gavin McNett noted approvingly, "She simply doesn't pay attention to genre or precedent, and doesn't seem to care that identifying with Claire puts women in the role of the mysterious stranger, with Jamie -- no wimp in any regard -- as the romantic 'heroine."'

In between Outlander novels, Gabaldon also writes historical mysteries featuring Lord John Grey, a popular, if minor, character from the series, and is working on a contemporary mystery series. Meanwhile, the author's formidable fan base keeps growing, as evidenced by the expanding list of Gabaldon chat rooms, mailing lists, fan clubs and web sites -- some of them complete with fetching photos of red-haired lads in kilts.

Good To Know

Outlander may have been Gabaldon's first novel, but she was already a published writer. Her credits included scholarly articles, political speeches, radio ads, computer manuals and Walt Disney comic books.

Gabaldon gets 30 to 40 e-mails a day from her fans, who often meet online to discuss her work. "I got one letter from a woman who had been studying my book jacket photos (with a magnifying glass, evidently), who demanded to know why there was a hole in my pants," wrote Gabaldon on her web site. "This strikes me as a highly metaphysical question, which I am not equipped to answer, but which will doubtless entertain some chat-groups for quite a long time."

    1. Also Known As:
      Diana Jean Gabaldon (full name)
    2. Hometown:
      Flagstaff, Arizona
    1. Date of Birth:
      January 11, 1952
    2. Place of Birth:
      Flagstaff, Arizona
    1. Education:
      B.S., Northern Arizona University, 1973; M.S., Scripps Oceanographic Institute; Ph.D., Northern Arizona University, 1979
    2. Website:

Read an Excerpt

A Breath of Snow and Ashes


By Diana Gabaldon

Random House

Diana Gabaldon
All right reserved.

ISBN: 0440335655


Chapter One

1
An Interrupted Conversation

The dog sensed them first. Dark as it was, Ian Murray felt rather than saw Rollo's head lift suddenly near his thigh, ears pricking. He put a hand on the dog's neck, and felt the hair there ridged with warning.


So attuned as they were to each other, he did not even think consciously, "Men," but put his other hand to his knife and lay still, breathing. Listening.


The forest was quiet. It was hours 'til dawn and the air was still as that in a church, with a mist like incense rising slowly up from the ground. He had lain down to rest on the fallen trunk of a giant tulip tree, preferring the tickle of wood-lice to seeping damp. He kept his hand on the dog, waiting.


Rollo was growling, a low, constant rumble that Ian could barely hear but felt easily, the vibration of it traveling up his arm, arousing all the nerves of his body. He hadn't been asleep-he rarely slept at night anymore-but had been quiet, looking up into the vault of the sky, engrossed in his usual argument with God. Quietness had vanished with Rollo's movement. He sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the side of the half-rotted log, heart beating fast now.


Rollo's warning hadn't changed, but the great head swiveled, following something unseen. It was a moonless night; Ian could see the faint silhouettes of trees and the moving shadows of the night, but nothing more.


Then he heard them. Sounds of passage. A good distance away, but coming nearer by the moment. He stood and stepped softly into the pool of black under a balsam fir. A click of the tongue, and Rollo left off his growling and followed, silent as the wolf who had been his father.


Ian's resting-place overlooked a game trail. The men who followed it were not hunting. White men. Now that was odd, and more than odd. He couldn't see them, but didn't need to; the noise they made was unmistakable. Indians traveling were not silent, and many of the Highlanders he lived among could move like ghosts in the wood-but he had no doubt whatever. Metal, that was it. He was hearing the jingle of harness, the clink of buttons and buckles-and gun barrels.


A lot of them. So close, he began to smell them. He leaned forward a little, eyes closed, the better to snuff up what clue he could.They carried pelts; now he picked up the dried-blood cold-fur smell that had probably waked Rollo-but not trappers, surely; too many. Trappers moved in ones and twos.Poor men, and dirty. Not trappers, and not hunters. Game was easy to come by at this season, but they smelled of hunger. And the sweat of bad drink.


Close by now, perhaps ten feet from the place where he stood. Rollo made a tiny snorting sound, and Ian closed his hand once more on the dog's ruff, but the men made too much noise to hear it. He counted the passing footsteps, the bumping of canteens and bullet boxes, foot-sore grunts and sighs of weariness.


Twenty-three men, he made it, and there was a mule-no, two mules with them; he could hear the creak of laden panniers and that querulous heavy breathing, the way a loaded mule did, always on the verge of complaint.


The men would never have detected them, but some freak of the air bore Rollo's scent to the mules. A deafening bray shattered the dark, and the forest erupted in front of him with a clishmaclaver of crashing and startled shouts. Ian was already running when pistol shots crashed behind him.


"A Dhia!" Something struck him in the head and he fell headlong. Was he killed?


No. Rollo was pushing a worried wet nose into his ear. His head buzzed like a hive and he saw bright flashes of light before his eyes.


"Run! Ruith!" he gasped, pushing at the dog. "Run out! Go!" The dog hesitated, whining deep in his throat. He couldn't see, but felt the big body lunge and turn, turn back, undecided.


"Ruith!" He got himself up onto hands and knees, urging, and the dog at last obeyed, running as he had been trained.


There was no time to run himself, even could he have gained his feet. He fell facedown, thrust hands and feet deep into the leaf mold, and wriggled madly, burrowing in.


A foot struck between his shoulder blades, but the breath it drove out of him was muffled in wet leaves. It didn't matter, they were making so much noise. Whoever had stepped on him didn't notice; it was a glancing blow as the man ran over him in panic, doubtless thinking him a rotted log.


The shooting ceased. The shouting didn't, but he made no sense of it. He knew he was lying flat on his face, cold damp on his cheeks and the tang of dead leaves in his nose-but felt as though very drunk, the world revolving slowly round him. His head didn't hurt much, past the first burst of pain, but he didn't seem able to lift it.


He had the dim thought that if he died here, no one would know. His mother would mind, he thought, not knowing what had become of him.


The noises grew fainter, more orderly. Someone was still bellowing, but it had the sound of command. They were leaving. It occurred to him dimly that he might call out. If they knew he was white, they might help him. And they might not.


He kept quiet. Either he was dying or he wasn't. If he was, no help was possible. If he wasn't, none was needed.


Well, I asked then, didn't I? he thought, resuming his conversation with God, calm as though he lay still on the trunk of the tulip tree, looking up into the depths of heaven above. A sign, I said. I didna quite expect Ye to be so prompt about it, though.


2
Dutch Cabin
March 1773


no one had known the cabin was there, until Kenny Lindsay had seen the flames, on his way up the creek.


"I wouldna ha' seen at all," he said, for perhaps the sixth time. "Save for the dark comin' on. Had it been daylight, I'd never ha' kent it, never." He wiped a trembling hand over his face, unable to take his eyes off the line of bodies that lay at the edge of the forest. "Was it savages, Mac Dubh? They're no scalped, but maybe-"


"No." Jamie laid the soot-smeared handkerchief gently back over the staring blue face of a small girl. "None of them is wounded. Surely ye saw as much when ye brought them out?"


Lindsay shook his head, eyes closed, and shivered convulsively. It was late afternoon, and a chilly spring day, but the men were all sweating.


"I didna look," he said simply.


My own hands were like ice; as numb and unfeeling as the rubbery flesh of the dead woman I was examining. They had been dead for more than a day; the rigor of death had passed off, leaving them limp and chilled, but the cold weather of the mountain spring had preserved them so far from the grosser indignities of putrefaction.


Still, I breathed shallowly; the air was bitter with the scent of burning. Wisps of steam rose now and then from the charred ruin of the tiny cabin. From the corner of my eye, I saw Roger kick at a nearby log, then bend and pick up something from the ground beneath.


Kenny had pounded on our door long before daylight, summoning us from warm beds. We had come in haste, even knowing that we were far too late to offer aid. Some of the tenants from the homesteads on Fraser's Ridge had come, too; Kenny's brother Evan stood with Fergus and Ronnie Sinclair in a small knot under the trees, talking together in low-voiced Gaelic.


"D'ye ken what did for them, Sassenach?" Jamie squatted beside me, face troubled. "The ones under the trees, that is." He nodded at the corpse in front of me. "I ken what killed this puir woman."


The woman's long skirt stirred in the wind, lifting to show long, slender feet shod in leather clogs. A pair of long hands to match lay still at her sides. She had been tall-though not so tall as Brianna, I thought, and looked automatically for my daughter's bright hair, bobbing among the branches on the far side of the clearing.


I had turned the woman's apron up to cover her head and upper body. Her hands were red, rough-knuckled with work, and with callused palms, but from the firmness of her thighs and the slenderness of her body, I thought she was no more than thirty-likely much younger. No one could say whether she had been pretty.


I shook my head at his remark.


"I don't think she died of the burning," I said. "See, her legs and feet aren't touched. She must have fallen into the hearth. Her hair caught fire, and it spread to the shoulders of her gown. She must have lain near enough to the wall or the chimney hood for the flames to touch; that caught, and then the whole bloody place went up."


Jamie nodded slowly, eyes on the dead woman.


"Aye, that makes sense. But what was it killed them, Sassenach? The others are singed a bit, though none are burned like this. But they must have been dead before the cabin caught alight, for none o' them ran out. Was it a deadly illness, perhaps?"


"I don't think so. Let me look at the others again."


I walked slowly down the row of still bodies with their cloth-covered faces, stooping over each one to peer again beneath the makeshift shrouds. There were any number of illnesses that could be quickly fatal in these days-with no antibiotics to hand, and no way of administering fluids save by mouth or rectum, a simple case of diarrhea could kill within twenty-four hours.


I saw such things often enough to recognize them easily; any doctor does, and I had been a doctor for more than twenty years. I saw things now and then in this century that I had never encountered in my own-particularly horrible parasitical diseases, brought with the slave trade from the tropics-but it was no parasite that had done for these poor souls, and no illness that I knew, to leave such traces on its victims.


All the bodies-the burned woman, a much older woman, and three children-had been found inside the walls of the flaming house. Kenny had pulled them out, just before the roof fell in, then ridden for help. All dead before the fire started; all dead virtually at the same time, then, for surely the fire had begun to smolder soon after the woman fell dead on her hearth?


From the Hardcover edition.


Excerpted from A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Customer Reviews

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( 827 )

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 841 Customer Reviews
  • Posted January 17, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    Well done!

    A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the adventurous story of Jamie and Claire Fraser and their family and friends.

    A Breath of Snow and Ashes takes us on a roller coaster ride of emotion this time. Have a tissue box ready because you'll need it at the end. For the first time Diana has left her readers an actual cliff hanger. Of course this just makes you want more.

    As always I feel as if I have transported through time and am right their with everyone. A part of the action, feeling their sorrows, joys and laughter.

    Definately not a disappointment, however before reading this book if you haven't read the first 5: Outland, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, and The Fiery Cross you must do so to understand their journey.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  No   Report this review
  • Posted March 12, 2010

    Drama

    You would think that by the sixth book in the series, Gabaldon would become tiresome and the plot points would begin to repeat or continue to hit dead ends...but this is far from the truth. This book sucks you in and entrances you with answers to previous questions, conclusions to old problems and reemergence of old friends, as well as new questions, new problems, and new people, both good and bad who help and threaten the family that you have grown to love and root for.
    This series helped me learn what love truly is. It isn't some unattainable perfect union. It's hard work. It's dirty, fascinating, intoxicating, comfortable, volcanic, and most of all it's true. Jamie and Claire fight, argue, and really get under each others skin, but at the end of the day they are there for each other and they would die for each other. They make unhesitating sacrifices for their family and are put into some odd situations. Everyone should read this series, both men and women. Claire is someone that every woman can relate to on some level. Jamie a man that most men aspire to be, and could learn from to some extent.
    This book is funny, like all the others, and then will turn around and have you jumping out of your seat in the middle of the battles, then drop you like a hot potato into tears. This book has something for everyone.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 28, 2009

    I Love this author!

    Ms Gabaldon is an outstanding writer. Her books are long but she writes so well and develops her characters so well, that I am never ready for the story to end.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 15, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    wonderful

    Do not get discouraged reading this book. Yes it is VERY long but its worth it. Gabaldon intertwines suspense and touching stories till the very last page (until epilogue II.) This book is probably the most heartbreaking (in a sort of good way) of the whole series. A lot of the loose ends and mysteries she created in the previous books of the series were answered in this edition. Some of her older themes of kidnapping are repeated I suppose but nonetheless she achieves originality when you are least suspecting it. There are just so many twists and turns it'll leave you yelling "WHAT?" out loud.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 20, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    FANTASTIC SERIES!

    Gabaldon paints her books with thick color. Her characters are so well-developed that I feel I know them all very well. A Breath of Snow and Ashes closes some questions left from earlier volumes, and rounds out some character detail. I don't want to give anything away here, but it was a thoroughly satisfying read. Happily, it also leaves an opening for further Jamie/Clair volumes.
    After reading this 6th book in the series, I started with Outlander and am re-reading them all. They're giving me as much pleasure the second time around.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 18, 2006

    Repetative and dull

    Does no one at the publishing house dare to edit the work of Diana Gabaldon? It is far to lengthy and repetative. I flipped through so many pages that contained no useful purpose. The concept of travelling through time is all but forgotten and therfore the suspence is simply not there. We have all become use to being subjected to gritty, sexual violance in many of todays novels. I think it's time to get back to some quality writing. I could barely bring myself to finish this book

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 15, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    More Outlander fun

    This one took some time to get into but once it got closer to the end I couldn't put it down. I'm glad Jamie and Claire's story is going on but it will be interesting to see what Gabaldon does next because she tied up a lot of loose ends from the earlier books.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 12, 2009

    Love this series

    Love all of the books in this series, can't wait for the next one I miss having Jamie and Claire in my evenings.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 11, 2009

    My favorite of the series so far...

    This book is awesome. Full of humor and intricate relationships!! Loved it!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 18, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Gabaldon rocks!

    If you haven't read Outlander, what are you waiting for? This series is the best thing in print right now. This is addictive, all incompassing, suck you in action with strong charectors who have a history you want to know. There's something here for everyone, be it mystery, suspense, history, charector development, or romance. Every Outlander book, Snow and Ashes included, is a reader's page-turning dream. I highly recommend them all.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 31, 2008

    I Also Recommend:

    Well worth the time invested to read OR listen

    Audiobook is a great way to enjoy the sixth and most recent volume in Diana Gabaldon's popular Outlander series. A Breath of Snow and Ashes has an episodic structure rather than one overarching story line. The spoken word format makes the listener slow down and enjoy the rich details in the story. Gabaldon rounds out her descriptions with authentic sights, smells, sounds and textures.
    Davina Porter is a skilled dramatic reader who adapts nuanced accents for each character. Her Jamie Fraser is surprisingly convincing. Her Claire Fraser is spot on, and since Claire is the narrator for much of the books, the listener feels like he or she is really in Claire's head. Claire's daughter Brianna and the troublemaker Donner are the only off-notes, because they are Americans and apparently Porter's accents don't extend that far.
    If you've read A Breath of Snow and Ashes, the audio version is a great way to "reread" and pick up subtleties you missed on the first go round while waiting for Book 7. If you've finished up to The Fiery Cross (Outlander), try the audio version. Be warned, this is an unabridged version of a hefty book that runs to 48 CDs and a serious time commitment. But, worth every second.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 15, 2006

    Disappointing once again

    I am a big fan of the first three books in the Outlander series. I seem to remember reading somewhere that Mrs. Gabaldon originally intended for the series to be just a trilogy. To be honest I feel that maybe that wouldn¿t be such a bad idea. I kept on reading all the new installments and waiting to see the same passion and adventure that attracted me to the Outlander from the beginning, but I¿m afraid that after book 3 it just isn¿t there. I picked up ¿The Breath of snow and ashes¿ in hopes of finding than something special and was once again disappointed. Don¿t get me wrong, it¿s nice to know what the characters have been up to and I did finish the book out of loyalty, but the very same things I got out of it could have been compressed in to a book half the size and the rest was just pointless filler. I would be surprised to find a person who hadn¿t read the previous books enjoying this one. Would not recommend it to anyone other than the diehard fans who want to catch up on the lives of the characters.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 11, 2005

    A struggle to finish......

    I am having trouble maintaining my interest in this book. I feel obliged to finish it having read all the previous books, but this particular installment seems rife with disjointed, mundane events. I promised myself I would no longer finish books that don't hold my interest. Life is too short to waste on mediocrity. However, I'll finish this one out of obligation to the series.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 5, 2005

    A nice visit with old friends, but disappointing overall

    Once again, Gabaldon spends far too much time in the minutia of the lives of Jamie, Claire, Brianna, Roger, and their friends and family and far too little on telling the actual story. I loved this series up until 'Fiery Cross', but in that book and this one it's become apparent that she's fallen in love with the characters too much to let the story play itself out to an inevitable conclusion, so we're left with 700 pages of filler to 250 of plot. 'A Breath of Snow and Ashes' is worth reading if you're a committed Gabaldon fan, but not if you're expecting a book along the lines of 'Outlander', 'Dragonfly in Amber', or 'Voyager'.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 4, 2005

    Oh how good it was.

    I received and advanced copy of this book and loved it! Historical detail is superb and the love story proves that Gabaldon is a multi-dimensional writer. The last book I loved this much was 'A Year Since Yesterday' by a new author George Zintel. Books like these make shutting the television off a great decision. Get them both!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 7, 2012

    This book is refreshing after finishing her last novel "the

    This book is refreshing after finishing her last novel "the fiery cross". It took me a while to finish that one, it was just so drawn out, with no real action to speak of. This one is exhilarating from the start, i could barely put it down. It ties up many loose ends, and continues to make you wish there was love like Jamie and Claires somewhere in this world. Out of the series i'd say that this is my second favorite after the original. Loved it!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 28, 2012

    Awesome

    Love this series

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 25, 2012

    Love

    Love

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  • Posted April 9, 2012

    Awesome book. Need to read the series

    I have read all the books in the series. I can't hardly put the book down when I start reading. Waiting for the next book to come out. She has a way of making you feel like you know the characters and you feel the experience.

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  • Posted March 15, 2012

    Excellent!

    This book is a fascinating glimpse of what life was like around the time of the American Revolution. I don't remember learning in History class that the Revolution was started by people who were considered troublemakers. It's a beautiful reminder of the strong and courageous people who stood up for what they believed in. A more fun history lesson too!
    Gabaldon's gives her characters so much depth. I especially like that she allows the children to develop and speak at the proper ages. It's uncommon for authors to do that. (They usually have young children speaking in complete, understandable sentences.) I've really been enjoying this series.

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