Rating: 
Summary: The Continuing Saga Introduces Another Set of Travelers...
Review: Although I loved this fourth book, I also was a tiny, and I mean tiny, lol, bit disapointed that we didn't get to see much of Claire and Jamie's life in the New World as this one focused mainly on their daughter Brianna.
In the last book 'Voyager', Claire and Jamie are cast ashore in the Carolinas with nowhere to go and with no hope of returning to a unstable Scotland. 'Drums of Autumn' picks up right where it left off and we see them safely to the Colony of Cape Fear, North Carolina, where other exiled Jackobite Scot Highlanders settled.
Here they make a new life where the rivers run clear and the rolling hills remind them of home and the fertile valleys give them hope. Jamie becomes disheartened when the British Crown threatens everyone's peace and the Americans begin to rile over taxes and control of their new home.
Striving to get away from government control, Jamie takes Claire farther into the wilderness and into the mountains; at last finding a precarious foothold. He is convinced that war cannot invade into their mountain sanctuary.
History spares no one and Brianna, the daughter Claire and Jamie have left in the future finds a terrifying piece of information from the past that throws a black shadow over her peace of mind. Her mother and a father are in danger.
Not wanting to sit back while history completes itself, Brianna follows her mother into the past to change history and finds herself flung into a foreign world that was once her own. But now Brianna finds her own life in danger and must make a decision so heartbreaking that it will tear their fragile family apart.
Love, pain, treachery and tragedy bring this story to life. I liked Brianna alot, but was a little bit disapointed that the entire book seemed focused on her travels(which by the way I thought was fascinating)and her life.
We get to see Claire again and brave Jamie, but only briefly here and there.
Jamie has changed a little in this book, gotten older and matured. He is very sweet, but now is wary of people and overly protective. Jamie is the 'perfect man', if a man can get that perfect, lol.
Claire also has matured and shown us how she has changed in little ways. I was happy to see mother and daughter back together again, it made the story more complete.
I am so looking forward to the fifth book titled 'The Fiery Cross' and how the Revolution affects their lives...
This is a saga that will become a classic... 1. Outlander 2. Dragonfly in Amber 3. Voyager 4. Drums of Autumn 5. The Fiery Cross Tracy Talley~@
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely not as good as the 1st three
Review: Ostensibly, "Drums of Autumn" is about reunions with fathers. Gabaldon, however, seems to meander about quite a bit before she remembers her theme. Although I didn't do an exact count, I agree with the reviewer who commented that the first 500 pages are terrible. "Drums" begins with Jamie and Claire attending the execution of one of Jamie's fellow inmates. Jamie and Claire, plus entourage, are heading to a Scottish settlement in Wilmington, North Carolina, where his aunt owns a plantation. The first half of the book mostly involves the mishaps on their journey north, life at the aunt's plantation, Jamie's debate over whether to strike out on his own or accept his aunt's generous offer, an adventure-filled trip to the wilderness, and ultimately, getting settled in a home in the new world. While I don't want to suggest that all these events are mundane--this is Jamie and Claire Fraser we're talking about, after all--the events are very episodic. Gabaldon lacks any kind of overriding theme to organize the plot. In "Outlander," we had Claire's ultimate decision about whether to return to her 20th century life. In "Dragonfly in Amber," we had their attempt to prevent Culloden. In "Voyager," we first had Claire's search for records of what happened to Jamie, and later the search and rescue of Jamie's nephew Ian. Also missing in "Drums" is a good villain. With the deaths of Jack Randall and Geillis Duncan, Gabaldon has to create a new bad guy or two. She does introduce her villains fairly early on--only their true malevolence does not become apparent until much later. In other words, unlike the way the threat of Jack Randall loomed in "Outlander," the threat of these villains seems to disappear when they initially disappear from the plot. About halfway through "Drums," the Frasers' daughter, Brianna, who remains in the 20th century, discovers something about her parents' fate and decides to travel to the past to warn them. Her boyfriend, Roger Wakefield, follows her. Once Brianna and Roger wind up in the past, the plot tends to liven up, and the direction of the book also begins to make sense. Without revealing certain plot twists, I will note that certain events should create a sense of urgency to get certain issues resolved--and yet Gabaldon does not really leave the reader that worried about the potential outcomes. Gabaldon does manage a few nice little plot twists at the end, so keep going. Suffice to say that Roger has an interesting encounter with an ancestor, and Frank's influence comes into play. Despite my tepid praise for this book, as historical romances go, it's still quite good--just not as good as the first three. One aspect that I appreciate about Gabaldon's books is that she does not overly romanticize the hardships and harsh living conditions of the past. She also deftly avoids overly sentimentalizing certain situations or going for the cliche. For instance, when Brianna meets her real father, at long last, after traveling through time and across the ocean, she first seems him behind a pub, urinating--not in some idealized encounter. I'm crossing my fingers that "The Fiery Cross" is better, but I'm not optimistic.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: Though Outlander is still my favorite of the series, the fourth book of the story of Jamie and Claire isn't bad. There's quite a few of the normal mishaps, adventures and debacles that the Frasers always seem to find themselves in the midst of and that make the book a page-turner. One complaint, though: are the Fraser women forever doomed to endure their pregnancies and birth of their children without their husbands? Roger's long absence was distressing. Also, the story of the Englishmen Murchison and Hodgepile seemed less than fully developed and didn't really contribute to the overall story. It could have been left out. Still, if you're a fan of the Outlander books, this book is a great continuation of the story.
Rating:
Summary: A new country, a new couple...new beginnings.
Review: The fourth book in the Outlander series begins in 1769, as our favorite middle-aged couple, Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser and his time-traveling bride Claire, begin a new life in the mountain wilderness of North Carolina. Having traveled across the Atlantic, with a brief stop in the Caribbean, the two are ready to settle down and make a home of their own. Meanwhile two hundred years back in the future, their daughter, Brianna, continues to frustrate her historian boyfriend, Roger, by refusing his marriage proposal. Both Roger and Brianna are troubled by a newspaper clipping that spells disaster for her parents, and each secretly chooses to handle the news in their own way. This installment of the Outlander saga takes some of the focus off of Jamie and Claire, and focuses more on Brianna and Roger, who aren't all that interesting at first glance. We also meet some old friends and new enemies. Unfortunately, it took almost 400 pages before I really got into this book, unlike the earlier three. Of course, the good news is that I still had over 600 pages of excellent reading that I couldn't put down! The last few pages were the best. Now I am ready to dive into the fifth Outlander book, The Fiery Cross.
Rating: 
Summary: DO NOT READ BEVERLEY STRONG'S REVIEW...
Review: It is dated February 2002. With no doubt the best of intentions, Beverley has managed to give away the entire plot!! Why has this review been given 14 helpful votes?!! I do not understand.
Rating:
Summary: Still essential reading...
Review: I love the Outlander series and I devoured this book as quickly as the others. But, for the first time, I felt that the story was running out of steam. The novel introduces the time travel thing again, this time it is Roger and Brianna who make the leap into the Eighteenth Century to hunt for Jamie and Claire. This is where the book was a real cliffhanger as the reader cannot wait to read the reunion between Jamie and Brianna. It then stumbles for the last third waiting for its resolution. I will not say why since anyone who has not read the book would kill me! I think it is right that the focus has now moved on to Brianna and Roger but their love story has not been as well fleshed out as that of Jamie and Claire. However, if you love the Outlander books, you are not gonna care a hoot - you will love this and will not be able to put it down until it is over.
Rating: 
Summary: The final chapter written just as it should be.
Review: This is the fourth book in a story that begins when our protagonist enters a circle of stones and falls two hundred years into the past. All four books are incredible, but this fourth one is a mesmerizing, can't-put-down book. It's amazing how Diana Gabaldon sews all of the books together. Having fallen two hundred years into the past, Claire Randall falls in love, deeply, with a Scottish Highlander by the name of Jamie Fraser. Forced to make an agonizing choice to stay in the past or return to her husband, the decision is finally made for her when Scotland goes to war with England, and she escapes back through the stones, narrowly escaping death, leaving her lover/husband behind to face a certain death. Three years have passed since Claire first fell into the past,but she knows she must go, for she is pregnant. Drums of Autumn begins in her present time, where she meets historian Roger Wakefield. Knowing Jamie Fraser to have died on the battlefield in Scotland, she now comes with her grown daughter Brianna to Mr. Wakefield for some research on what happened to some of the rest of the folks she knew and loved back "then". She had returned to her husband Frank in present day time, but he has since died. They had raised Brianna together, with Frank thinking Claire delusional every time she tried to tell him her story. Now with Brianna grown and Frank dead, Claire, a physician, asks Roger Wakefield to research a list of people she had known in the past, claiming just curiosity of Scottish history. Anxious to know what happened to her many friends and in-laws, she is shocked to know how many, almost all, died on the battlefield, but an even more shocking discovery leads her to tell Briana and Roger Wakefield the whole story. Now Claire must make a wrenching decision, and what she does now will alter Brianna's future forever, and change Claire's life in a way she never thought possible. I could not put this book down. I finished it in the care, and it was so good that I didn't notice until after we'd driven off we had not been stopped at a stoplight, but by the police! (Routine check). This author is gifted, this book and the entire series of books is a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I found "Drums" quite disappointing in the context of the first books. The plotline has meandered to a slow trickle in places. I have mentioned in my reviews for "Voyager" and "The Fiery Cross" that I have found Diana Galbadon's writing style in her later novels very self-indulgent, and "Drums" had a number of sub-plots that didn't seem to bear relevance to the main story. The character of Brianna doesn't quite gel with me, Diana Galbadon mentioned in her "companion" to the novels (Through the Stones) that she found Brianna a "hard nut to crack" character-wise and I think this shows in the novel - the psyche of this character doesn't come across, and it is difficult to feel sympathy or affection for her. Roger's character is also a little difficult to warm to, compared to those of say Young Ian and Fergus. All in all - stick with the first three books!
Rating:
Summary: Drums of Autumn
Review: Drums of Autumn tells the next chapter of the Jamie and Claire love story, but it isn't the only love story; Drums of Autumn tells of Brianna Fraser and Roger Wakefield love story. Interwoven with historical facts, careful research, and great writing, Drums of Autumn is the perfect followup of Voyager.
Rating:
Summary: Even more fascinating
Review: Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall are reunited and are carving out a new life for themselves in North Carolina. They build a small cabin with the help of Ian,Jamie's nephew and gain the friendship of a group of Indians.Their daughter,Brianna has found the secret of time travelling through the stones and sets out to find Claire and Jamie,the father she has never met.She is followed by her would be lover,Roger Wakefield who catches up with her in the New World where their love is finally consumated.After Roger leaves to find the gems which will enable them to return to their own time,Brianna is raped by Stephen Bonnet,the pirate who was befriended by Claire and Jamie and who ultimately betrayed them.Because of huge misunderstandings,Jamie sells Roger into slavery with the Mohawk Indians and when Claire and Jamie set out to rescue him,Jamie's nephew Ian is held as a permanent replacement for Roger.In the meantime,Brianna gives birth to a son,not knowing whether he is Rogers or the result of the rape by Stephen Bonnet. Now for No.5
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