Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: Before anyone is discouraged by the negative reviews here, I hope they will read this one.I don't understand when someone says nothing happens in this book. Granted, the action is subtle in the form of politics and intrigue, however it is still there. We finally get to see the everyday life of these wonderful people as they try to find a place to call their own. They have spent so much of their lives running from one thing to another, not really having a home that this is refreshing. People adore these books because of Diana's amazing ability of bringing characters to life, yet bash this book for the same reasons. When you nurse and have small children, bodily functions are something you have to deal with. One of the most humourous sections is Roger and Bree dealing with potty training Jemmy. There is plenty of action, political intrigue and drama. We travel with Jamie and the militia, find some new characters, deal with almost losing not just one but two of the major characters and see the return of another. Some loose ends are tied up (wondering about the Tory gold and just who was Otter Tooth?), some are still hanging and new ones pop up (who was that with Laoghaire in the arbor and what about Claire's nighttime visitor?). The action is there if you care to read it. It's true this book was split in two, Ms. Gabaldon didn't get as far as she would have liked with it, but it is a wonderful book all the same. I finished it in 2 days and had to reread it almost immediately. It is a slower starting novel than previously, something like Dragonfly in Amber, but still filled with the characters I have grown to love. Read it, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: I Can't Believe I Waited For This
Review: I waited in anticipation for the newest of Diana Gabaldon's books to appear. The Fiery Cross, however, was a huge disappointment. Unlike her previous stories of Jamie and Claire full of romance, action and adventure, this one plods on and on yet seems to go nowhere. Even a skirmish with colonial rebels and quests for gold can't help this storyline. The reader is bogged down with descriptions of colonial medicine and cures and treatments for one ailment or another. I kept reading with the hope that the book would get better but was bitterly disappointed. Ms. Gabaldon's previous books captured the imagination of a great romance and a time gone by and had me wishing the story would never end. This book,however, I was happy to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Warning: style change
Review: Several pros & cons: this is the first book that has material written specifically from someone's point of view other than Clare: Brianna, Roger & a few from Jamie. Very interesting to read the various characters' views. Very long, very detailed book about Colonial life in North Carolina. This is *not* the gripping, turn-the-page-what's-happening-next of the first book. Not inherently bad - but you might be in for a surprise if you were expecting more of the same from the first 4 books. Still leaves us wondering what's going to happen to everyone involved. Unfortunately, it also left me wondering whether or not the next book will be as monumentally huge. I'm more interested in the direct Clare/Jamie/Fraser story, less about day-to-day life in the Colonies. Yes, I want the historical details to make the Fraser story believable, but I don't want to read another book that has Fraser stuff thrown in to make the Colonial history good. Too much repetative "development" of the major characters (Clare, Jamie, Brianna, Roger). But, again Gabaldon shines with her depiction of the many, many other people in the story. They usually all seem distinct and different and interesting (if not "good"). Definately don't buy in hard back.
Rating: 
Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Review: I am so disappointed! I pre-ordered this book and anxiously awaited its arrival on my doorstep. I even carried it around with me for a few days before I started reading it because I wanted it to last as long as possible. Then I listened to "Drums of Autumn" on tape, to refresh my memory, since it had been so long since I had read about Jamie and Claire. However, I absolutely could not finish this book. I tried to read this book on several occassions. I'd put it down and pick it up a week later. Finally, I just gave my beloved copy of Outlander to a friend to read and I was really psyched to get going on Fiery Cross. I read a few more chapters last night and I now know that I will not be able to finish this book. There are sooooo many books out there that I want to read and sooooo little time. I can't waste my time on this book and I'm feeling less guilty by the minute! If a 6th book comes out, then I'll read it, but until then...no way.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: Gone are the adventures that Diana created in her previous stories. The book was way too long, and virtually nothing happened.I quickly grew tired of the lengthy, overly descriptive style of writing Diana used with this book. I still love the characters- Claire and Jaime, but they went nowhere from page 1 on.
Rating:
Summary: Too many plot lines
Review: I really enjoyed all of the previous books in the Outlander series. They were well written with a definite sense of direction on the author's part. I enjoyed all the historical detail provided and truly looked forward to spending more time with Claire, Jamie, Brianna, and Roger. However, Ms. Gabaldon tries to address too many aspects of life in the 18th century American colonies. She constructs too many plot lines and leaves most of them with unanswered questions. Now, I realize that this leaves things open for the next book but I was distinctly unsatisfied when I finished this one. It is a device very similar to the "cliffhanger" scripts that one finds on TV. I don't like those either. Unfortunately, this book has several "cliffhangers." This book tries to go too many places and succeeds only fairly at most. Unanswered questions should be more subtle and there should not be very many of them. Also, unlike the previous books, I did not have much trouble putting the book down to do something else. If you have read the previous books in the series, this is interesting but not fantastic. If you have not read the previous books, you will probably regard this book as a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointingly Self-Indulgent Novel
Review: I have read all five of the "Outlander/Cross Stitch" series, and have been increasingly disappointed by the content since "Voyager" (book three). I went from reading "Outlander" in two days and literally not being able to put it down, to spending almost three months struggling through "The Fiery Cross" waiting for something to happen! Outlander/Cross Stitch was truly unique, and extraordinarily fast paced when compared to the later novels. The last three books have become increasingly self-indulgent, with much of the content, especially in "The Fiery Cross" being of questionable or no relevance to the continuing story. It appears that the author is writing for herself rather than the reader of the series, and in this novel is experimenting with a story concerned with the minutae(and nothing seems too minute) of family life. Some passages in the book also give the impression that they are included just because the writer has never written about that topic before and wishes to do so, ie the autopsy scene, the murderous/abused wife, the bear hunt. In my opinion, this has been a growing theme that started in "Voyager" with the questionable plot inclusion of the serial killer from Scotland. In the Fiery Cross. even the fact that 3/4 of the main characters are time travellers from the 20th century appears to be forgotten in the majority of the book. Another issue I had with this novel is that some of the scenes seem to be gratuitous for the sake of it. Outlander was brutal in places, but didn't seem out of place. Parts of the Fiery Cross seem "nasty" just for the sake of it. I do think it is sad that such an excellent idea has fizzled out in this series. I believe that the series should have been a triology, or if continued, "The Drums of Autumn" and "The Fiery Cross" could have easily been amalgamated into one book of about 600 pages. The reason I have given the book two stars rather than one is that it is technically well written. I also feel the lack of "story" in this novel is partly due to that bane of good novels "the publishing contract". I hope that the last book in the series is an improvement, but at this stage I am not actually keen to read it, and would much rather re-read "Outlander".
Rating: 
Summary: The wonderful, detailed story!!!
Review: It was wonderful to be with Jamie and Claire again. Less action and upheaval, but more real life. Diana Gabaldon continues to weave a wonderful story full of detail. All of her characters come and go in the Frasers' life..........some to be heard from again. I was very much intrigued by the approaching Revolutionary War and what was happening in our country before war was actually declared. Being a native of North Carolina the details of happenings in my state were right on the money. The love story between Jamie and Claire developed much depth with the arrival of Brianna and Roger and continues now with the building of the extended family or clan on Fraser's Ridge. I attend the Grandfather's Mountain Highland Games which are held in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Every year we begin the games with the Touchlight Ceremony and the Calling of the Clans. The event held by Jamie Fraser was much the same.
All in all this was one of my favorite books. A real in-depth story of a long-term relationship between two people, their love and their family.
Rating:
Summary: Fiery Cross' flames a bit weak.
Review: Don't get me wrong, I love Diana Gabaldon and all her works, but compared to her other four books, this one didn't have nearly the amount of action the others did. I believe there were supposed to be six books originally, but because this one did much more set-up than the others, I heard she's going to do seven. Her usual attention to detail is fascinating, but I do wish more would have happened throughout the book. Oh, don't worry about me, I'm still hooked for life, and plan to read and re-read these books for a LONG time.
Rating:
Summary: I waited so long for this???
Review: The first four books in the series were so gripping, so vivid and well written, so wonderfully spun, that I could do little else but read them for the few months it took me to get through them all. Then I sat on the edge of my seat, waiting for The Fiery Cross. I bought the book in November, and have finally given up on it. Put it away. I'm tremendously disappointed. I kept trying to love it. Or even to like it. Or to care about at least one of the characters...Perhaps when the next one is due I will pick it up and drag myself through the last third, just so I'll be able to give Diana Gabaldon and the characters another shot...but maybe I'm done with the series (how sad)
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