Rating: 
Summary: where was the editor?
Review: This book was rushed into print, or so I'm told. Because it was rushed into print (after four years!) we humble readers should overlook terrible errors in spelling and grammar, logical gaps, scenes that trail off into nothingness, and worst of all, the fact that this novel has no dramatic tension and no plot. It reads like a very long accumulation of snippets interspersed with notes from history books. But never mind that, loyal readers _must_ love everything Herself writes. And woe to the reader who dares to raise some concerns.In my opinion, it would have been better to wait another year and have the editor actually work with the manuscript and the author. Is Miss Gabaldon unwilling to accept constructive criticism and direction from her editor? Did her editor buckle under? Something went very wrong, in any case, and it's a shame. Better to stop on a high point than to have the series implode like this. It is true that there is a legion of faithful fans who are unshaken by this disaster (the words 'unconditional love' come to mind reading some of these reviews) but another old saying will make itself felt: you can't fool all the people all the time.
Rating:
Summary: wait for the paperback if you must
Review: I was very disapointed in this book. I loved the first four - could not put them down. However, I had no trouble putting this one down for weeks at a time. I finally finished it hoping that it would get better - it did not. It felt like it was written as an after thought just to fulfill a contract obligation - or to make fans stop clammering for any more books in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: S-L-O-W
Review: Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Outlander series, but this one was probably the slowest starter yet. Twenty or so chapters for one day! Long day! But, still, I loved the story, once they were back on the Ridge, and the ending was wonderful, can't wait for the next installment. It did take me a long time to get through this book, and not only because I have a toddler who tried to color this book for me. It is slow in parts, but a devoted Gabaldon fan will enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: WHO rated this lower than earlier Gabaldons?
Review: I'd waited long enough since "Drums"--I wasn't going to save a few bucks for a later, cheaper paperback, the format in which I read the first four Clare/Jamie books. And will not hesitate to buy the next Gabaldon verra hot, hot as parritch, off the presses, whenever. This book is as strong as the others (I think only "Voyager" could have used editing, but its customer reviews, oddly, are *higher*!)--is it the Scottish landscape and European settings people are fashin' themselves about? I find the history of colonial America, roughly contemporaneous with the Scots history of the first book, equally engaging: setting up a tenant farm as the settlers did to create townships; how people coped without Pampers or 7-11s let alone markets, microwaves, or even in fact currency; Clare's continued work as a healer with what she had at hand, much as she did in the MacKenzie castle.
It kindles other interests, in "native" uses of herbs and in both Celtic history and Native American history (which overlap remarkably).
While I am delighted the story of the Frasers isn't over yet--and "Fiery Cross" has as many page-turning surprises and unsought "adventures" as "Outlander" did (just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...or to stop at a chapter ending....)--I hate to think how long we might have to wait for the followup.
This series (& book) is nothing short of wondrous, with its historical accuracy and its consistent, believable, characters (asking themselves the same questions *we* would, if in similar situations: this is hardly *mindless* entertainment, as *painless* as it is to read).
Highest ranking to Gabaldon, this book, this series. [And as a "recovering English major," professional writer (and editor), and ceaseless/eclectic reader, I have been exposed to a LOT of writing good and bad. It's astonishing and nothing less that DG can produce this *quantity* of material without ever losing sight of quality or of her readers. A hundred stars to her.]
Rating: 
Summary: Will This Ever Get Exciting ???
Review: How could Gabaldon have done this to all of us, her loyal readers? Yes, to be added to Ripley's Believe It Or Not, she has bored me to tears - tears of frustration and disappointment.What would ever make her think that after four marvelous novels we would want to hear again and again and again about her grandson's diapers or her daughter's leaking breasts? For the first time I felt a real lack of concern for what happens to them all. As is often the case, I wanted to jump into the novel to talk to the characters, but this time I wanted to bellow, "DO SOMETHING!" I will continue to recommend Gabaldon's novels to everyone I know, and I look forward to the next novel. However, I pray that the entire novel to come will be as interesting and exciting as merely a few parts of this novel ever was.
Rating:
Summary: beyond dissappointed
Review: This is the first review I have ever done. I was so frustrated and dissappointed with this book, I had to struggle to finish it...just in case there was SOME redeeming bit I might miss. There wasn't. What happened to the basic premise of the series, that of Jamie and Clare?? If D.G. was just using this book as a filler so that she can continue the series and prolong the story, well then she did it. The book drags on and on with MORE than enough informatin about Clare's medical skills and the day to day living of the colonists. This isn't a bad thing, but, almost a 1000 pages of it? It could have been edited into a 300 page book and told the same exact story, with less words. This took 4 years to write? I am still hopeing that her next book in the series will go back to her original style and substance. I also hope it won't take another 4 years. I'd like to see how Jamie and Clare end their story, but not if it takes any more of this BORING filler stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Master wordsmith has fun with readers
Review: Diana Gabaldon fascinates readers with her warm, intelligent perspectives of life in the "olden days". Because she has such a mastery of vocabulary and humour, I couldn't help but wonder whether she was having fun with her readers by her use of the word "girdle" to in the context of a cooking appliance, a griddle, on page 107 of the hardcover version. Imagine seeing the campground gathering with images of campfires, pots, laundry strung on bushes, and a "black girdle" hanging among them! I stopped dead in my tracks and read it again! Reaching for my dictionery, thinking this must be an old English colloquialism, I could find no reference to cooking utensils associated with the word "girdle". The image of a black girdle hanging there in the wilderness just struck me as funny. Moving from snicker to giggle, I convinced myself that she must be having a laugh on her readers. Later in the book she uses the word again, in a similar context. However, even later on she speaks of the griddle she's using to cook on. I found this especially delightful because Gabaldon's books are among the few I've read in which I have not stumbled over a typo or two. This book is very enjoyable reading, continuing the journey of Claire and Jamie which we have been so looking forward to continuing.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful characters....
Review: Diana Gabaldon has created a wonderful novel full of detail and emotion that easily draws the reader into the lives of the Fraiser clan, an amazing array of characters living and surviving in the hills of pre-Revolutionary North Carolina. The characters are so full of life and so well developed that it is easy to fall into their lives through the pages of this novel. Having read the last four of this series made it so familiar, but I think that even had one not read these books, the book would still be good.
The ability of some of the members to travel through time in order to reunite as a family poses many intersting possibilities and concepts. Will those who are time travelers change the future by their presence, by their ideas, by their knowledge of not only history( a coming Revolution) and what is to come, but their knowledge of medical information(disease and infection treatments) etc. Are there others who are in the "wrong time"?
Under what circumstances would you change your future by traveling back to your own time? Would there be a situation that would cause you to leave your current life and abandon your family? What is truly important to each person shows through.
The details of everyday living presents an interesting contrast between all that is necessary to go through each day filled with the knowledge of how easy life in your own time is in comparison. Some of the contrasts that go through your mind, managing diapers and other laundry, preventing infection, innoculations,slaughtering animals, getting from place to place, the mail, clearing land etc.
The conversations dealing with what they dreamed about (driving their cars) and the foods they had a craving for (pizza and beer) were interesting when contrasted with their actual circumstances.
This was an interesting, beautifully painted novel that draws you into the heart of this family, focusing on love, faith, trust and the meaning of family.
Rating:
Summary: damn fine!
Review: ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! I couldnt wait to get my greedy hands on this book! It was nice to see that Jamie and Clare are finally settling down- for now at least ;) Ppl who are complaining about having to read about other characters- other than Jamie or Clare are twits, they are not in another plane of exisitence separate from Jamie or Clare, so deal with it! It's nice to see things form different ppls respectives.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing from Gabaldon
Review: This book might be worth more than one star, but not for this author's capabilities. Gabaldon is excellent when writing action and moving story lines. This book does a good deal of wheel spinning with occassional interesting spurts of action. Her first book, THE OUTLANDER, grabs you right away.... I nearly gave up reading this book several times. Nearly the first 200 pages of (small print) covers one or two long days! Maybe if some of that part of the book gave a quick synopsis of the 4 previous novels, instead of moment by moment bodily functions and every character's individual thoughts, it might have gotten me as interested as the first 4 did. This entire book covers less than 2 years, with very little action. I believe this book would not lose content if condensed to about 300 pages, and a few pounds lighter. I will wait to read reviews of future books before getting any of them for myself, and especially before sending new copies out for gifts. (Unfortunately I gave 3 copies to others that have enjoyed this series.)
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