Rating: 
Summary: Resonanting with the times
Review: Like the time of its historical placement, much of this volume reposes in the calm skies and woodlands of the sanctuary of the Ridge. This is the part of the book that entrances me the most -- rich with daily details of life on the boundary between the past and the future, the unspoiled land, and the coming of European civilization and most of all, the coming of war. Diana Gabaldon evokes the first thunderheads on the horizon of a rebellion that is not so far in the future. While this book does not leap from plot precipice to plot precipice like her previous ones do, and is a gentler book for that, I found it far more compelling and absorbing in terms of character and context than the pot-boiling and tension-ridden plot lines of her previous books. The second half takes off with breathless danger and will keep the attention of the most action-hungry amongst her readers. I have been reading her since the first one appeared in my book club many years ago, and waited with bated (do you like that spelling?) breath for each to come out. I find this one the most fulfilling, the most absorbing, grounded in reality, and the most anchored in her enchanting, exasperating, and evolving characters and their relationships. Well, done, Diana!
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Summary: Where was the Editor?
Review: I picked this up the first day out, read the first 200 or so pages, but just can't find the motivation to finish. Where was the editor? I've found that if a book doesn't grab me from the beginning, it lingers beside the bed for a few months, until it eventually finds it's way back to my book shelf (where this one will go), or to the used book store. I'll keep this one because I'd like to have a complete set. Well, also complete. I didn't purchase the Companion. When I'd read that there was a star chart or some such nonsense included for Jamie & Claire, well, come on. Maybe I'll have finished Cross by the time the last book is published or at the least, I'll have skimmed through.
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Summary: Bree's Book of Breastfeeding
Review: Being an original Gabaldon cultist, it pains me to say this book was a great disappointment. Gabaldon has dipped more into the romance genre and away from historical fiction with this ode to Brianna's Big Breastfeeding Boobies. Geez! After reading about Bree's breasts and Claire and Jamie's stolen intimate moments over and over again I was bored to tears. The Fiery Cross did not advance the storyline, nor create any more of the famous Galbadon clues I so enjoyed discovering in her previous books of THE OUTLANDER series. Let's hope the next and final book of the series lets the characters go out with a bang, not a whimper!
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, but please stop at some point soon
Review: I have read Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager several times over. Especially Outlander - when I need a lift I pick it up to get my dose of Jamie! Those three books were fantastic and what got me started back into reading romances after many years of giving up on them. Drums of Autumn I could not get thru - I have tried and tried since day one of the book being published and cannot get into it. I did not even care to flip to the end to see what happened. Jamie seemed to have changed and not for the good and I really don't like Brianna. This one was marginally more interesting - though the word tedious also comes to mind. She should have stopped after the third book and when you wanted more about Claire and Jamie, you could go back and read the first three all over again. If you wanted to know what happened to them, how their life together went you could finish their life in you mind the way only you want it to go. The author has got to stop at some point - I personally do not want to read about Jamie being 75 or of Jamie dying. Please don't mess with the perfection of the characters in the first three books!
Rating:
Summary: Like A Visit with Old, Dear Friends
Review: To say I looked forward to this book more than any other in recent memory is an understatement. I was on a strict budget and books were not in it. Especially not hardbacks. But I could not NOT get this book. I started it as soon as I received it and managed to make it last two weeks, savoring every word. Although more snippets of life in the 1770s linked together than a book with a real plot, it was like reading letters from that era instead of a conventional book. Those looking for a book with a real beginning, middle, and end will be disappointed. This simply isn't that kind of a book. Also, those new to the series should not begin with this book -- you will find yourself feeling like a newcomer to a family reunion. While the other four books were all about Jamie and Claire, THE FIERY CROSS is as much about their daughter Brianna and her husband Roger. We visit with characters from other books and meet a few new ones as well. Some of the scenes are nail-bitingly-exciting and I found myself staying up into the wee hours on several occasions to finish a section. And not all threads are neatly tied up at the end -- making readers hope that it won't be nearly FIVE years before we see the next installment. Highly recommended for those familiar with the series. Others will need to read the books in order.
Rating:
Summary: The Fiery Cross is the Best Yet
Review: Diana has another winner in The Fiery Cross! In fact, I didn't think that they could get any better than Outlander but it is the simply the best. The book has all of the essential elements: mystery, suspense, history, romance, humor. She is a wonderful story teller. Many of the characters from the earlier books are brought back and integrated in this story. Purchase this book and you'll have a difficult time putting it down. I had it done in a week!
Rating: 
Summary: Latest book in Outlander series is a GOOD READ.
Review: I read this 974 page book in less than a week. After a lot of anticipation, reading snippets from the outstanding Outlandish Companion, and hearing a funny reading by the author herself at a convention (the part where Claire is looking at Jamie's *mmmphm* in the microscope!); I was impressed by the book. The action picks up right where it leaves off in Drums of Autumn, at the Gathering. A lot of new characters on Fraiser's Ridge and in the community are introduced. Diana doesn't take us right up to where the American Revolution starts. She has said that it will probably take two more books to get through the revolution. She spends a lot of time on precursors, but also on family life for those of you who like Brianna and Roger. Some amazing discoveries are made near the end of the book, but left completely unresolved. This is somewhat disapointing, as it seems to take years to get to the next installment and I dislike the 'to be continued' feeling at the end. This is the only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars. Definately read these books in order.
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Summary: Review has minor spoil but helpful for loyal fans
Review: I have been waiting for this book for nearly five years, and I tried very hard not to build it up in my mind, but it wasn't easy. While the book should please loyal readers, I was expecting the plot to progress to about 1775-76, which it does not. Criticisms first: The reader learns some secrets and gets reintroduced to some old characters, but with a few notable exceptions: Where was Lord John Grey? Where was Willie, Jamie's son? There was a brief mention of both of them, but not enough. Fergus is hardly mentioned, and he can always be counted on to add more spice to any scene. And while I do like the Roger/Brianna/Jemmy plot more than I did before, I'm still not too crazy about them. I do have to say that it is a bit tiring how often Jamie beats death. I found myself almost waiting for the obligatory "Jamie gets sick and almost dies" scene. While it was touching, the ending of that passage seemed anti-climactic and had a touch of the obligatory to it. Praises: On the other hand, though, the scenes between Jamie and Claire never disappoint (even though I do have to mention that there was not a very good sex scene until almost page 500). Their love only seems to grow with time, and I so enjoy seeing the further development of their characters. Reading their conversation makes you feel like they are like old friends and dinner guests that you never want to leave. You can truly tell how much Gabaldon is in love with her characters, and that there is a part of her in each of them. Her descriptions and attention to detail are, as usual, flawless. All in all, as a huge fan of this series, I was not disappointed and almost depressed when it ended. But I think I had built it up a bit too much in my mind, which is my own fault, not Diana Gabaldon's! She's only human, you know, which we forget because she transports us to another world. She has woven an amazing tapestry of skill, intelligence and everlasting love that has yet to be matched.
Rating:
Summary: It Could Have Been Great
Review: I have read everything that Diana has written (well, almost) and I have to say that I would have preferred to save my money. I love her rich detail and characters, but this book had absolutely no plot. I was half way into the book when I started to scratch my head and say "why?". It seems as if it is a filler book. 400 some odd pages and Brianna still isn't married and it is still the same darn day! Anyone who has read the first four books knows without a doubt that Clair and Jamie love one another I felt as if I was being hit over the head with it. I thought maybe the reason for the book would be to get Stephen Bonnett, but alas no. Because I am such a fan I will read the other books, but I will not be standing in line to receive the first one they hand out.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed emotions
Review: First of all, I love the series. I picked up Outlander by chance soon after it came out in paperback when I was looking for a "trash novel" -- something engrossing and historical yet light and disposable. I was sucked in to an amazing degree and I still think Outlander is the best of the series. Not only is the narrative strong and the level of detail amazing, but the characters are compelling and author has a wonderful prose style and does a remarkable job of communicating emotion and motive. Whenever I'm asked for a "good read" I automatically recommend Outlander. I DON'T read "bestsellers" by those corporate factory-production authors, so this is a rare departure for me. As far as The Fiery Cross goes, I will say I'm disappointed. I don't think it was a total waste, and a lot of the things the some of the negative reviewers have complained about (details about daily life, descriptions of Jamie's hair, etc. ;) ) are actually some of the things I enjoy about these books. There are certainly some heart-stopping moments, and the obligatory murder mystery is fairly interesting. The last line made me tear up. Still ... still ... The motivations (for the villans) don't seem to be as crisp as in previous books, mostly because we don't have a clear picture of who they are. Also, the plot just doesn't have the urgency that the rest of the books have. I also spotted a plot complication a MILE away, something that never happened in the previous books, and it's now painfully obvious that when a character "disappears" we'll be sure to see them later on in a "surprising" circumstance. It also doesn't help that I've never been especially fond of Brianna. Can't say why, but she doesn't have the life that most of the other charachters have, and I just don't find her appealing. So, the fact that much of this book, like Drums of Autumn, are about her and Roger makes me skim so I can get back to Claire & Jamie. (Although I DO like wee Roger quite a bit, and sometimes am brought close to tears at all the misery he's put through.) The author is also very good at creating interesting minor characters, but The Fiery Cross lacks any to measure up to Murtagh, Raymond, or Mr. Willoughby. I enjoyed the fact that one of the previous books had significant parts of the story told from Jamie's point of view. As the series progresses, though, we get less and less of Claire's narrative (and less of Jamie, even) and more from Roger & Bree. While the author may have found this switch in perspective necessary to get the story across, I find it increasingly disjointed. Claire's perspective remains the heart of the story, and her voice is strongest by far, with Jamie coming in second. Occasional shifts might not be so bad, but you now have 4 voices telling the same story, sometimes within the same scene, and it's overkill. And ... what happened to Fergus?? He's barely in this book! It's like watching a TV series where one of the main actors has left the show, but comes back for the occasional token scene. It's been clear from the second book that the author is strongly drawn to write about children and motherhood/parenthood. It's a topic that gives a lot of depth to the stories. Yet, I think the theme has been beaten to death by now. It would be OK to be reminded of it, or to have a few shining passages, but I believe the repetition drags down the narrative. Also, as with Drums of Autumn, there are about a million threads that are left dangling, some from several books back. I have a hard time seeing how they will all be tied together in one final book. Technically, I found a host of typos, one of which (a discussion of blood types and heredity) is at a rather crucial point. This is very unusual for a novel from a major press, but I understand from the author's web site that the book was a bit rushed to press (those fall book lists, don'tcha know.) I've met Ms. Gabaldon and read many interviews with her. She's very nice and I greatly admire her talent. This series has sort of grown into a monster, though, and The Fiery Cross feels not exactly like a contractural obligation, but a project she wasn't very enthusiastic about. I hope the next (last?) book will see her with revived energy and more Claire & Jamie in the narrator's chair. I know this sesms like an overwhelmingly negative review, but I AM glad I read it. If you have read all of the series so far, this is still worthwhile, but it's just not quite up to the usual standard.
P.S. One final note -- contrary to what another reviewer said, this book CANNOT be read alone. If you have not read all of the previous books, much of this one will not make sense. This is one series you HAVE to read in order.
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