Rating: 
Summary: Don't get too excited about number 4
Review: Firstly, I loved Diana's other books, hero-worshipped Jamie (like everyone else) but...I am sooo bored with this book. I take it to bed at night, and after about 2 pages am asleep, it has now taken me about 3 months and I'm only a quarter of the way through, and I am only reading the rest in the hope that it may improve. I feel Claire & Jamie's relationship has been dragged out to the bitter end, and to be quite honest, I don't think I'd be very upset if a wild Grizzly bear broke in and killed them both (it would be a bit more exciting). Who is interested in the sex life of two people around 50 years old, settled & happily married! Boring.
Rating:
Summary: Patched Together
Review: This book, as well as the end of Drums of Autumn, has a decidedly taped-together feel. Ms. Gabaldon has said, with some pride, in various interviews, that she never uses an outline or flow chart to make a "big picture" of her plot. Apparently, she writes various chapters as they occur to her and then, at the end, puts them in some sort of order. This approach, which worked pretty well in the first 3 books, has now produced some very mediocre stuff.Fiery Cross is admittedly a "bridge book" between the first 4 novels and the final one. My bet is that Ms. Gabaldon knows exactly what will be in the last book and chose a few segments to put out as "cliff hangers" in the end of Fiery Cross. Then, she filled in the first 2/3 of the book with the results of her research, adding vignettes of daily life and a few tidbits of the storyline to keep readers going. The result is a meandering book with very little forward motion. Parts of it are painfully drawn out and add very, very little. Please rethink your approach, Ms. Gabaldon. We love to read about Jamie and Claire and will indeed read practically anything (even Fiery Cross) to get it. But don't we deserve better, after waiting so long?
Rating:
Summary: Where was her editor?
Review: I too have nothing to say that hasn't been said before, I am hoping that Ms. Gabaldon will tune into these reviews and get the point that even the truest of fans can become tired of the same old thing. This book was so boring that I went out and bought the audio book just so I could finish it (I find listening sometimes easier than reading). I am not sure how she made Claire and Jamie so uninteresting - but she did. Ms. Gabaldon, please make the next book half as long as The Fiery Cross and re-read your first book and give us fans what we know and love.
Rating: 
Summary: My favorite of the series, since Outlander
Review: After a slightly slow start, this book is full of rich detail and wonderful stories! Like Claire and Jamie, Ms. Gabaldon matures, and gives us some of her best writing yet! I loved the extensive depictions of rural colonial life, and especially the domestic focus. I wouldn't want to miss a bit of this book, and I'm thankful to the editors for including every page! In the Fiery Cross, Ms. Gabaldon gives us a chance to see the Fraser family in their far from dull daily existance in the unsettled times leading up to the coming war. It will be a hard wait to the final climax!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Follow-up and Set-Up for future books.
Review: I would just like to say that, although this book isn't my favorite of the series, I still loved it. If you love Jamie and Claire and their family and adventures...don't be discouraged by all the other negative reviews.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing book
Review: I also am an avid fan of Outlander and the next two books. This book was a bore. I forced myself to finish it, because I kept expecting something to happen. Nothing did. The plot could be summarized in about three paragraphs, and frankly, the only thing that kept me interested is my personal fantasies about Jamie. I expected much more.
Rating:
Summary: I waited for this???
Review: I couldn't wait to get this book. I preordered it and lept in excitement when it came in the mail. Then I started to read it. It is hopelessly boring, slow, and uninteresting, to say the least. I have read all the other books in the series and this one doesn't compare. What happened, Diana?! I definitely won't be reading the next one if it's anything like this. I want my old Jamie back with a dynamic Claire. Send Brianna through the stones and lose her forever along with Jemmy.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: I looked for this book every time I went to a bookstore. I was secretly disappointed with myself for enjoying the first four of the series, but I was intrigued by the history presented; although, now I'm beginning to wonder if the history has been fading all through the progressive series and I was too dazzled to notice. I thought that the story ended up being a long series of sexual encounters strung lightly together by episodic and haphazard non-sexual activity. And the non-sexual encounters didn't really have much relevance except to introduce a character who either disappeared shortly after or stuck around for no apparent reason. Were the incidental plotlines simply place holders to keep the sexual encounters from running on and on and on and into one another? A decent reading experience presents to me a group of people in which I have an interest; I want to know what they do, why they do it and how what they do affects subsequent lives--theirs and/or others. I didn't get that from this book. I want the historical context: the backdrop of real history with some insight. I don't really care about how many times a week people in pre-Revolutionary America had sex or how many ways. Give me historical activity and make it interesting by giving me characters living through it. Let's forget this one and get on to a good book.
Rating:
Summary: In a word, BORING.
Review: I waited with eager anticipation the arrival of this book on the day of its release, like I've waited for no book previously. I couldn't wait to dig in. After reading Outlander, which could arguably be the best book I've ever read (and I've read tons), then the other 3 which were great in their own right, I had expected nothing short of greatness from The Fiery Cross. Boy, was I sorely disappointed. Was there an editor reviewing this tomb? I really can't believe it was published. It took me 6 weeks to plow thru the 979 pages and until the end I was still waiting for a plot. It had a ton of mini subplots but put together all you get is day-to-day life on Fraser's Ridge. Where's the adventure, the romance, the growth of characterization? I'm giving this 2 stars because it was good to be among the Fraser's & MacKenzie's again, and because Diana is still a creative writer.
Rating:
Summary: time to go...
Review: ...back thru the stones. this had to be the most boring/irritating book in the series. where was the plot?? mildly interesting characters came and went, small hints of plots peaked through... and then faded into exhausting detail about -- gosh, i can't even remember. i slogged through it anyway -- in the last 100 pages things began to develope into a vaguely plot-like situation, but, alas, it was too little, too late. could there be a more annoying character than brianna? and if i read one more word about claire's hair "floating about her like a cloud" i am going to scream. hopefully wimpy roger will take the perpetually lactating brianna and son jemmy (and his dirty clout) back through the stones. the saddest thing about this book is that you really do stop caring about the characters, and just wish they would go away.
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