Diana Gabaldon

A Scottish couple travels back in time to Charleston on the eve of the American revolution and seeks peace and freedom in the mountain wilderness.

Drums of autumn

Bria

I'm getting bored. I loved how descriptive these books were at first, but now I'm exhausted. This book could've been 500-600 pages if you take out all the fluff. And I'm tired of the battles. Like I get it. It's wartime, but I don't have to know every detail.

Scottish soldier Jamie Fraser and his wife, Claire Randall--a twentieth century doctor who has traveled two centuries back in time--find themselves in South Carolina on the eve of the American Revolution, where they must fight to save a young girl.

A Novel

Drums of Autumn (Starz Tie-in Edition)

It only took me a few months...but I finally made my way through this book! Coming in at 1,070 pages, it's officially the longest book I've ever read (Voyager, the previous book in the series, was 1,059). Putting aside this book in favor of reading others, or trying to read two at the same time, was a mistake. Not that it took away from the story, but I just simply lost motivation. (I've learned my lesson.)

No, I'm glad for the cohesive story and strong writing style of Diana Gabaldon; these elements made it possible to pick up right where I left off after neglecting the book for a few weeks at a time, without losing sight of the progress and story so far. 

But, was this book a little long and did it have a tendency to drag in some places? Yes. The beginning was especially slow, at least in the 1700s timeline of Jamie and Claire. I think Gabaldon made a mistake in moving the setting outside of Scotland; the books suffer from it. I understand how and why she set it up that the characters had to leave Scotland, but why can't they come back?! Frontier and pre-Revolutionary War America is, quite frankly, boring compared to the mists and magic of Scotland. 

As long and detailed as this book was, I was very surprised that Brianna's time at Lallybroch constituted such a short section of the novel. Why did the author feel the need to drone on and on about turpentine and fishing and traversing through the wilds of the Carolinas, when we could have had more time to read about Jenny and Ian and Lallybroch and Scotland! I would have loved to have experienced more of Brianna here, but oh well. It clearly wasn't an issue of space. 

The constant switching of POVs didn't work for me. Claire, who the story usually follows in first person, didn't seem as strong and compelling of a character in this book. I do like Roger, and didn't mind his POVs as much, but thought we could have used a little less of Jamie and Brianna. Also, I could have done with a little less blaspheming if I'm being perfectly honest. Did people really curse that much and in that manner in the 1700s? I didn't notice the other books in the series including it so much.

Also, Gabaldon loves to constantly remind us of what the characters look like. It seems like every other sentence includes a remark about their eye color (no matter who it's about) and for Jamie, Brianna and Roger, about their sheer size. I get it. I have a pretty good idea of what they look like by now. This is another example of the book dragging on with unnecessary descriptions and rambling. 

I realize this makes it sound like I didn't like the book, which is not true. There was certainly a lot I didn't like, but the story and plot is still strong. For me personally, I prefer the setting of Scotland and really preferred those scenes to anything else, but I did enjoy reading about the Native Americans. And there were quite a few strong points, without spoiling anything.

However, as I watched the Outlander TV series, I knew most of what was going to happen, which is probably what slowed me down somewhat. The book is, of course, better and I liked that not everything was the same as the TV show. But I've only watched until the fourth season, so from now on I will not be watching before reading. The books only get longer, and I can't have anything else slowing me down and hindering my reading process. 

Overall, this book is a solid 4 stars thanks to the (mostly) strong and compelling characters and the basic plot that finally picked up about halfway through the book. It is worth it to read. 

Amanda

It only took me a few months...but I finally made my way through this book! Coming in at 1,070 pages, it's officially the longest book I've ever read (Voyager, the previous book in the series, was 1,059). Putting aside this book in favor of reading others, or trying to read two at the same time, was a mistake. Not that it took away from the story, but I just simply lost motivation. (I've learned my lesson.)

No, I'm glad for the cohesive story and strong writing style of Diana Gabaldon; these elements made it possible to pick up right where I left off after neglecting the book for a few weeks at a time, without losing sight of the progress and story so far. 

But, was this book a little long and did it have a tendency to drag in some places? Yes. The beginning was especially slow, at least in the 1700s timeline of Jamie and Claire. I think Gabaldon made a mistake in moving the setting outside of Scotland; the books suffer from it. I understand how and why she set it up that the characters had to leave Scotland, but why can't they come back?! Frontier and pre-Revolutionary War America is, quite frankly, boring compared to the mists and magic of Scotland. 

As long and detailed as this book was, I was very surprised that Brianna's time at Lallybroch constituted such a short section of the novel. Why did the author feel the need to drone on and on about turpentine and fishing and traversing through the wilds of the Carolinas, when we could have had more time to read about Jenny and Ian and Lallybroch and Scotland! I would have loved to have experienced more of Brianna here, but oh well. It clearly wasn't an issue of space. 

The constant switching of POVs didn't work for me. Claire, who the story usually follows in first person, didn't seem as strong and compelling of a character in this book. I do like Roger, and didn't mind his POVs as much, but thought we could have used a little less of Jamie and Brianna. Also, I could have done with a little less blaspheming if I'm being perfectly honest. Did people really curse that much and in that manner in the 1700s? I didn't notice the other books in the series including it so much.

Also, Gabaldon loves to constantly remind us of what the characters look like. It seems like every other sentence includes a remark about their eye color (no matter who it's about) and for Jamie, Brianna and Roger, about their sheer size. I get it. I have a pretty good idea of what they look like by now. This is another example of the book dragging on with unnecessary descriptions and rambling. 

I realize this makes it sound like I didn't like the book, which is not true. There was certainly a lot I didn't like, but the story and plot is still strong. For me personally, I prefer the setting of Scotland and really preferred those scenes to anything else, but I did enjoy reading about the Native Americans. And there were quite a few strong points, without spoiling anything.

However, as I watched the Outlander TV series, I knew most of what was going to happen, which is probably what slowed me down somewhat. The book is, of course, better and I liked that not everything was the same as the TV show. But I've only watched until the fourth season, so from now on I will not be watching before reading. The books only get longer, and I can't have anything else slowing me down and hindering my reading process. 

Overall, this book is a solid 4 stars thanks to the (mostly) strong and compelling characters and the basic plot that finally picked up about halfway through the book. It is worth it to read. 

Drums of Autumn

Jasmine

What can I say when words fail to express all the emotions I'm feeling? That ending gets me everytime it's such a huge moment after everything they've been through. Book 4 is really the start of a new chapter for every single character and there is so much that happens that creates a lasting effect for every single book that follows it. These books will always be my favorite and that's because I've never felt closer and more invested in any characters than I do here. Outlander is the reason I started reading and just for that alone, it has a huge place in my heart and it really has only gotten stronger over the years because I think about the struggles and love between these incredible fictional characters way more than is healthy haha. They are forever in my mind and I love every time I get a chance to dive back into these books because it's truly a new experience everytime!!

Good book, but all the outlander novels are too long. I'm burned out on the story line

Caroline Piephoff

Annabella

What a ride it was. (As usual, though, a bit of info trimming wouldn't hurt.)

Vilde

Jaclyn

I love this one so much!!! I LOVED ALL THE FAMILY DOMESTIC HAPPY MOMENTS!! Such amazing and beautiful moments in this one, the drama of it all, soo good!! I’m completely addicted the books and the new layer it’s added to Diana’s world!!

Flavia Louise

3 stars
Didn't really like the story in this one too much even though I appreciated the motives a lot.

Alexa Jade

actual rating: 4.5 stars. 

I loved this so damn much and am so deeply disappointed in how this book was handled in the show. there is so much great content jam packed in this book that they failed to include in the show. what a read.

Shelby Goodwin

** spoiler alert **
           I wanna say 5 just because I love this series and its author SO MUCH but I can really only say 4 stars. It would just feel dishonest to give it a full 5 even though it did get off to a wonderful start and it ended surprisingly well, but this one was much more of a trudge than the previous installments. The middle chapters were painfully sloooow and I did feel that several of the plotlines felt familiar to those we have seen in the previous books...so that annoyed me a bit. 

To be specific, here are a few plotlines that made a reprise in Drums of Autumn:

-Young girl is brutally raped, Claire and Jamie are tasked with helping her through it, i.e. consider abortion, finding a suitable husband, etc. Very reminiscent of Mary's plight in Dragonfly in Amber.

-Girl gets pregnant, should she be sent back through the stones?? Who will be assigned the child's "true" father?? Made me think simultaneously of Mary AND Claire's being married to a Randall who must assume the role of "father" for a child that does not biologically belong to them.

-Roger's whole contemplation of true fatherhood after learning of Bonnet's raping Brianna reminded me of the Frank-or-Jamie paternal role dilemma pervading much of Voyager once Brianna is aware of her true parentage. 

I am slightly frustrated that Gabaldon chose to revisit domestic-oriented plotlines in this largely historical fiction book rather than get to what I am really interested in and that is the fantasy/science fiction aspects of this series. Maybe in the grand scheme of things I will grow to understand her reasoning. I still feel that she is a master of blending genres and of course I will be continuing on with the series, but I can say with certainty that this was my least favorite so far.

Amanda Valentin

I loved this book! This is right behind the first Outlander book for me!

Maria

ох диана гэблдон, графоманская вы наша

бывают люди, про которых говорят "так любит слушать свой голос, что не затыкается". так вот диана гэблдон, кажется, очень любит смотреть, как из под её руки выходят написанные буквы. другого объяснения этой продолжающейся серии, где в каждой книге 1000 страниц, у меня нет. 

каждую книгу можно было бы урезать вдвое без потери сюжетных поворотов - что и делают создатели сериала. потому что в ней огромное число историй, которые не несут никакой смысловой нагрузки вообще. и нет, это даже не секс! это, например, занимательная история о том, как джейми пошел на охоту, неудачно прыгнул и повредил спину. и лежал в снегу. а клэр его нашла, построила вокруг него шалашик, и они 3 дня пролежали там вместе, пока спина не прошла. и пошли домой! всё, больше ничего не произошло! а это, меж тем, целая глава!

в общем, повторюсь, что аплодирую стоя сценаристам, которые из этого адового месива умудряются делать логичную историю, в которой и драма, и саспенс, и клиффхэнгеры в конце эпизодов. поразительное мастерство.

(не знаю, буду ли читать следующую книгу - я читаю параллельно с сезоном. так что как следующий выйдет, так посмотрим)

Kaitee Tredway

No, YOU stayed awake until 5:52 in the morning to finish this book.

Elena Enns

Wonderful addition to the series. While occasionally the character of Brianna annoyed me, I quite liked this part of the story and am looking forward to reading more

My only criticism has nothing to do with the book or the author and everything to do with the fact that Bree drives me UP THE WALL throughout most of the book. I guess it's a testament to DG's writing and wonderful character development... but oh my stars, that girl makes me want to pull out my hair!!

b.andherbooks

Another 900 page tome of rollicking time travel adventure, but this time focusing on family and fatherhood. I often felt like I was reading "Little House in the Big Woods," but still loved being in Jamie and Claire's world. I'm still not sure how I feel about Brianna, but enjoyed falling in love with her (and getting angry with her) along with Roger. I'm also seeing a lot of parallels in this new generation, especially between Jamie and Brianna. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Chantale

This one wasn't one of my favourites in the series but I did enjoy it.

Lisette Wijkhuijs

Was a nice book, but it drags on quite slowly. I liked the story of Brianna. However, why can't people communicate!! that would solve so much!

Geneviève Rouleau

A good book, although the first third was soooo long. The rest was full of action and very good, but still a 3.5⭐ for me.

Roos Kuijper 

Ik was een beetje teleurgesteld in dit boek. De eerste drie boeken in de Outlander serie heb ik verslonden. Boek 2 en 3 had ik beide binnen een week uit (beide rond de 1000 pagina’s) maar over dit boek heb ik ruim een maand gedaan. Pas na 50% kwam er echt actie in het boek voor, ik had echt een momentje van “hé hé dat werd tijd”. Daarvoor gebeurde er ook wel veel, maar ergens vond ik dat er ook niks gebeurde. Het kabbelde maar een beetje voort. Van 50 tot 75 procent gebeurde er echt heel veel en werd ik eindelijk echt het verhaal in gezogen. En daarna was ik het weer een beetje kwijt. Ik vond het ook een beetje voorspelbaar worden, jammer genoeg. Er waren nog wel wat punten die mij verraste maar voor het grootste gedeelte vond ik het toch voorspelbaar.

De volledige recensie kan je hier vinden:
http://sterrenboek.wordpress.com/2015...

Manon van Heumen

This book was so amazing, I loved it so much.

Lauren James

4.5 stars!

I loved book 4! Roger and Brianna were my favorite in this one! I was sooo invested in their story! 
However, is every book going to have a rape scene?! What the heck? It would have been a 5 star but I think having a rape scene in every book is being overplayed by now.

Drums of autumn

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