The Fiery Cross - Diana Gabaldon (audio)

You should all be astounded and impressed. Five books into the Outlander series, I've officially listened to 193 audio discs full of time travel, romance, violence, sex, hot guys in kilts, and historical drama. I have to admit, the delineation between one Outlander book from another is starting to become a bit blurred. I feel I've always known these people, but I haven't a clue where one book left off and the other started. As I sit here and stare at the screen and damn myself for not keeping notes, I ask the same question I always ask after finishing one of these mammoth audios. How do you summarize this much information?

In order to keep you engaged in this post, I can't possibly sum up the first four books succinctly. Here are my reviews of Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager and Drums of Autumn. Spoilers are everywhere. I try to hide away a few critical nuggets, but plots developed in one book are critical to the next, so I apologize in advance. If you don't think you will have a snowball's chance in hell of getting through these tomes, read on. If you think you will read them someday, chances are, once you get 193 discs into it (or the page equivalent), you won't remember it anyway!

Claire, Jamie, Brianna, Roger and baby Jeremiah are living happily on Fraser's Ridge in North Carolina, a plot of land granted to them by the British crown in 1770. They are making a comfortable community for themselves and their Highland friends, settling the land and establishing viable goods with which to trade and support themselves. With the land grant, however, comes one minor hitch. If ever the crown needs an active military to squash rebels (called Regulators), they must respond in kind. And of course, we all know that the Fraser clan is not destined for peace and tranquility. The summons comes, a fiery cross is lit to signal an upcoming war, and the men must go. While the war in this installment is still in the skirmish stage, there is a rumbling of thunder on the horizon, and we are filled with dread, knowing what is coming.

I see this book as a means to an end. We must read it to progress. But with other Outlander books, Gabaldon throws us what I like to refer to as "a bone". Each book until now has had an epicenter. Claire and Jamie are reunited after twenty years of being separated by 200 years. Brianna and Roger follow Claire back through time. Brianna finally meets her biological father. We have plenty of action in this book, sure. But no epicenter. A stepping stone to book six is what this is.

While the evil Jack Randall is long since dead, we have found a legitimate replacement in Stephen Bonnet. He pops in now and again, pisses everyone off, rapes, pillages, tries to kill a few people, then leaves. He is a sinister niggle in the back of our minds. We know he will be back. We are entertained with marriages, disease, legends of golden treasure, near death experiences, murder most foul, a lesson in genetics, a discovered diary of another time traveler, an abandoned baby, hangings, birth control ala herbs, sharp-shooting women, hot-blooded men, and alot of creative sexual positions. Jamie would never be in line for Viagra, ladies.

Personally, I'm a tad bit ready for the series to be done. I'm not sure if I really ever want to hear another "aye" or "kin". I have always found that I need some breathing space after I finish one of these audios, and I have one more 48 disc book to go, so it is no shocker that I will not finish this challenge that ends later this month. My goal, where I stand right now, is to finish it by year end. Of course, as soon as it is complete, I will not know what to do with myself and will miss the characters, which have almost become part of my life. Just to demonstrate how endearing these guys can be, I will leave you with the last sentence in The Fiery Cross, uttered by Jamie to Claire:

"When the day shall come that we do part", he said softly, and turned to look at me, "if my last words are not 'I love you', you'll kin it was because I didn't have time."

3 out of 5 stars

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (audio)

If I may be so bold, this is the best installment in the Outlander Series thus far, by a long shot. If you are new to the Outlander Series, let me just start out by saying that there is no grander epic. There is no more satisfying love story, no more intriguing time-travel journey, no hunkier male species, no tale more worthy of your obsession. After Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and now, Voyager, and after a total of 97 discs, the story has consumed me. You might see a hair or two sticking out of the proverbial pages...that is all that is left of me.

At this point, I have to apologize for a few spoilers that will follow. I have found it impossible to even remotely summarize the plot without giving up a few important facts. I save a few juicy twists for you to read, though. Never fear!

Twenty years have passed since Jamie and Claire were together in 1745. Twenty years since Claire escaped back through the magical circle of stones, in order to save the life of her unborn child. It is now 1965, and Claire, with the assistance of her grown daughter Brianna, and the historian Roger Wakefield, have found evidence that Jamie did NOT die at the battle of Culloden as once suspected. They have assumed that time has passed simultaneously between the past and the present, so therefore they must determine if Jamie is still alive in 1765, so that Claire can go back and find him. Through a series of historical clues, they determine he is, and Claire says goodbye to her only child to be reunited with the love of her life. Almost immediately upon their reunion (which I will address in a minute, but was almost more than I could bear), they are thrust yet again in a whirlwind of frantically-paced action and drama.

Jamie has led quite the colorful life in the last twenty years. He has sired a child, and married and separated from a vengeful woman from his past. He has forged friendships with all walks of life, including an alcoholic Chinese criminal with a foot fetish, a gay officer in the British army, and a madame. He has supported himself through various occupations that include smuggling, printing, owning a whorehouse. All of these little facets of his life come collecting their due, and make things a teensy bit hairy for Claire and Jamie to get re-acquainted.

Despite these challenges, Jamie and Claire are as hot for each other twenty years later, and Gabaldon gives us plenty of blush-worthy scenes. When Jamie's nephew, Ian, gets abducted on Jamie's watch, they then embark on overseas adventure to the West Indies to retrieve him. Towards the end, I started likening both Claire and Jamie to cats, and was wondering when their 9 lives will run out. They have more life-threatening injuries and dangerous run-ins with nefarious villains than any two people I've ever read about. Sheesh.

In hindsight, I think I found myself unsettled during Dragonfly in Amber because throughout most of the book, Claire and Jamie were not together, at least in the present tense. Most of the story was Claire reflecting back on the events that led up to her separation from Jamie. It also left me with many unanswered questions, as evidenced a bit of fit-throwing towards the end of my review. I had questions about what happened between Claire and Frank over the twenty years. How Brianna would handle the story of her parentage. Why Claire didn't go back in time, to right before Culloden and save Jamie. Voyager answered these questions quite satisfactorily. Gabaldon gave me reassuring closure on many fronts, that worked like a very strong sedative for my jumpy, twitchy need for the truth.

OK, now back to the reunion, which deems further emoting on my part. When Claire finally discovers that Jamie is alive and well in 1765 and knows where he is, the process that she goes through to get back to Jamie is almost like she is preparing to die. She must get all her affairs in order...she must resign from her job, collect the deed to her home and other critical papers. She also writes a long, heartfelt letter to her daughter, giving her all the advice she would have had to give her in her young adult life. It's a three-hanky situation. But when she actually finds him, at work at his print shop in Edinburgh, when neither of them thought they'd ever see each other again, I lost all semblance of control. Helpful hint to my friends: don't attempt this portion of the book in public!

Even though Gabaldon doesn't drop any bombs on us in the final moments of the book, I am very anxious to continue allowing the story to eat me alive (sadist, aren't I?). I will take a small two or three book break, then I will plunge headlong into Drums of Autumn. Until then...

"Dragonfly in Amber" by Diana Gabaldon (audio)

At this point, it feels like listening to this series has become a career for me. At 33 discs, this second installment of the Outlander Series is by far the longest book I've listened to, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Time travel, romance (and lots of sex to go with it), bloody battles, political turmoil, men in kilts, fellowship of family, and revenge. It doesn't get any better than that, guys! The only downside I see is how the heck I boil down 33 discs, or over 900 pages, into a few short paragraphs that will do it justice.

Before I go further, I will throw out the warning about spoilers. I don't think I can avoid some of them in order to properly review this book. So read at your own peril! I will also assume you know the basic premise of the Outlander series. If not, please refer to my review of Outlander here.

At the end of Outlander, we leave Claire and Jamie in the year 1744, with the knowledge that Claire is pregnant. In the first pages of Dragonfly in Amber, we find ourselves with Claire and her twenty-year-old daughter Brianna in the year 1968. Huh? I thought I'd picked up the wrong book in the series, but all was revealed soon enough. In order to save her own life and the life of her unborn child, Jamie insists that Claire return to the year 1945, back to her first/original husband Frank. Side note: I would've liked to be a fly on the wall to hear how she explained that one! Once Frank dies, twenty years later, Claire decides that she must reveal to Brianna her true parentage. They travel back to Scotland, and with the help of historian Roger Wakefield, attempt to determine the fates of Jamie and his clansmen in the bloody Battle of Culloden, a battle fought soon after Claire left. Claire finds Jamie's grave, and begins to tell her story to Brianna and Roger.

At this point, we flash back to 1744 and spend the next 3o-ish discs reliving the events that led to the Battle of Culloden. Having decided to try to alter history to prevent the deaths of many, Jamie and Claire use their connections in France and Scotland to collect information about the growing political tension and alliances. They throw in a monkey wrench where they can, but worry that nothing they do will make a difference. Attempts are made on both of their lives, Claire gains the reputation of a witch, they have multiple confrontations with the evil Jack Randall, Claire sacrifices her virtue to the King of France to free Jamie from prison...never a dull moment in these people's lives. Through it all, the love between Claire and Jamie remains steadfast, but seriously intense. If they aren't trying to kill each other, they are in the bedroom swinging from the chandeliers. I feel like I've been in bed with them; Gabaldon does not spare us the details.

After Claire tells her story and we are back in 1968, Claire reveals a secret that has been nagging at me since the last book. I will not go into the details, but this time travel plot twist continues to haunt the reader at the end of this book, and I assume will continue to haunt us going forward. And of course, Gabaldon would not be doing her job unless she drops the final bomb on us in the last paragraph. I literally threw up my hands, and with them, my iPod, and screamed "Oh for Pete's sake!".

I am still as besotted with this series as I ever was. I will warn all impatient readers that there are oceans and oceans of detail. I can't fathom what Gabaldon must do to get in the frame of mind to create such a level of minutia. What this accomplishes for the reader, however, is the sensation that you've been there and lived it with them. You know what they eat, how they cook it, how they dress, their customs, and step-by-step details on how a hanged man is drawn and quartered (I'm not kidding). Jamie is as dude-ish as a guy in a kilt can be - fierce in battle but emotional and passionate. Claire continues to be strong-willed and headstrong, intelligent, and willing to do whatever it takes to protect her husband. I can't think of a more compelling love story.

I was quite blown away by the way the book started...how dare she? You are instantly filled with a million questions. Why did Claire have to leave Jamie and come back in the first place? How did Jamie die? Are we sure he died at Culloden? Why can't Claire go back in time again, right before Jamie died, and save him? How will Brianna react to the news of her hidden parentage? I NEED ANSWERS NOW!!!! I found myself nervously twitching throughout the entire flashback, wanting anxiously to get back to 1968. Of course, when I did get back to 1968, I didn't get all my questions answered then, either!

By the way, there are rumors swirling around that Gerard Butler may play Jamie in the upcoming movie. Does anyone out there have better information? I think it could work, although my vote is still for Viggo...but "Gerry" (as the swooning women are calling him) doesn't look half bad.

"Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon (audio)

Well, my estimate was right on target...it took me two and a half weeks to listen to all 28 discs of the first book in the Outlander Series. Whew! What a ride. I've been pondering which category this book would fall under...historical fiction? drama? action? romance? Well, it covers them all folks.

The basic premise is this: After WWII, a combat nurse (Claire) and her husband travel on holiday to Scotland to do a little bonding after a long separation. They stumble upon a miniature Stonehenge-type place, where Claire touches a particular stone and is sucked back in time. To 1743, to be exact. She finds herself in the middle of MacKenzie clan territory, where she meets the dashing (and virile, we find out later!) Jamie Fraser. With Jamie, she faces innumerable dangers and drudgery typical to the era...British soldiers who are hunting Jamie for crimes he did not commit, townspeople that want to hang and burn Claire for suspected witchery, disease and infection, clan leaders with hidden agendas, jealous nubile wenches that want Jamie for their own, the lack of hot baths, etc. The biggest threat, however, is the evil, psychotic Jack Randall (who is actually an ancestor of Claire's husband) who only lives to torture, maim and sodomize anyone that crosses him. Beyond all of this drama, Claire finds the love of her life in Jamie. I'm not sure I could find another book that better portrays such a sweeping, epic love story such as this.

This is a very long book, and the time-traveling scenario initially seemed a bit goofy. There were plenty of reasons for me to walk away from this reading challenge, but I am so glad I did not. The author does an excellent job of using Claire's practical, no-nonsense, ball-busting personality to allow us practical, no-nonsense ball-busting readers to believe in the time travel premise. She is my kinda gal. She doesn't take any crap from anyone, she applies her nursing knowledge to the use of herbs to help heal others, and by the end of the book, the girl starts to leave behind a body count (wolves AND bad guys). Jamie is also quite a treat. He's a man's man, big and strong, but emotionally open and sometimes vulnerable, and has an insane libido. Yeah baby! The writing is pretty close to real-time, so you feel you have lived the last year with these two. Throughout most of the book, you will get your share of Jamie saves Claire, Claire saves Jamie, a couple of times over. But as the book draws to a close, Claire starts to pursue her faith and religion that she lost in her childhood. Serenely, she reaches out for answers to haunting, theological questions relating to Jamie's likely death, her husband who lives in 1945, and what she should do with the knowledge of the future. The writing comes close to poetic.

I feel relieved that I have the whole series in front of me to explore. No waiting (except that I am actually still waiting for the library to deliver the next set of discs!!). If I had to wait for the author to crank out book #2, I would lose my mind. And exploring I will do, as there are I believe a couple hundred more discs to listen to. Also, a note about listening to this book via audio. I had a blast listening to the narrator, Davina Porter. She has a lovely accent, she is spirited and lively. I have a hard time finding enough moments in the day to sit down and read a hard book, and with almost 900 pages, I think this was the way for me to go. Aye, bonny book!