Outlander Series discussion
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Just Finished ABOSAA-let's discuss!
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Dee, do you really want to know what the second epilogue is alluding to? It's a definite cliffhanger!The people are a printer, Amos, and his assistant, Sampson. They got a note from a subscriber meant to announce the death of certain persons in a fire in December. However, as they didn't have the slugs in that font they put the death date as January. They thought the death date didn't matter since the people were all dead anyway.
The announcement is VERY important.
I really loved ABOSAA. There was so much in it.
I loved seeing the glimpses of their life on the mountain. The familial bonds. Love Germain and Jemmy. I love reading of Jamie's interaction with them.
Malva! That wee besom! And then the deal with her brother. Icky!
Bree meeting William for the first time! Doube gah! The suspense. You can actually picture the scene in your head!
Dee wrote: ":Spoiler Warning: I'm going to talk about what happened in this book so please don't read if you haven't read it yet.Okay so I finished ABOSAA last night and wow this was a good one and mak..."
These will be SPOILERS for everyone who not yet read ALL the books, so even for you. But I'll try to not give anything away.
The 2nd epilogue is about the people who set the types for the article to be printed in the newspaper which Roger and Bree(separately) found: ... with deep regret ... death by fire ... Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire. The article that brought Bree and also Roger back to the 18th century. The epilogue in ABOSAA is there to explain the difference in dates as mentioned in the article - Jan. 21st, 1776 - and of the actual fire on the ridge - Dec. ?, 1776. This left us with another date confusion: the resp. newspaper was from Febr. 13, 1776, which means, it can't very well tell about things that happened ten months later. We've been through this some time ago and this has annoyed me every since I ended ABOSAA.
In Echo DG (tries to) give(s) and explanation, which is not one or no satisfying one - at least for me. It is also told who was responsible for the article being printed. I don't tell you more, go on reading!
To your last question about the complete book: I really loved all of it. Well, Bree being again assaulted by Bonnet.... let's forget about it. I also can understand why so many people thought this book to be the ending of the story: it neatly summed up various threads of the story, as Jocasta-Duncan-Ulysses, the Bugs, the MacKenzies and to a certain extent also Jamie and Claire. I would have been sorry, if it had been the last book and the ending of the series. Having read Echo and the excerpts of book 8, I've got doubts, though.
Dee wrote: ":Spoiler Warning: I'm going to talk about what happened in this book so please don't read if you haven't read it yet.Okay so I finished ABOSAA last night and wow this was a good one and mak..."
This one was my absolute favorite! It was so action-packed and emotional! I was heartbroken when (view spoiler) Oh my gosh I cried buckets!
I read this one about a year ago and I still think about it a lot. I am going start a re-read of the series in January. Sadly, Diana has said her next Outlander book will NOT come out in 2012! :-(
Here is my review of the book, written when I was still under its spell. (I very rarely review books on Goodreads, so this will give you an idea of how I felt about it!)How to review a novel such as this? One doesn't just READ this book; instead, one EXPERIENCES it. I would imagine that anyone who tackles this doorstopper (mass market edition is 1439 pages) has already met and formed an attachment to the Frasers and Mackenzies. I felt so many different emotions while reading: joy, sadness, fear, nervousness, suspense, disgust, incredulity, heartbreak, excitement. It's a testament to Diana Gabaldon's writing that she can cause a reader to feel all these emotions and actually CARE about the characters as if they are real people. She even manages to make us feel a tad bit of sympathy for the "bad guys." There is so much in this story...adventure, romance, multiple kidnappings, unrequited love, scientific and medical education, intrigue...it also covers such taboo subjects as rape, suicide, incest, murder, bigamy, slavery and vigilante justice. You will learn how an appendectomy with ether is performed, how to make paper, how to make your own whisky, and how to travel through the stones (just kidding about that one). The novel examines many different types of relationship and explores the good and the bad: husband/wife, parent/child, brother/sister, master/slave, lord/tenants, cousins, clansmen, tribesmen, in-laws...you name it, it's covered!
Some will say these books are too long...I say they are not long enough. Some say there's too much Roger and Bree...I say I love Roger and Bree, and I think their presence on Frasers Ridge is essential to the feelings of love, loyalty and family in the book. Some say there is too much detail (Yes, I was one of those people when I read Outlander)...now I say the details are not superfluous and they serve to enhance the EXPERIENCE. Some object to the treatment of women and minorities in the novel...I say, it's set in the 18th century when this was the norm so you have to look at it in terms of the cultural milieu rather than from a 21st century perspective (although Claire and Bree do try their best to bring feminism to the colonies!)
This was an amazing book. It delivers an engaging story and really makes you think. (Oh, almost forgot the backdrop of a little war brewing that will be called the American Revolution.) I love the whole series so far, but in my opinion this one and Voyager are the best. Reading these books (more than once) is definitely time well spent
Sandy that is so true about you not reading this book, but experiencing it! Or really, I think I feel that way about all the books. I like your review, you summed it up pretty well. I want to reread all the books in the next few months but I am not looking forward to the end of Dragonfly. Oh my, I cried and cried the first time. I took it really hard, like I had lost someone close to me. Or maybe since this will be the second read, maybe it won't be as bad since I know what happens next. I think Voyager is my favorite, possibly one of the best books I have ever read. I agree about Outlander, it dragged on a little for me too at first.
Oh no! It's not coming out in 2012?
Sadly, no!On her blog, Diana answered a reader who asked if the book was coming out next year. She said she won't even finish writing it by the end of next year. :-(
http://www.dianagabaldon.com/2011/09/...
Dear Angela (et al)–
No, there’s no release date–I won’t finish _writing_ the thing before the end of next year! Having a title is progress, don’t get me wrong {g}–but it’s a good long way from the book being done.
–Diana
Thanks Jen and Lotte, it kinda clears it up for me but looks like I'll have to read Echo in order to see what happens next, but yea that's what I thought it meant I was confused because I remember reading some comments about ABOSAA having a huge cliffhanger at the end but that didn't seem like too big of a cliffhanger to me, if the series had ended that way it wouldn't have been too bad, but then again glad there's more coming, maybe one day Gabaldon will answer all the questions in the series, like about that ghost in the very first Outlander, that would be interesting if she came back to it in the next book. The Malva storyline was pretty shocking I didn't expect :spoiler warning for book 6: it to be her brother that killed her, goodness!
And the Lizzie storyline I did not like at all! It was just too much, too weird, and very out of character for Lizzie.
Dee, I didn't like the Lizzie storyline either. It was just bizarre!
Dee:You're welcome! The cliffhanger at the end of ABOSAA is nothing in comparison to the multiple cliffhangers at the end of Echo! Gear up! :)
Diana revealed to us who the ghost is and did say that it will tie into one of the later books! I'm assuming it'll be the last one. ;)
The Lizzie and Beardsley twins debacle was/is truly wacky. Diana sure doesn't pull any punches. She's not afraid to show us all sides of humanity.
Jen, that is why I stopped reading after ABOSAA. I'm waiting to read Echo after the last book is out. It was such a great read as listed in the about discussions. Yeah, the Lizzie situation was too weird, especially for when she pratically grew up in front of us. That came from nowhere. And I can't believe the hearache Malva had put Jamie and Claire thru. I listened to the audiobook, and Jemmy & Germain's dialogs were so sweet.
Wow, Crazy, I give you props for holding out! I canna! I have to read every tidbit I run into and I buy the newest book the minute it's out and read it!! It is agony waiting, but I'm used to it. It's always worth all the anticipation b/c it's THEM!It truly was strange seeing Lizzie like that. Malva, man, I hated that girl for what she did to Claire and Jamie. Witch!
Jemmy and Germaine are so sweet. I love those two boys.
Wonder what Jem and Germaine will be like when they're older. Maybe like Jamie and Ian, Sr?
Well, I think Jem will def be like his granda, but Germaine...probably more like Fergus mixed with some of the Scots sensibility! :)
Jen, Sinatra fan wrote: "Wow, Crazy, I give you props for holding out! I canna! I have to read every tidbit I run into and I buy the newest book the minute it's out and read it!! It is agony waiting, but I'm used to it. It..."Trust me it's not easy BUT hearing how bad the cliff-hanger of Echo was, plus ABOSAA had such a nice closure...it was the best time to hold off.
Crazy4more wrote: "Trust me it's not easy BUT hearing..."Yeah, there were 4 of those lovely cliffhangers! Gah!
ABOSAA did have a nice ending. I'm so glad the series didn't end there, though. I was not ready to say goodbye to Jamie and Claire et al.
I kind of want to wait to read Echo until the book after that comes out but at the same time I can't wait so I already bought and started reading it on kindle yay! I never liked Malva after she threatened to spread rumors about Roger, how evil!
Jen, Sinatra fan wrote: "Crazy4more wrote: "Trust me it's not easy BUT hearing..."Yeah, there were 4 of those lovely cliffhangers! Gah!
ABOSAA did have a nice ending. I'm so glad the series didn't end there, though. I..."
I don't know if any of us is ready to say goodbye to Jamie and Claire's epic but thank goodness for GR we can keep them alive even as we moved on and read other books.
Dee, I highly recommend that you read The Lord John series before reading Echo. Especially Brotherhood of the Blade. The Lord Johns series are fast reads and really helped me understand the characters in Echo much better than reading Echo alone (which you can do, but so much better after reading the Lord John Series)
Fawn: I absolutely agree with you! The Lord John books really gave more insight into the type of man he is. We all know that he's gay, but there's so much more to him. I especially loved his sense of humor and how he could insult someone without that someone knowing they're being insulted. I've come to really like Lord John much more since reading the books. I'm so glad DG wrote them.
Dee, Fawn, Carren, at the risk of being a bore, I am going to third that recommendation to stave off book #7 until you read the LJ series. I did and they were wonderful unto themselves. But then I started Echo and a certain someone appears and he/she (don't want to give it away) has only appeared in the LJ series. I gasped audibly when I read that part and knew immediately that Echo was going to be another wild ride like ABOSSA. Enjoy!
LH I know exactly what you are talking about! I actually was reading Echo and still half way through I was a little confused and some one urged me to read the Lord John series. I did and then went back and started Echo over again. When I got to that part you are talking about I went (out loud)"Oh wow! Are you kidding?!" My husband thought I was talking to him at first. LOL!Carren, I totally agree with you. John has a very dry sarcastic since of humor. I totally relate to it because grew up in a house hold with the same kind of humor. The more I read about Lord John the more I like him.
Hmm I think I will take up that recommendation to read the Lord John series before Echo. I just started Echo but already I'm a little lost. How many books are in the series?
Dee, There are 3 main books in the series. I am not positive of the order or if I read them in the right order. But here is how I think I read them: 1. Lord John and the Hand of Devils
2. Lord John and the Private Matter
3. Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
In My opinion the 2 most important for Echo is LJ & the Private Matter and LJ and the Brotherhood of the Blade ( I think especially Brotherhood of the Blade)
There is another Novella in the Book The Warriors and Diana's part is The Custom of the Army I don't think that one pertains to Echo so much.
I hope that helps.
They are much smaller than the Outlander books, about a 3rd of the size sometimes, so it didn't take much time to get through them.
Very true Carolyn. I read through them pretty fast and look at this little tidbit:a new Lord John novella, “Lord John and the Plague of Zombies” {g} will be out on October 4th. This novella is in an anthology titled DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS, edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois.
This was On DG's web page.
I've put it on my wish list on Amazon.
I'm holding off re-reading the series until next year. I'll work my way through so that when the next book comes out (can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!)everything will be much more clear in my mind.
I'm trying to get the book threads down to one per book, so I'm going to close this thread.But please carry the conversation over to this thread..
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...
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Okay so I finished ABOSAA last night and wow this was a good one and makes up for the 4th and 5th books being slow. So many things have happened I can't even remember it all. However, I am kind of confused about the ending (the second epilogue) who are those people and what did they mean by "they're all dead anyway?" Was this a cliffhanger because if it was for some reason I didn't catch it.
Also any other comments about this book, what was your favorite part/least favorite part about it? I'll be starting book 7 soon :tear tear: the last book so far.