An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

This entry is part 7 of 4 in the series Outlander
Book Review
Book Review

Book Review of An Echo in the Bone: 1 treasure Box
Seventh Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Recorded Books, Audible Audio Edition, Listening Length: 45 hours and 58 minutes, ASIN: B002RCJ9LA

The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4, 1776 and Jamie Frazer is fighting on the side of the Rebels, but his son William is an English solder. Jamie’s greatest fear at the Battle of Sartoga, where they are both fighting on opposite sides, is that he will shoot his own son. An Echo in the Bone continues the adventures of Clare and Jamie Fraser and starts in 1776 in America. The book follows several separate storylines and moves between 1776 and 1980.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood is expected to be released in the fall of 2013. These books are all considered historical fiction, but they also include some of romance. The majority of the story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled over 200 years into the past. The story moves back and forth through time depending on the characters and at times is told in a third person narrative from the point of view of some of the other main characters including Jamie, Claire’s husband; Brianna, Claire’s daughter; Roger, Brianna’s husband; and William, Jamie’s son.

There are three plotlines running simultaneously in 1776, one revolves around Clare, Jamie and Ian as they deal with the repercussions of the American Revolution; another follows Lord John, and his stepson, William, who also happens to be Jamie’s secret illegitimate son; another follows a couple of new characters, the Quaker Doctor Denzell Hunter and his pretty sister Rachel. When the story moves to the 1980s, it revolves around Brianna, Roger and their two small children who all live in Lallybrock, Scotland.

The book was really slow, particularly the first half and spent far too much time on Sir John and William. I found all the prose concerning Sir John rather boring, as well as the first half of the book when William was on his own. I enjoyed the scenes with Claire and Jamie as well as everything that occurred in present day. I also liked the new characters who were introduced, the Hunters. Not much really occurred to more the plot forward, but I am curious to find out what will happen to Brianna and her family.

Additionally, the book did not have an ending, did not have a cliff hanger, it just stopped in the middle of the tale. I had a hard time trying to decide if it should be an OK book or a good book, but for me it fell closer to OK than it did to good. The book was too long and did not have a proper ending.

To Purchase: “An Echo in the Bone” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Outlander

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
Second Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (November 2, 1993), Paperback: 976 pages, ISBN-10: 0440215625, ISBN-13: 978-0440215622


An enjoyable story with some interesting twists.  Twenty-two years have passed in Claire’s life after the end of the first book but it takes place in 1968 and introduces 2 new characters, one of them being Claire and Jamie’s daughter Brianna.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight is expected early in 2013. These books are all considerate historical fiction, but they also include plenty of romance.  The majority of the story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled in Scotland to just over 200 years into the past. At times it moves into a third person narrative for the other main characters including Jamie, Claire’s husband, Brianna, Claire’s daughter and Roger, Brianna’s love interest.

The book moves back and forth through time with a flash back to 1743 where Claire explains to Brianna how she came to be in the present and the truth of her heritage. There is a fair amount of reference to historical events and how our characters relate to what is happening, considering that Claire already knows what the outcome will be.

There is lots of action and plenty of sexy parts between Claire and Jamie. There are also some very endearing and heart-rendering parts in the book as well. The ending is quite startling and leaves room for the story to continue.

To Purchase: “Dragonfly in Amber” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Outlander

Book Review: 4 Treasure Boxes
Third Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (October 1, 1994), Paperback: 1072 pages, ISBN-10: 0440217563, ISBN-13: 978-0440217565


I loved this book, it is truly a romantic tale. Since it was revealed at the end of the last book that Jamie could still be alive in the past, the beginning of the book  goes back and forth between the present and the past showing what both Claire and Jamie are up to.  Claire has a hard decision to make, leave her daughter and attempt to find Jamie or stay with Brianna.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight is expected early in 2013. These books are all considerate historical fiction, but they also include plenty of romance.  The story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled in Scotland to just over 200 years into the past.

Needless to say, she decides to attempt to go back and find Jamie and due to research she is fairly certain where to find him.  It is a very brave thing for her to do since it has been 22 years since she last saw him and anything could have happened in that time. It is really touching the nervousness she has when they first meet again.  I could really relate to Claire’s insecurities surrounding this event.

There are many touching scenes between the two as well as some sexy ones as well.  The story moves around over the globe covering many advertures by the couple and with trouble following Jamie around it leaves room for lots of excitement. We learn more about how the stones work and there is some interesting parts concerning mystism.  Claire is also a doctor now which makes her ability to help people in the past even greater than in the first book.

The ending is quite thrilling with an interesting twist that leaves you wanting more.

To Purchase: “Voyager” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Outlander

Book Review: 4 stars
First Book in the Outlander Series
Publisher: Dell; X edition (June 2, 1992), Paperback: 850 pages, ISBN-10: 0440212561, ISBN-13: 978-0440212560


I loved this book and have read it several times.  I thought the writing was interesting, and it had an interesting twist taking place in both modern (albeit not too modern as it was more like mid-1940s) and past (1743) times. I really liked the characters, it was a wonderful romance with some pretty sexy scenes. The book was also full of lots of action and intense thrilling parts.

There are currently seven books in the Outlander series and book eight is expected early in 2013. These books are all considerate historical fiction, but they also include plenty of romance.  The story is told in a first person narrative by the main protagonist, a English woman, Clare, who has time traveled in Scotland to just over 200 years into the past.

The main protagonist is Claire a nurse who worked in the army as a nurse during the second world war, it starts out just after the war with Claire and her husband in Scotland on a holiday where they are trying to re-acquaint themselves with each other after being separated by the war.   The other main protagonist is Jamie a sexy, manly Scotsman who lives in 1743 Scotland.  Claire somehow ends up in 1743 Scotland after being mysteriously transplanted by the stones at Craigh na Dun.

The story follows Claire’s adjustment to living 200 years in the past and there are plenty of antagonists in the book to keep the story flowing. It was interesting to see Claire adapting her modern knowledge of healing to what was available to her in 1743.  I really enjoyed the book and the book had a great ending.

To Purchase: “Outlander” from Amazon, click here or on picture above