The 7th in the Outlander series, this book begins where the last ended, with the full outbreak of war between Britain and the colonies, the loss of Jaime and Claire’s new home in the Americas, and our hero’s decision to bring his nephew Ian back to Scotland while simultaneously recovering his printing press. Too old to fight for the American Revolution, Jaime plans to use the printing press to assure the outcome of the war with England while avoiding any possibility of coming face to face in combat with his son, an officer in the British military.
As a long-time fan of the Outlander series, I will have to agree with others who said there was a bit too much drag built into this book. However, I don’t think I found the drag where others did. I found the history fascinating, the battles on both land and sea spine-tingling, the details of Claire’s numerous surgeries captivating, the interpersonal crises (Jaime and William, Claire and Jenny, etc.) mostly well-written. And as others have said, Gabaldon’s strength lies in her ability to draw the reader into the time-period she is writing about, so whether we’re touring a hydroelectric plant with Bree in the 20th century or with Jaime and Claire at Fort Ticonderoga in the 18th, we feel like we’re there.
My objections lie more with Lord John Grey’s story, which meanders all over the place and which hints at great cross-continental behind-the-scenes political maneuverings but which lacks the substance to bring them to life. And unfortunately, while Gabaldon does a good job of maturing Jaime’s son Willie over the course of the story, he is not really integral to the plot until almost the very end of this huge book. And so the reader is left feeling like all the words spent on William are really much ado about nothing.
Finally, I feel like Gabaldon’s frequent sex scenes between Jaime and Claire are more a sop to the “Jaime groupies” among her fan club than they are an asset to her stories. Claire and Jaime are middle-aged, in good shape, and still very much in love, we get it. All the buttock grabbing is really annoying, to say the least. Plus, did we really need Lord Grey’s lusting over Benjamin Franklin’s “slightly drooping buttocks” inserted into the plot? I mean, really?
All that said, however, I remain impressed by Gabaldon’s prodigious output, her generally excellent writing and character development, and of course, a first-rate historical romance that keeps on giving.
