I don't think any author is in love with her characters and her own writing as much as Diana Gabaldon. To the point that she is convinced that absolutely everything she writes about them has to be in her books. Who cares about the plot and moving things along and putting in her novels only events that would advance the plot? Not Diana! I've loved the Outlander books for a while, in spite of their fragmented nature and sometimes convoluted story lines, but this time even the most dedicated fan wo [...]

So far, the weakest book in the series. This book dragged on and on and on It took me about four times as long to finish this one as it did the other four. There was just a lot of unnecessary drama. The interesting parts were few and far between, but were just enough to keep me reading. And I will admit, by the end I was finally engaged enough to want to read the next one, so it didn't turn me off completely. There were just a lot of things that didn't need to be in the book. This is the first t [...]

And the story continues. ♥Listening to these audio books back to back, they are starting to run together. I think I mentioned this before, but it's like one big, ongoing Outlander movie or something. I don't know if what I listened to was something from the other book or vise versa. Here's what I know. Everyone is living together at Fraser's Ridge. Jamie gets called into the army by the Governor and Roger is with him. There is some fighting but I think there is more to come. And sweet baby Jes [...]

When I finished this, my knee-jerk reaction was to give it a 4 star. However, after some consideration, I have to be honest with myself and say it was really just a 3 star read. The Fiery Cross is the 5th book in the Outlander series, a fantasy/romance/historical/time travel/everything-but-the-kitchen-sink series which began when Claire Randall, on a second honeymoon in Scotland, is thrown back in time from 1946 to Scotland during the Jacobite uprising that ended tragically at the battle of Cull [...]

I DID IT. I FINISHED THIS HULKING BEAST OF A BOOK.The Fiery Cross is the fifth book in Arizona (woot) author Diana Gabaldon’s time-traveling historical fiction saga. I have enjoyed all the books up until this one, some with reservations, but still enjoyed. They all felt like they had strong backbones, and even though they were long, most of the stuff stuffed up in there had a point. Not so with this fucker.Since the book is soooooo looooooong, I’m going to respond by being more concise than [...]

And so book 5 comes to an end. I started reading this series on June 16th and they have consumed me for all of my summer holidays. I swore I would take a break after each one but could not. They are long, they are detailed, all the names get a little confusing sometimes. I suppose I, myself, could be accused of jumping on the bandwagon, what with the TV series airing last night in the USA. Maybe so, but as I have had the books on my kindle and some of them in paperback for some time now (certain [...]

Like a Glucose Tolerance Test, Only Recommended for Absolute Die-Hard FansA glucose tolerance test is a test given to a pregnant woman in order to determine whether or not she has gestational diabetes. The test is administered by forcing the poor pregnant woman to drink a, beyond human portion, of a glucose drink, something that tastes like a sugared soft-drink. Then glucose levels of the blood are measured at different intervals after the glucose has been metabolized by the body. It's not the s [...]

Went something like this:50 chapters of camping and sexual frustration where nothing really happens.Nothing happens, repeatedly.50 chapters of a wedding with a LOT of sexual frustration followed by a murder most foul, an autopsy, and sex in the stables (FINALLY!)More nothing happens.50 chapters of a large scale battle.Confrontation where guy gets his balls shot off. Maybe.Ending with us waiting for the revolution to happen.Throw in a couple of major characters almost dying (okay, she really got [...]

This is a hard book to review. Besides the fact that it's over 1400 pages and took me over a month to read it's Diana Gabaldon. She writes fascinating accounts of history, trivia, mythology, a great love story, science fiction and people with great detail.In some places I wanted to hurry through the details and get to the heart of the story, and other places I savored every word. That's the beauty of her writing, you have to read every word, absorb every detail because it will come back (maybe 7 [...]

In the end, I wound up liking this book, but it was a long (so, so long) and bumpy road to get there. Somehow, this book is written by the same author who managed to pack an epic fantasy adventure into 800 pages with the original Outlander. Yet 1500 pages were needed here to to do what? I don't even know. There's more than a couple sweet scenes between Jamie and Claire, but in between it's a wasteland. Over and over, characters are described as hiding a smile or having the corner of their mouth [...]

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.Anyone who knows me knows how much love I have for this series. I really enjoyed listening to this book. I have recently listened to the first four books in the series after having read them years earlier. This was the first time that I have experienced this book and I was a little nervous about listening to it instead of sitting down with a book but I think it worked out well in the end. So much happens in this book! That is really kind of n [...]

I read this as soon as it came out. Had to have it in hardback because I couldn't wait for paperback and had to have my own precious copy. Wish I had waited or borrowed it from the library. I was so excited to see what Claire and Jamie were up to, but it was a very slow read, explaining every little thing in detail. I mean, I love to read books that don't gloss over the not-so-pretty parts of the day, but explaining that a child needs a diaper change, and it's unpleasant aroma, over and over and [...]

Well, I finally finished The Fiery Cross. *sigh*I absolutely LOVE these books. This installment was no exceptionI found that this installment had so many deep emotional scenes, that when i finished, I felt that i had connected to the characters, emotionally, more then ever before. Starting with The Gathering, when Jamie calls his people out, and they all hold hands. The wedding scene between Roger and Brianna was both hilarious and touching. The various incidents at the Gathering really set up s [...]

Audio reread (at 2x). 2.5 stars.This is a long meandering book that might have a plot. It establishes the family on Fraser’s Ridge and follows them for about a year. There are medical and military related story lines, and a lot happens in 1400 pages. Some highlights:• Clare sets up a penicillin factory on the mountain.• Jamie develops a foot fetish.• Bree takes on the persona of the Professor on Gilligan's Island.• The family seems to be an unhealthy obsession about knowing who Jemmy's [...]

The Fiery Cross is the fifth book in a series written by Diana Gabaldon about Clare Fraser, who can travel through time by touching stones (think stonehenge). The first time she time travelled, it was an accident. She travelled two-hundred years backward to the 1740s and met the love her life, Jamie Frasier, a Scottish highlander. Their love story has developed through out each of the books as Gabaldon details the historical setting that surrounds them. In The Fiery Cross, the year is 1771 and t [...]

This book starts off at The Gathering which is where all the Scots come together to see how everyone is and what's been going on. But that's only the tip of the iceberg of what all happens in these 1443 pages. The blurb makes you think that the book is a lot about the war but it's not. Wow! There are so many major things that happen in this book and one extremely shocking event. I just couldn't believe that Diana Gabladon did that to Roger and while she set up things nicely, it was still incompr [...]

Gabaldon invests much time and descriptive effort in this novel, which ties off many threads left dangling in DRUMS and introduces the reader to a plethora of new characters. The novel continues where DRUMS ended, at a a gathering of some of the Scottish colonial settlers. Brianna and Roger are set to marry and have their son, Jemmy, baptised. When a proclamation arrives from the Governor of North Carolina, everyone is put on notice that rebellion will not be tolerated against the British King. [...]

Finally finished the 5th book in this series (sometime this month) and I'm getting to the review part - YAY!I kind of really wish these books were a lot smaller. They just take so much time to read and to absorb all of the information thrown at you. I need time to decide if I like the book, characters, storyline, and everything else. Also, things definitely dragged on. I didn't care about what the hell was happening for more than half of the book. It just seemed like I was reading so much unnece [...]

De todos los libros de la saga hasta ahora leídos con este perdí un poco el ritmo. Entre las ocupaciones diarias, la universidad que no daban tiempo a leer a gusto, me tarde indeseadamente a leerlo. ¡Y por fin lo hice! La historia no pierde cadencia, con una trama interesante, situaciones muy bien desarrolladas, personajes fascinantes, hasta los más secundarios tienen algo que contar aportando fundamento. El momento de lectura fue muy grato y emocionante. Curiosamente es el libro de la saga [...]

In the fifth installment of the Outlander series, time-traveler Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser and her eighteenth century husband, Jamie, have established their homestead on Fraser’s Ridge in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Grumblings among colonists against British tyranny have begun, and Jamie and Claire are resigned to the fact that the American Revolution will take place and there is nothing they can to do stop it. Although Jamie sympathizes with the colonists, his allegiance, fo [...]

Mundane. Crap.Not to say this was mundane crap, you have to read the period after the word mundane. Very important to interpret this as two separate thoughts.I’ve listened to the first four books in the Outlander series and have absolutely loved Davina Porter's narration. I have continued the series primarily because of her fantastic efforts. This being book #5, the story is getting weak. I trudged my way through this book only through the encouragement of my friends at the Audiobooks Group. I [...]

Review for audiobook ~ 2.5 stars story ♫ 5 stars narration. I have to say that it takes talent to write a book of 1,443 pages with nothing really happening. This 55 hr:30 min audiobook was loooonnngggg and tedious at times. The only thing that saved the book for me was the extremely wonderful narration. This book was 1,000 pages too long and it could have easily been well told in 40o. I will listen to the series again, but I will skip this book. It was mostly filled with everyday life to the p [...]

It's done. It's over. **faints**Review to come. 6/2/16Ok, folks, here comes THE REVIEWYou might want to put on a seat belt. There is a LOT to say for this oneOk. This book. Ahem.If you already read it, you probably know the first thing on anyones review is that the book was SLOW. And I mean agonizingly, bang head on the wall, scream in frustration SLOW.Fifteen. Thats the number of chapters that was spent, in essence, on one scene. Thats right, the great Gathering. Where many things were supposed [...]

This was too long, way too long. I think part of this authors charm is that there is always some meandering between the important scenes, but in this book it felt like she was just going on and on about nothing, and I often found myself, thinking about other things instead of following these rantings. I still enjoyed the narration and the humour. I also feel that I understand Claire much better, we get to know her not only as Jamie's lover but also as a healer, a mother and a person. She has now [...]

Boy, I'll tell you what: Diana Gabaldon sure does have a lot to say.It took me approximately 350 pages to actually become interested in this book, which is the reason why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5, but I did really enjoy the last 1093 pages of the book. I mean, Jamie and Claire have the most unbelievable adventures and even though some of them are so very far-fetched, I need to know what will happen next. ***SPOILERS AHEAD***Things I need to know:1. Where did Stephen Bonnett get shot: i [...]

“I love you, a nighean donn. I have loved ye from the moment I saw ye, I will love ye ’til time itself is done, and so long as you are by my side, I am well pleased wi’ the world.”I have to admit that this is my least favourite book out of all Outlander novels so far. Yet, it was better than the majority of the books I have read in my life. Outlander world has completely consumed my life and I am not complaining. On the contrary, I am already looking forward to reading next instalment. B [...]

I originally gave this 4 stars, because I hesitate to give any “romance novel” 5. But this isn’t a romance novel. It’s a story about a family whose love for each other transcends the boundaries of time. Cheesy and cliché, I know, but true. Outlander began as a guilty pleasure, but the series has morphed into something much more profound and worthwhile since then. I’m impressed with Gabaldon’s ability to ease in new characters throughout her books. Usually in a long series, I’m war [...]

"The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser's wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy - a time-traveler's certain knowledge. Claire's unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead - or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes"Book 5. And frankly, they're [...]

About 3.5 stars for me.I listened to the audiobook version of this book - all 55 hours of it. Yup, 55 hours. Luckily, the narrator Davina Porter is amazing and she does make the book come alive.I've listened to the first 4 books in this series back to back and now it is time for a break. While I love Jamie and Claire, I kind of don't have the same feelings for Brianna. The historical aspect of the book is interesting however I feel that it would be incredibly difficult for someone to jump from t [...]

Actual rating 3 and a half stars, but excuse me while I blankly stare at the wall again from feelings. Truthfully I didn't know when I'd even get around to finishing this, because the first half I found to be so dragging and tiresome; where not a lot was happening across lots of pages. Don't get me wrong; I'm in love with a series and it's characters; but after such an entire book 4 it was highly difficult to grasp my mind around this first half.Then something happened involving a certain someon [...]