The Fiery Cross
I began the fifth book in the Outlander series after watching Season one of the televised version on Starz. It has been a few years since reading Drums of Autumn/Book 4 but I had no difficulty getting back into the story.
The main characters are Claire Randall, the nurse gone back in time and her husband Jaime Mackenzie Fraser the Scottish Highlander as well as Claire's daughter Briana and her husband Roger. We are now in the year 1771 and Jaime has been warned by Claire the war is approaching. Set in South Carolina we are witness to history unfolding and wonder whether it will be changed with the gift of foresight.
While anticipating this oncoming war we spend days at Fraser's Ridge doing routine chores such as making candles, hunting squirrels, and jarring honey. This proved to be quite interesting as the lack of technology and limited resources in this era made such tasks tedious but yet a way of life. The most fascinating is when we witness Claire performing autopsies and amputations as she makes due MacGyver style with whatever she has on hand in addition to a wing and a prayer. I mostly enjoyed the character development of Roger. I feel like he "came of age" in this story. On the other hand I felt Bree whined endlessly and had a rather chilly personality. The scenes with her were the ones that seemed to drag for me
Spanning 979 pages this book is rich in detail to say the least. Diana Gabaldon's books are easy to read but the sheer length can be wearisome at times. Trying to summarize the story would be rather difficult so I'm keeping this rather brief as I suppose that unless you've began the series you wouldn't read this installment. I would say to anyone who hasn't read the series, you are missing something spectacular. This saga is storytelling at it's finest and not books to rush through. You must devote the time in order to appreciate it. I have 3 books to go in the series and while I may not pick up A Breath of Snow and Ashes/Book 6 tomorrow I have every intention of reading it and the remainder of the collection.
How I acquired this book: A Christmas gift from my son several years ago.
Shelf Life: More than 5 years
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