Jamie turns fifty in this book, and it’s a bit strange to “see” him so old (not to mention Claire who’s older than him and whose wild brown hair is now almost entirely white). Other than that they are very much the same though and still very in love with each-other. In this book a connection develops between Jamie and his son-in-law, a thing that was sort of needed as Jamie didn’t hold Roger in too high an esteem for the larger part of the previous book. The two men bond and become a team, both when working as when fighting.

One of the moments I found interesting in this book was when Jamie was jealous on hearing that Laoghaire had a new suitor. While I wasn’t exactly pleased about that, I can see it happening very well. I think it adds depth to Jamie’s character, making it more… realistic. He may be very much in love with Claire but he’s human and has some weaknesses as such (as opposed to the absolute perfection one might expect from a character in a book) :) .

I did like this book but it had rarely managed to hold for me the attraction the other books had. Probably because nothing of absolute interest happened in this book (the others had a sort of theme that kept the reader on the edge of his chair, for example in the first one Claire goes back into the past and finds Jamie (this first one is still my favorite of them all), in the second one she returns to her own time and has Brianna, in the third she once again crosses the stones to be reunited with Jamie and in the fourth Brianna and Roger join them too; whereas in this book there is no such thing, they just go on with their lives – with a little bit of adventure on the side, I’ll grant you that, but nothing as I was expected it to.

What I liked most: IMPORTANT SPOILER ****** Obviously the moments that held the most tension: Roger’s hanging and Jamie’s snakebite; I think the author dosed the tension very well on these ones as it made me feel really afraid on this two occasions – I had a moment or two when I actually thought Roger has died, as for Jamie, even though I knew he wasn’t going to die because of his being a major character, I was really afraid he was going to lose his leg especially as I knew how much being whole meant to him ******* END IMPORTANT SPOILER
I also liked very much the letter Jenny sent Jamie, not only the feelings expressed there but also the very wording (“So now I am a grandmother ten times over, with my hair gone grey, and still I feel my cheeks go hot with shame and my wame shrink like a fist, thinking of Father bidding us kneel down side by side and bend over the bench to be whipped.”)(“Mother loved you always, Jamie, and when she kent she was dying, she called for me, and bade me care for you. As though I could ever stop.“)

What I liked least: The sheer length of the book – over 1400 pages according to Amazon. I don’t think any writer (not even a very good one like Mrs. Gabaldon) can fill that many pages with only interesting stuff. I think that the book would probably have been better if it would have been a little more condensed.

Recommend it? If you’re into really long novels then yes :)

This book is a sequel to:
Outlander
Dragonfly In Amber
Voyager
Drums of Autumn

This book is followed by:
A Breath of Snow and Ashes

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