Another great read by Diana Gabaldon. Was a little confusing at the beginning with all the changes in narratives. But followed on well from A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Left me wanting to scream at the end, I can't wait the next few years for the next book. At least it's a good long read, plenty of happenings, just like the other books.

Oh dear! I have read all this series twice and have considered it one of the best collections of novels ever but this book really drags in parts...and I must admit I had been warned by others! Lord Grey and his cohorts are not interesting characters, nor are the many military deliberations and discussions of battles to be fought. When Clare and Jamie are on the pages it is as always fascinating. I am only halfway through and will finish it out of "loyalty" and the fact that I always do like to finish a book but it is not one that I "just can't wait to read" like her others in the series!

Again another fantastic book in the series, but the changing narratives irks somewhat. John Grey and William's stories are not that interesting and found myself skipping them. Have since gone back to the first few books in the series to reread as enjoy reading Claire's narrative much more. But still, can't wait for the next installment.

The five stars are an expression of my Outlander fangirl enthusiasm, since I'm incapable of objectively judging the quality of these books. I'd probably have given five stars to anything that wasn't a huge disappointment. Which this wasn't, of course; I thought it was quite good. The first couple hundred pages are admittedly a little slow. We get a lot of POV from Lord John and 19-yr-old William, and there is some crossover from the LJ spin-off series, which I think may be confusing for people who haven't read those books. I like John and William very much, but in this series I really want to read about Jamie and Claire and fortunately the book soon begins to focus more on them. The last hundred pages are riveting and really quite shocking. But after the earlier slow pacing they felt a little rushed, and the ending is abrupt. It was made worse because I didn't realize that there is an author's note at the end, so the story stopped suddenly when I thought there were still a few pages to go! If I weren't such a fangirl I would probably dock the book a star for concluding with multiple dramatic cliffhangers, which I in general dislike. I don't remember the other books in this series leaving us hanging in mid-scene! There are also some storylines left unresolved, so even at 800+ pages this felt like the first half of an extremely long novel. But *dreamy sigh* the book thrilled me anyway. Gabaldon claims to write in scenes, and when I re-read these books I do tend to skim some of the connecting narrative and focus on my favorite scenes, and there are plenty of new favorites in this one. Claire's medical work is as fascinating as always, particularly a long sequence which I had already read as an excerpt in The Outlandish Companion.(less)