If you're looking for my reviews of a certain author or genre you can check my tags list. You can also see my list of book reads in 2007 & 2008 and 2009.

Book Title: Drums of Autumn
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: 3/5

Summary (from book cover): The magnificent saga continues...

It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past – or the grave. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice. Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became legend – a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in the frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century. Their daughter, Brianna...

Now, Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history... and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past... or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong...

My thoughts: Again, just like the two previous volumes, the story is told from different points of view, being only the part of Claire Randall told in first person.

In this book we follow the journey of Claire and Jamie Fraser, as they set in America. However, Brianna, their daughter and whom Claire had left in the 20th century, discovers an important fact about their parents and decides to travel back in time as a mean to save them. But she doesn't travel alone as Roger, a historian also linked to time travelers, decides to follow her in order to build a common future.

I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping since the story seems to drag in some points. The main characters, Claire and Jamie, suffer little or no change at all, since they have already a very strong relationship; Brianna and Roger are given greater prominence and if the second delivers, one sees him grow as a result of everything he goes through, Brianna wasn't but an annoying character. She seemed spoiled and was ready to stomp her feet anytime anyone would say no to her. The many secondary characters were much more interesting and pleasant to follow, namely Lord John (who has a parallel series to this one) and Ian whose end, though somewhat predictable, can not fail to surprise. The story itself, as I said, seems to drag at some parts, and sometimes it was needed to read about 100 pages to know what happened to some characters. This annoyed me a bit, especially when the point of view would change and had to follow the characters whose story line I least appreciated.

Again, this is a book with too many pages for its own good. It wouldn't hurt if it was reduced to half or 2/3. The end seems to be left open, which is not surprising since there are 2 more books (which I already have at home), and a new volume that will come out on September 22, An Echo in the Bone. I just don't pick up the next books because this series is a bit demanding and I need to recover my breath after reading 1000 and something pages.

Book Title: Voyager
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: historical romance
Rating: 4/5

Summary (from book cover): From the author of the breathtaking bestsellers Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, the extraordinary saga continues.

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her... the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite – or forever doom – her timeless love.

My thoughts: Though the writing confuses a bit at the start as we follow, just like it happened on the second volume, many characters besides Claire, which makes the reader jump between different points of view but also in time, once you get into it, the book becomes very easy and pleasant to read.

It starts where the previous volume left us. Having passed 20 years since Claire left Jamie in Culloden, she discovers that he has survived the battle and decides to go back in time to get to him, her all time lover. However things aren't easy. Much happened to both in the years they were apart, which forces them to discover each other all over again. This was very well done. The author has in her characters her strongest point in the story, since the relationships are nicely created and very credible. The story is also very interesting, it keeps you turning the pages as you follow the main characters embarking on a voyage which will lead them to America, a land of hope and new beginnings.

I also liked how the author picked up characters and other details from the previous volumes, giving to the book a sense of continuity. I also liked how she introduced, in the 18th century, some things from the 20th, like photos. It was very well done and even funny.

I still prefer the first volume, but this one was far more interesting than the second one. I look forward to the next, as I can't stop to think if Claire and Jamie will find they're daughter. It would be interesting to see what would come of such encounter.

Second book read for the "Historical Fiction Reading Challenge".

Book Title: Dragonfly in Amber
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: historical romance
Rating: 3/5

Summary (from book cover): For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to the majesty of Scotland's mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones, about a love that transcends the boundaries of time, and about James Fraser, a warrior whose gallantry once drew the young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his.

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful daughter as Claire's spellbinding journey continues in the intrigue-ridden court of Charles Edward Stuart, in a race to thwart a doomed uprising, and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.


My thoughts: Having enjoyed the first volume of this series, I was expecting something good of this one, so I'm a bit sad it didn't match my expectations.

First, in the first and final parts the point of view jumps around from first person (Claire) to third person, due to the fact that we follow another character and Claire isn't always there. The problem is that this character does almost nothing but notice how Claire is so beautiful and wonderful... Second, the book drags a bit in some parts. Third, the flashback idea is nice, but it loses when during the reading you think "well, she's telling this story to her daughter, so obviously she survives all this..."

So, we find ourselves in 1968, Claire and her daughter are in Scotland and the first thinks this is the chance to tell the truth about what happened to her, 20 years before. We go on a long flashback, this one told only from Claire's point of view, picking up where the first volume left us. We follow Claire and Jamie in Paris who, knowing what History will tell, try to avoid a massacre in case Charles Edward Stuart (also known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and pretender to the English throne) is able to reach Scotland and take his quest forward. As the first book, the story's rhythm is somewhat slow, enabling us to get to know the French court and the politics behind History. But, if this was pulled nicely on the previous volume, the same doesn't happen here, making the book dull and dragging where there was no need. It was easy to put it down and find excuses to not pick it up again.

The end was interesting though and was left open since there's another book... which I will not pick up so soon, as I need a rest from this.

Book Title: Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: historical romance
Rating: 4/5

Summary (from book cover): Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another...

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon – when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach – an "outlander" – in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord... 1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny is soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidding Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life... and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire... and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.


My thoughts: I don't really know what I was expecting when I picked this book up, but it turned out to be a pleasant reading.

We follow the story from Claire's point of view, who has traveled back in time, until the 18th century to be exact, finding herself caught in a fight between the Scottish clans and the military forces of England. Here, she must adapt herself to this world, using her healing gifts to gain the trust of the people, who feel threaten by her for being English, possibly a spy. Gradually, we see Claire's adaptation to this "new" world where, against her wishes, she falls in love and ends up thorn between the love to Jamie and the duty to Frank, her husband in her own time, 1945. To complicate things a bit, Claire encounters Frank's ancestor, Jack Randall, the sadistic villain of the story, who physically resembles to her husband.

The rhythm of the story is slow, but not that slow that seems to drag. We can feel the days passing by, as those lazy sunny days that pass slowly and that we don't want to ever end. The rhythm also helps to understand what's happening around us and to form, gradually and believably, the relationships with the various characters.

The only thing I didn't liked, as it felt somewhat forced as giving Claire a reason not to get back to her time, is the fact of two people, with a character so different, be so physically similar. The fact of Randall and Frank be likewise, makes Claire afraid of not being able to tell them apart and of not being able to love Frank the way she used to, if she chose to come back. This seemed a really weak scheme and makes her interior fight a bit forced, as the reader already knew how it was going to end. But okay, it always looks nice a good wife questioning her love for one man and the duty she was towards her husband.