NUMBER: 70TITLE: A Breath of Snow and Ashes
AUTHOR: Diana Gabaldon
STARTED: September 26, 2005
FINISHED: October 17, 2005
PAGES: 980
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: Time is a lot of things people say that God is.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, this sixth novel in Diana Gabaldon's bestselling Outlander saga is a masterpiece of historical fiction from one of the most popular authors of our time.
Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldon's New York Times-bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over - and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.
The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.
With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence - with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie's death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.
REASON FOR READING: Do I need one?
THOUGHTS: I've been waiting for this book to come out for over a year. The wait was driving me nuts. Now that I've read the novel, I have mixed feelings. While the book was an enjoyable and interesting read, it was not up to Diana Gabaldon's usual "Outlander" standards. Normally her books, while lengthy and detail infused, have an overarching plot to the novel. This particularly member of the series seemed more like a character study. It lacked that all-encompassing plot to bring all the details together. I'm sure that this book will fit well when the series is completed (for there will be more books), but right now I feel slightly disappointed.
I will say that it was nice to get to know the characters even more. I feel as if I've grown closer to Jamie, Claire, Roger, and Brianna while reading this. There were so many different sub-plots occurring in this book that it was difficult not to notice the changes taking place in the characters. I also think that Colonial America and life in that time came more to life for me in this book. One thing I really disliked about this book was some of the "twists" Gabaldon threw in. I felt as if they were in their for the shock factor only. I would have preferred she remained "true" to the essence of the series that she created in the first few novels. Then again, I repeat, all of these things will probably play a more complete role once the series is done.
Her prose and ideas are still top caliber. I will never be disappointed in them. It takes a master to craft the ideas and feelings that she does. And, she is consistent in her literary narrative throughout the book. Her writing, as writing, never disappoints.
Overall, this book was very readable but a bit of a let down. I was expecting something different. That said, I'm still going to wait on pins and needles of the next book in the series.
MISCELLANEOUS: The should have edited the final text better. At my count there were at least 13 errors in the text. And glaring errors at that. Words never have "rrr" in them.
KEEP/SHARE/CRINGE(?): Keep of course.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
CR: The Trouble With Harry by Katie MacAlister
RN: "A Problem From Hell" by Samantha Power
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