The Fiery Cross

March 26, 2013

I did it, I was bound and determined to finish The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon by this afternoon, and I reached my goal.

This book took me a little longer then the others in the series so far. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it. However, there were a few parts that did lag. There are two parts in particular in the book where time seems to drag, not reading it, but in the book. There are several chapters dedicated to a short amount of time in a day. It didn't feel like I was moving forward. There is a lot of information and it is important, but at these two parts it seemed a bit tedious. The first part was right at the beginning, the second part was right in the middle.

Moving on to the story. :-) Other then those two spots, the story had me. Roger and Brianna get married! It isn't a long wait for this happen, however there are issues that arise that seem like it might not happen. Thankfully, it does and our young couple is happy!

Claire and Jamie enjoy the celebration, but they are all ready to get back to the Fraser Ridge, and so is everyone else. The Fiery Cross picks up right where Drums of Autumn ends, at the Gathering. We meet several new characters in this book and see a lot of our favorites and not so favorites return...one of them Stephen Bonnet. This guy just doesn't go away! Oh, my goodness! It's to the point where you are rooting for someone to just shoot the guy and be done with it. So many close calls...but sadly, he is still alive and kicking.

There was also several close calls for two of my favorites in this story. It almost a short marriage for Roger and Brianna. We are now in the 1770's, getting ever so closer to the American Revolution. Claire, Brianna, and Roger know what is coming and have warned Jamie of the up and coming troubles. However, Jamie is bound by duty to the Governor of the land to help with the militia.Regulators have banned together to protest the issues of the time and Jamie is brought forward to lead the men of the area. He goes and so does Claire and Roger, who pledged to stand next to Jamie.

During the skirmish, Roger is caught on the other side of the lines for a task. He is caught by a group of men, selfish, ruthless. He is brought before the Governor and is set to hang with out even the ability to speak for himself. The first time going through this story, I knew that Jamie would come forward in time and all will be well. Boy was I dumb founded when Diana Gabaldon hanged Roger! He was hung!! NO!!! Thankfully, he lives, all by the stupidity of the hangmen. For one thing, he was too tall, and they used a new rope (thank goodness!) However, he wouldn't sing again. His voice is gone.

The second gut wrenching part...Jamie...we almost loose Jamie! Not once, but twice, to a snakebite. Mind you, it was the same bite that almost killed him twice. Such a hard thing to read. You can't help but think about Claire and Brianna. You hope that the story won't lead you that way. Thankfully, it doesn't! Jamie pulls through!

After so much turmoil in this book, I was so happy for the happy ending, of sorts. Happy that we have a favorite character return, Ian! However, he isn't he same boy who left to go live with the Mohawk, but he is back.

The Fiery Cross was all over the place. I do like it! It is a to read!

Slow Progress

March 22, 2013

Many things have come up lately that has kept me from my reading time and I'm sad over it...it's knocking my goal off kilter.

I'm still going, but it looks like March is going to be slim on the book count, thankfully page count is still up! :-)

During my down time, I have found a listing of books I can't wait to go find! I fell in love with Downton Abbey a couple of years ago, along with everyone else. I now own all of the seasons. Anyway...I found a blog, it listed several books that is set during the time of Downton Abbey and with stories similar to the show.

If you don't believe me, here is the link. I found this link through Pintrest. Clicky Here Enjoy! And if you haven't seen Downton, I recommend  you do so.


Drums of Autumn

March 8, 2013

I stayed up late last night finishing Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon.These books really are hard to put down, especially when you are so close to the end.

Claire is happy with Jamie, they are in America with Ian, Jaimie's nephew, and Fergus and his wife and child. It's been over 6 months since Claire went through the stones to go back. Brianna, Claire and Jamie's daughter is in the future/ present...however you would like to look at it. She had been keeping up with Roger Wakefield off and on since Claire left.

Roger had fallen for Brianna the first time he saw her. Much has happened between them while they were helping Claire research the past, plus they also share a link, they can travel through the stones as well. They found this out when they helped Claire.

Claire and Jamie are content. They have been given a land grant for a huge area of land in the back country. They are making their life and are happy. In the future, Brianna and Roger both stumble on a death notice from and old colonial newspaper. Claire and Jamie had died in a house fire. Neither know, that the other person knows of the notice. Roger does his best to hide the notice from Brianna, he knows she will want to go back and save them. However, Brianna has been making her own plans and Roger only finds it out, after all of Brianna things are delivered to him. Roger follows Brianna through the standing stones.

As I read these stories again, I can't help thinking of logical questions. Not about the story itself, but about the theory of time. For time travelers, they can go to anytime...well, within 200 years through the stones. It makes me wonder in this world, is time just a dial that just keeps spinning and repeating itself? Claire in the future finds old paper work, that she signed in the past, but then finds a younger Gillie in the future and an older Gillie in the past. These stories make me think.

Anyway, back to the book! Brianna, meets her family. All this time, she didn't have much family at all, but now, she is surrounded by cousins and her aunt and uncle. She just loves it, but she wants to find her family and with her families help she is on her way to America. Roger catches up to Brianna in America. She is scared and happy all at once. However, to keep the story going, they are separated again, however this time, they are hand-fasted, a temporary marriage between them.

Brianna finds her parents and finally meets her dad!  But the story doesn't end there. There is so much to this book, it's hard to write it all out. With Black Jack Randall gone and Gillie Duncan gone, we are introduced to a new villain, Stephen Bonnet. Boy, does he have his hand in everything.

It is a very fast paced book and I enjoyed every bit of it again. To read!

February Review

March 1, 2013

February has come and gone. Can't say I'm sad to see it leave...I hate spelling it!

I didn't quite meet my reading goal for the number of books this month, however, I'm pretty pleased with my progress considering I read 2,856 pages in the shortest month of the year.

3 more books down for the month, it now brings me to 47 more for the year to read. That bumps up my reading a little bit more per month, but not much. 4.7 books a month to read.

All the books that I have read this month have been to read! Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager are all written by Diana Gabaldon. They are all apart of the Outlander series.








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