Book 6: A Breath of Snow and Ashes

[Petunia846]

They had a rather tragic introduction to the book series, but they're fine currently.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I know I said it afore, but HOLYSHIT!!!!!

 

That is my reaction from reading the last few pages of the last chapter after Claire got the fever and was on the road to recovery. I am up to 56% and good Googly Moogly!!!! The flipping of emotions is takin' its toll on me!

 

Big rush of relief to read that Marsali's okay, and I don't have issues with how Fergus has reacted to the birth of Henri Christian; it makes him human. But I am surprised that from birth, a doctor and people can tell when a baby will be a Little Person. First I thought it might be Down Syndrome, but Marsali is only like 19?

 

So I'm not all over the place, I'll try to post my thoughts in order; or try to, at any rate.

 

So, Bonnet didn't die. But! He lost a testicle! Hee, at Dr. Fentiman describing to Claire how there was a hole right through the ball, and how he wishes he could have kept it, like he does with all those other specimans.  

 

And fucking Donner is still alive. AND he escaped! Ugh. And whaaaat???? There are like 200 more time travelers????  Jeebus Cripes!

 

And now I'm trying to figure out who it was that Jocasta recognized--if it's someone we, the readers have also met.

 

Man, but I'm starting to intensely dislike Malva, if not outright hating her. Blackmailing Roger? Not to sound overly melodramatic, but doesn't she realize who his father-in-law is? That said...

 

just how stupid is Roger? Did he seriously think no one would talk with him spending all his time with the Widow McCallum and Aiden?

But I did love him breaking the broom in two, because Bree's always been "I can do this MYSELF!" "I don't need any HELP! from you!" blah, blah, blah... And Roger just has this need to be needed and he's not getting that from Bree. That is, he doesn't think she needs him.

Not that excuses Roger from his stupidity, but Bree's passive aggressiveness is getting beyond annoying.

 

And despite what DG wrote, I don't think Roger has what they call "Mommy Issues" because that's so not what I'm seeing, but more, he feels he's in competition with Jamie. Not through any fault of Jamie's but again, what Bree says. "Maybe you should wait for Da....let Da handle it..." and blah, blah, blah...

 

Can Bree just shut up and remember what century she's in?

 

And I don't really want to start this debate again but I did read all the comments before the show even started, and there was a big debate over the spanking scene in Outlander, and it was brought up again after "The Reckoning", how in later buiks, the spanking is revisited--that is, how Jamie never says "Sorry" or apologizes for what he did, and that he was laughing and joking about it, which pissed Claire off again.  And that at least the show had him say sorry and ask for forgiveness. Well. I read that scene today. In this buik. And those past comments just don't take into account the context in which the spanking was brought up.

 

And who knew Jamie thought like I did, that "beating" means using one's fists, and what Jamie did was give Claire a good tawse, which didn't bloody her, or break her skin, or leave her with bruises. Okay, maybe the latter, and she couldn't sit for a few days.  Jamie goes as far to say if he had beaten her, he probably would have killed her. And Claire wasn't really hurt; what she was, was pissed.*

 

And all this got brought up again, because Claire told Jamie about Tom Christie hitting Malva with a switch on her nekkid bum.  And Jamie didn't see anything wrong with that, because, he probably thought she did something to be punished for. Aaaand then Claire brings up her own spanking, and I could see she's still pissed about it, and as she should be, but the joking/laughing? I, along with a friend, saw it as Jamie baiting Claire, because he likes it when she's in a temper, if that makes sense.  And of course, I'm one of the very few that had no problem or issue with the tawsing in Outlander.

 

That said, I just don't trust Malva.

 

It will be interesting to see how the Lizzie and the Beardsley plays out, because she was certainly showing signs of jealousy during the ether testing with Bobby.

 

And then the humor. I love the humor here.  After the sadness of learning that Manfred has the pox and he runs off, and then they learn he was spotted, and Jamie and Wee Ian go to investigate, I love, just really, really love how Claire tells Wee Ian, to NOT go investigating personally when he does so, and he's all like Auntie!!!! Really. Yes, really. And what does he end up doing? He ends up tupping the prostitute/madam, who had had sex with Manifred! So now, (after visiting Fentiman and discovering the metal syringes and what they're used for---eeeeeOUCH!), she points the finger and says, like "YOU!" and calls him a wretch, and frogmarches him to get a needle in the ass, I hope.

 

Right," I said.  "Fortunately, I have some penicillin left--and a nice dull syringe.  Inside with you, Ian, you abandoned wretch, and down with your breeks."

 

Me: LOLOLOL. Oh Wee Ian. Never ever change!

 

And The Adventures of Fergus and Wee Ian commence!

 

But before that I think was the hilarity of Jamie keeping at bay the "rebels" who were all fit and tied to tar and feather Simms. I totally loved that scene! Jamie tarring Neil with the...tar, the broken brooms around him, which told me that he broke them in half...Jamie baiting and taunting the crowd...and yes, Fergus and Wee Ian grabbing and splitting open the mattress, where everyone who was out for Simms' blood got feathered!

 

So, it looks like Bree might be pregnant. I wonder if she decided stop taking her "birth control" when she noticed how much time Roger was spending with Aiden and Amy? Because she started taking the "birth control" and never told Roger she was doing so.

I feel so bad for Bobby. I really like him. He's supposed to be English, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what kind of accent DG is going for with him. It's not Cockney and certainly not the upper crust Brit. I'm trying to "hear" him, but can't. Does that make sense?  I'm all over the place today, not making sense.

 

And then the "bloody flux" epidemic. It was all so convoluted that I didn't quite understand if Claire figured it out that it had come from the water? What? Because next thing I know, she's fallen to the ground and hit with the fever!!!! 

 

I read what happened, and I couldn't stop reading, and sat in my car, my very hot car, with the sun blazing through the windshield, until I got to the end of the chapter.

 

Those bitches, Malva and Mrs. Bug. Okay, mebbe Mrs. Bug really thought that was the best way to treat Claire's fever.  I really empathized with her, because that's how I felt when I started losing my hair and then my best friend came over and shaves the rest. I cried against her shoulder for a good few minutes; just like I did when I had gone to her a couple weeks before that, when she cut it short in a pixiesh cut; I really thought that would be the end of it. So my reaction was exactly like Claire's when she started crying. At first I thought that she had been found to be a witch or something, and her hair got shorn because of that and all that gobbeldygook wording DG was using was describing Claire being drowned or something.

But what gutted me was Fergus! Fergus!!!!! Puir, puir Fergus!!!! This just ain't right. It's just not. That he's come so far, what with losing his hand when he was just 12 or thereabouts, to feel as if he's dead, then Marsali can marry a "whole" man who would be able to take care of her and their children? And the way Jamie described to Claire, how he held and yelled at Fergus. Look, I consider myself a cynical bitch these days and it's only Nora and Nalini who can make me cry when I read some of their books. But DAMN.  The way Claire held Jamie against her breasts...

Oh, and Roger! But oh, oh, oh, Jamie. As he hunched over the window in grief...but I'd like to know why he laughed when he told Claire she was still beautiful. Relief that she's alive? I think so. The whole dialogue transition wasna verra clear. Par for the course with DG.

 

Sorry, I know I'm jumping all over the place, but the one time I really needed to see Bree being furious, it was over what was done to Claire, Just like when she told the hosebeast that Claire was Jamie's wife, and that she was their legitimate child.  I really needed her to rip Malva a new one.  And what those brats did to Henri Christian. I fucking fell more for Roger as he baptized him and threatened them with Hell.

 

And I sure would have loved to have seen what Jamie said exactly to those brats.

 

And I awwwed at how Jamie played catch the finger with Henri Christian.

 

And now I'm off to bed to continue wi' the reading, after I've had my dose of Laphroaig this evening.

 

I'm sure I left out some things, but that's what happens when I'm reading and just burning through. Skimming parts that don't interest me, and if I see Jamie or Claire's names, I go back, read and move along...

 

*It's the word I was struggling with when discussing with someone else, who hit the nail on the head for me.

Edited July 23, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[Petunia846]

The parts about Claire's recovery and what Fergus was going through are some of the most emotional parts of all the books for me too. Gah!

[GHScorpiosRule]

Did I mention Claire's PTSD moment with that pushy, arrogant, bully Ute? When Claire just tore into her? And Jamie blocking Claire with his body, gun held out. I loved it.

 

Just got through Jamie telling Brown and his ilk that he's "for liberty" and they don't believe him; and MacDonald doesn't believe him either; thought Jamie was lying, I guess; and then the boys hiding out in the cave when it looks like Fergus and Marsali are actually moving away. Loved how Wee Ian's Mohawk scream, had them screaming and running out of the cave.

 

And now Wee Ian and Bree are on a...what, I don't quite know.

 

Poor Rollo.

[WatchrTina]

 

There is crazy violence again.  This time Claire suffers and it's rough.  However, her whole abduction sequence was riveting. By the time we hear the Roger's bohdran my heart was pounding.  I think I started the sequence late at night, one of those just one more chapters before I turn in and I could not put it down until I saw the resolution.  I was so worried for Marsali as well!

Peacefrog posted that a year ago and I fell into the same trap last night.  I was inspired by this thread to start reading the Claire abduction chapter at lunch yesterday.  I picked it up again when I got in bed at 1:00am (already too late) and could not stop until 3:00am when Jamie & Claire had finally gotten through with the necessary sexual "healing" / doubt-creation (in case she ends up pregnant.)  I have to give Diana props for the conversation between Jamie and Claire in the final scene.  Claire's emotions are ping-ponging all over the place in an upsetting and what I assume is a very realistic way.   So are Jamie's.  The specter of Black Jack and Wentworth appears and has to be dealt with.  The contrast between BJR's sadistic obsession with Jamie vs. the awful ordinariness and indifference of Claire's rapists is addressed.  There's a bit of humor with the penicillin.  They get drunk (natch),  In the end Claire finally feels "safe" and sleeps.  Jamie silently weeps.

 

Damn that was good.  But I'm exhausted.

 

And I've just realized that I didn't "see" Jamie tell Claire what happened to Marsali (I'll just assume that conversation happened on the horse on the ride back while the book is in Roger's point of view.)  But now I have to go read further to remind myself how she came through it (when last I saw her she was lying on the ground like a broken pregnant doll, with bits of fire all around her.)

[GHScorpiosRule]

There is a lot of discussion about Malva and Allen in the Ask a book reader thread but I think I better ask the question here , what do you think of Malva ? I see her as a horribly abused young woman trying to stay alive somehow.

 

 

I think of her as a horribly abused young woman who went astray, because even though she had real reasons for her issues, that doesn't make the things she did right. She's very tragic.

 

Well, just call me a cold-hearted bitch with no empathy, because I don't find her tragic, nor do I have any sympathy for her. None. Nada. Zip.

 

I'm up to 86% where it looks like Jamie/Roger/Wee Ian/Claire, are thisclose to finding Bree.

 

Let's back track and pick up from where I left off...

 

I loved the scenes between Bree and Wee Ian, and his confession about losing his daughter and worrit that it was punishment for believing in the Mohawk ways and abandoning his religious upbringing.

 

And we get confirmation that Jemmy is also Roger's biological child; I'd already accepted him as Roger's son; just as Roger had. I really, really loved and appreciated the moments between Claire and Jamie and with the Fraser clan, before all hell broke loose. My hatred for Malva, I feel was validated, when that bitch accused Jamie of fathering her baby, and how they were carrying on an affair that started when it looked like Claire was going to die. HAH!, I say, when it turns out she poisoned Claire and her father, Tom (though biologically, I've since learned he's her uncle), because she was an evil, evil, evil person. Claire didn't mistreat her; Claire taught her; passed down her medical knowledge to that twat. She was, as Claire said, the daughter of her heart.  And she cut off Claire's hair so that Jamie would think she was ugly and turn away from her. I absolve Mrs. Bug, and am sticking to the notion, that Malva probably threw some medical nonsense that Claire "taught" her to get her to help her skelp Claire.

 

And I read here first, so I know that Malva and Allan had an incestuous relationship; I haven't gotten to that reveal yet, but will say, that his anger, his attitude toward Malva has also had my suspicions from the get go; he reminds of a few Bollywood movies, when the heroine has fallen in love with the hero, who is beneath the heroine's family (in their eyes) and the older brothers, in trying to prevent her from leaving and running away with the hero, or marrying him, is like a personal betrayal that has incestuous overtones. Or like the brother(s) own the heroine.  Allan's anger when Malva accused Jamie of "raping" her and getting her with child, his goading when Brown showed up to take Claire "to trial"  and just his accusations toward Malva, about whether she'd also fucked Roger. Those three weeks of Jamie and Claire going from town to town, to see if Brown could find someone, anyone to hold a trial...Christie accompanying them, so that Brown was thwarted from hanging Claire, the separation (AGAIN!!!), had me in fits. I was having visions of Voyager. I know I may be in the minority, but with each buik I'm reading, I'm falling more and more in love with Jamie. And then there's Wee Ian, Roger, Jemmy, Germaine, and of course, Rollo! and I was

in tears when I went over to the the next buik thread and learned that we lose him! Why? Why? WHY?WHY?WHY?

.

 

I loved Claire's fury in attacking that boy who was stoning her; Jamie throwing himself over her body to protect her. Jeebus Cripes, that whole segment just had me saying over and over again--how much more? How much more is DG going to throw at them?

 

And I was cheering when I learned Malva was dead. Yes, I am a mean, cold-hearted, unfeeling wench. I dinna care.

 

Yay! Fergus is back! And it's the old Fergus! With his "MiLord" and "MiLady" when talking to Jamie and Claire.

 

The only shock I got when I put the buik down today was learning that Jocasta and Ulysses are lovers and have been for over 20 years.  I never bought into the line of thought that Jocasta asked Phadre to have sex with Duncan, because she loved Duncan. I don't think she does. Maybe she cares for him, but just the way DG has written her, her reaction and that cold laugh when Jamie and Claire came to River Run? to find out what was going on when they got that note from Phadre.

 

And Bree continues to make me want to shake her and ask her what the fuck is wrong with her? But more, what in the bluedilly FUCK is wrong with DG? Having Bree soothe her fucking rapist because, woe is me, the poor bastard has bad dreams? What the FUCK? And don't get me started how aroused she got after he fucked that whore Ebbie.  And why she doesn't continue to find ways to kill Bonnet is beyond my ken. Not fighting or trying everything to avoid sleeping next to her rapist in the same bed. It's gross, and disgusting and just sick.  And so now that it looks as if he's going to sell her, she will "fucking" kill him? Where was all this passion to do so when she first learned whose ship/boat whatever she was on?  And dilly dallying about whether she was pregnant. I'm talking about when she told Bonnet, "yes," and then said "maybe" and that she wouldn't know for sure for a couple of weeks. Idiot should have just said, YES, yes I am!

 

I'm glad Phadre is alive.  I want Jamie/Wee Ian/Roger to eviscerate Bonnet and Emmanuel. I don't care who does it. I want them both dead. Like Brown. dead!dead!dead!

 

I hope I'm not pissed by the time I reach the end of this book. I remember the emotional satisfaction I got from this point to the end in Fiery.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Okay, I'm now at the point of thinking--will this buik ever end?!  Seriously.

 

So, great, Bree was able to save herself. I'm assuming that her stabbing Emmanuel in the armpit, somehow cut some vein or artery and he bled out, because it wasn't clear how he died.

 

I loved, loved, loved, Roger and Wee Ian "talking" to Neil Forbes to find out where Bree was. Especially got satisfaction from Wee Ian slicing off his ear, and how Jamie "kidnapped" Forbes's mother.

 

Then it's like time sped by really quick, because Amanda is born, and really, it seems that Jemmy can only be the normal birth in the Jamie Fraser clan. And that's all I'm going to say on that subject.

 

How long has Bree been in the New World now? Six years. Six.Years.  And still she's asking questions, demanding information from Lord John about Willie, as if she's still in the 20th century.  Claire was right when she said that this time, was now her time; her world, whereas, Roger and Bree still acted as if they were on an extended vacation/visiting the past. That's the only explanation I can come up with. Oh see, Lord John, you have to tell Willie who his "real" father is, because I'm going away and never, ever coming back! And besides, when I was told Jamie was my father, it took awhile for me to process it, but now I love him, and I still love Frank, who is also my father, blah, blah, yakkity, yakkity, yak-yak.

 

Now I'm hoping to actually read the words: Stephen Bonnet is DEAD by Drowning. That it actually happened and there's a body to prove it happened.  And to find out who killed Malva.  And who stole the French gold.  And I find myself wishing all these people away and to just read about Jamie and Claire.  And Fergus, and Wee Ian.

 

The best part of this book was Claire's kidnapping and rescue, as awful as that was.  I just know I'm not going to get any of the emotional satisfaction with this buik as I did with The Fiery Cross.

 

I'm at 93% and still my Kindle says I've two hours to go until I finish. Well, finish I will tonight!

[bearcatfan]

Yeah, Bree is annoying at times but I can't hate her because Jamie loves her so.

 

She did try to get out of the bed with Bonnet, he kept waking and holding onto her so she couldn't. Also, remember that part of her reason for comforting him was to try to get him to go back to sleep because she was afraid that in his state he might forget that she was pregnant or decide it didn't matter as little Bonnet was becoming aroused (I can't remember his name for it). She started out confused looking for Jemmy. I don't know if you are a mother but it's really amazing how a cry or sound of distress can bring out that instinct when your child isn't around.

 

I'm not sure about my feelings for Malva. On one hand I'm furious that she went to the lengths she did but I do feel relieved that she had planned on telling the truth. I knew something was up between her and Allen. Without his influence she probably would have married one of the unmarried men she was seeing. Of course she did try to kill Claire and her father.  What a messed up family!

[Petunia846]

I'm at 93% and still my Kindle says I've two hours to go until I finish.

I know that wasn't meant to be any kind of joke, but that just made me laugh so hard. That's how you know you're reading a Diana Gabaldon book!

[GHScorpiosRule]

I know that wasn't meant to be any kind of joke, but that just made me laugh so hard. That's how you know you're reading a Diana Gabaldon book!

 

Ye mock me, but 'tisn't amusing. And at least 38 minutes of that was the chapter from Echo.

 

But sheesh! I finished. At 12:30 a.m.  

 

So. I was right about who killed Malva. Was Allan. Just as I thought, based on his attitude and possessiveness. And I don't care that Malva decided to tell the truth. And it seems me not caring for Mrs. Bugs turned out to be right as weel, since it was Arch who stole the French gold. Now that was a shock. But I suspected it would be someone we had met and would know, and not some random stranger.  I didn't skim anything, so DG not saying how Mrs. Bug died made me wonder.  Did love how Jamie didn't tell Arch he was asking why he did it, and then later, loading up his gun as he told Arch to be on his way.

 

Bonnet got off easy. But at least he's gone.

 

And I totally loved how Claire threw out Lord Grey's sapphire ring when Jamie tried to give it to her, his silent way of saying she could leave with Bree and Roger if she wanted.  And most especially, how she said how newspapers never get anything right!

 

And YES, I really, and I mean really wanted to read the conversation between Bree and Jamie about William, instead of Jamie telling Lord Grey that he spoke with her and she wouldn't tell him. I really wanted to know what Jamie said to her. I feel cheated. DG is fine and dandy making me slog through stuff that is so unnecessary, yet something that I think was necessary, she does "off-screen"? Bullshit! cop-out.

 

Jemmy looking back at Jamie and Claire as he and Roger walked through the Stones had me holding my breath. Bree finding the letter from Jamie, sadly, did nothing for me. Probably because I don't give two diddly fucks about Bree.  So no, I didn't find this book emotionally satisfying at all at the end. Like I stated up thread, the parts I did find satisfying, as bad as that subplot was, was Claire's kidnapping and Jamie, Wee Ian and Roger rescuing her.

 

Hmmm...is Jamie psychic?

 

And since I got a credit on Amazon due to some class action settlement (one I wasn't involved in), I got the next buik for free.

[Petunia846]

And YES, I really, and I mean really wanted to read the conversation between Bree and Jamie about William, instead of Jamie telling Lord Grey that he spoke with her and she wouldn't tell him. I really wanted to know what Jamie said to her. I feel cheated. DG is fine and dandy making me slog through stuff that is so unnecessary, yet something that I think was necessary, she does "off-screen"? Bullshit! cop-out.

I've had that feeling several times over the course of the eight books. Can't think of any of them now, but I know that's another Gabaldon thing.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I've had that feeling several times over the course of the eight books. Can't think of any of them now, but I know that's another Gabaldon thing.

Figures. And it turns out, that the new characters I was introduced in the last buik and this buik that I didn't like or hated, turned out I wasn't wrong about them! MacDonald, Mrs. Bug, Malva, Allan...

I mean, it turns out she was a big fat liar! She didn't kill Lionel Brown because he was talking trash about Claire and what he would do to her, or what his brother would do to her, but because he'd learned her and Arch's secret, and she was afraid that he would tell Jamie and Claire what he'd learned. But Arch was the biggest shock. To see how he was part of the group that went to help save Claire, and then, find out, he's still bitter over Culloden, still believes in the Stuart cause, that he was the one threatening Jocasta. Though I can understand why, because, well Hector did abscond with the damned gold. And I will complete the rests of my thoughts about the Bugs in the Echo thread, since DG decided to

demonize them

.

Edited July 30, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[Petunia846]

I soo, soooo wanted to say something about the Bugs, even if it was just to snicker, when you were talking about them earlier, but I remember that was one of the biggest late book shocks for me, so I didn't want to ruin that for you. Am I awesome, or what? Heh.

 

Looking forward to your continued thoughts on the last two books!

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yeah, Mrs. Bug, well, bugged me from the moment I saw her; Arch, not so much, because he was in the background.  And now, I will go back to my original post and blame both Mrs. Bug and Malva for skelping Claire! 'Maybe that's how they do things back then to cure fever' my ass. Or rather, remove my giving that old biddy a pass for participating in it.

[chocolatetruffle]

I just finished this last night, so here are my thoughts while they are fresh.

 

Loss is the overall feeling for me about this book - the theme of loss and the change that must necessarily come as a result.  DG has written that its structure is taken from the Great Wave Off Kanagawa with the wave being the cascade of events that drive people off the Ridge and Mt. Fuji in the background representing the love of J&C, which is the constant (any Lost viewers will know the deeper meaning to that).  But right now, I am only feeling the loss of some of my favorite characters from the story and/or the Ridge:  Jocasta, Duncan, the Bugs, Fergus, Marsali and Germaine, Roger & Jemmy.  Most deeply, I feel the devastating loss to Jamie & Claire of their family.  I really don’t like being in Bree’s POV usually, because she is too high maintenance for me, but I was moved when she left J&C, mostly because they were all so devastated. A chapter of life on the Ridge has closed forever, and I loved being in that world and am grieving it’s loss.  But I suppose, life is like that, isn’t it.

 

There are A LOT of cascading events in this story, so many as to be overwhelming.  Here are few of the plot points that I liked…

Claire’s kidnapping:  despite the fact that the story started w/ contrived plotting (if Hodgepile’s goal was the whisky, why kidnap Claire?  Just threaten her w/ harm to Marsali and she would have led them to the stash.  By kidnapping her, he signed his own death warrant, as he was told many times), the rescue was really well done.  However, it was the PTSD aftermath that I most enjoyed: her trying to reclaim her life; her jumping at noises; re-connecting w/ Jamie.  Of course by the end of the book, how could Claire feel safe in their home after having it invaded 3 times (note the writer’s use of threes to drive home the violation and disruption of their idyllic life on the Ridge).

 

Ian and Bree: all or their scenes together were beautifully written, but the campout scenes especially so - emotional, poignant, cathartic.  Some of DG’s best work IMO.  Ian had been so lost. The advice she gave him was perfect - exactly what I was thinking, but she said it in a much more elegant way.  Then asking her father to take care of Ian's daughter in heaven just gutted me.  I marvel at the depth and strength of the love between the cousins.

 

Bonnet’s death:  I saw a program once about real-life piracy during its heyday in the Caribbean and pirates being staked out and left to drown by the incoming tide was a very popular execution – in fact one of the more famous pirates (can’t remember who) was killed that way and his body left to rot for several days as a “warning.”  Dude got off easy.

 

Lizzie:  Mr. Wemyss drunk; Jamie swearing; Claire rolling her eyes and trying to comfort Mr. W; Lizzie at first defiant, then taking control w/ a (in her estimation) practical solution to the problem.  This story was at times hilarious, absurd and heartbreaking – good stuff.

 

Malva:  I know that acting out sexually is considered a hallmark of familial sexual abuse and so Malva’s sexual behavior was a red flag (that I missed coming off of Lizzie’s sexual escapades with the Beardsleys – all I could think about is that the Ridge reminded me of the church I grew up in.  But I digress...).  Of course, trying to murder her father/uncle and Claire (if Tom Christie’s story is true) was inexcusable.  Nevertheless her story was very, very sad.  I really felt for her being so trapped by the inappropriate relationship with her brother/cousin. And the ultimate irony was that her desire to do the right thing was what got her killed.  What a waste of a talented girl's life.  Such a sad and unexpectedly moving story.

 

Ian:  Yes, it's worth singling out this amazing young man.  I loved, loved, loved – every moment he’s on the page, every scene, every action (he really has become the Fraser Family Enforcer: that line from The Untouchables “They send one of ours to the hospital, we send one of theirs to the morgue” (paraphrased)  - that’s Ian.  LOVED! Thank you DG for giving me this wonderful character.  

 

That’s all I got right now.  I know we are supposed to feel hopeful because Jamie has a plan, naturally, and Roger & Bree are renovating Lallybroch and have found Jamie’s letters.  However, I'm sad today and need to sit with the grief I’m feeling for a while….

Edited August 10, 2015 by chocolatetruffle

[GHScorpiosRule]

I just finished this last night, so here are my thoughts while they are fresh.

 

Bonnet’s death:  I saw a program once about real-life piracy during its heyday in the Caribbean and pirates being staked out and left to drown by the incoming tide was a very popular execution – in fact one of the more famous pirates (can’t remember who) was killed that way and his body left to rot for several days as a “warning.”  Dude got off easy.

You got that right.

 

Malva:  What a waste of a talented girl's life.  Such a sad and unexpectedly moving story.

That's it? What went through yer mind when she claimed Jamie was the father of her child? Hmmm?

[chocolatetruffle]

You got that right.

 

That's it? What went through yer mind when she claimed Jamie was the father of her child? Hmmm?

 

No doubt. When that whole thing went down, it was just outrageous.  But once we learned that her twisted, deviant brother/cousin Allan manipulated her into it, it became clear to me that she was a victim in the whole mess.  Then he murders her before she can make things right with Claire and Jamie, which was tragic.

[GHScorpiosRule]

No doubt. When that whole thing went down, it was just outrageous.  But once we learned that her twisted, deviant brother/cousin Allan manipulated her into it, it became clear to me that she was a victim in the whole mess.  Then he murders her before she can make things right with Claire and Jamie, which was tragic.

 

 

I guess I'm the only cold-hearted one here, then. Because I didn't. Find her tragic, that is. Yes, yes, I'm mean. 

 

I guess because I thought, based on the relationship Claire had built with her, she would have confided in Claire instead of betraying her and trying to kill her as well.  And as I stated up thread, when Allan confronted Malva when he saw her crying when Roger was consoling her, I just knew there was something there. And I guess my mind went there, not because I'd been spoiled by the relationship (as I'd read this thread before reading), but because of some Bollywood movies I've seen over the years, where a brother has acted more incestuously than brotherly whenever the heroine (usually the younger sister) falls in love with someone "beneath" her and thinks he/they own her.

[nodorothyparker]

I can find Malva tragic and still think you know, there were so many other options available to you than the ones you chose.  And this being the Ridge and Claire being Claire, getting that help probably wouldn't have been that difficult.

 

But I've made no secret of disliking Tom Christie's incestuous little family and the story suck they became.

[MsProudSooner]

I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes night before last.

 

My mind wanders to the practical issues Bree and Roger faced going back to the 20th century.  Bree had sent boxes of her stuff to Roger in England before she left.  What did she do with the items she would need to get Amanda the surgery?  They had no birth certificate or marriage license so how did they even proove she was their daughter?  They returned through the stones in NC.  How did they manage to get from NC to Lallybrock?  Will these questions be answered in the 7th book?

 

I've never been able to work up the animosity for Bree that other people have.  Perhaps it's because I was born in 1946 and she was supposedly born in 1947 or 1948.  In 1970, many women were just figuring out that they had options other than being Mrs. (Supply some man's name here).  I distinctly remember some arguments I had with my father-in-law over the simple fact that I felt that no one person was 'in charge' in a marriage - that it was a partnership. .  Had I been plunged back 200 years in time at that point in my life, it would have been a terrible culture shock for me.   

 

To me, Claire fell in love with her 18th Century man and while he was curious about life in the 20th century, he couldn't identify with it.  Bree, on the other hand, fell in love with a 20th Century man and he followed her to the 18th.  It was much more natural for them to reminisce together about things they missed.  Bree lived her entire life as an only child and just as she finds out she had a half-brother, she has to leave him, perhaps forever.  I always wished I had a brother.  I can't imagine what it would be like to find out I had one but would never get to know him.  

 

 

[bearcatfan]

I've never been able to work up the animosity for Bree that other people have.  Perhaps it's because I was born in 1946 and she was supposedly born in 1947 or 1948.  In 1970, many women were just figuring out that they had options other than being Mrs. (Supply some man's name here).  I distinctly remember some arguments I had with my father-in-law over the simple fact that I felt that no one person was 'in charge' in a marriage - that it was a partnership. .  Had I been plunged back 200 years in time at that point in my life, it would have been a terrible culture shock for me.    

Yeah, I wouldn't have handled it well either although I was born later than Bree. Some of my friends' parents were this way which always came as a shock to me because my parents had more of a partnership even though they were born in the 1920s and 30s. I guess it was because my dad liked smart women and he figured if he had a smart woman, he should at least listen to her opinion.

[Dejana]

I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes night before last.

 

My mind wanders to the practical issues Bree and Roger faced going back to the 20th century.  Bree had sent boxes of her stuff to Roger in England before she left.  What did she do with the items she would need to get Amanda the surgery?  They had no birth certificate or marriage license so how did they even proove she was their daughter?  They returned through the stones in NC.  How did they manage to get from NC to Lallybrock?  Will these questions be answered in the 7th book?

 

I haven't read the book in a while but seem to remember that Claire wrote out birth certificates for both Jemmy and Amanda, with 20th century dates and signed them Dr. Claire Randall, I want to say with her medical license number, too, but I may be fanwanking that part. Bree and Roger were just going to play like they'd spent years on a commune and had their children there, which in the 1970s, wasn't wildly implausible.  Though why Claire Randall, Boston doctor would be on a commune, too...hopefully, hospitals back then didn't look too deeply into those pesky details.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Dejana

[lianau]

I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes night before last.

 

My mind wanders to the practical issues Bree and Roger faced going back to the 20th century.  Bree had sent boxes of her stuff to Roger in England before she left.  What did she do with the items she would need to get Amanda the surgery?  They had no birth certificate or marriage license so how did they even proove she was their daughter? 

 

Claire did some sort of home birth certificate  for Jemmy  and I guess she did one for Mandy too . Claire ,Brianna and Roger are  20th century people with the proper documentation to back it up so they probably came up with a story that was believable  . 

 

Though why Claire Randall, Boston doctor would be on a commune, too...hopefully, hospitals back then didn't look too deeply into those pesky details.

 

Didn't want her daughter to have her grandchildren with a midwife  under the influence of pot and LSD  so she made her way down to where ever Brianna was living (obviously not approved by the good doctor)

Edited August 17, 2015 by lianau

[Dejana]

Didn't want her daughter to have her grandchildren with a midwife  under the influence of pot and LSD  so she made her way down to where ever Brianna was living (obviously not approved by the good doctor)

 

Heh, reasonable enough!

[bearcatfan]

Babies born in the US also didn't need to get social security numbers at birth either at that time. I know neither me nor my sister received ours until it was time to get our driver's license. Getting one with the birth registration process didn't begin until the late 1980s so the birth certificates from Claire would have been all that was expected.

[chocolatetruffle]

I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes night before last.

 

My mind wanders to the practical issues Bree and Roger faced going back to the 20th century.  Bree had sent boxes of her stuff to Roger in England before she left.  What did she do with the items she would need to get Amanda the surgery?  They had no birth certificate or marriage license so how did they even proove she was their daughter?  They returned through the stones in NC.  How did they manage to get from NC to Lallybrock?  Will these questions be answered in the 7th book?

 

I don't know if this is going to be discussed in a later book but, IIRC, Bree was left with a lot of money after Claire "disappeared," including her house.  And I believe Dr. Joe was the "executor" for lack of a better word, so I assume that the money was still there waiting for Bree to return, since she was only supposed to be gone a few weeks when she left originally. I assume a quick phone call to Dr. Joe, and the rest would have been taken care of.

[Andorra]

I stumbled over this scene in book 6 today:

 

He took the stone from its cloth, turning it over between his fingers, and looked thoughtfully at me, as though making up his mind wether to tell me something. Small hairs begann to prickle on the back of my neck.

"I dinna ken," he said at last, shaking his head. "But I've seen ye there."

The prickling ran straight downthe back of my neck and down both arms.

"Seen me where?"

"There." He waved a hand in a vague gesture. "I dreamt of ye there. I dinna ken where it was; I only know it was there – in your proper time."

"How do you know that?" I demanded, my flesh creeping briskly. "What was I doing?"

His brow furrowed in the effortof recolletction.

"I dinna recall, exactly," he said slowly. "But I knew it was then, by the light." His brow cleared suddenly. "That's it. Ye were sitting at a desk, with something in your hand, maybe writing. And there was light all round ye, shining on your face, on your hair. But it wasna candlelight, nor yet firelight or sunlight. And I recall thinking to myself as I saw ye, Oh, so that's what electric light is like."

{...}

"How old was I in this dream of yours?"

He looked surprised, then uncertain, and peered closesly at my face, as though trying to compare it with some mental vision.

"Well... I dinna ken," he sounding for the first time unsure. "I didna thing anything about it – I didna notice that ye had white hair, or anything of the sort – it was just … you."

I haven't seen this discussed before, but I immediately felt reminded of the scene we saw in book 1 with "ghost Jamie". Claire wasn't writing, but holding a brush in her hair, surrounded by light.

Jamie thinks here that he was dreaming of the future and that Claire will return to her time someday when he has died.

But since he can't remember if she was old or young, I thought that maybe it is not a look into the future, but him remembering seeing her as "ghost Jamie" in 1946.

My theory of ghost Jamie is something like a near death experience. That Jamie was on the brink of dying and that was when he appeared as "ghost Jamie" in Iverness and saw Claire. And it might have been what brought him back.

Could it be connected to his loss of memory about Culloden, for example?

But what I can't figure out is, how it would fit into the timeline. He was watching Claire in 1946 and Culloden was at 1746, but he saw Claire in October and Culloden was in April. So it doesn't fit with the parallel timelines of 200 years.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Andorra

[WatchrTina]

Claire has the time-travel gene but I think Jamie may have some kind of astral-projection-across-time gene.  I think that because of a (vaguely-recollected) scene from book 3 when the crazy lady in Jamaica (the murderer's damaged sister) eats some hallucinogenic drug and goes into a trance and Brianna (who is still in the 20th century) begins speaking through her to . . . Jamie?  That happened, didn't it?  I should probably put that question in the book 3 thread.  

 

Anyway, that scene leads me to believe that the Frasers have an ability to visit their loved ones in other times through dreams or other bizarre means.  I imagine it's an ability that would lie latent in most people, either never manifesting or being dismissed as "just a dream" in most people.  In book 3, I assumed Brianna was asleep in the 20th century and her soul(?) leaked into the 18th century to pay her mother and father a visit via the lady in the trance.  In this book I think we learn that Jamie's soul(?) visited Claire in the 20th century while he was asleep in the 18th century and and that the "dream" only stands out to Jamie because he "saw" something he had never seen in real life.  Most dreams are made up of images that are debris from the life we have lead.  I don't think that Jamie (in this book) is anticipating his future ghost seeing Claire in that one scene in book 1 where she is brushing her hair.  I think Jamie is remembering having astral projected into Claire's room during the 20 years they were separated -- "seeing" the real her while he slept.

 

ETA a small related spoiler from book 7/8.  

My theory is that the combination of the double-dose of the time-travel gene (via Brianna and Roger) coupled with a sprinkling of the astral-projection gene (from Jamie via Brianna) is the reason that Roger and Bree's kids manifest a unique ability to sense one another that we learn about in Books 7/8.

Edited August 20, 2015 by WatchrTina

[AD55]

Claire has the time-travel gene but I think Jamie may have some kind of astral-projection-across-time gene.  I think that because of a (vaguely-recollected) scene from book 3 when the crazy lady in Jamaica (the murderer's damaged sister) eats some hallucinogenic drug and goes into a trance and Brianna (who is still in the 20th century) begins speaking through her to . . . Jamie?  That happened, didn't it?  I should probably put that question in the book 3 thread.  

 

Anyway, that scene leads me to believe that the Frasers have an ability to visit their loved ones in other times through dreams or other bizarre means.  I imagine it's an ability that would lie latent in most people, either never manifesting or being dismissed as "just a dream" in most people.  In book 3, I assumed Brianna was asleep in the 20th century and her soul(?) leaked into the 18th century to pay her mother and father a visit via the lady in the trance.  In this book I think we learn that Jamie's soul(?) visited Claire in the 20th century while he was asleep in the 18th century and and that the "dream" only stands out to Jamie because he "saw" something he had never seen in real life.  Most dreams are made up of images that are debris from the life we have lead.  I don't think that Jamie (in this book) is anticipating his future ghost seeing Claire in that one scene in book 1 where she is brushing her hair.  I think Jamie is remembering having astral projected into Claire's room during the 20 years they were separated -- "seeing" the real her while he slept.

 

ETA a small related spoiler from book 7/8.  

My theory is that the combination of the double-dose of the time-travel gene (via Brianna and Roger) coupled with a sprinkling of the astral-projection gene (from Jamie via Brianna) is the reason that Roger and Bree's kids manifest a unique ability to sense one another that we learn about in Books 7/8.

 

Don't Jemmy and/or Mandy talk to Jamie once they're back in the twentieth century? I don't know which book that is, but if it's better for you to respond in the proper thread, I'm sure I'll find it.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Don't Jemmy and/or Mandy talk to Jamie once they're back in the twentieth century? I don't know which book that is, but if it's better for you to respond in the proper thread, I'm sure I'll find it.

 

 

No.

[Clawdette]

May favorite thing in this book so far:  Claire is hallucinating and is being pulled to leave this world.  But she sees a man and a dark-haired woman by the window and the woman (Malva) is comforting the man (Jamie).  She thinks, "That won't do," and returns to the present.  I love her "he's mine" attitude.

[Archery]

I love the fact that when Malva accuses Jamie, Claire's response is "let me leave this room before I choke a bitch."  And her overarching feeling is one of betrayal -- that Malva was her protege and she would not have expected her to do this in a million years.  That rang so true to me, and I'm glad DG didn't do the trite "romance novel" thing of having the heroine actually believe, however briefly, that the hero has been unfaithful, despite all that they have been through.  

[DittyDotDot]

Okay, I think I'm catching on...Jamie and Claire end up separated at some point in this book, don't they? And, I'm guess Jamie is presumed dead due to all the talk about if Jamie died he wouldn't want Claire to poison the rest of the family. There's just been all these moments of them that feel like they're doing a long goodbye of sorts. The talk of how they are "fated" to die in that fire; Jamie starting the new house and all.

 

I don't know, but I get this feeling there is another separation coming. It could be that I've just been prepared for this since they built that first cabin on the ridge. I just figure there's no way Jamie gets to keep his little piece of paradise. 

 

Also, Claire is going to be in great danger soon, right? Too many people scared of her and without Jamie to protect her...well, I guess I should just read on.

[DittyDotDot]

Oh, disregard my above post...just read the capture and rape of Claire. Now I understand why Gabaldon was writing all these very sweet moments between Claire and Jamie to build up for the hard times ahead. For as horrible as the act was, those were some very well-written passages. And, I realized how much I missed having so much straight Claire POV. 

 

Of course, in the midst of all the madness, another time traveler shows up. Of course.

[peacefrog]

Psst...I think you posted in the wrong book thread!

[Athena]

Of course, in the midst of all the madness, another time traveler shows up. Of course.

 

Psst...I think you posted in the wrong book thread!

 

I moved three posts from Book 5 to here. I think I got them all? The books tend to bleed into one another for me.

[DittyDotDot]

Oops, sorry about. I thought I was in the book 6 thread. Sorry about that Athena, thanks for fixing it for me.

[DittyDotDot]

Roger is becoming a minister...aww! That should help smooth things on the ridge with the new tenants a bit and it's nice that Roger is finding his own place in this time. Although, Brianna trying to find her own place seems like it will be dangerous; much like it is with Claire. Brianna's "inventing" is bound to scare some folk and put off others who would think it not a woman's place...I think I might actually be getting interested in Brianna finally.

 

Oh, and I decided I needed to give Gabaldon a bit of praise to make up for all my mocking her limited writing style. One thing she seems to get right is these little slices of the everyday. They're filled with such great little character beats. I just loved the scene of Brianna and Jamie talking about Disneyland while Roger and Jem were up in the trees howling at the moon. 

 

Also, fascinating having Jamie talk about how looking at Roger and Brianna it's obvious the world becomes a softer and safer place--that it's a comfort to him. Got me to thinking how Roger is fighting to make the past a better place and Jamie is fighting to make the future a safer place. That's another thing Gabaldon has done well, these books are filled with compelling ideas.

[DittyDotDot]

"D'ye ever wonder what it sounds like when God laughs?"

 

I'm enjoying all the different conversations the characters are having with God throughout this book--especially Jamie's. Although the one Young Ian was having at the beginning was rather nice too.

 

Oh, and I find myself saying, "Oh, Fergus!" quite a bit too. Meep. I'm going to be sad when Fergus, Marsali and the bairns leave the ridge. Poor Jemmy will be bored to tears without Germain finding mischief for them.

[DittyDotDot]

Okay, is it wrong how I broke out laughing at Germain thinking he'd just tie Henry Christian in that cave with a wee little string? Germain is such a charming little devil, I adore him!

 

Oh, Ian!

 

Interesting how Claire got sick. Is this the first time she's been ill in the past? And, she suspects poisoning? Hmmm...my vote is for Malva. I don't know why she'd want to poison Claire--although, I think why she'd want to poison Tom Christie is pretty clear--but she's got a Geillis Duncan sort of vibe to her. A bit off her rocker, that is. I've been sure she's up to no good since she first asked Claire about her journal.

Edited September 24, 2015 by DittyDotDot

[DittyDotDot]

Did I not say Malva was a bit off her rocker? What an idiot to have accused Jamie, of all people. Sheesh. And now all this rigmarole of her murder. Sigh. This is the stupidity portion of the book, isn't it? There's one in every book...I survived the previous ones, I guess I'll survive this one too.

 

Anyhoo, I've been thinking of this notion of how the time travelers have come to the conclusion that they can't change the big things. I wonder if that's actually true, though. Granted, Jamie and Claire didn't change what happened at Culloden, but I wonder if they could have if they had, instead of trying to stop it, gotten behind Bonny Prince Charlie? Could they have changed it to a victory? I'm not blaming anyone, just thinking about choices and how even though Claire has the knowledge of the future, she still hasn't a clue to how it will all play out in the end. 

Edited September 26, 2015 by DittyDotDot

[WatchrTina]

 

Anyhoo, I've been thinking of this notion of how the time travelers have come to the conclusion that they can't change the big things. I wonder if that's actually true

From what I understand there are two schools of thought when it comes to time-travel.  

 

One is the "Butterfly Effect," which may refer to an actual theory within the mathematical specialty of chaos theory that puts forward the philosophy that tiny changes in the very distant past can have huge repercussions in the present. (The "butterfly effect" described in chaos theory posits that the flapping of the wings of a butterfly in Brazil can be the ultimate cause of a tornado in Texas.) But I always thought the name came from the short-story by Ray Bradbury, "The Sound of Thunder," where a big-game hunter and time-traveling tourist is taken back in time to shoot a dinosaur.  He's directed to stay on a levitating path so as to not have any effect on anything except the dinosaur, which is going to die of natural causes in a few minutes anyway.  He panics, steps off the path . . . and when he returns to his time a fascist government in power.  There is a dead butterfly on the sole of his boot.  The theory is that for lack of a single butterfly (and any offspring it would have had) another animal died sooner or in a different manner, and for lack of that animal being where it needed to be another animal met a different fate,  and so on and so on with the impact of that one change (the crushed butterfly) being magnified over time.  That school of thought would say that Jamie and Claire COULD have changed the outcome of history -- but not from only one or two years in advance of the event they were trying to change.  That theory also says that the changes Claire did make (e.g., the people she saved through her medical care who would otherwise have died) WILL have a profound impact on the distant future.

 

The other theory is that time is like a mighty river flowing inevitably to the sea and that tiny changes like killing a butterfly (or discouraging a few people from supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie in his rebellion) is like someone throwing a stick in that swollen, fast-running river.  The fate of the stick is changed but that of the river is not.  The theory says, try as you might, one person could not change the big, sweeping trends of history by changing things in the past because there are just too many factors in play (e.g., if you traveled back in time and killed Hitler in his crib a different, equally awful person would have risen to lead the Third Reich.)  According to that school of thought, Jamie and Claire's efforts to stop the war were doomed.  But just as the fate of the stick IS changed, Jamie and Claire can have an impact on individuals (like saving their lives) and it is conceivable that Jamie killing Black Jack before his son was born could have caused Frank to wink out of existence.

 

Of course if Frank winked out of existence then it is unlikely that Claire would have ever travelled back in time because she would not have been on her 2nd honeymoon in Scotland on that particular day and so the chain of events that led to Jamie being in France at the same time as Black Jack and carrying a HUGE blood-thirsty grudge against Black Jack -- well that chain of events would not have happened and Jamie would not have killed Black Jack so Frank's ancestor would have been born after all and now we get into the classic time-travel paradox, which I hate.  To quote Katherine Janeway of the Star Ship Voyager "The past is the future, the future is the past . . . the whole thing gives me a headache."

Edited September 26, 2015 by WatchrTina

[DittyDotDot]

Oh yeah, I'm generally of the timey-wimey school of thought--it does give one a headache more often than not. I was more thinking about choices than time travel theory.  Could it have made a difference if they'd made a different choice and not spoiled the Prince's plans? Would the money have come in time to make a difference? There's always a what if and I guess I was just thinking of some of those.

 

I think I started down this line from Jamie saying he'd never fought for a cause before, but only out of need. It really got me thinking about the choice they made all those years ago to try and stop the Bonnie Prince. It just got me thinking, if Jamie hadn't known what was to come with Culloden, would he have chosen a side out of principle and would that side had been to fully back Charlie? Or, would he have tried to stay out of it altogether? I realize you can never really know these things, but it's something I was thinking of anyway.

 

 

What I'm really finding compelling in this book is, for every war, there are two sides and each side always thinks they're in the right. So far, I've really liked how one side isn't being portrayed as being the more noble and heroic side of things, necessarily. The way Jamie has danced between the two swords has really been done well, IMO. And since I give Gabaldon a lot of crap when I think she gets it wrong, I wanted to make sure to give her a pat on the back when she gets it right--even if she does repeat what she got right ad nauseam.

Edited September 26, 2015 by DittyDotDot

[bearcatfan]

I think I started down this line from Jamie saying he'd never fought for a cause before, but only out of need. It really got me thinking about the choice they made all those years ago to try and stop the Bonnie Prince. It just got me thinking, if Jamie hadn't known what was to come with Culloden, would he have chosen a side out of principle and would that side had been to fully back Charlie? Or, would he have tried to stay out of it altogether? I realize you can never really know these things, but it's something I was thinking of anyway.

I've wondered about that too. Prior to Jamie knowing about Claire and what she said about the future, he doesn't seem to be gung-ho for Bonnie Prince Charlie. Colum doesn't either. I think that Jamie would have been more pragmatic, like Colum, and taken whatever side he thought would keep his land and people safe. I think he would have tried to stay out of it as long as possible.

[DittyDotDot]

So, another one down. I wasn't surprised by Allan Christie being both the father of Malva's child and her killer, but did not see the Bug's thievery coming. And, I figured the house would burn, in the end. The McGuffin with the cabin was a big tip off. 

 

So, now I'm wondering if that's the last we hear of Roger and Brianna? I'm okay with it if it is, but I'll miss Roger and wee Jem too.

 

I have to say, I'm so very much amused at Fergus publishing "The Onion". Verra cute, that is. Although, Gabaldon seems to have a very dim view of the newspaper industry. I try not to take any offense considering the state of journalism in the time period we're talking about. 

 

I've wondered about that too. Prior to Jamie knowing about Claire and what she said about the future, he doesn't seem to be gung-ho for Bonnie Prince Charlie. Colum doesn't either. I think that Jamie would have been more pragmatic, like Colum, and taken whatever side he thought would keep his land and people safe. I think he would have tried to stay out of it as long as possible.

 

Yeah, that's what I settled on too--that's what Jamie was raised to do, take care for his family and his land to the best of his ability. Which leads me to the next thing this book had me thinking of: How much the world changed for Jamie after the fall of the clans. I'm not just talking about the famine and hard times, but there used to be a code of honor in the highlands that this new generation doesn't seem to understand. Even Jamie's own people turned against him in the end. I find it kinda brilliant that Gabaldon chose to bring Bree and Roger--people who both came of age in the 1960s-- back to this time. Both time periods being great times of social unrest and change.

 

 

 

Anyway, overall, a bit slow, but still an interesting story with some compelling ideas. Off to download that next one. Why no, I'm not at all obsessed. ;)

Edited September 27, 2015 by DittyDotDot

[j5cochran]

I'm rereading my way through the books, as are so many others.  However, this time I'm reading on my tablet, with that wonderful ability to do instant Wikipedia look-ups. It's fun to find the real story of the historical characters.

 

But, in addition to everything else that all of y'all have said, I would like to add . . . I hope that some of the humorous scenes from this book are included in the sixth (?) season of Outlander.  I love and adore the funeral for Mrs. Wilson, the old lady who died but isn't quite dead yet.  I want to see the evil white sow.  I can't wait to see the matchmaking abilities of the redoubtable Frau Ute. I hope to watch Adso attacking Donald McDonald's hats and wigs.

 

The laughter of the little things is what makes the tragedy bearable.

 

 

 

[lianau]

I've wondered about that too. Prior to Jamie knowing about Claire and what she said about the future, he doesn't seem to be gung-ho for Bonnie Prince Charlie. Colum doesn't either. I think that Jamie would have been more pragmatic, like Colum, and taken whatever side he thought would keep his land and people safe. I think he would have tried to stay out of it as long as possible.

Even with the knowledge of what's coming I always thought that Jamie probably would have stayed away from the uprising once back in Scotland with Claire but BP Charlie signing him up as one of his supporters (since Jamie played the good friend part so convincingly ) played his hand for him . 

[asp]

I came out of sleep again sometime later. Instantly, fully conscious, heart pounding. But it wasn’t my heart—it was a drum.

Sounds of startlement came from the direction of the fire, men rousing in alarm from sleep.

“Indians!” someone shouted, and the light broke and flared, as someone kicked at the fire to scatter it.

It wasn’t an Indian drum. I sat up, listening hard. It was a drum with a sound like a beating heart, slow and rhythmic, then trip-hammer fast, like the frantic surge of a hunted beast.

I could have told them that Indians never used drums as weapons; Celts did. It was the sound of a bodhran.

What next?I thought, a trifle hysterically,bagpipes ?

It was Roger, certainly; only he could make a drum talk like that. It was Roger, and Jamie was nearby. I scrambled to my feet, wanting, needing urgently to move. I jerked at the rope around my waist in a frenzy of impatience, but I was going nowhere.

Another drum began, slower, less skilled, but equally menacing. The sound seemed to move—it was moving. Fading, coming back full force. A third drum began, and now the thumping seemed to come from everywhere, fast, slow, mocking.

Someone fired a gun into the forest, panicked.

“Hold, there!” Hodgepile’s voice came, loud and furious, but to no avail; there was a popcorn rattle of gunfire, nearly drowned by the sound of the drums. I heard asnick near my head, and a cluster of needles brushed past me as it fell. It dawned on me that standing upright while guns were blindly fired all round

me was a dangerous strategy, and I promptly fell flat, burrowing into the dead needles, trying to keep the trunk of the tree betwixt me and the main body of men.

The drums were weaving, now closer, now farther, the sound unnerving even to one who knew what it was. They were circling the camp, or so it seemed. Should I call out, if they came near enough?

I was saved from the agony of decision; the men were making so much noise round the campfire that I couldn’t have been heard if I’d screamed myself hoarse. They were calling out in alarm, shouting questions, bellowing orders—which apparently went ignored, judging from the ongoing sounds of

confusion.

Someone blundered through the brush nearby, running from the drums. One, two more—the sound of gasping breath and crunching footsteps. Donner? The thought came to me suddenly and I sat up, then fell flat again as another shot whistled past overhead.

The drums stopped abruptly. Chaos reigned around the fire, though I could hear Hodgepile trying to get his men in order, yelling and threatening, nasal voice raised above the rest. Then the drums began again—much closer.

They were drawing in, drawing together, somewhere out in the forest on my left, and the mocking tip-tap-tip-tap beating had changed. They were thundering now. No skill, just menace. Coming closer.

Guns fired wildly, close enough for me to see the muzzle flash and smell the smoke, thick and hot on the air. The faggots of the fire had been scattered, but still burned, making a muted glow through the trees.

“There they are! I see ’em!” someone yelled from the fire, and there was another burst of musket-fire, toward the drums.

Then the most unearthly howl rose out of the dark to my right. I’d heard Scots scream going into battle before, but that particular Highland shriek made the hairs on my body prickle from tailbone to nape.

Jamie. Despite my fears, I sat bolt upright and peered round my sheltering tree, in time to see demons boil out of the wood.

I knew them—knew I knew them—but cowered back at sight of them, blackened with soot and shrieking with the madness of hell, firelight red on the blades of knives and axes.

The drums had stopped abruptly, with the first scream, and now another set of howls broke out to the left, the drummers racing in to the kill.

Breath of Snow and Ashes, Ch. 28, Curses

 

 

This is probably one of the most vivid descriptions (for me) in this book. It really stood out! So I went looking for what a bodhran was on line. 

 

I was surprised by what I found.

 

It's a rather small portable drum:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2XzyQwXnj8

 

and the sound is not very impressve.

 

I was expecting a much bigger instrument with a really deep threatenning sound.

 

Fantasy is so much better than reality!  ;D

 

 

 

 

[auntlada]

It can be a lot louder if you're right there with it, and there's no singing. A lot depends on how it's played.

[DittyDotDot]

Plus, adding there were four or five being played. But, on a still quiet night in the middle of the wilderness, I think even one could be impressive sounding if you were battered and tied to a tree, awaiting your husband to rescue you.