Book 9: Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone

[areca]

We're so screwed.  She's nowhere near wrapping this thing up and she's 70 years old. It's a Robert Jordan situation all over again.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

17 hours ago, areca said:

We're so screwed.  She's nowhere near wrapping this thing up and she's 70 years old. It's a Robert Jordan situation all over again.

My Dad's 91 and still going strong. People mistake him for being in his 50s. Some people have good genes.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Noneofyourbusiness

[GHScorpiosRule]

10 minutes ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

My Dad's 91 and still going strong. People mistake him for being in his 50s. Some people have good genes.

Also, Nora Roberts. She’s in her 70s and is still going strong with her single titles, trilogies and the In Death series written under J.D. Robb.

[ruby24]

I finally finished! Okay so I didn't really get going until a couple of weeks ago, because I got distracted after reading the first few chapters, but now I'm done.

Ok, so. First of all, I don't think the first 500 pages of this book even need to be here. Seriously, what happened in that first half? The only interesting thing was Amy and the bear, but even then it's not like we all cared about Amy that much.

Everything important happened in the last 400 pages, so..I mean, that was good. For the most part. I finally got used to William in this one, and it makes me sad that we're heading toward him finding out that Lord John's gay and probably hating him and bonding with Jamie (which has to happen eventually, but I love that his relationship with Lord John is so close and that rift is going to make me upset). A nice twist if she wants to do this would be him finding out and not caring at all, like Jamie doesn't really.

I can't bring myself to care about Roger and Brianna anymore. I cannot for the life of me understand why these two people would prefer to live in and raise their kids in the 1700's. It makes NO sense. Diana doesn't even bring up the obvious points like illnesses that can't be treated (though I guess with Claire's newfound superpowers that may not be an issue), but also what kind of life is Mandy forced to have in this time that she wouldn't have in the 1980's? There are just SO many more options for women- shouldn't she have the chance to go to school and college like Brianna did, be able to date and work and all the freedoms she will never have in this century? It's so weird to me that modern people like Roger and Bree don't even care about stuff like this.

Also I'm just tired of everyone having babies all the time. I mean, I do get that that's basically all the events that occur in a woman's life in that era, but I get sick of all these kids popping up, lol. Diana is really, really bad at writing little kid dialogue too. Just SO bad. 

I feel like nothing happened to Claire in this entire book. Did she ever even leave the Ridge? I don't think she did. 

I was lost at all allusions to Lord John's spinoff books. Haven't read them, had no idea about any of it. Also, does Lord John know about Claire? I think they told him, but I thought it was said that he never believed it, so I couldn't tell when Richardson was droning on whether he was staying quiet to protect Claire or not, or just thought this guy was crazy.

[andidante]

I bought the book a few months ago and haven't even started it yet. It is so big! And it doesn't sound like one of her better efforts. I remember the last book the first chapters were entirely Bree and Roger and I was so frustrated by that cause I just didn't care, LOL. I will start this one eventually and try to have an open mind about it. I think she is writing book 10 now and I honestly hope it's the last!

[Athena]

16 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I finally got used to William in this one... I can't bring myself to care about Roger and Brianna anymore.

I got use to William more this book too. I also like both Brianna and William when they are together. I like how he accepts it more readily than anything else. Brianna is more interesting with almost everyone except her husband.

Roger is still annoying and stupid. He basically went off to the war and just wrote his wife a short little note. I think one of the reasons I get annoyed with him is that we are suppose to take Roger's calling as a man of God and faith seriously. I don't buy it. He seems impulsive and bad communication more than anything. I preferred Roger when he was a historian or a singing one.

[GHScorpiosRule]

All I care about was that one snippet that Gabaldon had "released" or maybe it was in an early draft, so I don't even know if it made it into this buik. It was between Jamie and Roger, and how Jamie was talking about Claire and how the rape still affected her or something along those lines. They were at the river or something? Did it make it to the published version? Does anyone recall?

IF the show gets this far, I'll know to look for it, because I sure as HELL am not reading this buik.

[jacourt]

I found myself just reading anything in quotation marks.  Soooooooooo long.  Skipped battle scenes as we already know who will survive .  This is going to be a long war.  

[Athena]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

All I care about was that one snippet that Gabaldon had "released" or maybe it was in an early draft, so I don't even know if it made it into this buik. It was between Jamie and Roger, and how Jamie was talking about Claire and how the rape still affected her or something along those lines. They were at the river or something? Did it make it to the published version? Does anyone recall?

IF the show gets this far, I'll know to look for it, because I sure as HELL am not reading this buik.

I didn't read the preview posts but yes Jamie and Roger do talk about Claire's rape at some point. I think Jamie sorta asks Roger's opinion on it since he's a minister.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 minutes ago, Athena said:

I didn't read the preview posts but yes Jamie and Roger do talk about Claire's rape at some point. I think Jamie sorta asks Roger's opinion on it since he's a minister.

Thanks @Athena. I only care about Jamie and Claire. Buik Lord John does nothing for me. I only ever read The Scottish Prisoner because, Jamie.

[SassAndSnacks]

On 6/20/2022 at 4:49 PM, ruby24 said:

For the most part. I finally got used to William in this one,

Yeah, that was a pleasant surprise for me, because I've never been a William fan.  And even more amazing - I actually enjoyed his interactions with Bree the most, and I'm absolutely not a Bree fan.  

On 6/20/2022 at 4:49 PM, ruby24 said:

I can't bring myself to care about Roger and Brianna anymore.

They are so blah and booooooooooring.  

On 6/21/2022 at 9:39 AM, Athena said:

He seems impulsive and bad communication more than anything. I preferred Roger when he was a historian or a singing one.

100% this.  

On 6/20/2022 at 4:49 PM, ruby24 said:

I feel like nothing happened to Claire in this entire book. Did she ever even leave the Ridge? I don't think she did. 

This is maybe my Chief complaint of the whole thing.  She is the main character, and what does she actually do.  Even the big thing she did do - heal people with her sudden blue light magic - was so poorly written that I honestly didn't realize what was happening or if it really happened.  

On 6/20/2022 at 4:49 PM, ruby24 said:

I was lost at all allusions to Lord John's spinoff books. Haven't read them, had no idea about any of it.

Hated this.  I haven't read them either, nor do I want to and nor do I think I should need to to make sure I understand what is going on.  Those are spinoffs for a reason.  Bree did tell Lord John about being a time traveler, and then Claire confirmed when she and LJG were married.  

[ruby24]

1 hour ago, SassAndSnacks said:

This is maybe my Chief complaint of the whole thing.  She is the main character, and what does she actually do.  Even the big thing she did do - heal people with her sudden blue light magic - was so poorly written that I honestly didn't realize what was happening or if it really happened.  

This! I thought the same thing, I had to go back and reread it later, because first I assumed that must be what was happening, but by the time I got to the end of that passage I wasn't sure if anything had happened. No one else seemed to have any kind of reaction to anything, so I thought maybe Claire was just meditating in her grief or something? And then later when they finally brought up that baby being alive, I had to go back and skim it again, because apparently she did bring that kid back to life and no one had any kind of reaction to it or even mentioned afterwards? Not even Jamie?

[Cdh20]

2 hours ago, ruby24 said:

This! I thought the same thing, I had to go back and reread it later, because first I assumed that must be what was happening, but by the time I got to the end of that passage I wasn't sure if anything had happened. No one else seemed to have any kind of reaction to anything, so I thought maybe Claire was just meditating in her grief or something? And then later when they finally brought up that baby being alive, I had to go back and skim it again, because apparently she did bring that kid back to life and no one had any kind of reaction to it or even mentioned afterwards? Not even Jamie?

All of this! I hadn’t realized the baby was alive, until months later on when they talk about it. I guess this is where I am better at “seeing “ it than reading it! I think everyone must think Claire is doing this with medicine not magic? 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Cdh20

[SassAndSnacks]

Ok, I gave this one a second chance, and it was mildly better the second time around.  

Just before the battle of King's Mountain, Jamie tells Claire about his conversation with Mandy and how she (Mandy) and Jem can hear the animals, how Jamie's color is water, and that wee Davy's color is water, too.  This entire passage is so compelling, I sat up a little straighter in my chair.  Freaking fascinating.  So Jem and Mandy have super powers because they got a genetic double-dose, but poor Davy inherited nada.  Genes are a crazy thing.  I wish DG would spend more time on this and less time on the beetles on William's waistcoat or what Elspeth Cunningham looks like naked, etc. 

And even after reading Jamie's "death" scene for a second time, I don't think it was any better.  How can an author write the most mundane things in such minute detail and then leave something like Claire using her "powers" to save her husband after he's been shot 4 times and bitten by a snake so vague.  I read it twice through last night, and it was still so abstract to me.  Was there a blue light?  How bright was it?  Did Jamie feel her healing him?  Was he truly dead and she really did bring him back? All we got was a throw away line from Roger a chapter or so later when he's casually like "Oh yeah...there was some faint blue."  

Overall, frustrating, but there were some gems along the way.  

[Noneofyourbusiness]

Because it's a moment like that is not supposed to be clear until afterward, I would think, just as it wouldn't be clear to Claire what she did while it was happening. Making it more precise takes the tension and relief out of Jamie's survival.

Edited September 1, 2022 by Noneofyourbusiness

[WatchrTina]

In related news . . . 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11199259/Royal-beekeeper-informed-Queens-bees-HM-died-King-Charles-new-boss.html?fbclid=IwAR2JGggAkxKWQbtdn2FzyYKEBIf2VIWQ6x3O7bNg5f833LPkl-tnOe3s-EQ

[luv2lurk]

On 9/10/2022 at 5:20 PM, WatchrTina said:

In related news . . . 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11199259/Royal-beekeeper-informed-Queens-bees-HM-died-King-Charles-new-boss.html?fbclid=IwAR2JGggAkxKWQbtdn2FzyYKEBIf2VIWQ6x3O7bNg5f833LPkl-tnOe3s-EQ

I came here to post similar information. Having recently finished the book, I totally understood the article I read. However, isn't this also a tradition in Scotland. In which case, who is going to tell the bees that must be at Balmoral?

[WatchrTina]

19 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

who is going to tell the bees that must be at Balmoral?

Just as they have full-time groundskeepers at each of their palaces, I'm certain they have a beekeeper who tends to the hives at each location.  In fact, it's probably the same guy, visiting each location in rotation as he monitors the health of the hives. He probably does the same for other land-owners who maintain hives.

And bringing this topic back around to the books . . . I don't think I'd want to have to tend bees back in the 17th century with no modern bee-keeper helmet available (and no fast-acting anti-histamine available in the event of an allergic reaction.)  But I can well imagine how valuable honey would be back then, especially during years when trade with the sugar plantations of the southern colonies and the Caribbean islands was disrupted by war.

Edited September 12, 2022 by WatchrTina

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:13 PM, WatchrTina said:

And bringing this topic back around to the books . . . I don't think I'd want to have to tend bees back in the 17th century with no modern bee-keeper helmet available (and no fast-acting anti-histamine available in the event of an allergic reaction.) 

Beekeeping suits were developed in the 16th century, though the mask didn't provide much visibility.

[Nataly]

On 2/3/2015 at 8:52 AM, Glaze Crazy said:

 

I did a quick Wikipedia search for post-revolutionary era and it seems that anyone still loyal to the Crown and living in the Colonies had long since been harassed out  and had either sold out or had their lands and property seized by the state or continental government.  They either moved north to Canada (like Jocasta and Duncan). south to Florida or the West Indies, or back to Great Britain.  I don't expect to see either William or Lord John relinquishing their British citizenship to become Americans.  I would think they will sell or outright lose the property in Virginia by the end of the war, unless they can put it in trust with someone who is a Patriot who subsequently becomes an American citizen.  I couldn't find where there were any limits on travel or correspondence between the countries though, so I would think they could travel between England and the US afterwards.  Commerce returned between the countries, since Great Britain relied on cotton and tobacco from North America, just as before the American Revolution.  The War of 1812, as we call it, is part of Britain's Napoleonic Wars so if William returns to the British Army he could possibly return to North America with that conflict, but I think that timeframe is past what DG has said will be the end of the series.

I have to say that I like the books where the plot develops against the background of historical events. This novel is an excellent illustration of the 18th century, especially the colonial war for independence. I have similar impressions after reading the novel 'Fever 1793' by L. H. Anderson. After further reading the summary from this webpage I am convinced that the fever 1793 is another accurate illustration of the life of people during significant epidemic. Based on these novels, you can get a good idea of the most important events in America in the 18th century.

It's quite interesting to read historical research of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. It helps to understand the book better. I think I have to learn history more. Thank you for this

Edited May 31, 2023 by Nataly

[gingerella]

Does anyone know when this travesty will be available in Mass Market paperback, ie: the little paperbacks? 

[Thalia]

On 6/20/2022 at 3:49 PM, ruby24 said:

Haven't read them, had no idea about any of it. Also, does Lord John know about Claire? I think they told him, but I thought it was said that he never believed it, so I couldn't tell when Richardson was droning on whether he was staying quiet to protect Claire or not, or just thought this guy was crazy.

The appearance of adult William has had me skimming through the later books to remind myself of what I can no longer remember.  I can't remember if he was told in the series, but in Echo in the Bone (brief conversation in book): 

Spoiler

Near the end of the book, Claire says says she knows that Brianna had told John that she and her mother were time travelers from the 20th century.  Claire asks if he believed Brianna's story.   John:  "No, but I give you my word that I will of course behave in all respects as if I did."

 

[ruby24]

Did we see Brianna tell him that? Or did it happen off-page? I swear I don't remember him actually being told that information.

Even in this one, Fergus is told for the first time by Roger.

[nodorothyparker]

It's yet another one of those Big Conversations that happens off page. We're told Brianna tells him about it near the end of Breath of Snow and Ashes in exchange for him telling her William's backstory. It's clear in his conversation with Claire in Echo that he doesn't actually believe it but then Claire says something anachronistic, even commenting that she doesn't think they use those words in their current time yet, which make him do a doubletake.

And that's it. It doesn't come up again until the big long game villain reveal near the end of this book. Even then, Lord John seems half convinced it's the ravings of a mad man.