An Echo in the Bone by Diana GabaldonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
How nice it is to revisit the characters of this fantastic series in yet another Outlander novel! I was skeptical about it and worried that I wouldn't love it since the more recent novels of the series have been less than stellar. But, overall, I was skeptical and worried for nothing! I think this one is considerably better than the last two in the series. However, the primary fault I have with this one is the same as with those ... it's too long. There is too much that could have been eliminated that was not. Some of the content didn't particularly add anything special.
It took me a bit to get engaged in the novel but once I did it was fantastic! Just a warning - the first 100+ pages are not Gabaldon at her best BUT stick with it. It comes together. The William sections in the early part of the novel simply aren't as engaging as what is to come!
I will say that this one felt much more like the earlier novels with a build up of story and suspense that kept me on the edge of my seat. Although I knew the way that things would end up (because of a review I read that told me too much), I was intrigued and excited to see what was coming up next! It had the 'feel' of the earlier novels in a way that I'm having a hard time expressing here.
I also felt like the ending was a tad rushed ... it felt like we'd built up to so much and then were left with so little. As if Gabaldon was in a rush to hurry up and get it out so she could start on the next.
As always, its the characters that really draw me in - Claire, Jamie, Brianna, Roger, Ian, and so on! They are the reason that I keep caring about the overall plot! They are some of my favorite characters in all of literature so its almost like visiting with old friends.
The actual war/battle parts of the novel were much less interesting to me than anything else although I do think the ability to see inside the American Revolution via this series is really well done!
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to the next. There are a number of plot lines that were left hanging so I'm interested to see how it all gets resolved in the next book!
NOTE: I'm a huge fan of the series and have a difficult time not loving them. I can overlook quite a bit just because I love the characters so much! Just know that about my review - it comes from someone who is a big fan!
View all my reviews
Echo is VERY full of historical letters and info dumps to insert the fictional characters into the real events. When you get past that, Jamie and Claire's story, their whereabouts and how they get from point A to B gets confusing at times. The fast paced action and dangers got annoying to me early on.
ReplyDeleteThat said, if you are a fan of the books then you will enjoy this addition of course. I did. The last 1/4 of the book makes up for the first 3/4 which hops around from character/ location/time period/ location/location/ location so much that I was hard pressed to keep up. The last 1/4 pretty much ties everything together but only to rip apart at the seams as we yet wait years for the next book.