Sunday, October 17, 2010

A Breath of Snow and Ashes


I've read all of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books with the exception of Lord Grey. Someone gave me Lord Grey but when I flipped through it I realized it was not a type of book I'd be interested in. My husband gave me this volume for Christmas the year it came out. It's a huge hardcover book and so although I picked it up a few times to start it I always put it down again in favour of smaller paperbacks.  For those of you who haven't read it it is available in paperback now. 

Last month I finally decided to read this book in earnest. It's almost 1000 pages long and I think it took me about 3 weeks to read it. 

Being a prude there's way too much sex in it for my liking but that aside I really enjoyed this volume. My minister calls it erotica for middle aged women *LOL* It's not too graphic but you know what she's talking about. 

There's so much that happens in this book and yet it doesn't seem like overkill like some books do that have numerous scenarios happen. Diana Gabaldon seems to know exactly how to weave it all together so that it makes perfect sense and flows naturally. I'd liken it to an action book but it's much smoother than that. 

We get a glimpse of what life was like before the American Revolution and some of the things that were happening as precursors to the war. I'm a Canadian but I'm interested in the history of all countries. 

If you have read the earlier books you will know that there is a fire mentioned. To avoid spoiling the book I will only say that the fire does happen but not in the way any of us would have expected and not on the date expected. 

She now has another book out, which I didn't expect. When I began reading this book I thought it would be the last of the series but I'm looking forward to reading just one more. 

I highly recommend this series. One of the volumes (Firery Cross) was not a particular favourite of mine and I've heard the same from others but it is a necessary read to keep the continuity of the story. Unfortunately I gave away all of my books in the series but I'm in the process of collecting them again as I'd like to read them again. That, I feel, is the sign of a good book.