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A review by mrsbooknerd
Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon
5.0
As with most other reviewers, I loved 'Outlander'. I mean, why would I pick up the monstrously heavy 'Dragonfly in Amber' if I hadn’t? but I did gird my wrists for reading the second in the series, and my expectations along with it, because how easy it could be to fall from such a dizzying height of enjoyment in a 'sequel'.
The novel was in three distinct parts. The first was not at all like 'Outlander' and had me worried that I wouldn't be able to finish this novel should it continue throughout. Luckily it did improve and the second and third were much like 'Outlander' full of tension, drama, near-misses, emotion and all those good things that kept me on the edge of my seat and muttering to myself.
Set in France and with a new host of characters, storylines and settings, I found it difficult to keep up with all the new characters and their relationships and political stances in the early part of the book. Once I was more settled, I found this a little easier, but found that the plot tended to drift. It wasn't that the 'drift' was uninteresting as such, but in such a big book, I felt that constant progression was needed, because it doesn't take much for interest to waver. For example, Claire's work at the hospital was interesting, but it didn't need the amount of pages afforded to it. I would much rather have seen progression elsewhere in the plot. Raymond and his dealings were an okay read, but did it need so much page time? Luckily, the setting changed toward the end of the first section and the plot was far more tense and dramatic, shooting the book from a wavering 4* review to a solid 5* review.
I did struggle with knowing that Claire was alive and well in her own time as I read the book. I thought that it was giving away something but I came to realise the impact that the knowledge had on my blood pressure the further I made it into the novel. Every time they met with danger I would stop breathing and wonder if this was how it happened. It made the final goodbye so much more emotional because it had been building in my mind for a nine hundred pages.
I found that I grew more affectionate toward Jamie in this novel. It wasn't that I had disliked him in 'Outlander' but he hadn't climbed onto my list of 'Fictional Boyfriends'. I felt that he had a more rounded personality in this novel, full of depth and nuance that was missing in the first. He tended to just come across as a big, tall masculine man who punched first and asked questions later in the first novel. Yet in this novel, I saw his intelligence, loyalty and sense of responsibility. I wanted to know time and time again how he felt about his new role as saviour of the clans and the pressure that he was being burdened with. Perhaps a few chapters in his voice would lend itself to building his personality and would break up Claire's narratives. While I still wouldn't say that he is on my list of boyfriends, he is certainly closer than he was.
The most enjoyable - if I can call it that - aspect of these novels is that Jamie and Claire suffer. They aren't spared the brutality of the time because they are the heroes. They are hurt and threatened and injured and raped and subjected to awful things constantly, and this really ramps up the tension because you do not know what will happen to them or how it will affect their relationship. Not like in a Regency Romance where you know that good will win over evil every time.
My problem is that, again, I cannot wait to get into the next book in the series, and yet I don't want to risk reading another 1000 page book so soon for fear of overdosing. Bloody cliff-hangers! They will be the death of me.
The novel was in three distinct parts. The first was not at all like 'Outlander' and had me worried that I wouldn't be able to finish this novel should it continue throughout. Luckily it did improve and the second and third were much like 'Outlander' full of tension, drama, near-misses, emotion and all those good things that kept me on the edge of my seat and muttering to myself.
Set in France and with a new host of characters, storylines and settings, I found it difficult to keep up with all the new characters and their relationships and political stances in the early part of the book. Once I was more settled, I found this a little easier, but found that the plot tended to drift. It wasn't that the 'drift' was uninteresting as such, but in such a big book, I felt that constant progression was needed, because it doesn't take much for interest to waver. For example, Claire's work at the hospital was interesting, but it didn't need the amount of pages afforded to it. I would much rather have seen progression elsewhere in the plot. Raymond and his dealings were an okay read, but did it need so much page time? Luckily, the setting changed toward the end of the first section and the plot was far more tense and dramatic, shooting the book from a wavering 4* review to a solid 5* review.
I did struggle with knowing that Claire was alive and well in her own time as I read the book. I thought that it was giving away something but I came to realise the impact that the knowledge had on my blood pressure the further I made it into the novel. Every time they met with danger I would stop breathing and wonder if this was how it happened. It made the final goodbye so much more emotional because it had been building in my mind for a nine hundred pages.
I found that I grew more affectionate toward Jamie in this novel. It wasn't that I had disliked him in 'Outlander' but he hadn't climbed onto my list of 'Fictional Boyfriends'. I felt that he had a more rounded personality in this novel, full of depth and nuance that was missing in the first. He tended to just come across as a big, tall masculine man who punched first and asked questions later in the first novel. Yet in this novel, I saw his intelligence, loyalty and sense of responsibility. I wanted to know time and time again how he felt about his new role as saviour of the clans and the pressure that he was being burdened with. Perhaps a few chapters in his voice would lend itself to building his personality and would break up Claire's narratives. While I still wouldn't say that he is on my list of boyfriends, he is certainly closer than he was.
The most enjoyable - if I can call it that - aspect of these novels is that Jamie and Claire suffer. They aren't spared the brutality of the time because they are the heroes. They are hurt and threatened and injured and raped and subjected to awful things constantly, and this really ramps up the tension because you do not know what will happen to them or how it will affect their relationship. Not like in a Regency Romance where you know that good will win over evil every time.
My problem is that, again, I cannot wait to get into the next book in the series, and yet I don't want to risk reading another 1000 page book so soon for fear of overdosing. Bloody cliff-hangers! They will be the death of me.