Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon

In her now classic novel Outlander, Diana Gabaldon told the story of Claire Randall, an English ex-combat nurse who walks through a stone circle in the Scottish Highlands in 1946, and disappears . . . into 1743.

1778: France declares war on Great Britain, the British army leaves Philadelphia, and George Washington s troops leave Valley Forge in pursuit. At this moment, Jamie Fraser returns from a presumed watery grave to discover that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitimate son has discovered (to his horror) who his father really is, and his beloved nephew, Ian, wants to marry a Quaker. 

Meanwhile, Jamie s wife, Claire, and his sister, Jenny, are busy picking up the pieces.

The Frasers can only be thankful that their daughter Brianna and her family are safe in twentieth-century Scotland. Or not. In fact, Brianna is searching for her own son, who was kidnapped by a man determined to learn her family s secrets. Her husband, Roger, has ventured into the past in search of the missing boy . . . never suspecting that the object of his quest has not left the present. Now, with Roger out of the way, the kidnapper can focus on his true target: Brianna herself.

Hardcover, 825 pages

Audiobook, 45 hours

Published June 10, 2014

 by Delacorte Press

4/5 stars

My slow journey through the Outlander series continues with Written in My Own Heart's Blood, book eight in this epic historical saga. And yes you really should read this series in order. After the way the previous book ended with a couple of pretty big cliffhangers I was definitely curious to see where things were headed next.

Without giving too much of the plot away (even though the blurb above does), this installment continues to follow Jamie, Claire, Bri and Roger and the many characters whose lives are tied to theirs during the chaos of the War of Independence.

By this point in the series some of these characters really do feel like old friends that I've come to care about. I’ll admit a couple of the previous books weren’t favourites of mine as they felt a bit drawn out, but this one held my attention more with a bit more action and movement in the plot. There were new layers added as the story involves the 2 different timelines and some new characters to keep track of. Most of my time was spent with the audiobook, the narrator is awesome.

Though I’m not a huge fan of the storyline involving Lord John Grey and his 'son', I do understand why it’s there since he plays such an important role in Jamie’s life.

And yes… this one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger...of course it does. I’m looking forward to reading the final published book, and then I can join everyone else waiting a year… or two… or five for the next one.

This book was part of my 2026 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge with the audiobook purchased from Audible.

Virgins by Diana Gabaldon

A young Jamie Fraser learns what it really means to become a man in this Outlander prequel novella. 

Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Jamie Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend Ian Murray. 

Both are nursing wounds; both have good reason to stay out of Scotland; and both are still virgins, despite several opportunities to remedy that deplorable situation with ladies of easy virtue. But Jamie’s love life becomes infinitely more complicated—and dangerous—when fate brings the young men into the service of Dr. Hasdi, a Jewish gentleman who hires them to escort two priceless treasures to Paris. One is an old Torah; the other is the doctor’s beautiful daughter, Rebekah, destined for an arranged marriage. 

Both Jamie and Ian are instantly drawn to the bride-to-be—but they might be more cautious if they had any idea who they’re truly dealing with.

Kindle Edition, 86 pages

Published April 8, 2016 

by Dell

3/5 stars

I am attempting in 2024 to get caught up with the Outlander series - it's a big task that will involve some rereading and delving into some novellas.  Which is where I catch up with Jamie and Ian in Virgins, #.5 in this series.  In a time before Clare enters the picture.

Taking place just after Jamie has been brutally lashed by Captain Jack Randall and the death of Jamie’s father. He escapes to France where he meets up with Ian Murray.

A quick read coming in at approx. 86 pages (depends which edition you read or listen to).  It was an interesting story as Ian and Jamie work to protect and deliver a bride to her future husband. While it didn’t mesh with the Outlander story it does signify the bond between Jamie and Ian and highlighted reasons why Jamie was on the run.

As true to Diana fashion it might have been a little longer then necessary, not sure I would have continued with the series if this was my introduction though.

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Jamie Fraser, former Jacobite and reluctant rebel, is already certain of three things about the American rebellion: The Americans will win, fighting on the side of victory is no guarantee of survival, and he'd rather die than have to face his illegitimate son--a young lieutenant in the British Army--across the barrel of a gun.

Claire Randall knows that the Americans will win, too, but not what the ultimate price may be. That price won't include Jamie's life or his happiness, though--not if she has anything to say about it.

Meanwhile, in the relative safety of the twentieth century, Jamie and Claire's daughter, Brianna, and her husband, Roger MacKenzie, have resettled in a historic Scottish home where, across a chasm of two centuries, the unfolding drama of Brianna's parents' story comes to life through Claire's letters. The fragile pages reveal Claire's love for battle-scarred Jamie Fraser and their flight from North Carolina to the high seas, where they encounter privateers and ocean battles--as Brianna and Roger search for clues not only to Claire's fate but to their own. Because the future of the MacKenzie family in the Highlands is mysteriously, irrevocably, and intimately entwined with life and death in war-torn colonial America.

With stunning cameos of historical characters from Benedict Arnold to Benjamin Franklin, An Echo in the Bone is a soaring masterpiece of imagination, insight, character, and adventure--a novel that echoes in the mind long after the last page is turned.

Paperback, 1087 pages

Audiobook, 46 hours

Narrated by Davina Porter

Published September 1, 2010 

by Orion

3/5 stars

Whew, finally I did it and finished the audio version of the 7th Outlander book. Coming in at 46 hours I did ramp up the speed a little which took it to 34 hours - still a big book. I am determined to get caught up with this series this year.

Davina Porter has narrated this whole series and does a great job.  She brings the story to life, one of my favourite readers.

So, the good. Picking up where the last book left back has Jamie, Clare and Ian leaving Fraser's Ridge behind and heading off to Scotland - with many detours along the way. I liked reading about the year 1777, familiar names and events in history. The lifestyle was depicted nicely. I'm even slowly starting to warm up to Brianne and Roger.  I enjoyed see some faces from the past, though some through sad circumstances.

The not so good. I am not a fan of John Grey, I tried the branch off series that focuses on him and just couldn’t get into it. John and ‘his’ son William took a lot of space that I found distracting but saying that I’m wondering if they play a bigger part in the next book. There were parts of this book where I wondered the point of some scenarios and if they were just fillers.

The ending left some doors open for what comes next. One part of the ending seemed rushed and given what happened should have been more emotional but rather downplayed not giving this reader time to absorb what happened (sorry can’t say more, spoiler.) 

All in all, not my favourite book in this series. I'm not sure when I will start Written in my own Heart's Blood it comes in at 57 hours (to scared to see how many pages that is) but hopefully by summertime.

This book was is part of my 2022 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge (#19)

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

Eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, this sixth novel in Diana Gabaldon's bestselling Outlander saga is a masterpiece of historical fiction from one of the most popular authors of our time.

Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldon's New York Times–bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over -- and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence -- with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie's death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

Mass Market Paperback, 1410 pages 

Audiobook, 57 hours, 48 minutes

Published September 7, 2006  

by Arrow

4.5/5 stars

I put off reading this book because of memories to do with book 5 in this popular series. It wasn't a favorite and I struggled just to finish.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes had what I loved in books 1 and 3 (both were awesome). Given the size there were many subplots that kept me reading - actually listening since I went that route.  I enjoyed the action and mayhem, the mystery and suspense.  There was closure and new beginnings.

All in all a great listen with lots to look forward to in An Echo in the Bone.

Will I  start right away? probably not, maybe the new year.

This book was part of my 2021 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge

Audio Review: The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5) by Diana Gabaldon, Davina Porter (Narrator)

 New York Times bestselling author of Outlander Diana Gabaldon mesmerized readers with her award-winning Outlander novels, four dazzling New York Times bestsellers featuring 18th-century Scotsman James Fraser and his 20th-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall.

 Now, in this eagerly awaited fifth volume, Diana Gabaldon continues their extraordinary saga, a masterpiece of pure storytelling and her most astonishing Outlander novel yet....

 The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge.

 Born in the year of Our Lord 1918, Claire Randall served England as a nurse on the battlefields of World War II, and in the aftermath of peace found fresh conflicts when she walked through a cleftstone on the Scottish Highlands and found herself an outlander, an English lady in a place where no lady should be, in a time—1743—when the only English in Scotland were the officers and men of King George’s army.

 Now wife, mother, and surgeon, Claire is still an outlander, out of place, and out of time, but now, by choice, linked by love to her only anchor—Jamie Fraser. Her unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead — or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes....

 Grand, sweeping, utterly unforgettable, Diana Gabaldon’s new novel is riveting entertainment, a vibrant tapestry of history and human drama. Crossing the boundaries of genre with its unrivaled storytelling, The Fiery Cross is a gift both to her millions of loyal fans and to the lucky readers who have yet to discover her.

Audible Audio, Unabridged, 55 hours 34 minutes

 Published November 3rd 2011 

by Recorded Books (first published November 6th 2001)

***

This is book 5 in the Outlander series and I opted for the audio version. It didn't start out that way, one of my little reading quirks is protecting my books by not breaking the spine, which would have been next to impossible with a 1400+ mass paperback.  But I did try, I began reading and reading and reading some more waiting for something exciting to happen and finally I switched over to the audio book. Like I said it's a big book with the audio coming in over 55 hours in length. Davina Porter is the reader and she is phenomenal, I enjoy every book that I have ever listen to that she has done.  I will admit with this one I put the speed up to 1.25 and towards the end for the last 10 hours I ramped it up to 1.5 just because I wanted to finish this thing.

Was the book that bad? No, it wasn't but it is not one of my favorites. The first book and Voyager (book 3) hold that title. With The Fiery Cross I just found the book rather flat. It chronicles life for the Fraser family as they prepare for weddings and life on the ridge. There were peaks in the storyline where I was thankful for the action and intrigue but they were short lived.

Did I hate the book? No I didn't, Diana Gabaldon has a wonderful way with words,  she knows how to describe, embellish and immerse the reader into the time period. But there were times where some words were not necessary and didn't really add anything to the story.  I also think this book was setting the groundwork for the Revolution and what will happen when the date of their deaths comes around.

I'm not going to jump into the next book just yet, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, it's another biggie coming in over 57 hours for the audio version. Maybe over the long cold winter months I will tackle it.

Review: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

From the author of the breathtaking bestsellers Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, the extraordinary saga continues.

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite or forever doom her timeless love.

Published October 26th 1994 by Dell

Mass Market Paperback, 1,059 pages 

personal library

*****

I am relatively late to the Outlander party. With 8 books out, plus the Lord John Grey ones and some novella's out there too I have somehow manged thus far to make it spoiler free.  I don't read reviews and limit as much social media as I can, the only I will allow myself to check out is anything to do with the series on TV - I am past that part now.

Voyager is book 3 and comes in at a whopping 1059 pages (the mass paperback version I have anyways).  This is my favorite of the series so far and there is much that I could say about 'this and that' happening but I won't for fear of spoiling the ride for anyone else late to the party.

What I will say though is that I polished this off in just over a week, I couldn't stop reading even in parts with little action I needed to find out what was going on.  It's funny now that I have visual imagines of the cast it adds much to the story.  There are new characters here as well as old ones, new conflicts as well as older ones still.  Lots of surprises, adventures and an ending that will be a great start to the next book.

In June I had the privilege of meeting Diana Gabaldon at the HNS2015 conference.  She was so nice, took time out to talk with me when I asked about the beginnings of this series.  I can't imagine the amount of attention that she gets wherever she goes, throughout the conference she was always smiling and gracious to everyone (even when she sat for 2 hours talking to fans and signing books).