MonkeyCatcher
New Member
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabladon (2005)
Beginning where The Fiery Cross left off, the latest installment of the Outlander series follows Jamie and Claire as they tackle potentially their biggest threat yet - the American Revolution. A Breath of Snow and Ashes takes place during the years 1772-1776, documenting the struggle all inhabitants of America encountered in the face of a rapidly changing and dangerous new world. Due to Claire's unique knowledge of the future, Jamie knows the outcome of what is initially thought of as a small rebel uprising, and is therefore aware of the need to switch his alliances from the Crown to the future nation-founders. To do so too soon will get him hanged as a traitor, too late and he will be hanged as a Tory in the aftermath of the conflict. Added to this is the looming threat of the death by fire of Jamie and Claire, reported in a newspaper dated January 21, 1776. So far their love has defied time itself, but will it manage to defy fate?
Usually books in a series degenerate as the series continues, and yet the opposite is true in the case of this novel. A huge step-up from the slow-paced and somewhat mediocre The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes reminded me why I am such a huge fan of Gabaldon and her Outlander series. The pace improved ten-fold, although at times there seemed to be a bit much too much happening. The result, though, was a captivating and compelling read, my interest in these fictional events never wavering, descriptions of historical events and battles included. The relative lack of said battle scenes was also a welcome change, these inevitable portions of her books not something I look forward to, as they tend to be a bit long-winded.
One thing I found lacking amongst all this action was the existance of entirely different and original plot lines. Without giving anything away, I grew sick of the numerous mystery pregnancies, kidnappings, and attacks, these identical plot lines concerning different characters even occuring back-to-back at one point. Not to say that they weren't compelling, I just felt the need for a completely new element to be brought to the mix.
Along the same lines, certain bits of information were often repeated, occasionally by the same characters. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but if so, I feel that Gabaldon should put a little more faith in the memories of her readers, as it became, at times, tedious.
Despite the ending being obviously left open for a sequel, I found it extremely interesting and well-executed. I often feel let down by the ending of books such as this, but this was definitely not the case for this novel. The closure brought to many long-running (ie multiple-book) plots was particularly welcome, and I was particularly fond of the second-to-last chapter - it just seemed so fitting. The imminent sequal looks to be a very interesting one indeed.
Overall, I really enjoyed A Breath of Snow and Ashes. As a fan of Gabaldon's novels, I was particularly thrilled with this return to form following the slightly disappointing The Fiery Cross. I would recommend this novel only to those who have read the previous books in the series; it is by no means a stand-alone novel, as a vast majority of the references to previous works are not expanded upon or explained. This novel therefore requires a relatively good grasp of the people and events contained in the earlier books if you are to truely understand everything that occurs.
While this novel is by no means a literary masterpiece, its compelling plot, well-developed characters and enjoyable writing style propels it to the spot of my favourite read of January, '07.
Bring on more Jamie and Claire! 4.5/5
What did anyone else think of it?
Beginning where The Fiery Cross left off, the latest installment of the Outlander series follows Jamie and Claire as they tackle potentially their biggest threat yet - the American Revolution. A Breath of Snow and Ashes takes place during the years 1772-1776, documenting the struggle all inhabitants of America encountered in the face of a rapidly changing and dangerous new world. Due to Claire's unique knowledge of the future, Jamie knows the outcome of what is initially thought of as a small rebel uprising, and is therefore aware of the need to switch his alliances from the Crown to the future nation-founders. To do so too soon will get him hanged as a traitor, too late and he will be hanged as a Tory in the aftermath of the conflict. Added to this is the looming threat of the death by fire of Jamie and Claire, reported in a newspaper dated January 21, 1776. So far their love has defied time itself, but will it manage to defy fate?
Usually books in a series degenerate as the series continues, and yet the opposite is true in the case of this novel. A huge step-up from the slow-paced and somewhat mediocre The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes reminded me why I am such a huge fan of Gabaldon and her Outlander series. The pace improved ten-fold, although at times there seemed to be a bit much too much happening. The result, though, was a captivating and compelling read, my interest in these fictional events never wavering, descriptions of historical events and battles included. The relative lack of said battle scenes was also a welcome change, these inevitable portions of her books not something I look forward to, as they tend to be a bit long-winded.
One thing I found lacking amongst all this action was the existance of entirely different and original plot lines. Without giving anything away, I grew sick of the numerous mystery pregnancies, kidnappings, and attacks, these identical plot lines concerning different characters even occuring back-to-back at one point. Not to say that they weren't compelling, I just felt the need for a completely new element to be brought to the mix.
Along the same lines, certain bits of information were often repeated, occasionally by the same characters. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but if so, I feel that Gabaldon should put a little more faith in the memories of her readers, as it became, at times, tedious.
Despite the ending being obviously left open for a sequel, I found it extremely interesting and well-executed. I often feel let down by the ending of books such as this, but this was definitely not the case for this novel. The closure brought to many long-running (ie multiple-book) plots was particularly welcome, and I was particularly fond of the second-to-last chapter - it just seemed so fitting. The imminent sequal looks to be a very interesting one indeed.
Overall, I really enjoyed A Breath of Snow and Ashes. As a fan of Gabaldon's novels, I was particularly thrilled with this return to form following the slightly disappointing The Fiery Cross. I would recommend this novel only to those who have read the previous books in the series; it is by no means a stand-alone novel, as a vast majority of the references to previous works are not expanded upon or explained. This novel therefore requires a relatively good grasp of the people and events contained in the earlier books if you are to truely understand everything that occurs.
While this novel is by no means a literary masterpiece, its compelling plot, well-developed characters and enjoyable writing style propels it to the spot of my favourite read of January, '07.
Bring on more Jamie and Claire! 4.5/5
What did anyone else think of it?
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