Drums of Autumn

Drums of Autumn

Diana Gabaldon

 

Unfortunately, this series is starting to lose its hold on me. Book number four in the Outlander series was a bit different than what I had in mind. With the addition of a few characters, it's almost starting to read like a soap opera full of unnecessary and almost unrealistic drama.

 

I think that the main reason I couldn't get into this book as much is because I just really didn't like Brianna. For one thing, she studied history and then once she went back in time she completely forgot and/or didn't care how dangerous it was. When Claire went through, she had such a hard time trying to fit in with the times as an independent woman that she was often threatened or thought to be a witch. Bree just decides to strut down the street in trousers and go see big burly pirates on her own without a second thought. She came off as very immature to me. Not to mention that she happened to 'know' that Lord John Grey preferred men just because he wasn't attracted to her (because obviously every guy ever has hit on her). She just bugged me.

Then, there was the plot. It was so ridiculously drawn out and almost boring with plot twists that I could see from 20 miles away. If the story just continued to focus on Claire and Jamie, I would have been fine but the introduction to reading things from Roger and Bree's perspectives didn't sit well with me.

Obviously, there were reasons why I gave it 3 stars. The writing is beautiful, as always. However, if something is described as being trapped in amber one more time I might scream. I thought that the author captured the times very well with Native Americans and early settlements. They are, after all, in a new land with so many animals and things that are foreign to most people (I loved the skunk scene). No matter what happens, I still care about Jamie and Claire's journey together even if I don't particularly like anyone else right now. I'll keep going, but I really hope the next book is better.