A certain mutual friend swore she wasn’t going to read it … and then went right out and bought a copy. 
And by the way, it’s at least one-third your fault that I’m seriously considering a trip to the bookstore before Lost.
I figure if I start from the beginning all over again, and savor rather than rush, I might be ready for this new one just as it becomes available at the library. The current waiting list projection was at least 3 weeks so that’s doable, as if I needed a reason to reread this series, hah!
I bought FC the day it came out. But it was so boring that I found myself skimming it. I guess I should re-read it so that I know where I am in the story. All I remember from FC:
a) is that I wished that Ian had really hanged himself because he was so useless. b) that reading about dirty nappies is not any more exciting than actually changing them.
::sigh:: I guess I’ll wait to hear more reviews. Can y’all get reading please???
Diana Gabaldon is here on tomorrow for a signing. I don’t have time to stand in line, alas. I’ll be picking up my copy for this weekend.
StG
Comes up for air
I’m happy to report that so far it’s better than FC. And that’s all I’m sayin’ for now.
Returns to couch with book
Yeah, I think it’s good, although
There seems to be an awful lot of too-ing and fro-ing. At least Bonnet’s finally dead. I’m on page 918, and my favourite bit so far is when Roger makes little wooden cars. What’s up with all the weird incest and Lizzie having two husbands? It seems a bit soap opera.
I’m with you, Lissla Lissar.
Thanks everyone for the reminder; I forgot that the latest book was coming out. (We are busy trying to sell our house, pack up 18 years of stuff and move to a new location 1,700 miles away.)
I have a lo-ong road trip coming up and I think I will hold off buying the book until just before we leave.
Okay, it was good. Finished the last page after getting up this morning.
[SPOILER]It really seemed like too many things happened. Bonnet’s death, Claire’s kidnapping and rape, the Malva incident, Brianna’s kidnapping again, the kids going back to the 20th century, everything with Lizzie and Manfred… it felt crowded. Plus all the war stuff in the background. And Arch and Murdina Bug turning out to be- well, not bad exactly, but after the gold? I wonder what they’re going to do with it? And how the heck are they going to discreetly transport that much gold?
It’s all still flopping around in my brain disconnectedly.[/SPOILER]
How would you rank it among the other books in the series?
Must not click on spoiler box, must not click on spoiler box
Okay, I’ve come up for air, also. Mainly due to the fact that I have class tonight. Yeck.
I’m about 1/3 of the way through, and I am loving it.
Favorite moment so far?
The whole scene that ended with this quote:
"There is an oath upon her, " he said to Arch, and I realized dimly that he was still speaking Gaelic, though I understood him clearly. “She may not kill, save it is for mercy or her life. It is myself who kills for her.”
“And I,” said a tall figure behind him, softly. Ian.
I think I was weeping fairly freely by that point.
As to the Jaime lovers, yes, he is a fine specimen of a man. What is it the guys say…I’d hit that? Yes, …well…“mmphm”. Ian and Roger Mac are nothing to sneeze at, mind ye.
I’ve loved them all, ivylass, but this one has a tension to it, much like Dragonfly in Amber.
I’m avoiding spoiler boxes like the plague as well. I’m about a third of the way through atm…and so far its REALLY good. I’m enjoying it a lot and wondering where its all going. We all know roughly whats going to happen after all…but how will they all deal with it? Thats the interesting question IMO.
-XT
Someone else finish the damn book so we can talk about it! My husband is getting bored!
Do you think Raymond will figure largely in the next book? Will one more book be enough space to tie up all the loose ends? Has anyone else read the spoilers from Sons of Liberty about Claire mmmph mmpgh John Grey? Will Brianna and Roger cross back? Argh!
Sorry, still savoring. I’m going to devote a lot of reading time to it this weekend.
I’m reading it slowly as well-trying to make it last longer because I’m enjoying it so much more than FC and I know it’ll be a while before we get the next one.
I know I will soon reach the point where I voraciously read it and ignore everything else in my life until I finish it, but so far I’m doing well doling it out to myself in small bits.
It’s like candy–okay, I’ll just have one and that’s it…oh, maybe one more…couple more won’t hurt…oh crap, I’ve eaten the whole damn bag! And it’ll be 3 years before I get another bag!
Grr. All right, how about the plot from the first parts of the book? Where’s everybody at so far?
Well, I’ve finished it. It will take a few days to digest, and then I’ll need a more leisurely reread. Damn. It was a good book. So what shall we discuss?
Not long after Claire and Tom Christie’s illness, I called Malva poisoning them. I honestly did figure it had been Tom that killed her for being “like her mother”. I never saw the incest angle coming.
Oh, and the whole ordeal with
Lizzie and her two husbands outwitting Roger and Jaime into marrying them all? I snickered through that entire thing.
What did you think of the Bug’s treachery? What do you think they’ll do with the gold? I wasn’t too happy with the explanation for why Ian left: he’d been adopted because one of the tribe was killed, and they just shoved him out? Doesn’t quite fit.
Lissla, I was satisfied with Ian’s return explanation simply because
it didn’t seem like it was the whole tribe pushing him out, but rather one old woman who knew he’d never completely fit in with them. He was already having a crisis of faith, his reservations and the strained interactions between him and the rest of the group would only get worse, I think
As to Arch and Murdina Bug…
I was not shocked, but I was a little put off by Arch, especially after all his posturings at calling Jaime “chieftain” and such. I think the Bugs truly bore no grudge at all against Jaime and Claire. Who knows where that will go.
And now…
[spoiler]Were you just a bit dismayed that Jocasta’s butler, Ulysses, turned out to be such a meanie?
Also, Fergus’ behavior in this book totally made me want to smack him upside the head. He was such a better character in the previous books- flippant, crafty, and deadly. Now he’s just pathetic. sigh
And, I thought Bonnet’s capture was anti-climactic, but his death scene was set-up and handled well.[/spoiler]
I am feeling the need to go back, though, and read through the first five again!
Vroom vroom. 
I’ve gotten to the part where Claire, Jamie, et al have returned from dumping off Lionel Brown’s body, and Marsali has given birth to her newest son, Henri Christian (WTF is up with Fergus, anyway? I want to give him such a smack) and Ian is about to tell Malva what happened to his child
Discuss up to that point.
Greywolf is right…just one more piece. I’ll read this section, then this one, oh, this one is rather short, oooh, this one is only a page and a half…
I only stop when I’m so tired I realize I’m not understanding what I’m reading. Jamie’s letter to Sir John had me so bumfuzzled I thought “I better put this away until the morning.” Then I was able to zip right through it the next day.