# Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520 "2009-09-18T00:50:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/81 "2009-10-02T23:33:18Z")
_runs in with eyes closed so she doesn’t read something she shouldn’t_ I’m still plugging away…I will be back after I’m done…but I am LOVING it!! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/82 "2009-10-04T03:09:15Z")
::closes back cover:: Well, she sure hasn’t lost her touch! I’m a bit confused about who is where. Roger and Buccleigh went time-travelling and Jem did not? Cameron obviously didn’t. I thought Mandy knew (somehow) that Jem had indeed gone through the stones. [QUOTE=me, above] So it would NOT properly be “Dost THOU find this bothersome?” I thought “thou” for subject and “thee” for object. Like “I” versus “me”. [/quote] She does explain this: in the era where Quakers alone continued to use these antiquated pronouns (while no one else still did), their speech did evolve and they dropped “thou” and used “thee” for both subject and object. (And ditched verb forms such as “dost” and “goest”, too, apparently). ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/83 "2009-10-04T18:15:40Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > _runs in with eyes closed so she doesn’t read something she shouldn’t_ > > I’m still plugging away…I will be back after I’m done…but I am LOVING it!! I just got it Friday night. I _really_ appreciate y’all using spoiler tags. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/84 "2009-10-06T21:16:32Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > ::closes back cover:: > > Well, she sure hasn’t lost her touch! > > I’m a bit confused about who is where. Roger and Buccleigh went time-travelling and Jem did not? Cameron obviously didn’t. I thought Mandy knew (somehow) that Jem had indeed gone through the stones. I finished it …how long am I going to have to wait for the next one… The last time Jem appeared he had found the underground mine train and figured out how to work it…Much earlier, when Brianna took took the train she hit a “magic” spot and almost went through. I am guessing that this is going to figure prominently in the next volume…it is closer to the magic time of year now and if Mandy thinks Jem went through well maybe… How long is it that I’m going to have to wait for the sequel…??? ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/85 "2009-10-07T17:43:42Z")
I’m still reading it, not reading your spoilers yet. It’s taking me longer than I thought it would, but I’m enjoying it. I’ll be back. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/86 "2009-10-07T17:53:46Z")
Still not reading thread. I’m at the part John and his niece are on their way to America, Rollo isn’t dead, and Claire seems to leave her clothes on various ships in the Atlantic and Roger showed remarkable restraint in not sucker punching Jem’s teacher ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/87 "2009-10-11T10:58:10Z")
Mr. Lissar got it it for me for my birthday. Read it in two days. Have toddler on lap, will post thoughts later. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/88 "2009-10-11T17:38:39Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > How long is it that I’m going to have to wait for the sequel…??? The last few Outlander books have been published about 4 years apart. That’s why I’m so surprised at the egregious cliffhangers. That was a rotten thing to do, and it seems unlike Gabaldon. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/89 "2009-10-11T19:53:38Z")
Yeah, way too cliff-hanger-y. We have to wait _four years_ to find out what happens to Roger and Jem? At least we know that Claire finds out Jamie’s alive. As for her not looking hard enough before grieving, I dunno. He said he was coming on the Euterpe. There was a pretty slim-to-none chance that he hadn’t. And she had no way of finding out otherwise. My husband calls it my 'Historical Time-Traveler Smut. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/90 "2009-10-11T20:22:13Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > My husband calls it my 'Historical Time-Traveler Smut. 😃 Great description! ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/91 "2009-10-12T19:05:47Z")
Checking out Fort Ticonderoga on Wikipedia…and Fergus is related to French nobility? I haven’t read yet how a baron’s sister ended up working in a Paris brothel, much less how the family knew she’d given birth to this particular child. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/92 "2009-10-13T10:38:52Z")
Yes. That seems a bit much, really. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/93 "2009-10-13T13:45:35Z")
Actually, about Fergus, there’s been some foreshadowing in other books. Several times DG has described him as looking like a French nobleman (for example, during the court sequence when Fergus is charged with assaulting the officer trying to steal Marsali’s horse). I think the idea is that Fergus’ mother disgraced herself and was disowned. She ended up in the brothel after her lover dumped her. Sort of like the story in Les Miserables, where Fontine starts out as a innocent girl in love and ends up dying of venereal disease after selling her hair, her body and her teeth. I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I think DG is getting to the point that a lot of successful authors come to - they think they’re too big to be edited. I think she falls in love with her own writing and can’t bare to pare it down. StG ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/94 "2009-10-13T15:28:58Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Actually, about Fergus, there’s been some foreshadowing in other books. Several times DG has described him as looking like a French nobleman (for example, during the court sequence when Fergus is charged with assaulting the officer trying to steal Marsali’s horse). I think the idea is that Fergus’ mother disgraced herself and was disowned. She ended up in the brothel after her lover dumped her. Sort of like the story in Les Miserables, where Fontine starts out as a innocent girl in love and ends up dying of venereal disease after selling her hair, her body and her teeth. The whole series is chock full of incredible coincidences, and this novel is no exception. How unlikely is it that Lord John’s former lover and step brother would be the one sent to find Fergus? Gabaldon makes the point that that Lord John “knows everybody”, but still. It seems like she is trying really hard to connect John’s world with Jamie and Claire’s. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/95 "2009-10-14T16:46:59Z")
Still not reading the thread. I’m wallowing. 😃 Claire has just removed Jamie’s bad finger, bless his heart, and it looks like Ian has a crush on Rachel. Oh, and Hamish is back! I loved that scene in the barn in the first book when Jamie stopped him from trying to ride the stallion, and they ended up comparing genital size with the horse. I don’t know if I’m loving the four different stories. I want more Jamie/Claire/Roger/Bree, and the John and William parts make me impatient. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/96 "2009-10-14T19:31:36Z")
Yeah, me too. I’m really not that interested in William. Or in John- he’s got his own series, which I’m not very interested in. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/97 "2009-10-16T17:44:37Z")
Still not reading the thread, but wow! Ian has committed murder (well, I don’t think so, but the TPTB do) and Claire and Jamie are taking Simon’s body back to Scotland. And how the hell did Geillie’s son show up? Oh holy crap! He must have been terrified! How long has he been in modern times? I can see Bree wanting to pop him back…yikes! ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/98 "2009-10-18T13:02:47Z")
To paraphrase Bree: Damn the woman. I knew she’d make me cry. Ian’s death from consumption had me sobbing. And Claire couldn’t be there for Jamie because she had to hop a boat back to Philadelphia to take out Henri-Christian’s tonsils. Dammit dammit dammit…such anguish all the way around, from Young Ian having such a short time with his Da to Jenny telling Claire she doesn’t have a soul because she couldn’t help Ian. Also, isn’t consumption, AKA tuberculosis, wildly contagious? Are the rest of the Murrays at risk? ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/99 "2009-10-19T04:35:05Z")
Just finished it. I feel enormously frustrated. I think any number of characters acted out of character. Like a previous poster I can’t quite figure out who is where and who is a “good guy” and who is not. Aargh! Claire I know sees death as an enemy but why is she so horrified/drawn to Benedict Arnold? His sister, some guy she meets at the ball who ends up hanged with him that is history, not a spoiler)…why this out of all the people in the Revolution? Is it the sense of betrayal? Is Benedict Arnold a way bigger deal than I realize? Anyway Claire’s focus on that particular historical bit didn’t ring true to me. And what makes me most grumpy is a book I read in a week, I now have to wait years and years to find out what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520/100 "2009-10-19T14:19:09Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > Claire I know sees death as an enemy but why is she so horrified/drawn to Benedict Arnold? His sister, some guy she meets at the ball who ends up hanged with him that is history, not a spoiler)..why this out of all the people in the Revolution? Is it the sense of betrayal? Is Benedict Arnold a way bigger deal than I realize? Anyway Claire’s focus on that particular historical bit didn’t ring true to me. It did seem a little off for Claire to be so upset by Arnold. Maybe she was just focusing the entire weirdness of knowing the outcome of the war onto one guy, someone whose personal history she knew. So tempting to try to change history. Also, Arnold was one of the few secondary historical figures who Gabaldon knew almost all of her readers would recognize. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/echo-in-the-bone-by-diana-gabaldon/510520.md?page=6)