Drums of Autumn: Outlander, Book 4

My goodness. Can Diana Gabaldon tell some remarkable stories via her epic Outlander series. From 20th Century nurse Claire Randall unwillingly falling through the time traveling stones of Craig na Dun, and into the arms of 18th Century Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser in the pages of  Outlander ; to Claire and Jamie desperately trying to thwart the carnage of Culloden in  Dragonfly in Amber ; to separation, reunion, and reclamation in the swift moving  Voyager , the Outlander series gives readers a rich tapestry of history--along with the timeless love of Claire and Jamie Fraser. And the 4th installment of this series, DRUMS OF AUTUMN, in this reviewer's opinion the best installment yet, brings the Fraser family together for the first time--along with a suitor who goes through his own hell trying to find the love of his life.**SPOILERS!!**DRUMS OF AUTUMN takes place in the American Colonies--North Carolina, to be precise--half a decade away from the American Revolution. Jamie has graciously declined an offer from his Aunt Jocasta to inherit her River Run plantation; he and Claire have gone west, into the mountains, to settle on their own land--a place that comes to be known as Fraser's Ridge. Life is hard; Claire and Jamie are starting from scratch, building a cabin, planting crops, and beginning a relationship of deep respect with the local Cherokees. They know the Revolutionary War is coming, yet are hopeful their seclusion and isolation will insulate them from the violence to come.Meanwhile, in 1970, Jamie and Claire's daughter, Brianna, is becoming romantically involved with young Scottish historian Roger Wakefield. Roger is certain Brianna is the love of his life, while Bree wishes to slow the romance down; a Christmas visit in Scotland goes slightly awry. With the long distance relationship consisting of the occasional phone call and written letters, Bree suddenly comes across a startling obituary--the deaths of her parents in a house fire. In the second installment, we learned that Brianna (and Roger) are capable of traveling through the stones; Bree takes the ultimate risk by traveling to Craig na Dun--and plunging through the stones. She finds passage to the Colonies; the search for her parents--for the father she's never met--begins.Roger, realizing what Bree has done, demonstrates his love for her. He waits for the next pagan event and goes through the stones himself. He finds passage to the Colonies as a sailor on a ship--captained by the notorious Stephen Bonnet. It's a passage not for the faint of heart, particularly when disease erupts among the various passengers; Captain Bonnet exhibits some brutal inhumanity here. Upon arrival in Wilmington, Roger--now calling himself Roger MacKenzie--and Brianna have a bittersweet reunion. They become handfast (married for a year sans priest) and enjoy an intimate night--only for Bree to discover that Roger's known about the obit of Claire and Jamie all along, and that he decided not to share the information with her. This causes some intense friction, and the couple parts--Brianna to travel west to find and notify her parents; Roger to search for Bonnet to obtain some jewels that will enable he and Bree to go back through the stones to the 20th Century. Once he obtains them and makes his journey following Brianna to Fraser's Ridge, the tale takes a series of twisting turns and misunderstandings--all with Stephen Bonnet as the source.Claire and Jamie's reunion with Brianna is poignant and heartfelt--Jamie and Roger's first meeting is not so sweet, as Jamie is under the impression that the man following his daughter is the culprit who's raped her and impregnated her. (This took place, Brianna tells her parents, while she was in Wilmington.) Roger, beaten savagely, is sold into bondage with the Mohawk; he heads north, a prisoner. Once Brianna learns of the misunderstanding, she demands her parents journey north and bring Roger back; her pregnancy prevents her from traveling. Claire and Jamie--and Young Ian, Jamie's nephew--journey north, ultimately finding the village. They attempt to barter and trade for Roger, but the village's sachem is firm: for the tribe to release Roger, they must have another person. Ian volunteers, as during the course of the story he's become quite close to the Indians. Roger is finally told about Brianna by her parents--how she was raped by none other than Stephen Bonnet, and that she's pregnant. The baby could be Roger's, or it could be Bonnet's; both events took place within a handful of days. So Roger must decide if he should stay and be with Brianna and raise a child who may not be his--or go back through a nearby circle of stones to his own time. He realizes once the baby is born, the chances of himself, Bree, and certainly the child, are virtually non-existent to go back to the 20th Century. To stay is to stay in the 18th Century completely--with war on the horizon. His decision culminates the ending of this remarkable story.Gabaldon tells a sweeping tale that is full of rich detail and vivid images and elegant, compelling prose. Here is an installment where the story--for the first time--circles around a core of four characters. Two of them are newcomers to the 18th Century. How they mesh and interact--and much of it is not pleasant--is the engine that drives DRUMS OF AUTUMN. This very thick volume is a mesmerizing page turner.~D. Mikels, Esq.

Too often lines of families lay tattered and broken. Diana Gabaldon beautifully writes to remind us of the importance of heritage as she articulates the struggle of American immigrants. She takes the reader through the horrors, struggles, and sacrifices America's inhabitants, both old and new.Her eloquent writing captures the emotion and beating of the heart, which whispers of hope. When all seems lost, it is love which lights the way through the darkest of times.

This book…this whole series thus far has been amazing. I love traveling through time with Claire and Jamie. I started watching the show on a whim in early 2021, and started reading the books that August. If you love the TV series, read the books. There’s details and backstories the TV series does not have time to tell. I don’t know what I will do when I’m finished with the series, but for now, I enjoy collecting the books for display on my bookshelf and reading the books on Kindle. These are huge books, so the Kindle versions come in handy. Don’t sleep on this series.

This fourth installment of this fabulous epic "OUTLANDER" adventure has always thrilled me. All the books hold so much adventure and detailed historical information...but THIS installment is absolutely, mind boggling thrilling. At least it is for me. From Hispaniola (Haiti) to the New World...this installment takes place in the Colonies of America, 1767.Jamie has always been a Warrior and a soldier most of his life with a mind of an educated gentleman and a soul of a barbarian. Now he's in his 40's...good sense has tempered his fighting passion. He's set on carving out a new life for Claire. Claire is content to go where Jamie leads. Her happiness IS Jamie and nothing more. Yet she knows the Revolution will occur less than 10 years in their future. Facing another war is a frightening thought.Through all of Claire's fears of losing Jamie...he vows to her "when my body shall cease, my soul will still be yours. Claire, I swear by my hope of heaven, I will not be parted from you".....(I'm recalling his specter in book #1).To quickly recap: In the first book, Claire Randall had disappeared from 1945, to the eighteenth century Scotland; the year of 1743. She vanished when she went through the standing stones of Craigh na Dun and her adventure began. She fell in love with and married Jamie Fraser, and lived with him for nearly three years, before being forced to return through the standing stones to 1948, Scotland, which is the end of the second book, Dragonfly in Amber. The third book "Voyager", deals with Jamie and Claire searching for kidnapped Ian, Jamies' sisters' youngest son and his nephew. (I just LOVE Ian!!). And in this fourth installment "Drums of Autumn", Jamie finally meet's his 20th century daughter, Brianna. And I bawled buckets.......BUCKETS!!!This fourth book of the OUTLANDER saga could actually stand on its own....but WHY would you not want to read this fabulous epic from it's beginning?!? IMHO, it's best to start at the beginning with Outlander - - if for nothing else than to fully appreciate and understand the devoted, passionate relationship between Jamie and Claire....and to thoroughly KNOW them. Then proceed to Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, Book 2) to understand how their devotion for each other grows. Move on to "Voyager" (book #3) for a thrilling journey to the West Indies....and then to "Drums of Autumn" to find out how they begin a new life.Ms. Gabaldon ALWAYS discloses and informs the reader of facts, events and experiences of Jamie and Claire, then walks away from those events and experiences. And then, somewhere in later episodes, she brings that moment back ....somewhere in the series. And "Drums of Autumn" follows this line of dropping information upon the reader, only to make it reappear later in the book. It's like little informative puzzle pieces that she plops down in our laps and walks away, closing the chapter. And leaves the reader thinking, "WOW!" ....and then somewhere later in the same book, (or subsequent books), that information or event is brought back to our mind/attention. And the reader is soundly blown away!As I've previously stated (in my first three reviews), this is the third time I've read this Epic 7 book Outlander Saga through the many years but it's the first time I've taken time to give a review. Like all the other 5★ rave reviews, I can never put this story down once I begin...errands are curtailed, housework goes to pot and laundry piles up. It holds me completely captive with crippling intensity with all of its emotional structure and profound dimension. The story is so captivating and consuming that I find that I begin to slow my reading down as I see the end looming in sight, hating to let Jamie and Claire go. It never fails. BECAUSE THESE CHARACTERS ARE REAL.. DANG IT! Reading Drums of Autumn for the third time, I've noticed things that I didn't catch the first two times of reading it.When I read this Saga, I'm transported to Scotland, or France, or the Colonies of America! I mean......I'M THERE! I see the deplorable living conditions...smell the stink of the slops thrown out the windows. I'm walking the cobblestones and seeing the people...seeing all the immigrants in their different cultural garb. The descriptive detail and narration are so strong, exact and perfect that one cannot help be emotionally invested in little time. You're transported into another world and time...and you're reluctant to return. Diana Gabaldon is...simply put... brilliant! The absolute best! Yes, the stories are long but each character is carefully considered and the scenic details imperative to the emotion of the era...and the events that are chosen to be included are necessary to have the story told well.If you will allow the time, and give the effort to patiently absorb the detailed narration, you will be blessed and rewarded with the most emotional, captivating Saga ever to hold in your hands.

I have been reading this in parallel with watching the TV adaptation (this book corresponds to Outlander Season 4 which at the time of writing is halfway through airing with a new episode released on Amazon Prime every Monday.)The books and TV stories tell the story of Claire Randall, who had been a combat nurse with the British Army during World War II, and, while on a second honeymoon with the husband from whom she had largely been parted during the war, is transported back 203 years in time from 1946 to 1743 by a stone circle. This story and the events over the following year were told in the first novel, originally published in the UK as "Cross Stich" but subsequently as "Outlander" which is also the title of the series of novels and of the TV series.The books published or anticipated to date are:1) Cross Stitch/Outlander2) Dragonfly in Amber3) Voyager4) Drums of Autumn5) The Fiery Cross6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes7) An Echo in the Bone8) Written in My Own Heart's Blood9) Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (forthcoming)Historical events which are covered include the sequence leading up to and aftermath from the 1745 uprising and the battle of Culloden, the settling of North America, and the American War of Independence.So far each season of the TV series has told more or less the same story as the equivalent book of the series.Throughout the first four books and TV series (I'm not going to say any more to avoid a spoiler) the readers' or viewers' perspective shifts between the 18th and 20th centuries.The description of the world of the 18th century, with its glories and horrors, is at times exquisite and at times horrifying but very well done.The TV version corresponding to this book, Season 4, is actually quite good but in my humble opinion the book much better for two reasons.For one thing, there is a great deal of entertaining writing in the book which does not make its' way into the TV version. And secondly, the clash between 18th and 20th century worldviews is handled much better in the books, by which I had better explain that I mean that the characters in the books are far more likely to compromise enough to keep themselves alive in the 18th century while the characters in the TV series are more likely to behave in ways which will win the approval of politically correct 21st century viewers but would in practice have been only too likely to get themselves and their loved ones killed.The heroine would have been born about 1920 which would make her a contemporary of my parents' elder siblings, so she would have been a child during the great depression, and she had survived World War 2 as a nurse in a British army field hospital just behind the front lines.As such she would have seen more death, pain and suffering than most people alive today can begin to imagine and she would also have to be a deeply pragmatic and tough survivor type : she would also probably be that much closer to understanding the attitudes of people in earlier centuries than people living today would.I can think of many ways in which 20th century Brits had attitudes closer to those of the 21st century than the 18th, but objectively, and without meaning this as a criticism of the people living in any of those three centuries, I can also very easily think of several issues on which the attitude of my parents' generation were closer to those of the 18th century than they are to the attitudes of many members of my children's generation.To explain in detail any of the instances in the book and TV series which inspire this opinion would be a spoiler, but although the conflicts between modern and 18th century attitudes are very much present in the books as they are in the TV series, the characters in the former show much more awareness of how dangerous it could be to get yourself accused of being a witch, or of getting too far ahead of even the most enlightened attitudes of the time on issues like slavery, the place of women, or gay rights.Indeed in some cases the story is ahead of the 20th century, never mind the 18th. A couple of important characters in the story are gay or bisexual. The TV series barely notices that there is anything unusual about this, while the books do at least record that the gay 18th century characters are living, quote, "in a time when that particular predilection could get one hanged."Neither the books or the TV series are suitable for the sqeamish or those who like everything to be light and cheerful. Both are set in an era where terrible things happen to good people and indeed good people are sometimes forced to do or go along with cruel things.Nevertheless if you are interested in history or time travel I can strongly recommend "Drums of Autumn" and the rest of the Outlabder series of books, and indeed the TV series too.

This book starts with a hanging. Jamie and Claire are in Georgia and they come to say goodbye to a friend who has been convicted. There is a scuffle in carrying out the sentence and Stephen Bonnet escapes. When they go to bury their friend, Bonnet sneaked into the wagon and they take him to the river where he escapes.Jamie’s relative Jocasta is a wealthy widow living on a plantation called River Run. For Claire this is the first time she is confronted with the reality and the practicality of slavery. The disposable attitudes of the time, as well as the brutality, are not glossed over, but are not dealt with in horrifying detail.The book also parallels Roger and Brianna’s story. Their interest is both Scottish and American history. When he takes her to the clan gathering, she is reluctant to agree to marry him. I think this is more a sign of the times than the separation from her parents. When she finds a document telling of her parents’ imminent death the reader knows she is going through the stones or die trying.As you would expect Jamie is offered land in the New World to settle and so Frasers Ridge is created. Claire continues to be a local healer and they inevitably encounter native American Indians. They are not portrayed as sympathetically as the slaves and some of the passages are harrowing to read.Jamie’s first meeting with Brianna and then with Roger are significant. Meeting Brianna is awkward but wonderful, Roger’s meeting is more brutal and full of misunderstanding. Misinformation and lack of communication is the hallmark of the latter half of the book. Everyone keeps secrets to their detriment.The ending is satisfying with a few twists, but everything happens for the best and I look forward to the next book. In terms of plot this is probably the most sophisticated, and fans will mis Scotland, but the book still demonstrates a great attention to detail with warm and loveable characters throughout.

This is the 4th book in the series. The ONLY thing I have to complain about is that the books are so HEAVY!!!! I have arthritis in my hands especially my thumbs & wrists & it’s just so uncomfortable some times to hold the books. It takes me ages to get them into a good position. But I digress. I started off binge watching the series, got to season 2 & thought I’d better start reading the books. Read the first 3 books before I got back into the dearies again. Now I’ve nearly finished this book & am nearly at the end of season 5!!! Season 6 will hopefully, please God , start filming after Christmas having been held up by COVID. I’m dreading having to wait. It seems to me though that in season 5 they strayed a bit too far from the books. Murtagh came back , had an affair with Jocasta & then died at Alamance. None of which is in the book. Oh well. Still riveting.

The 4th book in the Outlander Saga sees Claire and her beloved Jamie settling at Fraser's Ridge with a handful of loved ones. 202 years in the future, Brianna and Roger grow closer, so close it almost tears them apart completely when Brianna discovers a small detail of her parent's fate.This has been my favourite book in the series so far. I'd definitely recommend people new to the series to read at least this far.

I can't rate the Outlander series highly enough. I've read almost all of them and not even in the correct order! Absolutely fantastic historical read. The characters are so real; the life they live is so real; the history is so real! I can't thank the author enough. I love especially that she uses a lot of words 'of the time' that are forgotten in todays English. I've enjoyed looking them up as I've gone along. They don't detract from the story at all (so can easily be ignored) but they add education if you want it. Just love this series and will be buying whatever GB writes. Thank you so much for many, many hours of enjoyment.