"Like a visit with old, dear friends"

To say I looked forward to this book more than any other in recent memory is an understatement. I was on a strict budget and books were not in it. Especially not hardbacks. But I could not NOT get this book. I started it as soon as I received it and managed to make it last two weeks, savoring every word.

Although more snippets of life in the 1770s linked together than a book with a real plot, it was like reading letters from that era instead of a conventional book. Those looking for a book with a real beginning, middle, and end will be disappointed. This simply isn't that kind of a book. Also, those new to the series should not begin with this book -- you will find yourself feeling like a newcomer to a family reunion.

While the other four books were all about Jamie and Claire, THE FIERY CROSS is as much about their daughter Brianna and her husband Roger. We visit with characters from other books and meet a few new ones as well. Some of the scenes are nail-bitingly-exciting and I found myself staying up into the wee hours on several occasions to finish a section.

To reveal too much would be seen as spoilers. Scenes include the wedding of Brianna and Roger, a skirmish between the Militia and the Regulators, the search for a dangerous bear, Jamie and Claire coming upon a case of spousal abuse, the wedding of Jamie's aunt Jocasta, the continued search for the elusive and evil Stephen Bonnet, and much, much more.

Again, Gabaldon has done meticulous research and given us characters we love as well as villains we love to hate. The first section of the book, taking up over 150 pages, takes place over the space of 24 hours during the Gathering of the Clans (which ended the 4th book DRUMS OF AUTUMN). The last sentence being "Tell them the Mackenzies are here." The last sentence of THE FIERY CROSS is one of the most beautiful, poignant in any book, any time as again Jamie comes through with just the right thing to say to Claire. Whatta guy!

And not all threads are neatly tied up at the end -- making readers hope that it won't be nearly FIVE years before we see the next installment. Highly recommended for those familiar with the series. Others will need to read the books in order.

Reviewed by Maudeen Wachsmith
Courtesy What I'm Reading
Posted November 24, 2001

The year is 1771. The American War of Independence is fast approaching. And it seems that Jamie Fraser and his wife, Claire, and their beloved family are fated to be in the thick of things once again.

Summary

2001 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award Winner - Best Historical Novel

The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser's wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy — a time-traveler's certain knowledge. Born in the year of Our Lord 1918, Claire Randall served England as a nurse on the battlefields of World War II, and in the aftermath of peace found fresh conflicts when she walked through a cleftstone on the Scottish Highlands and found herself an outlander, an English lady in a place where no lady should be, in a time — 1743 — when the only English in Scotland were the officers and men of King George's army. Now wife, mother, and surgeon, Claire is still an outlander, out of place, and out of time, but now, by choice, linked by love to her only anchor — Jamie Fraser. Her unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead — or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes....