A Breath of Snow and Ashes

My goodness this was a large book. It had over 1,400 pages and I read every one of them. So, since it took me 3 1/2 weeks to finish, just figure that I read 3-4 normal sized books in that time span and we'll call it square, okay?

A Breath of Snow and Ashes is the 6th book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. If you're still with us, keep going, I have a feeling the last one is going to be really good! However, if you haven't read any of them and do plan to tackle the series at some point, you should probably skip this review. The synopsis, for as long as this tome was, will be very brief because I simply can't cover it all succinctly.

Claire and Jamie are still trying to carve out their niche on Fraser's Ridge in a burgeoning colonial America. Brianna, Roger, and Jem are happy there and are even considering adding to their brood. However, Stephen Bonnet is still afoot and that concerns everyone. They're also trying to figure out if the snippet they read in a newspaper forecasting Jamie and Claire's deaths by fire will really come true, or if their time-traveling, all-knowing ways can help thwart their demise. You Ian and the others are still around as well. Lord John is back, as are Jocasta, Duncan Innes and some nuttiness with their staff. This book was chock full of kidnappings, murders and near murders, crazy baby daddies and much more all as the American Revolution swells around Fraser's Ridge and Jamie is forced to choose sides knowing what will come from Brianna and Claire's re-telling/foretelling of history. Sakes alive!

I liked A Breath of Snow and Ashes but it was a beast for sure. My fleeting paragraph above doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what happened but I figure if you're this deep into the series, you don't really need me to tell you what it's all about. And if you've never read any of them, then of course you wouldn't start here. The tough part about a book (and series) this large is that by the time I get to the end of a book, I've forgotten where it all began. That's the real reason my summary is lacking for detail. Admittedly, I'm not the best at recanting tales. Anyway, if you're thisclose to the end, keep going! If you haven't even cracked Outlander, start there.

Taking a slight fluff break before tackling An Echo in the Bone. Stay tuned!

P.S. Blogger has been hatin' on Internet Explorer 9 so I couldn't italicize everything I normally would have.