A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Summary (from the publisher): Eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, this sixth novel in Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander saga is a masterpiece of historical fiction from one of the most popular authors of our time.

Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldon’s New York Times bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over — and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence — with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

Review: This is the sixth installment of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. It picks up where book five leaves off, following the lives of the time traveling Claire and her Scotsman Jamie Fraser. A whole host of characters are also on the scene, including Claire and Jamie's daughter Brianna and her husband Roger. They find themselves in North Carolina on the eve of the Revolution, and once again, they prove to be the most accident/danger prone group of characters I have ever encountered. 

The Outlander books are not for the faint of heart. This one was just shy of 1000 pages. Additionally, they're difficult to classify. They're equal parts science fiction/historical fiction/romance with a little bit of medical know how tossed in the mix. The original book in the series was solely in Claire's point of view. As time has gone by in the series, other characters' points of view are seen, however, Claire's perspective is the only one written in the first person. I don't know that I've ever encountered a constant switch from third to first person in a novel; it's an interesting way to quickly signify to the reader who is the dominant character, and from whose perspective the chapter happens to be.

I'm slightly exasperated by the constant turmoil and exploits of these characters. Each and every character has come close to death at least 25 times. However, it certainly keeps readers entertained. I do enjoy Gabaldon's blend of humor and poking fun at the often gross realities of life in the 1700s balanced with extreme love and moving thoughts/feelings of the characters. After so many books and thousands of pages, I feel like I know these characters and I will be quite sad whenever Gabaldon finally concludes this great series.

Stars: 4