Reviewed for THC ReviewsDragonfly in Amber is no ordinary romance novel. In fact, in spite of its romance and paranormal elements, it is far more of a historical novel than anything else in my opinion. This book basks the reader in lush descriptions of 18th century European history, from the political intrigue in the courts of King Louis XV of France, to the everyday life of a merchant, to the inner workings of hospitals of that time. Then it sweeps the reader along, back to the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and eventually into the Jacobite Uprising of 1745 in which Bonnie Prince Charlie tried unsuccessfully to retake the throne of both Scotland and England. The author made liberal use of real historical personages from King Louis and Prince Charles to their courtiers, advisers and Scottish clan chieftains. Diana Gabaldon constantly amazes me with how she can realistically weave fictional characters into real historical settings and bring it all to life in such a way that it is a joy to read and never a bore. Even everyday things become special in her world. I was especially fascinated with the insights into medical treatment in that era, including the use of plants and herbs for healing. Claire works for a time, at an indigent hospital in Paris where all manner of “healers” volunteer their time and “medical services” to the patients. In many ways, it is amazing to see just how far we've come since then, but I was also intrigued by the use of what appeared to be acupuncture in one scene and the use of a small dog to sniff out infections in another. Of course, both of these are still quite useful in medicine today. There is also a tangled web of ancestral ties that will certainly keep readers on their toes. All in all, Diana Gabaldon simply has a wonderful way with painting word pictures that just swept me up in the story and made me feel like I had indeed been transported back in time.Just because I think that Dragonfly in Amber is stronger as a historical novel, does not mean that the other elements were in any way lacking. It still has the beautiful romance of Jamie and Claire at its core. These two characters have simply enthralled me in a way that many characters in traditional romance fail to do. Jamie and Claire are absolutely perfect for each other, and in this story have settled into a very comfortable marriage in which it seems like they have been together much longer than they have. To me, this has always been part of the beauty of their relationship, in that they are the best of friends while still being passionate lovers. Even when they talk about the mundane things of life or engage in fun lighthearted bantering it expresses a deep intimacy. Jamie and Claire trust each other implicitly and even when that trust seems to have been compromised, they still find their way back to each other. This is a couple who epitomize the word, soulmate, and who would literally live and die for one another, and theirs is a love that spans both space and time and will never end. In my opinion, this is what true romance is all about, but for anyone seeking hot steamy love scenes, they won't really be found in this book. Most of these parts are fairly non-explicit and don't contain a lot of detail, but that certainly didn't matter to me, as the relationship is always the most important thing for me in any romance. There are even a couple of side romances in the form a heartbreakingly tragic relationship between a couple of Frank Randall's ancestors and a sweet budding connection between Brianna Randall Fraser and Roger Wakefield, who are very important characters in later books.The other element that was incredibly well-done is the time travel. Diana Gabaldon has written a scholarly article outlining her own theories of time travel, and it certainly is borne out in this book. I found Jamie and Claire's attempts to alter history to be very intellectually engaging. It presents a didactical argument as to whether it would be possible to change history if time travel were a reality, something which I love to ponder. It also asks the question of whether a person could cease to exist if that history was revised. There was also a great little rabbit trail where Claire mulls over the effects of time travel on germs and disease which I found to be a fun thing to speculate about too. The one thing I would not have wanted to do, is hold the fate of so many people in my hands the way Jamie and Claire did, due to their knowledge of the future. Many times over the course of the story they had to make really difficult choices, and even did some things that might be considered somewhat immoral or unethical, and contemplated doing far worse for the sake of the greater good. Of course, they never came to these conclusions lightly, and I love how Ms. Gabaldon brought out all the gut-wrenching emotions that were associated with that decision-making process.Jamie and Claire are two characters I won't soon forget, and I greatly look forward to reading their further adventures. Jamie is the ultimate hero who is both brave and vulnerable, and a fierce warrior but a gentle lover, a man who Claire calls “the sun.” He is selfless and chivalrous, willing to sacrifice himself for those he loves including the men under his command, and his word is his honor, something he would never dream of breaking no matter what. I love that Jamie has a sensitive heart underneath his tough exterior and isn't afraid to cry or show his true feelings. Sometimes he says some of the sweetest, most beautiful things that make me swoon. With his wry, teasing humor, he is also one of the funniest characters I have ever read. Even in the midst of the most dire circumstances, he can often make me laugh. It was absolutely hilarious (although extremely fortuitous) the amount of mileage he got out of his La Dame Blanche story about Claire, as was his confrontational “conversation” with the little dog at the hospital where Claire worked. At the same time, Jamie is still a very tortured hero who is frequently tormented by demons, both real and emotional, as a result of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Jack Randall in the first book, which led to some very intense moments in the narrative. Claire, for her part, is probably the strongest heroine I have ever read. She is an incredibly intelligent woman who always uses her wits to survive and who isn't afraid to stand up to anyone including clan leaders and even royalty. Because of her modern sensibilities, she sometimes bucks the convention of the time, but by maintaining a strong backbone, she also manages to garner the respect of nearly everyone who meets her. Still, since the book is told primarily in first person from Claire's point of view, her vulnerabilities are readily apparent to the reader. There are moments when she is truly afraid and when her emotions even get the best of her, and of course, she wears her undeniable love for Jamie on her sleeve. Claire and Jamie are just so well-matched that I could hardly bear the times that they were apart in the story, and when they came back together it was like electricity shooting off the page. Their final scenes together in Dragonfly in Amber were some of the most beautiful and poignant, but also the most heartbreaking ever to be penned. They literally left me in tears, which is a somewhat rare effect for a book to have on me.There are just so many things to love about Dragonfly in Amber, I don't think I could possibly name them all, and there are even a few things that were a bit bothersome. On the up side, there was a widely varied and diverse cast of supporting characters from the real-life players who were mentioned earlier to plenty of fictional ones as well. Jamie's sister and brother-in-law, Jenny and Ian, who I love, appeared again along with their family. Even though he rarely has much to say, the dour Murtaugh is always a welcome addition. Jamie also takes in Fergus, a young pickpocket with the heart of a lion, although I have to admit that the historical realities for a child like him left me feeling extremely heartbroken. Jack Randall's younger brother, Alex, and Mary Hawkins, a teenage girl who Claire meets in Paris, also play important roles, as does Master Raymond, a mysterious little man who runs an apothecary shop. In addition to the strong character palette, there is plenty of intrigue that should keep readers guessing, as well as lots of adventure and excitement. On the down side, there is a quite a bit of sometimes rather gruesome violence, including sexual assault, and some vivid depictions of various war injuries which some readers may find cringe-worthy, though certainly nothing that was out of place for the time period. Most of these things did not bother me, but there was one graphic description of hanging, drawing, and quartering which left me with a queasy stomach, so sensitive readers may want to skip that part. The early parts of the book move at a rather languid pace, but there were always little side stories that made it interesting and held my attention. Overall, though there was nothing I could say I truly disliked about the book, and in fact, it was even better the second time around as this was a re-read for me.Unlike Outlander which can be a satisfying read by itself, there is a cliffhanger ending to Dragonfly in Amber, so new readers of the series will probably want to have a copy of the next book, Voyager, on hand before starting. When I first read books 1-3 over a decade ago, I don't think I could have waited for the sequel to come, so I'm glad I didn't discover the series until the first three books had already been published. Dragonfly in Amber has forever earned a place on my keeper shelf next to its predecessor, Outlander. I can't wait to read the remaining books in the series, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, and A Breath of Snow and Ashes, as well as An Echo in the Bone, the newest Outlander book which is due to hit store shelves this September. With her amazing talent and enthralling writing style, Diana Gabaldon has also earned a place among my favorite authors.
For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ... about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ... and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his....I will say that you need patience to read this series. The books are long, verra long indeed. ”This is Scotland. Of course not liking whisky is a crime.”Twenty years have passed and Claire returns to Scotland to try and unravel some secrets.I fell in love with Jamie in the first book, Outlander. So when this one started 20 years later with Claire being 48, I was excited as to see where it would go.“The devil’s in the detail.” Isn’t that what they say? Well there sure was some detail in this story. I don’t know how long it took Ms Gabaldon to do her research for this. I found it authentic “I am called Lord Broch Tuarach for formality’s sake,” the soft Scottish voice above me said. “And beyond the requirements of formality, you will never speak to me again—until you beg for your life at the point of my sword. Then, you may use my name, for it will be the last word you ever speak.” “The price of Frank’s life was Jamie’s soul, and how was I to choose between them?” “The window was made up of thousands of tiny colored panes, held in place by strips of melted lead. Though the entire window, a mythological scene of the Judgment of Paris, shuddered in its frame, the leading held most of the panes intact; in spite of the crash and tinkle, only a jagged hole at the feet of Aphrodite let in the soft spring air.” “I stood still, vision blurring, and in that moment, I heard my heart break. It was a small, clean sound, like the snapping of a flower's stem.” “The gray cloud that had surrounded me … seemed to draw closer, wrapping me in swaddling folds that dimmed the light of the brightest day. Sounds seemed to reach me faintly, like the far-off ringing of a buoy through fog at sea.” REMEMBER MAN, THOU ART DUST … AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN “Never,” he whispered to me. “Never. Never another but me! Look at me! Tell me! Look at me, Claire!” ”“For you are mine. My wife, my heart, my soul.”Jamie and Claire’s story is epic. It was wonderful. They were perfect together and perfect for each other. “And I looked, held prisoner, bound to him. Looked, as he dropped the last of his masks, and showed me the depths of himself, and the wounds of his soul. I would have wept for his hurt, and for mine, had I been able. But his eyes held mine, tearless and open, boundless as the salt sea. His body held mine captive, driving me before his strength, like the west wind in the sails of a bark.And I voyaged into him, as he into me, so that when the last small storms of love began to shake me, he cried out, and we rode the waves together as one flesh, and saw ourselves in each other’s eyes.”Once again, we are sent on a journey through Scotland and France. Parisian Court beckons and Jamie and Claire are thrown headfirst into aristocratic life in Paris.To be honest, some of the political detail went right over my head. I don’t know a lot about Scottish history – well I do know that they or some of them are looking for their independence from England with a referendum in September. “Whatever you want to say about the Swiss, they are clever woodcarvers, no?”I wasn’t’t sure if I should be shouting for the Jacobites, the Stuarts, King Louis, Bonnie Prince Charlie…I knew I was shouting for Jamie and Claire. “He turned to me, wordless, and the breath rushed from him as he pulled me hard against him. Our hands groped in the dying light of the setting sun, urgent in the touch of warmth, the reassurance of flesh, reminded by the hardness of the invisible bone beneath the skin, how short life is.”I loved Jamie’s sister, Jenny and her husband, Ian. “Aye, mo duinne. But you’re my sassenach.”I found the Scots Gaelic to be quite lovely. Verra similar to Irish so I could understand some of it. “You’re mine, damn ye, Claire Fraser! Mine, and I wilna share ye, with a man or a memory, or anything whatever, so long as we both shall live. You’ll no mention the man’s name to me again. D’ye hear?” He kissed me fiercely to emphasize the point. “Did ye hear me?” he asked, breaking off.”Once again, I could be here all night and talk about Jamie and Claire but time is of the essence and the night is falling. “I know it,” he said quietly. “I do know it, my own. Let me tell ye in your sleep how much I love you. For there’s no so much I can be saying to ye while ye wake, but the same poor words, again and again. While ye sleep in ” “my arms, I can say things to ye that would be daft and silly waking, and your dreams will know the truth of them. Go back to sleep, mo duinne.” “There is one way,” I said. “Only one.” “I will find you,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you—then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest.”His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me.“Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.” “There aren’t any answers, only choices.I’ve made a number of them myself, and no one can tell me whether they were right or wrong.”Whoever picked the casting for the forthcoming TV series, ya picked verra well indeed.I sort of go in blind to these books. I am really afraid that I will read a spoiler. I already did with the first one when I saw something on Pinterest.As I said in my review for the previous book, I hope my son gets his place at Edinburgh Univeristy and I can walk in the footsteps of Jamie and Claire Fraser. This book is way more than my review. There are twists and turns and events that will tear at your heartstrings.Looking forward to my Buddy Read tomorrow of Book 2 avec mon amie, Ⓐlleskelle, n'est pas Alexandra? She is probably cringing at my ruination of the French language.
What do You think about Dragonfly In Amber (2001)?
Great price! Thanks for the heads up, Phe!! Dragonfly In Amber (Outlander, Book 2) by Diana Gabaldon for $0.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000... For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....
—UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick
*This review will be a little spoily, read it at your own risk*“Ok, so I set the date on 2012….and set it for Kansas City Kansas…..Kemper’s deck. I think all I have to do is reverse the directions on Google maps on the laptop. Uh…..turn the key. Yay, it works.” “Or I thought so, Toto I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore (had to do it!).”“Hello Stephanie. Toto……I love the Wizard of Oz.” “Aaaaack! Claire Beachum Randel Fraser! You just scared the piss out of me. Don’t sneak up on a person sitting on a time mower, and whisper in their ear. It’s downright creepy.” Sighs. “Hey Claire, you look a little older than the last time I saw you,moments ago , but don’t worry you still look young and fresh and beautiful.”“Oh thank you Stephanie, I have to admit that people mention that a lot! I mean a lot! It must have been all that whiskey and malnutrition in the 1700’s that preserved me.”“Well, Claire, could you fill me in on the when and the where this is?”“Still in Scotland, but we’re in 1968. Frank, Brianna and I moved to the States where I became a doctor. We stayed there until Frank passed away. I brought Brianna back to get her acquainted with her roots.”“Brianna is your daughter? Is that her over there? Wow! Tall, beautiful…..look at that mane of red hair. She looks just like her father Jam….mph…nni. ““Keep your voice down, she doesn’t know that Frank wasn’t her biological father. I brought her here to break the news and tell her who her father really was……Jamie Frasier.”“Get your hand off my mouth…that’s rude! Did Frank look just like Jamie?”“No. Total opposites. Frank was short and had dark hair.”“She doesn’t look much like you, and nothing like Frank, she is an Amazonian redhead. She didn’t once ask you about that?”“Not once. Did I mention the whiskey and the malnutrition?”“Claire, don’t tell me. You drank alcohol during your pregnancy? You were a trained nurse then; don’t tell me you didn’t know better!”“Just a little…..bottle…….every day, Stephanie, we didn’t know any better back then.”“Ok, never mind. If she never grasped the fact that Frank wasn’t her father on her own because of possible fetal alcohol syndrome, how is she supposed to understand time travel now?”“You have a point there. Maybe I’ll find a young handsome historian to help explain things to her.”“I don’t see the logic, but you go with it Claire. I’m afraid to ask, but what were you and Jamie up to during the rest of the time you were back in time, besides getting drunk and having lots of sex?”“We tried to change history by joining the Jacobite cause and save a bunch of lives. We went to France to get this accomplished. I had to have sex with the King of France to get Jamie out of The Bastille; it wasn’t very good on account of his tiny penis. ““Oh dear god…..I did ask. ““Yes you did. And guess who we ran into? Jack Randel! Jamie wanted to kill him straight away, but I stopped him because I was afraid Frank would never be born if he killed him. Jack is Frank’s ancestor you see.”“I see……but I thought you killed Jack Randle with cows, which didn’t seem to upset you at all at the time. Now you get all angry about it? ”“I changed my mind. Turns out it wasn’t Jack trampled by the cows. It’s really hard to identify someone after a trampling.”“But Claire, you tried to change the course of history without ANY concern for the consequences. Any number of people could have been born that wouldn’t have and others who were never born that should have…….and you are concerned NOW about Frank, one person, never existing? Oh my head hurts again.”“Claire it’s been great, but I have to get this timemower back to its rightful owner, he has a short fuse. There we go……forgot to hit enter. Please, don’t mess with history anymore Claire. Promise?”“um…..sure, Stephanie, I promise.”“I don’t believe you……”
—Stephanie
"Dragonfly in Amber" is a lusciously perfect way to continue Outlander. It couldn't happen any other way. It has to be this way. It is absolutely perfect in every way possible in my eyes, and I love it with sheer perfection.Dragonfly in Amber, the second book of the Outlander series, continues with another amazing journey (or rather retelling) of Claire Randall/Fraser beyond time. But this time, Claire is back in her own time, year 1968, with daughter Brianna, already a twenty year old lass. Coming from America, Claire goes back to Scotland to hasten aid of Mr. Roger Wakefield, adopted son of Reverend Reginald Wakefield, (of whom we met in Outlander #1), to investigate what happened to the men of Lallybroch after the war at Culloden, to know if Jamie Fraser had carried out his final wishes to save his men & to reveal to Brianna the true nature of her heritage.Claire shares her story of the battle to either stop the uprising or find victory for Bonnie Prince Charles Stuart, the Great Pretender.But OMG! How am I going to narrate 752 pages of sheer perfection into something shorter, but something not too short of how perfect it was? It's hard.But the next part is easy.I LOVE JAMIE FRASER. JAMIE! JAMIE! JAMIE! JAMIE! I feel like a chit fresh from school. I'm resembling all the Edward Cullen fans/stalkers but with me, it's all about Jamie. I'm giddy. I'll end up a spinster if I don't find myself my own Jamie. If you're not in love with Jamie yet, I'll make you fall in love with him too. Aside from his delicious and majestic body; he also has the sweetest and swoon worthy lines I've ever read in history. SPOILER ALERT! Coming up are my favorite Jamie Fraser lines from Dragonfly in Amber. "I want to protect ye, sassenach- spread myself over ye like a cloak and shield you and the child wi' my body.""Blood of my blood," he whispered, "and bone of my bone. You carry me within ye, Claire, and ye canna leave me now, no matter what happens. You are mine, always, if ye will it or no, if you want me or nay. Mine, and I wilna let you go.""Claire. To feel the small bones of your neck beneath my hands, and that fine, thin skin on your breasts and your arms... Lord, you are my wife, whom I cherish and I love wi' all my life and still I want to kiss ye hard enough to bruise your tender lips, and see the marks of my fingers on your skin.""I'm honest enough to say that I dinna care what the right and wrong of it may be, so long as you are here wi' me, Claire," he said softly. "If it was a sin for you to choose me, then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him for tempting ye to it."And when Claire asked why Jamie agreed not to kill Jack Randall (a loathsome human who abused our dear Jamie) this is what he said: "...I want there to be a place for you; I want someone for you to go to if I am... not there to care for you. If it canna be me, then I would have it a man who loves you.""Damn you, too, Claire Randall Fraser, while I'm at it!" he said. "Damn right I begrudge! I grudge every memory of yours that doesna hold me, and every tear ye've shed for another, and every second you spent in another man's bed! Damn you! You're mine, damn ye, Claire Fraser! Mine, and I wilna share ye, with a man or memory, or anything whatever, so long as we both shall live."When Claire woke up in the middle of the night and Jamie wasn't asleep, Claire tells Jamie she loves him. Jamie replies: "I know it," he said quietly. "I do know it, my own. Let me tell ye in your sleep how much I love you. For there's no so much I can be saying to ye while ye wake, but the same poor words, again and again. While ye sleep in my arms, I can say things to ye that would be daft and silly waking, and your dreams will know the truth of them. Go back to sleep, mo duinne."And just before Jamie sends Claire back: "I will find you," he whispered in my ear. "I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you - then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen, betrayed and broken trust. But there is one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I stand before God, I shall have one thing to say to weigh against the rest. Lord, ye have given me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well." End of spoilers! I can swoon now. But I have to continue a little more. Are you in love with Jamie yet? If not, please pick this book and see how his every gesture is swoon worthy. As usual, Diana Gabaldon is wordy. Not that I complain, because every word and every page is a necessity to make such a wonderful story come alive right in front of your very eyes (or rather imagination).Also, the ending is the best and worst cliffhanger ever! Best because I'm verra verra anxious to read the next and worst because it made me figuratively feel why endings like these are called cliffhangers. I felt like I've been dropped from a cliff.To ye, Diana Gabaldon, thank you for the gift of Jamie.And to ye, dear reader of this review (or rather narrative on how obsessed I am with Jamie), do yourself a favor, try and give yourself some Jamie loving. ♥
—Jasmin
