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hannepearce 's review for:
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone
by Diana Gabaldon
I read the first six books in the Outlander series nearly a decade ago when I lucked out and got the entire set for a great price at a second-hand bookstore while travelling in Regina, Saskatchewan. This initial 'binge' introduction into the series spoiled me, and now the years between new installments are wrought with the anguish of wanting to know what happens next. Having said that, I would never want Diana Gabaldon to rush, for while the time we wait for the next installment can be maddening, it's well worth the wait to get a genuine and well-finished installment, like a vintage wine. It has been seven long years, seven, since the last installment of this series. You can imagine that anticipation has been high.
When I tell people that I have read this series, I admit openly, that it is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. When you embark on reading a series, you have to accept that the author is working within a practice I like to call 'world craft'. Unlike a stand-alone book, series novelists are engaged in creating whole worlds rather than just telling a story. They are massive tapestries into which each book and installment provides a glimpse of the greater whole. Some books will be intense with action, while others will be more circumspect, paced, filling out the background and enriching the depth of characters. Old threads begun in earlier books are picked up again, and new threads are begun, and until the author throws up their hands and says "it is done"- one has to abide with the anxiety and suspense of what the full tapestry will actually be.
Gabaldon is a master at world craft. Her characters live and breathe, and the places she takes you to come to life around you. While the books are considered fantasy because her characters are time travellers, so much of it is set in the past, to make it equally historical fiction. Her historical research is impeccable and I have always appreciated the trouble that goes into the details for these books. I will not recount the Fraser's long saga here, assuming that if you've read this far, you either are a fan yourself and just want to know what others thought, or you're thinking of reading the series (in which case you probably want to go to book one [b: Outlander|10964|Outlander (Outlander, #1)|Diana Gabaldon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529065012l/10964._SY75_.jpg|2489796] and read the blurb there). I will meditate a bit on book number nine, which I call "Bees".
This installment brings Claire and Jamie's family together, and then apart, and then together again. We also follow the wayward travels of Jamie's son (born into the British gentry) as he comes to terms with learning the truth about his parentage. We spend a long and languishing portion of the book with Brianna and Roger as they re-establish themselves into life in this century on the ridge. The togetherness of the family is a soothing and relaxing exhalation of relief, after the last two books where every character seemed to be navigating the precipice of death.
Gabaldon takes the time to sow the deeper divisions of the revolution. The ideals and purpose of the rebellion are more clearly dividing neighbours and families (as seen in Lord John's thread). The Fraser's struggle to find their way through the Captain Cunningham insurgency was likely a very common experience for landholders at the time. The Frasers have the advantage of knowing about key battles, and how the war turns out, but must also struggle with these minor insurgencies that did not make history books but have very real effects on their lives. Jamie begins to wonder if the book written by Frank Randall is in some way addressed to him, a notion that is not unlikely given that Frank withheld knowledge of Jamie's survival at Culloden from Claire, and likely could find evidence of Brianna's and Roger's having gone to the past (Brianna's paintings for example, or Roger's ordination?). At any rate, there is very subtle but clear base melody to "Bees" that hums 'survival' and 'patience'.
I will admit that the long build-up to the eventual battle at King's Mountain felt anti-climactic. Being accustomed to Gabaldon's style, I anticipated that Jamie would be critically wounded, but doubted he would die (there are too many untied threads there with Jamie for it to be possible yet). I was expecting the battle itself to be a more drawn-out affair (like Monmouth in #8) - instead, it begins and ends in a few short chapters. I scratched my head a bit at that. The outcome also left me daydreaming in curiosity as to Frank Randal's motives in writing that Jamie is killed on King's Mountain. Will this again be explained by 'poor historical records' as was done in #6? (Again I must calm my curiosity, it will be revealed somehow)
I am sure other readers of the series would agree with me that not all Outlander books are equal. We each have our own favourites, for our own reasons. I loved 1-4 for their balanced mix of action and character development. The Fiery Cross (5) and A Breath of Snow and Ashes (6) were harder for me to get into. I found it difficult to follow all the threads converging and emerging. I didn't really understand, nor could I really get invested in the thread of Mulva Christie and the whole clash of wills that happened in #6, but What's Bred in the Bone (7), Written in my Own Heart's Blood(8) and now Go Tell The Bees I am Gone have now made those previous parts of the tapestry clearer to me. They served as a foundation of uneasiness for what the Fraser's have to undergo in "Bees", when their own tenants will not be trustworthy.
I enjoyed #7 and #8 for the steady stream of action, and the time travel, which seemed nearly forgotten in #5-6. "Bees" has left me pleasantly satisfied, like having eaten a long-awaited meal that was long and delicious. I have read a few reviews here, and some have commented on how much Bees, lacks the moving plot of the other books and is seemingly more preoccupied with everyday life, like the making of food, tending gardens and comings and goings of minor characters. I agree that this book lacks the movement of those that came before, but I believe and trust, as the tapestry unfurls, that this pause was a necessary part of the world craft at hand. We had to have some time to feel and be with these characters at rest, to see them growing and changing with age.
I have also learned that you can never underestimate how critical those minor characters can become. I would have never imagined we would see the Hardmans again and Sylvia's character grew to have a very large bit in this book. Fanny, the orphaned young girl, rescued by William and passed onto the Frasers' care, blossomed as a character in this installment, something I never anticipated. We spent less time with Brianna's children in this book (having had so much of them in #8) that it was nice to spend time with Fergus' family, with Germaine, growing up and filling up as a character. There were many satisfying moments for so many of these beloved characters, and enough new material to keep the mind wondering and devising possible outcomes for the next 7? years it takes to get the next one.
Diana Gabaldon has said that #10 will be the last of the series, and I'll admit I see her laying the framework for what is bound to be an epic ending.
When I tell people that I have read this series, I admit openly, that it is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. When you embark on reading a series, you have to accept that the author is working within a practice I like to call 'world craft'. Unlike a stand-alone book, series novelists are engaged in creating whole worlds rather than just telling a story. They are massive tapestries into which each book and installment provides a glimpse of the greater whole. Some books will be intense with action, while others will be more circumspect, paced, filling out the background and enriching the depth of characters. Old threads begun in earlier books are picked up again, and new threads are begun, and until the author throws up their hands and says "it is done"- one has to abide with the anxiety and suspense of what the full tapestry will actually be.
Gabaldon is a master at world craft. Her characters live and breathe, and the places she takes you to come to life around you. While the books are considered fantasy because her characters are time travellers, so much of it is set in the past, to make it equally historical fiction. Her historical research is impeccable and I have always appreciated the trouble that goes into the details for these books. I will not recount the Fraser's long saga here, assuming that if you've read this far, you either are a fan yourself and just want to know what others thought, or you're thinking of reading the series (in which case you probably want to go to book one [b: Outlander|10964|Outlander (Outlander, #1)|Diana Gabaldon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529065012l/10964._SY75_.jpg|2489796] and read the blurb there). I will meditate a bit on book number nine, which I call "Bees".
This installment brings Claire and Jamie's family together, and then apart, and then together again. We also follow the wayward travels of Jamie's son (born into the British gentry) as he comes to terms with learning the truth about his parentage. We spend a long and languishing portion of the book with Brianna and Roger as they re-establish themselves into life in this century on the ridge. The togetherness of the family is a soothing and relaxing exhalation of relief, after the last two books where every character seemed to be navigating the precipice of death.
Gabaldon takes the time to sow the deeper divisions of the revolution. The ideals and purpose of the rebellion are more clearly dividing neighbours and families (as seen in Lord John's thread). The Fraser's struggle to find their way through the Captain Cunningham insurgency was likely a very common experience for landholders at the time. The Frasers have the advantage of knowing about key battles, and how the war turns out, but must also struggle with these minor insurgencies that did not make history books but have very real effects on their lives. Jamie begins to wonder if the book written by Frank Randall is in some way addressed to him, a notion that is not unlikely given that Frank withheld knowledge of Jamie's survival at Culloden from Claire, and likely could find evidence of Brianna's and Roger's having gone to the past (Brianna's paintings for example, or Roger's ordination?). At any rate, there is very subtle but clear base melody to "Bees" that hums 'survival' and 'patience'.
I will admit that the long build-up to the eventual battle at King's Mountain felt anti-climactic. Being accustomed to Gabaldon's style, I anticipated that Jamie would be critically wounded, but doubted he would die (there are too many untied threads there with Jamie for it to be possible yet). I was expecting the battle itself to be a more drawn-out affair (like Monmouth in #8) - instead, it begins and ends in a few short chapters. I scratched my head a bit at that. The outcome also left me daydreaming in curiosity as to Frank Randal's motives in writing that Jamie is killed on King's Mountain. Will this again be explained by 'poor historical records' as was done in #6? (Again I must calm my curiosity, it will be revealed somehow)
I am sure other readers of the series would agree with me that not all Outlander books are equal. We each have our own favourites, for our own reasons. I loved 1-4 for their balanced mix of action and character development. The Fiery Cross (5) and A Breath of Snow and Ashes (6) were harder for me to get into. I found it difficult to follow all the threads converging and emerging. I didn't really understand, nor could I really get invested in the thread of Mulva Christie and the whole clash of wills that happened in #6, but What's Bred in the Bone (7), Written in my Own Heart's Blood(8) and now Go Tell The Bees I am Gone have now made those previous parts of the tapestry clearer to me. They served as a foundation of uneasiness for what the Fraser's have to undergo in "Bees", when their own tenants will not be trustworthy.
I enjoyed #7 and #8 for the steady stream of action, and the time travel, which seemed nearly forgotten in #5-6. "Bees" has left me pleasantly satisfied, like having eaten a long-awaited meal that was long and delicious. I have read a few reviews here, and some have commented on how much Bees, lacks the moving plot of the other books and is seemingly more preoccupied with everyday life, like the making of food, tending gardens and comings and goings of minor characters. I agree that this book lacks the movement of those that came before, but I believe and trust, as the tapestry unfurls, that this pause was a necessary part of the world craft at hand. We had to have some time to feel and be with these characters at rest, to see them growing and changing with age.
I have also learned that you can never underestimate how critical those minor characters can become. I would have never imagined we would see the Hardmans again and Sylvia's character grew to have a very large bit in this book. Fanny, the orphaned young girl, rescued by William and passed onto the Frasers' care, blossomed as a character in this installment, something I never anticipated. We spent less time with Brianna's children in this book (having had so much of them in #8) that it was nice to spend time with Fergus' family, with Germaine, growing up and filling up as a character. There were many satisfying moments for so many of these beloved characters, and enough new material to keep the mind wondering and devising possible outcomes for the next 7? years it takes to get the next one.
Diana Gabaldon has said that #10 will be the last of the series, and I'll admit I see her laying the framework for what is bound to be an epic ending.