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A review by amymariedoug
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
3.0
You can also read this review on my blog.
3.5 Stars
I finally finished another mammoth of a novel! Completing one of Gabaldon’s books always feels like running a marathon, but this is one that is richly rewarded at the end.
Like the majority of Gabaldon’s novels A Breath of Snow and Ashes is a long-haul of excessive description littered with occasional action, finished with an epic conclusion. Though Gabaldon’s descriptions can sometimes be repetitive, especially during her later novels, I thoroughly enjoyed it here. There are a lot of details on Claire’s surgical techniques (turns out I’m a historical medicine nerd) that I found fascinating, and unlike The Fiery Cross, this novel does not suffer from so many meaningless tangents. Another improvement on TFC is that Gabaldon makes much better use of her side characters. Instead of being written for the purpose of a side-plot, these characters have a direct impact on the central plot thread, which improves the continuity of the novel a tonne.
A lot of criticisms I see for the later novels is a dislike for Brianna and Roger’s chapters and/or relationship, but in this installment it is purposeful and could *shock* be enjoyable to read! Roger’s character really develops in this novel, from the annoying son-in-law to someone you know you can really depend on as part of Jamie’s ~squad~. I understand that a lot of people became enamored with the Outlander series because of Claire and Jamie, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how Bree and Roger’s story plays out, especially given the events at the end of the novel.
TW: This part of the review discusses s****l assault and r*pe.
However, there is one event in the novel that leaves a very sour taste in your mouth for the rest of it. Given it’s adaptation in the TV series, the event has been discussed a lot in the media recently – and for good reason. Gabaldon’s reliance on r*pe and s*xual assault for character development is not only bad writing, but comes across as disingenuous. Jamie, Brianna, Ian, Fergus – not to mention the gross and unnecessary coercion scene between Claire and King Louis XV in Dragonfly In Amber. It reads as though Gabaldon is simply ticking characters off a list and it is in extremely poor taste. The excuse that ‘this is historically accurate’ is rubbish – Outlander is not non-fiction. Time travel is a major element to the story. Gabaldon has a responsibility to her readers not only to not be lazy with her plot-devices, but also to not knowingly upset or trigger them. If you want to read about it in more I highly recommend this article.
Then there’s the reappearance the worst character ever – Stephen Bonnet. The fact that his character has the ‘love to hate’ motif attached it him infuriates me to no end. (Stop excusing character’s actions because they are conventionally attractive and occasionally pitiful people!) Not only is he equally as disgusting in this novel as in The Drums of Autumn, but this plot combined with the event discussed above really make the novel difficult to get through at times.
So even though this installment was such an improvement on The Fiery Cross, for the reasons outlined above I cannot give A Breath of Snow and Ashes any higher than a 3.5. Gabaldon’s writing style has really evolved and the novel has one of my favourite conclusions of the series, it’s just a shame that she feels she needs to use lazy plot devices for character development. Without the use of these, the novel would easily have been a solid 4.5 stars.
3.5 Stars
I finally finished another mammoth of a novel! Completing one of Gabaldon’s books always feels like running a marathon, but this is one that is richly rewarded at the end.
Like the majority of Gabaldon’s novels A Breath of Snow and Ashes is a long-haul of excessive description littered with occasional action, finished with an epic conclusion. Though Gabaldon’s descriptions can sometimes be repetitive, especially during her later novels, I thoroughly enjoyed it here. There are a lot of details on Claire’s surgical techniques (turns out I’m a historical medicine nerd) that I found fascinating, and unlike The Fiery Cross, this novel does not suffer from so many meaningless tangents. Another improvement on TFC is that Gabaldon makes much better use of her side characters. Instead of being written for the purpose of a side-plot, these characters have a direct impact on the central plot thread, which improves the continuity of the novel a tonne.
A lot of criticisms I see for the later novels is a dislike for Brianna and Roger’s chapters and/or relationship, but in this installment it is purposeful and could *shock* be enjoyable to read! Roger’s character really develops in this novel, from the annoying son-in-law to someone you know you can really depend on as part of Jamie’s ~squad~. I understand that a lot of people became enamored with the Outlander series because of Claire and Jamie, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how Bree and Roger’s story plays out, especially given the events at the end of the novel.
TW: This part of the review discusses s****l assault and r*pe.
Spoiler
However, there is one event in the novel that leaves a very sour taste in your mouth for the rest of it. Given it’s adaptation in the TV series, the event has been discussed a lot in the media recently – and for good reason. Gabaldon’s reliance on r*pe and s*xual assault for character development is not only bad writing, but comes across as disingenuous. Jamie, Brianna, Ian, Fergus – not to mention the gross and unnecessary coercion scene between Claire and King Louis XV in Dragonfly In Amber. It reads as though Gabaldon is simply ticking characters off a list and it is in extremely poor taste. The excuse that ‘this is historically accurate’ is rubbish – Outlander is not non-fiction. Time travel is a major element to the story. Gabaldon has a responsibility to her readers not only to not be lazy with her plot-devices, but also to not knowingly upset or trigger them. If you want to read about it in more I highly recommend this article.
Then there’s the reappearance the worst character ever – Stephen Bonnet. The fact that his character has the ‘love to hate’ motif attached it him infuriates me to no end. (Stop excusing character’s actions because they are conventionally attractive and occasionally pitiful people!) Not only is he equally as disgusting in this novel as in The Drums of Autumn, but this plot combined with the event discussed above really make the novel difficult to get through at times.
So even though this installment was such an improvement on The Fiery Cross, for the reasons outlined above I cannot give A Breath of Snow and Ashes any higher than a 3.5. Gabaldon’s writing style has really evolved and the novel has one of my favourite conclusions of the series, it’s just a shame that she feels she needs to use lazy plot devices for character development. Without the use of these, the novel would easily have been a solid 4.5 stars.