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A review by sleeping_while_awake
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
2.0
Before deciding on a final rating, I looked back through my ratings of the previous books. I was thinking that surely I gave Breath of Snow and Ashes or Fiery Cross more than 2 stars, as surely they were better written than Echo in the Bone but alas, I gave them each a paltry 2. And I bestow a 2 on this one.
It makes me wonder why I keep reading this series. There is something that is not clicking for me as a reader, but I don't think that I am alone in that regard. Ever since number 4, Drums of Autumn, it is clear that the author doesn't want to let go of her characters.
There has been such a determination against plotting out a cohesive, in-depth story. These books have so much historical research put into them, much of it rather subtle, which I appreciate. I don't think this long book format is really serving the characters at this point, and the author could do a series of novellas or related short stories which would have the same impact.
Echo in the Bone didn't evince the frustration of Fiery Cross. In fact it didn't evince much emotion at all from me. Claire and Ian each have a few poignant scenes, but overall it felt less on the scale than usual.
Not much happened, but then again, nothing much is really happening in these later books, which is sad to me because I liked the adventure of the earlier ones. Claire and Jamie aim to travel to Scotland to retrieve their printing press, but many detours occur, of course. How is that the main point of the book? To get a freaking printing press??
Once Claire and Jamie leave Fraser's Ridge, I thought the story started to move along. Later I found myself wishing they were back on Fraser's Ridge.
Brianna and Roger are back in present time with their children, Jem and Mandy. They readily adapt back to modern times, and Brianna gets an awesome job as an engineer. I liked her struggle and determination in a male-dominated profession, but it doesn't get as much focus as I would have liked. Brianna is slowly going through a cache of letters left written by Claire and Jamie. Whatever she reads correlates with what is happening to Claire and Jamie in their povs, so it's a nice parallel.
I have never been a fan of Roger. I find him and Brianna to be an odd match, but maybe I'm missing something. Their povs focus on daily life, which I found interesting, but it doesn't add anything to the plot until the very, very end of their povs.
For most of the book, Brianna and Roger are just living their lives, discovering themselves. They do have some thoughts on time travel. Although I liked their parts, it's an example of how the latter books are less adventure and more on everyday occurrences.
Claire and Jaime's povs were the best as always. However, I found them to be less involved in the politics and hubbub than usual. Usually they are thick in the middle of things, and instead they're on the periphery. Claire did seem out of character at parts, but I don't know if it's due to a change in her growing older?
Ian's povs were the best, and I hope he does have some happiness. His povs have all the emotion and action that I'm really loooking for in these books.
William's pov, while unexpected, wasn't too bad. I liked the pov of a soldier in the American Revolution. Yet he spent a lot of time alone, and when he was with his unit, he remained detached. Much of the pov is in his head. It wasn't enough for me to become engaged, and I thought a missed opportunity to give a descriptive viewpoint of British soldier.
Lord John. I am so - bored - with him. Whenever I got to his chapters, I usually put the book down and did something else. He has the personality of a dish towel. Maybe I'm missing something, but he is not written as interesting. His main plotline really confused me, until the end, when I realized it isn't actually complicated, and it's fairly straightforward. Seemed like an excuse to keep him around by giving him a pov.
The few Hunter povs were fine. I liked them, and I missed the host of characters left behind on Fraser's Ridge, so they somewhat filled that gap/
Overall, no character was really immersed in the American Revolution. It seemed like everyone was skirting around it. The battles were short and the politics were less than usual.
The strange twist near the ending didn't make me angry or think Claire acted out of character. I think it was way too rushed.
This book does set up a plotline for Fergus that may prove interesting later. Maybe when the tv series gets to the later books they can inject more cohesion and action.
It makes me wonder why I keep reading this series. There is something that is not clicking for me as a reader, but I don't think that I am alone in that regard. Ever since number 4, Drums of Autumn, it is clear that the author doesn't want to let go of her characters.
There has been such a determination against plotting out a cohesive, in-depth story. These books have so much historical research put into them, much of it rather subtle, which I appreciate. I don't think this long book format is really serving the characters at this point, and the author could do a series of novellas or related short stories which would have the same impact.
Echo in the Bone didn't evince the frustration of Fiery Cross. In fact it didn't evince much emotion at all from me. Claire and Ian each have a few poignant scenes, but overall it felt less on the scale than usual.
Not much happened, but then again, nothing much is really happening in these later books, which is sad to me because I liked the adventure of the earlier ones. Claire and Jamie aim to travel to Scotland to retrieve their printing press, but many detours occur, of course. How is that the main point of the book? To get a freaking printing press??
Once Claire and Jamie leave Fraser's Ridge, I thought the story started to move along. Later I found myself wishing they were back on Fraser's Ridge.
Brianna and Roger are back in present time with their children, Jem and Mandy. They readily adapt back to modern times, and Brianna gets an awesome job as an engineer. I liked her struggle and determination in a male-dominated profession, but it doesn't get as much focus as I would have liked. Brianna is slowly going through a cache of letters left written by Claire and Jamie. Whatever she reads correlates with what is happening to Claire and Jamie in their povs, so it's a nice parallel.
I have never been a fan of Roger. I find him and Brianna to be an odd match, but maybe I'm missing something. Their povs focus on daily life, which I found interesting, but it doesn't add anything to the plot until the very, very end of their povs.
Spoiler
I think there will be some time traveling again, due to Jem's abduction and the want of the Spanish gold. I think that this was held off in the book until the end so it could come at a time convenient for Jamie and Claire's plotlines. Kind of frustrating, but whatever.For most of the book, Brianna and Roger are just living their lives, discovering themselves. They do have some thoughts on time travel. Although I liked their parts, it's an example of how the latter books are less adventure and more on everyday occurrences.
Claire and Jaime's povs were the best as always. However, I found them to be less involved in the politics and hubbub than usual. Usually they are thick in the middle of things, and instead they're on the periphery. Claire did seem out of character at parts, but I don't know if it's due to a change in her growing older?
Ian's povs were the best, and I hope he does have some happiness. His povs have all the emotion and action that I'm really loooking for in these books.
William's pov, while unexpected, wasn't too bad. I liked the pov of a soldier in the American Revolution. Yet he spent a lot of time alone, and when he was with his unit, he remained detached. Much of the pov is in his head. It wasn't enough for me to become engaged, and I thought a missed opportunity to give a descriptive viewpoint of British soldier.
Lord John. I am so - bored - with him. Whenever I got to his chapters, I usually put the book down and did something else. He has the personality of a dish towel. Maybe I'm missing something, but he is not written as interesting. His main plotline really confused me, until the end, when I realized it isn't actually complicated, and it's fairly straightforward. Seemed like an excuse to keep him around by giving him a pov.
The few Hunter povs were fine. I liked them, and I missed the host of characters left behind on Fraser's Ridge, so they somewhat filled that gap/
Overall, no character was really immersed in the American Revolution. It seemed like everyone was skirting around it. The battles were short and the politics were less than usual.
The strange twist near the ending didn't make me angry or think Claire acted out of character. I think it was way too rushed.
Spoiler
When Claire is informed Jamie is dead, in the next few page, in the same chapter, Lord John proposes marriage. She accepts due to the impending threat that she will be arrested as a spy. As for Claire's spy activities, the reader has only gotten a few sentences regarding this, so it seems like a convenient excuse for this marriage situation. Additionally, I was surprised there was no discussion of alternatives. No discussion of get me out of this city. Put me on a boat, etc. Then, once they're married the charges clear up so nicely with no explanation!This book does set up a plotline for Fergus that may prove interesting later. Maybe when the tv series gets to the later books they can inject more cohesion and action.