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A review by thegourmetbookworm
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
4.0
Hi, my name is Amy, and I am an Outlanderaholic. I’d never read a novel more than once… until Outlander came along. I read books 1-8 twice, listened to books and 2, and watched the series, so as soon as the next installment was announced, I preordered it. The hardcover is daunting with 900+ pages set in a rather small font. The length wasn’t intimidating, but the weight was, and holding it for too long hurt my arthritic hands, so I put the book on my bookshelf next to the rest of its family and splurged on the eBook. Much more manageable!
Diana Gabaldon’s gift for imparting historical detail—from food, nomenclature, clothing, hairstyles, culture, music, tools, dwellings, etc.—blows my mind. She must spend nearly as much time researching as she does writing. She does an impressive job of blending real people and places with the fictional. Most of the people on Fraser’s Ridge are not actual historical figures, but many other characters were involved in the Revolutionary War. Her use of accents lends an authenticity to her books, especially the Gaelic. I speak in a Scottish lilt for days after closing the cover of one of her novels.
In her last few books, the author focused overmuch on Roger and Brianna, and less on Claire and Jamie. That made sense for the continuation of the series, but fans were disappointed. In Go Tell the Bees, she returned to why I love the series… the star-crossed, time-traveling lovers. For the first time in my outlandish tenure as a super fan, however, I have a few couple minor criticisms (reading was more blissful before I started editing full-time). First, it’s ridiculous that the Jamie and Claire, are experts at everything to which they set their minds. I became annoyed as the book went along. Second, it is important for writers to vary the length of their sentences to avoid sounding choppy, but in many instances, Gabaldon wrote crazy long sentences with multiple semicolons and dashes, and I got lost in them. Third, I’m hoping she avoids having Claire say, “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ” so often. It was offensive.
Just my two cents – she clearly doesn’t need my accolades or criticisms. Before #9 was published, she’d already sold 26 million books (all made it on the NYT Bestsellers list), not to mention the greenbacks she’s making from the series. The ending of Go Tell the Bees was disappointing, but the good news is that she clearly set up the next installment. 4.5 stars.
Diana Gabaldon’s gift for imparting historical detail—from food, nomenclature, clothing, hairstyles, culture, music, tools, dwellings, etc.—blows my mind. She must spend nearly as much time researching as she does writing. She does an impressive job of blending real people and places with the fictional. Most of the people on Fraser’s Ridge are not actual historical figures, but many other characters were involved in the Revolutionary War. Her use of accents lends an authenticity to her books, especially the Gaelic. I speak in a Scottish lilt for days after closing the cover of one of her novels.
In her last few books, the author focused overmuch on Roger and Brianna, and less on Claire and Jamie. That made sense for the continuation of the series, but fans were disappointed. In Go Tell the Bees, she returned to why I love the series… the star-crossed, time-traveling lovers. For the first time in my outlandish tenure as a super fan, however, I have a few couple minor criticisms (reading was more blissful before I started editing full-time). First, it’s ridiculous that the Jamie and Claire, are experts at everything to which they set their minds. I became annoyed as the book went along. Second, it is important for writers to vary the length of their sentences to avoid sounding choppy, but in many instances, Gabaldon wrote crazy long sentences with multiple semicolons and dashes, and I got lost in them. Third, I’m hoping she avoids having Claire say, “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ” so often. It was offensive.
Just my two cents – she clearly doesn’t need my accolades or criticisms. Before #9 was published, she’d already sold 26 million books (all made it on the NYT Bestsellers list), not to mention the greenbacks she’s making from the series. The ending of Go Tell the Bees was disappointing, but the good news is that she clearly set up the next installment. 4.5 stars.