An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, Book 7) (edition 2009)

A continuation of the Outlander series. Not great literature, but you have to find out what happens next!! We are up to the American Revolutions now. ( )

The seventh book in the Outlander series is set (mainly) during the American Revolution. Jamie and Claire, having survived the burning of their house at the end of the last book, decide to head back to Scotland so Jamie can get his printing press. He needs it to print articles in support of the revolutionary cause because he doesn't want to be put in a position where he might have to fight against his son, William, who has been raised by Lord John Grey. However this aim soon gets sidetracked because the ship Jamie and Clair and Jamie's nephew, Ian, are on is attacked by pirates. Jamie and Ian manage to defeat them but their ship founders and they end up on another ship that is taking supplies to Fort Ticonderoga. Jamie forms a militia unit that is involved in the fighting there and at Saratoga where he sees his kinsman, a general in the British army, killed. William was also in the battle but was not hurt. Jamie, Clair and Ian finally manage to get to Scotland where Ian's father is near death due to tuberculosis.

There is also a modern timeline concerning Brianna, Jamie and Claire's daughter, who is living in Scotland in Lallybroch, the house where Jamie was raised. Brianna and Roger have a collection of letters that Jamie and Claire managed to get through the ages so Brianna knows their fate. They read these letters one at a time while continuing on with their life. However, at the end due to events outside of their control Roger has to go back through the stones.

Jamie and Claire return, separately, to the new world and Claire comes into contact with Lord John Grey and William. Ian has also returned to try to win the hand of a Quaker girl with whom he fell in love. At the very end William comes face to face with Jamie and realizes that he must be his father.

As always, there is lots of historical detail and lots of lovemaking. It's a great book to lose yourself in but probably only if you have read all of the previous books in the series. ( )

Over the past year I have avidly read the Claire and Jamie series, beginning with Outlander and just finishing Echo in the Bone. I found Outlander so trashy (but it was always married sex), I couldn't put it down. It made me smile and chuckle a lot. I was hooked. Thereafter, each of her novels in the series was better researched historically and more intricate. And, dare I say it, better written. Unlike many of her fans, I did enjoy An Echo in the Bone, but I could sense fatigue in the author. Jamie and Claire are older and have the cares of the aging, but still have to have the stamina for physical adventures to entertain us and are still deeply and erotically in love with each other - and why not? They are quite the fantasy couple. They'll probably go down in literary history along with Tristan and Isolde and Beatrice and Benedict, though full-bodied like a good whiskey. I have marveled at the author's ability to describe the sexual act, book after book, without repeating her descriptions. Every time Claire performs a surgery, I am fascinated. Every time Jamie charges into an heroic, though bloody act, I cheer him on. There were a couple of continuity issues in this last book (Jamie thinking that he hadn't seen William since he was 12, when in fact, he'd watched him from an inn window in Wilmington only a few years earlier), but isn't that the fun of being a fan, finding the small mistakes. It's like keeping track of the events in the lives of our own extended families. Sometimes we just forget. I especially admire the author's value system with which she's endowed her characters. I look forward to the next book.

Author of The Wolf's Sun
A Devil Singing Small ( )

An Echo in the Bone continues the saga of Claire and Jamie Fraser, beginning where A Breath of Snow and Ashes leaves off. While this volume came in a couple hundred pages shorter than the previous two volumes, it is nevertheless excruciatingly long. An Echo in the Bone is neither the best of the series, nor the worst. My favorites by far are the earliest three volumes... but I like this one better than the previous two.

The highly detailed plot and the vast number of fully developed characters in this series make the novels challenging to read, yet enjoyable for those who don't demand total accuracy in the historical content of a novel. Even though I have been reading this series from the beginning, I still find most of the transitions between centuries disconcerting... but I noticed that the letters from Claire and Jamie to their daughter often make a good trasition back to the present day. I just wish the transitions getting back to the 18th century were as clear and focused.

If you have picked up this book without reading at least a few of the preceeding six volumes, it's probably not a great place to start. Read the series beginning with Outlander first, aka Cross Stitch in the UK. I recommend not skipping volumes in this series because there are places in each that refer back to key events in the other novels. The references to earlier events do not fully repeat the previous material, so you could miss something if you try to skip sections of the saga.

Recommended to fans of the series, who have read all the previous volumes before cracking open the covers of this one. This unsolicited and uncompensated review has been published on Dragon Views, Amazon.com, LibraryThing and any other site deemed appropriate by the reviewer. ( )

Jaime Fraser is back and wonderful as usual! Loved the book, hated to see it end. Sure are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up though! ( )

Time to wrap this series up. I have given the 1st 6 books in this series 5 stars--I love this series. But I think she has officially jumped the shark and needs to wrap up this series with the next book.It takes 4 years between books--was it really necessary to write 1000 pages and end it all in numerous cliffhangers? When we have to wait another 4 years, it might have been nice to give a tiny bit of closure. And can't these characters ever take a sea voyage sans mishaps?And if I wanted to read about Lord John's dealings apart from his interactions with Jamie & Claire, I would read the Lord John books. I tried one and found it boring, so why would I want to read the same stuff in a beloved Outlander book? ( )

How much longer until the next one? ( )

Although I bought An Echo in the Bone when it came out last September I put off reading it for months. I am such a devoted fan of the Outlander series that I couldn't bear to start An Echo in the Bone(the 7th in the series) because I knew as soon as I started it that it would have to end and then I would be bereft of news of Jamie and Claire and Brianna and Roger Mac and little Jem and Mandy and Ian (both young and old) and Jenny and now William and Rachel Hunter and her brother Denny for a few more years until the next book in the series. But a few weeks ago, I finally gave in and started the book, which no surprise, I adored.

For more of the review, see my blog: http://thejoieofreading.typepad.com/joannalongbourneblog/2010/02/index.html ( )

I've read all of the Outlander series (some of them 2 and 3x) and I found this one a bit choppy. Jamie and Claire are still an enthralling couple though and definitely worth reading about again for fans. ( )

I'm a huge fan of the Outlander series so I was really pleased to get this as a Christmas present. I know, I know, why am I just getting round to it now? ... I don't have a good answer except maybe I'm easily distracted. The story follows several different plot lines, including a John/William section, Jamie/Claire and a present day Brianna/Roger. I have read one of the Lord John books so this character was fairly familiar to me as well. I particularly enjoyed the parts with Ian and would love to see more of him. This is probably my least favourite of all the books. I found it dragged in parts and was really disappointed in the late plot twist involving Jem that was left unresolved. I know we are supposed to be left wanting the next instalment but there's no need to leave us hanging quite so badly. ( )

Too much of a history lesson, this one: In particular, I could have done without the lengthy excursion to Ticonderoga and the self-conscious "ooh, look at the cool historical figures we can meet if we time-travel!" name-dropping throughout the book. But still. It's Gabaldon doing Claire and Jamie, and I'm sorry it's over. It's always hard to leave their world and come back to ours, even on a day to day basis, never mind at the end of a book. ( )

In the latest in the adventures of Claire and Jamie, we are well into the beginning of the American Revolution while Brianna and Roger are living back in the future with their children. We get to know Jamie's son, Willie, a bit more as his character has a larger role and Ian gets some adventures too. In the present day, Brianna has received a trunk of letters that her mother had written and had stored and delivered after Bree came back forward. The story alternates between what's happening in the past and the present and the letters fill in some gaps in Jamie and Claire's story in between our visits.

We thought this would be the last book in the series but judging from the cliffhanger ending, there's definitely at least one more book. Ms Gabaldon promises that all the threads will be tied up by the end and also promises a happy ending. How we get there, as you will know by now, is not a straight and even road. I can't wait for the next book! ( )

From my review blog Rundpinne:
Reading An Echo In the Bone by Diane Gabaldon reinforced my passion for her Outlander series. I have not read all of them, which made An Echo In the Bone probably more confusing than it needed to be, yet I still thoroughly enjoyed being reacquainted with Jaime and Claire and the ensemble of characters, which make up this brilliant series and traveling with them through the 18th and 20th centuries. Gabaldon appears to continue to write solidly, her characters are fabulous, her imagery of the time periods are very descriptive and her plot keeps the reader enthralled throughout her book, which is no small feat considering An Echo In the Bone comes in at 814 pages. Gabaldon includes everything necessary for an excellent action packed adventure novel, including detailed and historical battle scenes along with the added time travel twist making me want to go back and fill in the gaps where I left off in the series. While her books may be long, they do not take long to read and are not only fantastically fun but also historically interesting. I found myself reading into the wee hours of the morning thoroughly engrossed in the novel. I highly recommend An Echo In the Bone and if like me, one paused in the series, I suggest picking it back up; the hours of enjoyment are worth it. ( )

I absolutely love this series but I do have to agree with those who say it is a bit disjointed. There were minor characters popping in and out and it's been so long between books that it's hard to remember who's who and I wondered what the point was of some scenes. I wish there was a list of characters included in the books to remind us who these minor characters are. There are a couple scenes that are hard to follow. But all in all, I can not wait for the next one! ( )

I have always shied away from reviewing this series of books by Diana Gabaldon as I always felt that my reviewing skills wouldn't really do them justice! They are so jam packed with everything you could want from a book!
The series comes under the heading of Romance but this does not do it justice at all! There are high jinx and adventure at every turn of the page, along with time travel, sadness, happines a bit of medical drama and yes there is romance but there is so much more than that!
An Echo in the Bone is like the other books bursting with adventure, with twists and turns at every turn , and as with the others ends on a cliff hanger (oh goody there will be another one!!)
Once you start reading these books you will be caught up with the story of Claire and Jamie and their large extended family!
Believe me when you read the first in the series you will want to read on, and good luck to you, you will be in for a treat!! ( )

Sigh, this far into the saga of Jamie and Claire, and I am still hooked. I love this whole series and know that I will be heartbroken when it is over. Ms. Gabaldon is a gifted author and has really managed to make these characters come to life. Her many characters are varied and complex. I am hopelessly in love with the entire Fraser family and almost feel as though they are my own.

Thank you for another journey, Diana. ( )

This was disappointing compared to the other Outlander books. I found the British and Colonial War scenes boring and long to slog through and towards the end the plot twists and coincidences were bordering on the ridiculous even for Gabaldon. While she usually leaves something to be continued in the next book -- this one leaves a major plot line completely unresolved -- which might be okay if this were a soap opera and I only had to wait until the next day or week for some resolution -- instead I have to wait until the next book which will likely be Years!

To her credit the historical research is as good as ever as is the description and the new romance for Ian is compelling too. ( )

I love this series -- mostly because I just love Claire and Jamie, and Claire and Jamie together. That chemistry still works in this book - and actually I enjoy following them even more as they grow older together. However, I found this book seemed too long and disjointed. There were a lot of places I just wanted the story to move along better. And then when it did, it hopped all over creation, from North Carolina to Quebec. The flow was missing. I got irritated by the constant coincidences that allowed Gabaldon to bring in famous historical characters, for no good purpose, and by her over-dependence on the time-travel trick. I imagine I'll go ahead and read the next book, but I think it may be time for this series to come to a graceful end. ( )

As much as I loved each of the Outlander books, this one left me with such a cliffhanger I cannot wait to read the next one! The only disappointment I have with this book is it seemed to simply be a transition to the next one. I loved reading more about the characters we have all come to love. ( )

After so many books in the series, I don't really feel like I'm reading, but that I'm following the lives of someone I actually know. I admit that I didn't enjoy the stories of Brianna and Roger, Lord John Grey and William, as much as I enjoy reading about Jamie and Claire. There are so many people and places to follow now that the writing has to jump around and get choppy.

There seem to be too many coincidences in this book....too many people who "just happen" to run into each other when they need each other.

What I hated the most about this book was the constant reminding that Jamie is getting old and that he is going to die soon. ( )

The only thing I didn't care for in this book was the Very abrupt ending; more so than usual. Moving in time back and forth in 1776, 1778, and 1980. I really liked the way people like Ben Franklin, Benedict Arnold and other well knowns were linked in the story which ranged from the Colony of No. Carolina into Quebec and over to England, Scotland, and France. Her light coverage of the Revolutionary War mixed into her good fiction of time travel was very well done. Another winner for Gabaldon! ( )

I knew it wasn't going to end without questions, but this was frustrating! That of course means, I really enjoyed the book, being so involved that I'm wondering what happens to Roger, Jem, Jamie, Claire, etc.! ( )

I am entirely addicted to Diana Gabaldon's time-traveling Claire Fraser and her entire family and have looked forward to this addition to the series. "An Echo in the Bone" was not disappointing, although quite a long read. My pleasure in these books I am sure is greatly enhanced by enjoying them on Audio. The entire Outlander series has been narrated by the very talented Davina Porter. ( )

Further adventures of Clare, Jamie, and the rest of the Frazer family. I absolutely love this series, and can hardly wait for Diana to write another one. ( )

At the time that I write this review, An Echo in the Bone is the most recently published volume in the adventures of Jamie and Claire, Diana Gabaldon's creations that have spawned an epic series of novels, the popularity of which is based solely on the devoted love between these two souls, no matter the difference of time and culture. Fans of the series must be delighted to have another installment and indeed, I read the whole of this book with a warm enough feeling simply because I enjoy the characters, no matter much for what they're up to. That said, as far as storyline and execution are concerned, An Echo in the Bone is probably my least favorite installment to date. While I found a few particular plot points to be quite delightful and in keeping with Gabaldon's sense of comedy and drama, mostly I thought that some spark was missing and things were a bit rushed, resulting in an inability to linger and enjoy people and places.

First, a plot summary. It's 1776 and the American Revolution is under way (finally, right?) -- but Jamie Fraser has decided to return to Scotland and retrieve his printing press so he might have the use of it in his fight against the English. He's not getting any younger and while he's clearly still capable of fighting on the battlefield, he believes he might do more damage with the written word. Claire, naturally, intends to accompany him, as she could never be dislodged from his side for long... particularly now that Brianna and Roger have taken their children and gone through a stone circle to the modern time. Without their daughter and her family to keep them at Frasers Ridge, Jamie and Claire feel they can make the trip out to Scotland and back, finally fulfilling a promise to bring Ian back to his parents after years of separation (which all started with his being kidnapped at the age of fifteen). Of course, no one should be surprised that this plan doesn't go smoothly -- after Ian and Jamie are nearly pressed into service on an English ship shortly after leaving America, they have to return to the rebelling colonies and eventually end up at Fort Ticonderoga where Jamie and Ian have to fulfill a short contract of service in the Continental army. They live to see the fort fall into the hands of the British and eventually they make it to Scotland and back, but not without considerable drama along the way.

Elsewhere in the eighteenth century, William Ransom (aka the Duke of Ellesmere, aka Jamie's secret biological son and Lord John's adoptive son) has taken a commission in the British army and is doing a bit of intelligence work... which mostly seems to result in getting robbed or losing documents... and then losing his way and nearly dying. Unsurprisingly, this intelligence-collecting and eagerness to see battle eventually leads to his path crossing with that of his unknown father (to whom he bears a very striking resemblance). Part of Jamie's reason for wanting to be in Scotland was so that he might avoid meeting his son on the battlefield... which we all know is going to happen sooner or later, no matter what he does. William's presence at least means that we get to see a great deal of Lord John Grey, who is trying to do a bit of intelligence work himself, though mostly of the informal variety. Via letters, William also seems intent on convincing his father that he's in love with his cousin, Dottie, but John's a bit suspicious on this count and he wonders what these kids are hiding. Before returning to the colonies to locate his injured nephew (William's cousin and Dottie's injured brother) and supposedly deliver Dottie into the arms of her betrothed, William, John pops over to Europe to do some work and even there, he can't seem to escape Jamie Fraser, whose name pops up more than once. (It does make one wonder how the fellow isn't more prominently featured in the history books if he winds up having a finger in every pie.) As far as the rest of the Fraser family is concerned, Fergus is potentially being tracked by an English/French fellow going by the name of Beauchamp (and Claire is curious if she's found an ancestor of her own) who might have information about his parentage (remember that Fergus was born and raised in a brothel in Paris). Ian Murray (and perhaps William, too) has fallen for a Quaker girl named Rachel, whose religion forbids violence and therefore probably wouldn't look kindly on a potential union with a Catholic turned Mohawk warrior. Meanwhile, we also have the "modern" time to deal with -- Roger and Brianna went back to the modern world so that they might save the life of their daughter, Amanda, who required an operation that Claire could never have managed in eighteenth century conditions. They spent a year in Boston for Amanda's surgery/recovery and then moved back to Scotland, purchasing Jamie's ancestral home of Lallybroch. At the end of the last novel, the two discovered an old case that was preserved in Roger's uncle's effects... which has instructions that it should only be passed down and opened by a Jeremiah MacKenzie, aka little Jemmy. It turns out to be letters from Claire and Jamie, which Brianna and Roger decide to open very slowly rather than devour all at once... because once they've finished reading them, then the idea of her parents being dead and gone will be too real. Their own lives are starting to gain traction: Brianna has just gotten a job, Roger's started teaching classes and is writing a time-traveler guidebook for the kids, and the family is starting to settle in to a nice existence... so you know that it all has to go wrong pretty quickly, right?

Now, normally so much happens within a Gabaldon novel that the reader is quite carried away by events; in An Echo in the Bone, I was surprised that things didn't seem to move with the same amount of speed, save for choice incidents that then felt incredibly awkward and rushed before being cut off. Action would occur in a burst of speed, often requiring me to re-read a passage as I was left with the impression that something had been left out. And indeed, Gabaldon did leave quite a lot out, opting to cut off an action sequence somewhere in the middle and then skip ahead, leaving us to infer the results of the action or have the holes filled in slowly by off-hand details later on. I found myself feeling annoyed several times as a result of this and I wonder if someone wasn't begging her to pick up the pace and stop explaining things... but if so, she went too far and really should have taken a bit more time. Perhaps this is a result of the incredibly fractured nature of this novel... we're dealing with a very large cast of characters, spread across time and space, so we have to keep jumping around... though it didn't feel like this was happening more in this book as opposed to others... just that it didn't seem as fluid. It's also possible that Gabaldon felt that similar scenes had been depicted previously in her novels and so why risk repeating herself? Just the same, I would have preferred more detail to bridge the gap between near-action and results of action... otherwise, we just feel like we're being hurried along.

I'm also not terribly sure that I like the most recent coupling to take place -- aka Ian and Rachel. All the Quaker "thee"s and "thou"s irritate me a little, though I don't mind Rachel and her brother, Denzell, as characters... I just don't quite feel like Ian and Rachel's relationship is founded on much beside attraction. It all happened too fast... first Rachel liked William and then all of a sudden it's Ian or nothing? Other relationships in this novel at least have time to simmer and develop... or they aren't quite so prominent that one can assume the development has taken place in the background. There seemed to be more interaction between Rachel and William for goodness' sake that might form the basis of a more substantial connection. Of course, I'm glad that Rachel opts for Ian over William. William has a long way to go before he can properly hold a reader's attention on his own merit. Clearly he's being groomed for more direct focus and this is his first real chance, but even if he looks like his dad, he's no Jamie Fraser.

As for the modern time, I'm a bit annoyed. For most of the book, I found this storyline to be rather pleasant if not terribly action-filled... and then all of a sudden, Gabaldon decides to just go crazy with complication. You could see her laying the foundation all along, but it seemed to just become a big dramatic thing all of a sudden. Not only does she come up with a real whack-job to suggest that the modern time is just as dangerous as the eighteenth century, but she brings an eighteenth century character through the stones into modern time (which you knew had to happen sooner or later). That doesn't bother me so much as the fact that, for this honor, she selected a character that I haven't liked from the get-go... namely, Roger's multiple-great-grandfather that was responsible for nearly getting him killed. I suppose I just don't find the modern story as compelling as the eighteenth century one... or maybe I just didn't appreciate the build up to sudden suspense and drama that we leave hanging to be dealt with in book eight. There's also hints that another of Frank's ancestors is running around the colonies, too -- namely, the child misattributed to Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall on Frank's family tree, but who's really the son of his brother... all grown up and potentially placed here specifically to mess with Jamie's son, William.

All that said, I still enjoyed the novel. You might think this sounds crazy, but I'm too far in to the series now to have any other real reaction... unless of course things were to go terribly, terribly wrong. (And by terribly, terribly wrong, I mean like Gabaldon separates Jamie and Claire for the duration of the novel, kills Lord John and Rollo, gives most of the narrative control to William, and only writes chaste Ian/Rachel "sex" scenes where they kiss and Rachel whispers, "I love thee" while we fade to black.) As long as Jamie and Claire are there (and together), I'm pretty good. And Lord John. I have a fondness for that particularly complicated character, so his substantial presence here was nice. Clearly, Gabaldon was trying to mix things up a bit, worried that there would be too much repetition if all we did was stay in America. She's certainly right to try and avoid that, but it seems like there just wasn't a really great idea to seize upon -- until the end, that is. My favorite twist of the novel happens quite towards the end (definite spoiler alert) -- when Claire believes that Jamie is dead (she seemed a bit too accepting of this, though) and Lord John learns that Claire might be arrested as a spy... so John insists on marrying her so that he can protect both Claire and her family, a final thing that he can do for his departed love, Jamie. The first bit is annoying, but the second bit is great. Even if Gabaldon had tried to lure us into the idea that Jamie really was dead, we wouldn't have bought it (which begs the question, why does Claire?), so I was pleased she openly let us in on this, even as John and Claire spend a night comforting each other. It was some of the best character interaction in the book -- and certainly suggests that Gabaldon has been spending a lot of time developing Lord John in her series of mysteries that focus on him. The Claire-Jamie-John triangle is pretty fascinating and I'm glad that this means we'll have the opportunity to play with it a bit, given that now Lord John has had carnal knowledge of Jamie Fraser's wife yet not of Jamie Fraser, the man he's loved for years. You could see the John-Claire marriage coming from a mile away as soon as Claire thinks Jamie might be dead, but it's still fun... and the fun gets overshadowed with William's realization as to who Jamie is in relation to him and giant hissy fit, but ah well.

Despite what I saw as a bit of a decline in the storyline quality, if the eighth book were available, I'd have already started reading it before I even started writing this review. I'll content myself with devouring the three short Lord John novels and then scour the internet for any clue about book eight and its potential release. ( )