Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, Book 2)
by Diana Gabaldon
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Book Reviews of Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, Book 2)
Book Review: Keeps getting better
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm utterly enthralled with the story of Jamie and Claire! Their story just keeps getting better and better with each book.
Although longer than Outlander, I didn't find Dragonfly boring, even the historical parts. I've never been a real big fan of the 18th Century but I find myself totally immersed in the time period thanks to Gabaldon's series. As I said in my last review, I love the characters she's created and have laughed, cried, sighed, and fumed throughout her books. I especially cried during this one, at the beginning and toward the end.
What I find especially fascinating is how she totally brings the past to life. I feel as if I KNOW such real life personages as King Louis the XV, Lord Lovat, and Bonnie Prince Charlie. After reading each book I Google some of the places mentioned in her books, from Inverness to Culloden. I've always LOVED history, and feel that she makes that time period extremely interesting by how she tells the story of the Jacobite uprising. Any lover of history should delve into these books. I admire the research that must have went into them to bring them to life.
I've started VOYAGER, and so far it is turning out ot be even BETTER than the first two.
Book Review: Romance via violent history. Time-travel fans keep away.
Summary: 3 Stars
I like historical novels and time-travel or alternate history in fiction. My mistake in picking up the first three volumes of this historical romance in one purchase, is not realizing that it is a ravishing romance first and foremost.
I'm not sure why this series got 186 five-star reviews, even given my mistake. While the author is actually quite good at the invention of situations which result in rough or abusive sexual encounters and at revealing to the reader why these encounters appeal to some of those persons involved in them, it is the only depth or quality I found. Though she does include a nice variety of characters and much historical information on the Scottish of that time, I don't think it was well woven into the romantic adventures of the main characters.
The time-travel aspect was not a big factor. I don't know why she even bothered as it does not come into play very much. If you are a historical fiction fan or a time-travel-fantasy fan looking for adventure in your books, I don't think these books will be much more than a two star for you. I'll leave it the the fans of romance to judge this one's quality against others of it's genre.
Book Review: Review by Page from One Book At A Time
Summary: 5 Stars
I was completely floored by Outlander. It was a story like I've never read before. When I picked the book to read as part of a challenge last year, I did not know that it was part of a series. I knew when I was finished that I wanted to read them all. I wish I had sat down and read Dragonfly in Amber in one sitting. Instead I drew it out over a couple months, reading here and there. So, in that sense it's my fault that I sometimes got confused over who was who. Because lets face it, there's a lot of people and even more information presented in this book. But, its wonderful. I feel like I've been taken on a history lesson that is much more personal than any book or teacher could ever have shown me. Claire and Jamie are beginning to work their way into the favorite characters (and couple) category. They invoke a powerful mental picture. I love their relationship and to what grounds they will go to portray (notice I don't use the word prove) their love for one another. The events that happen in this story are also of high emotion and intensity. Diana Gabaldon has written a masterpiece. I can not wait to see were she takes Claire and Jamie next!
Book Review: Hooked on Jamie and Claire
Summary: 5 Stars
Well I just finished this 2nd book in the series and it left me wanting more. I am a historical novel buff and loved this book as well as the first in the series "Outlander". Jamie and Claire have become like family to me and so when I finished this 2nd book I was ready to start the 3rd book, but will wait a month or two before I do that being that I am in other book clubs and need to finish those books before I start the 3rd book. Jamie and Claire still have that love for each other that has started to mature and looks like has settled a little.They seem to have a comfort zone with each other and trust that makes the relationship beautiful. The bad guys came back in this one (Jack Randall) and others and makes you want to keep hating them. They are so real to me and it makes the story more intriguing. The ending has Roger and Brianna (Claire and Jamies daughter) as future characters to look forward to in the coming books in the series and that keeps it fresh.
Looking forward to reading "Voyager" in the coming months for my book club selection in June.
Book Review: Entertaining follow up to Outlander
Summary: 4 Stars
Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in the Outlander series. It's now 1968 and Claire returns to Scotland with her daughter, Brianna. This is Claire's first trip back to Scotland since her and her husband Frank visited 22 years earlier. Frank just passed away and Claire wants to learn what happened to Jamie Fraser, whom she married on her journey into the 18th century. Claire hopes Brianna will believe her story about who her real father is. The majority of the book consists of the second half of Claire and Jamie's adventures in the 18th century. After escaping a death, they flee to Paris, where they secretly work to foiling Bonnie Prince Charlie's plot to regain the Scottish throne.
I was concerned how Gabaldon would retain the Outlander plot in the second book without becoming cheesy. In Dragonfly in Amber Diana Gabaldon was able to preserve the travel between the 1900's and the 1700's without awkward story transitions. I enjoyed the character development in Dragonfly in Amber and I'm looking forward to Voyager, the third book in the series.