There are plenty of little moments in the last four books that I would hate to have missed, but I am kind of left thinking I'd really have preferred the series to have ended on a strong note instead of this rambling progression that doesn't seem to have an end in sight. Lots happens, but I keep waiting for the real arc of the book to reveal itself. Fun to read, but certainly not as gripping or as rewarding a read as the earlier books. The last couple of books in the Outlander series have seemed more unfocused to me, and this one is no exception. Unbalanced scenes with some being entirely too drawn out and tedious, and others too quick, too short, too unprecedented and not firmly enough tethered to the main plot (if there even was a main plot). Character development - and there are so many characters - slow. Plot twists long and meandering, even unnecessary. Her daughter Brianna is trying to protect her son from a vicious criminal with murder on his mind, while her husband Roger has disappeared into the past. Lord John's son, the ninth Earl of Ellesmere, is no less shocked to discover that his real father is actually the newly resurrected Jamie Fraser, and Jamie's nephew Ian Murray discovers that his new-found cousin has an eye for the woman who has just agreed to marry him.Īnd while Claire is terrified that one of her husbands may be about to murder the other, in the 20th century her descendants face even more desperate turns of events. But for Claire Fraser and her family, there are even more tumultuous revolutions that have to be accommodated.Her former husband, Jamie, has returned from the dead, demanding to know why in his absence she married his best friend, Lord John Grey.

The British Army is withdrawing from Philadelphia, with George Washington in pursuit, and for the first time, it looks as if the rebels might actually win. It is June 1778, and the world seems to be turning upside-down.

Written in my own heart's blood