Post by DarcyLongfellow on Jul 10, 2014 13:53:29 GMT -5
I wish I'd had the nerve to click on this thread earlier! I saw that secretlyevil posted a spoiler thread the DAY after the book was released, and I thought -- wow, I can't believe she's already read enough to have spoilers! But I didn't have time to start the book for a few weeks, so I didn't open this thread until now!
I'm thinking of starting another thread for (real :-) ) spoilers about the book. It's not like this board is so busy that it couldn't handle another thread!
As to the ghost at the beginning of Outlander -- I have spent some time on the Outlander board on CompuServe where Diana Gabaldon posts. The people there are absolute rabid fans -- if you say anything remotely negative about the books, you're pounced on, and Diana herself might come in to tell you why you are WRONG. But, nonetheless, it's an interesting place. And I do remember reading some posts about the ghost. Like someone said above, it was Jamie watching Claire, but that's all we know. Personally, I think it's Jamie's ghost, not actually Jamie. He doesn't have the time traveling gene, and it's rare (although apparently not impossible) to travel forward from your own lifeline. But I do want to know what's going on in that scene!
I firmly believe that Diana Gabaldon will NEVER be done writing these books. I feel like she said somewhere that she thought Jamie and Claire's story would take them at least through the end of the Revolution. And the latest books seem to cover very short timespans. I just think she will never be done telling the story, and that when she dies sometime far in the future as a very old lady, the (what will become by default) last book will remain unfinished!!
I didn't realize until the very end that this was the last book. I liked the way it ultimately resolved, but it was about 600 pages too long, IMO. As I mentioned above, I thought there were too many characters and story lines, and way too much about the one battle. It felt like the first half of the book was all worrying about the battle, preparing for it, describing it from everyone's point of view. I was kind of bored. There wasn't nearly enough Bree and Roger, and it felt rushed. Overall, I'm giving this one three stars.
As an aside, very early in the first book, before Claire travels for the first time, Frank describes a big man in Highland dress staring up at Claire's window. It's windy out, but his clothes don't blow around. He walks away when Frank talks to him, and seemingly disappears. What the fuck was that about?!? I kept expecting Jamie to end up in the future pining for Claire, who doesn't even know he exists yet. But that never happened. It's never explained. Did Diana forget about that plot line?
It did speak of the scene outside the window briefly. I am not sure which book, but Jamie was explaining a dream that he had about Claire. He said he was standing in the street looking up at her through the window in the rain. He said that she was so engrossed that she never looked up as she does when she is deep in thought. I think that is Diana's way of precluding to Jamie's dreams that allow him to see Brianna and family when they travel back to the future.