Katrina Passick Lumsden's Reviews > Dragonfly in Amber

OK, so admittedly, it took me a really long time to finish this book, and yes, I have some problems with it.

While it started off great (mostly, I think, due to the fact that I was still coming down off the high caused by the first book), the story quickly devolved into a mess of boring details and gut-wrenching melodrama. I first became stuck somewhere around 70%, I believe. The story was just dragging. I managed, with far more time than is usually necessary for me, to make it to the 83% mark before giving up. For months. I simply didn't have it in me to read any more. I knew what was coming, so not only did I not want to get to that part that I knew would make my stomach hurt, I also couldn't get past those ridiculously sleepy, dragged out battle details. Over and over again with the battles and the tending to the sick and the moving with the army.

Yesterday, however, I got an itch to read the first one again. I did so in a few hours (admittedly, I skimmed some, as this is not a book that can be read in its entirety in a few hours). After having done so, I was overwhelmed by the desire to finish this one. So I did. The ending of the book was much better than the rest of it. After all that snooze worthy political intrigue, it was nice to finally get to some climactic scenes. I wasn't disappointed, and even found myself unable to tear my focus away until I knew what happened (even though I knew it was going to be a bit heartbreaking).

I can't really describe what it is about these books that makes them so wonderful. If you're in any way a competent reader, you should be able to recognize and appreciate the time, effort, and care Diana Gabaldon put into crafting these stories. The character development is phenomenal. Claire and Jamie have a romance that feels absolutely real. That was what caught me again about the first book; after reading so many mediocre sexual fantasies disguised as romance fiction over the last year, it's truly amazing to read stories like these and be able to fully comprehend the meaning of the phrase "epic romance".

I'm really talking this up while only giving it three stars. Weird, I know. But the thing is, the book would have been perfect...had it just been edited down some. Gabaldon is a true wordsmith, but I fear her talent for words resulted in this book being rather too full of them. You wouldn't think such a thing was possible, but I assure you, it is. It's not that the book is too long, I love long stories. It's that the book is too long simply due to the endless political machinations and battle descriptions. I felt some of this could have been sped along without compromising the historical integrity of the work.

That being said, I'm glad I read it. I'm onto the third now, and really looking forward to more adventure.