Book Review The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

Goodreads Summary: The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser's wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler's certain knowledge. Claire's unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.
Goodreads Rating: 4.26 stars with over 158,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel
Goodreads Challenge: 15/60
2020 Reading Challenge: #21 Read a book that was turned into a movie or tv show (see the full challenge here)
Other Reviews on the Series: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn

Book Review:

I wasn't planning on jumping into The Fiery Cross so soon after Drums of Autumn, but I kept seeing things on Twitter that made me need to read it right away. Which is fitting, because I needed something for the movie/tv show slot. I was surprised to find that a lot of The Fiery Cross was from Roger and Brianna's point of view. Roger really gets the short end of the stick when living with the Frasers. I felt so bad for him when reading his scenes.

This was probably my least favorite of the outlander books I've read so far, but I still enjoyed it. There's a lot of day to day stuff regarding how Fraser Ridge function, which I found interesting but not terribly exciting. I think it really picked up for me about halfway through the book. During Jocasta and Duncan's wedding, there's a murder, and I feel like it kind of brushed over. When it first happens, Claire and Jamie are trying to find out what happened, but then I feel like it just gets forgotten when something happens to Jocasta and Duncan. Towards the end of the book, it eventually reveals who the murderer was, but it kind of felt like a neglectful way to tie it up. 

In true Diana Gabaldon fashion, characters never really go away as long as they're alive. There's a lot of mention of Ian in this book, and I got a little spoiled by Twitter because of Season 5 going on right now. I figured with how often the characters mentioned it in the book that he'd probably make an appearance in some fashion. Raymond also gets mentioned, which would be odd and interesting if he made an appearance in book 6. There's a lot about time travel at the end that has my interest sufficiently peaked for book 6. However, I am going to show some restraint and try to catch up on other books since I'm 4 books behind. 

A lot of The Fiery Cross is trying to find Stephen Bonnet. If you don't want spoilers, just skip ahead. Because I can't let this part not be discussed thoroughly. So, in TFC, Jamie is hell-bent on avenging Brianna and killing Bonnet.  On the one hand, I'm for this because he is vile. On the other hand, what ends up happening is so much better.

Roger and Jamie's plans get foiled, and a trap is set for them. Bonnet finds the women-folk alone while they're picking berries or some homesteading activity. The whole scene is a huge Girl-Power moment that had me damn near, shouting for joy for our Fraser ladies. Pregnant Marsali (Seriously, again? Rabbits) tries to get a shot off on Bonnet while Claire is trying to protect Jemmy. Our sharpshooting champion, Brianna, comes in with a gun of her own. Instead of killing him, there is a decent chance that she shoots him in the balls. Gods do I hope that's what happened. I say hope because it's not entirely clear. I assume it will be discussed more in a later book.

The next book should be getting more into Revolutionary history, which I can't wait for. I am such a history nerd. Which I think is why I like this series so much. It covers so much history, and it feels realistic. It doesn't skip over the bad parts or try to glamorize it. I will never claim to be an expert, but it feels well researched.  Now I need to figure out what to read next. I've gone a little crazy with books lately, so I have a lot of choices.