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Lassies of Lallybroch part 2.....SPOILERS

999 replies

Drywhitethanks · 21/09/2016 21:22

Because we can't wait until next year for season 3. Highbrow discussion of Jamie's knees, hair and anything else Outlander

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Dunlurking · 13/10/2017 10:38

I've just finished book 4 and it ends fairly neatly. (I hope that doesn't count as a spoiler).No cliffhangers that I could see (unless I blinked). So my question is - do I stop reading through the books now and wait for the series to catch-up? Or is there a really good book still to come that makes it worth imperative to read on?

Lessstressedhemum · 13/10/2017 10:42

But, the whole premis of the book is that she doesn't do what she is told. She id a strong C20th woman and won't be ordered about by any man, even one who has an intimate knowledge of the time and situation which she could never have. 9 times out of 10, it's her big mouth and bloody-mindedness that causes the problems. You'd think that she would learn, but no.

Lonely, I am inclined to think that it is a happy coincidence. Were I one of those women who think that DG is the greatest writer of the modern age, perhaps I would think otherwise, but I'm not. In saying that, I quite like the whole Loa episode. It brings to light the huge differences between the slaves and their masters and shows them reasserting their identity as a people. Using Margaret to do it is, I feel, quite ironic, seeing as she is also a victim of their oppressors.

Lessstressedhemum · 13/10/2017 10:44

Book 4 was supposed to be the last one in the series, before she realized how much money she could make. Oh sorry, how much she loved her characters.

AKAmyself · 13/10/2017 11:55

I genuinely loved the older books. DGs writing is so much better except for anything involving Brianna the plot less far fetched except for all the time travel and I like older Claire a lot more.

The low point of the series for me is basically the second half of voyager

AKAmyself · 13/10/2017 12:00

We seem to be unique in our wtfery about voyager Grin

www.reddit.com/r/Outlander/comments/75tsug/spoilers_all_what_scene_are_you_most_looking/

Lessstressedhemum · 13/10/2017 12:37

I really like Voyager, especially Jamie's story. His character grows so much and his experiences make him the man he becomes. I think he grows to greatness, even if it is somewhat reluctantly. TBH, some of the stuff I find most farfetched is in the later books, for example, after they are arrested for murder and she ends up as amanuensis for the governor - so many coincidencesSmile Although, as I've said before, all the jumping off ships tied to crates etc. is a bit stupid.

In saying that, I like the later books because they show a mature couple who have been married for a long time who are still very much in love and lust with one another. Still can't stand Brianna, though.

SenecaFalls · 13/10/2017 13:41

The old love aspect of the later books is a large part of their appeal to me as well.

Also (mild spoilers here), for me personally, the life journey that Jamie and Claire take (minus the time travel) is, in part, similar to the one that my many times great-grandfather and grand-mother made during the same time period; from the Highlands of Scotland to North Carolina. And then DG has them spending time in other places I have either lived in or know well: Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah (I grew up in coastal Georgia.) They even manage to touch base for a while in the part of New York State that DH is from.

AKAmyself · 13/10/2017 13:45

I also love everything that happens on Fraser ridge

quirkychick · 13/10/2017 14:06

Dunlurking I binge read them over the summer and am just re-reading Voyager, as I felt I had got so far ahead in the story. If you're happy to stop at Book 4, then you will be up with the show iyswim.

I like the older love aspects of their relationship as well, and that they both find their place/home in Fraser's Ridge, though not without its ups and downs of course.

GreatWhites · 13/10/2017 14:28

The Fraser's Ridge stuff is all great. I really enjoyed most of books 4, 5 and 6.

Downloaded An Echo in a Bone (number 7) and skipped most of it as it focused on William and Brianna and was frankly a bit shit.

AKAmyself · 13/10/2017 14:59

Fab review of last week's episode:

popwrapped.com/that-i-may-be-worthy-a-reflection-on-outlander-03x05-freedom-and-whisky

Dunlurking · 13/10/2017 17:57

Lessstressed thanks for saying book 4 was the original end. It makes sense. But does that mean all the rest following on have cliffhangers? I'm glad to hear there's the "older relationship" between Claire and Jamie to look forward to, and that you recommend 5&6 "GreatWhites". "quirkychick" that was what I was thinking but I'm feeling a bit bereft now, especially with no Monday to look forward to. Think i may succumb.

Dunlurking · 13/10/2017 17:58

Brain failure moment - exchanged *s for "s in my last post Blush

Lessstressedhemum · 13/10/2017 18:45

There are some cliff-hangery goings on, lurking, yes.

Seneca, how cool! You have Neen all the places. Do you think Scottish people come to the States to do Outlander tours the way Americans come here?

SenecaFalls · 13/10/2017 19:28

Do you think Scottish people come to the States to do Outlander tours the way Americans come here?

Not that I'm aware of. Perhaps North Carolina tourism authorities should be on the lookout for opportunities. Smile Of course, one of the largest highland gatherings in the world is held at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. I think it may have given DH the idea for the gathering in Drums of Autumn. And all over coastal North Carolina there are still strong Scottish associations and place names, including a Scotland County.

I belong to a Scottish-American society in my city, and there are a few actual Scots (as opposed to the rest of us who are American descendants of Scots.) Everyone is interested in Outlander.

As I said, it has been a few years since I read the earlier books, and I have forgotten a lot, but one of the things I do remember is that DG got a lot right about the Scottish settlers in NC.

One thing though that the books (as I recall) and the series gloss over though is that Culloden was not the Scots and the English fighting; it was the Jacobites and the government. Most of the highland Scots who settled in North Carolina were Presbyterian so very likely not Jacobites, who were for the most part Catholic and Episcopalian. And a little known fact about American history is that quite a few of those Presbyterian settlers were loyalists, or at least neutral, in the American Revolution. Their allegiance to the British government continued to the new world.

SenecaFalls · 13/10/2017 19:34

Just found this.

www.themastfarminn.com/frasers-ridge-2016/

DryWhiteagainW · 13/10/2017 20:59

Just caught up. Interesting stuff.

I like the Bonnet actor......always pictured him with a rugby player, broken nose for some reason.
Jocasta I never warmed to as a character...too controlling. Pictured her as older.
Margaret ? Chicken heads? Think I skimmed books too much, think I may re read.
I really loved the later books too. The extended cast of characters who you become so attached to. I expected to love the Paris part in DIA, hated it. I expected to hate J and C in America anywhere but Scotland but really loved Fraser Ridge.
I adore the older Fergus....was watching his interviews on YouTube last night. Think he'll npbe great.
You D Ian looks perfect too. The casting, for me so far has been excellent.
Interesting reading all of the costume dept tweets.......they care so much about detail and authenticity.
Outlander is so special in that people really, really invest in it. I wonder whether the stars really do love it or do they find the fans a bit overwhelming?

Lessstressedhemum · 13/10/2017 21:25

Seneca, I think that aspect of the Rising is glossed over in a lot of stuff, even in schools etc. Most Lowland Scots sided with the government, traditionally they didn't like for want of a better phrase) Highlanders who were, in the main, still Roman Catholic and spoke Gaelic which made Lowlanders look down on them as stupid and unncultured. Some Presbyterians sided with James and Charles but not many. And they took that with them when they left Scotland. Sectarianism was alive and well.

I think DG tries to introduce that idea when Jamie takes in a load of Presbyterians, but the ill will and divisions don't get much attention as it's not central to the stories.

I think that the Carolinas should be looking for ways to exploit the Outlander connection. \Look what it's doing for Scottish tourism.

SenecaFalls · 13/10/2017 22:03

Many of the early settlers in North Carolina, including my ancestors, were from Argyll, and were tenants or crofters of tenants of various Presbyterian Campbells. Most of them didn't stray too far from the coastal areas where they landed, but some did go to the mountains.

The mountains of North Carolina, by the way, are among the most beautiful and pristine scenery of anywhere in the US. From DG's NC geography, it seems that Fraser's Ridge is near Blowing Rock. That is a spectacularly beautiful part of the country. Y'all need to come.

Lessstressedhemum · 13/10/2017 22:15

OOh, depending on the Area, that might not be too far from me or too far from Duncan Innes's home town of Ardrossan. Unless you mean the Oban part of Argyll or the Isles. None of it is very far from the sea, so I would imagine that settlers would feel more at home on the coast.

Interestingly, DG has Jamie's Presbyterian refugees as fisher folk who are pretty hopeless and overwhelmed in the mountains.

I have seen pictures of the NC mountains. They are beautiful.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 14/10/2017 12:11

Despite the fact that the entire series hinges on Claire travelling back in time, the woo bits are the bits I like least in the series .
That's why I like Series 1 so much , as there wasn't really much if any woo apart from the time travel.

Series 2 had Monsieur Raymond and his cosmic healing and magic pendants. Boo.

And from what i have read about the later books, there are characters zipping all over the place timewise and far too much magic for my liking.

GreatWhites · 14/10/2017 12:26

2 and 3 are really the worst for the woo woo magic. 4, 5 and 6 settle down.

The screenwriter do a great job of tapering off the nonsense.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 14/10/2017 12:41

I agree that the screenwriters have really got the best out of the books and dumped the rubbish stuff. I have a vague recollection of the Murtagh and Claire travelling vaudeville show going on for about 8 chapters...
I mean, it's fun n all but....

quirkychick · 14/10/2017 13:53

I think the issue with the time travelling, for me, is that in Book 1, I happily accept it. I have read enough fantasy/Sci fi stuff with portals, parallel universes etc. I do get a bit fed up with the trying to explain in the later books as if there is some kind of science behind it. I'm quite happy to accept it as a plot device, but find it doesn't hold up to too much scrutiny Grin.

I think it also highlights the difference between Frank and Jamie. After Cranesmuir, Jamie accepts/believes what Claire says and tries to return her through the stones. When Claire returns to Frank, he certainly (initially) doesn't believe her and males her promise to forget and never talk about it.

quirkychick · 14/10/2017 13:54

*makes (Freudian slip Smile)

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