Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, Bk 7)

An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, Bk 7)
annapi avatar reviewed on + 334 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7


Gabaldon continues to expand the length and breadth of her world in this seventh volume of her series, and has no trouble juggling the various story lines to produce a coherent whole that is a delight to explore. Moving back and forth between Jamie and Claire in the 18th century to Roger and Bree in the 20th, she keeps both major and minor story lines moving at a brisk pace. Although the reader may find slight difficulty remembering minor characters when she brings them back (due to the enormity of her work and the plethora of such characters), she does a good job of reminding the reader of their place on her world's stage. It is 1776, and Jamie and Claire are trying to get to Scotland to bring his nephew Ian back to his parents at last after their home on the Ridge burns down, but are caught in the beginnings of the Revolutionary War. Lord John Grey's adopted son William also finds himself in the thick of the war and despite Jamie's determination to avoid conflict in battle with his unknowing offspring who is his spitting image, the author of course manages to cleverly throw them together in tantalizing moments of near recognition. Roger and Bree have settled at Lallybroch after dealing with their daughter Amanda's heart problem, and struggle to find their place back in the modern world. If you haven't yet acquainted yourself with Gabaldon's epic series, no small review can do justice to the scope of her work - READ IT. It kept me up till 2:20 am, terrified she would leave three major cliffhangers, but sighing with relief at the end as she contented herself with only one. Now I find myself in the familiar dismay I feel at the end of every one of her books, realizing I have at least a year, if not more, to wait before I can find out what happens next.