Title: Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction, historical fiction, fantasy
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 1997
Format: Paperback/audiobook
Length: 1070 pages, 45 hours

Rating:

The Outlander book series has become one of my favourites. I’m exceptionally late to the game, with Drums of Autumn having been originally released in 1997, but because of the time-travelling nature of the books, I never find that I feel like I’m reading something out of date.

This installment had all the same heart as the previous books, though it included a significant shift in direction by adding major storylines for Roger and Brianna. I felt like this change in the narrative made the book feel a bit longer than the previous instalments, but overall, there was still so much to love that I didn’t mind the slower pace. I cried on at least three separate occasions while reading it, so I think my emotional investment was clear.

These books are beasts, coming in at over 1000 pages in paperback format, so for Drums of Autumn, I switched to the audiobook halfway through and it was the best decision I could have made. The narrator was fantastic, I was able to speed up the pace to 1.5 times, and I still felt just as invested in the stories as ever.

It’s difficult to do justice in reviewing a book with so many parts and elements so it feels a bit like my review for this one is kind meandering, but suffice it to say that the Outlander story is near and dear to my heart. I’ll be picking up The Fiery Cross just as soon as the audiobook becomes available from my library as I’m super eager to learn how Claire, Jaime, Roger and Brianna fair in this next evolution of the story.

Fair warning: spoilers ahead for anyone who has not read this book or the other books in this series.

The Book: Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

Drums of Autumn picks up from a Dragonfly in Amber with Claire and Jaime settling nicely into their new home in the new world. They’ve worked to build a small community and a farmstead on their new land with their usual cast of characters, including both Ian and Fergus. Where the other books in the Outlander series have focused quite explicitly on Claire and Jaime, Drums of Autumn shifts the story to also focus on the characters that they’ve left behind: Brianna and Roger.

When Claire left Brianna behind in what was her present day, she assumed she was saying goodbye forever. She’d stuck around to raise her until Brianna was a self-sufficient adult, but she could no longer ignore her heart’s desire once she learned that Jaime was alive, and so, with Brianna’s blessing, she headed back through the standing stones to reunite with her love.

It seemed initially that Brianna had settled for saying goodbye as well, but as time went on, Brianna became determined to discover whether or not her mother had found her father. She wished to understand more about what transpired after she returned to the colonies, and so, she and Roger embarked upon a fact-finding mission to attempt to learn whether or not Claire arrived safely with Jaime and what their life may have looked like.

Roger is the first to find a news clipping about Claire and Jaime and is devastated to learn that mere years after their reunion, they both perished in a fire at their newly built farmstead. Roger feared that if Brianna learned of this news, she might be inclined to follow her mother’s journey through the stones and find her parents. Because of this concern, he hides the information and decides not to share it with Brianna to keep her safe.

Unfortunately for Roger, Brianna was searching for herself independently of him and came across the article on her own. Before he can stop her, she plans a trip through the stones to find and warn her parents, sending him a box of her things to keep safe until she returns. As soon as Roger receives the box, he knows what she’s done and immediately embarks on his own mission to travel through the stones to find her.

The story of Brianna attempting to find her parents and Roger attempting to find Brianna all unfolds simultaneously with Claire and Jaime’s lives in the colonies where they’ve settled. In time, they’ll all have to decide what is safest for not just Claire and Jaime, but also what is safest for Brianna and Roger. What was supposed to be a straightforward journey to stave off a potential demise quickly evolves into an epic quest that has catastrophic consequences for everyone involved.

The Review

Drums of Autumn went in such a different direction from the other books in this series, it felt like a whole epic on its own. There were so many parts and elements that they’re all almost self-contained stories, so how I felt about the book evolved in waves.

In terms of the characters, I still adore Jaime and Claire. I was always excited to see a chapter from their perspectives, even when it was just them living normal, average lives. By now, Gabaldon has perfected both their characters and the relationship dynamics between them, so any scene with them was enjoyable for me.

I’m still conflicted about both Roger and Brianna. Roger tends to be traditionalist and I hated the way that he dealt with Brianna’s pregnancy and the situation she was in. Before that, I’d found him mostly endearing though occasionally overbearing, but after I found it hard to reconcile his actions with his previous character. We’ll see how his character continues before I pass the final judgment.

Brianna, on the other hand, has always been annoying to me. She seems younger than she has a right to be most of the time, and I think her temper is supposed to mirror Jaime’s, but I never find that her intentions are as reasonable as his, even at his most hot-headed. We’ll see how she develops as well but thus far, she’s far from my favourite character.

In terms of plot, this book was a beast. I find that in books this long, I start to lose steam after a while, especially with a plot that was as slow as this one was, so switching to the audiobook was critical for me. Once I did, and had the opportunity to speed up the pace of the narration, I fell in love with the book all over. I think for future Outlander books, this will now be my go-to method of consumption.

As a whole, I found this installment to be really enjoyable. The pacing was slow, but I’m so invested in the characters at this point that even in a meandering plot, I loved seeing everything unfold and getting to feel empathy for their circumstances. I also laughed and cried throughout the plot, which is always a hallmark of a good book to me.

I will say, I can see why this series wouldn’t be for everyone. It’s an extremely dense plot that’s fairly slow and I’ve found each subsequent book no less meaty than the last. Gabaldon has crafted some of my favourite characters and relationships of any series I’ve ever read, so I’ll stick this one out to the end, but I can see how the sheer length and scope of the series could be intimidating and/or not someone else’s thing.

For me though, this was still a 4-star read. I can’t wait to listen to the next one’s audiobook as soon as it is available at my library.