Drat. Finished re-reading Drums of Autumn almost a whole week before the next Diana Gabaldon book is going to arrive. Let’s see, ships on Tuesday, at least a couple of days in transit, but even if it got here before Friday I couldn’t read it, because I have this minor matter of a bar exam to take then (the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam; much shorter than the actual bar, but still have to pass it to practice). Hmph.
Oh well. I should have realized that since I’ve re-read Drums the most recently of the Outlander series, it would go faster even though I’ve been insanely busy. It’s hard to speak of “favorites” in a series that’s an ongoing story (easier where the books are separate stories about the same people, like Bujold’s fabulous Vorkosigan books), but I think you can say which are better done, at least. Drums, like the prior book, Voyager, does reasonably well at not having cliffhangers—unlike the prior two, which is why, while I’m twitching over the release of The Fiery Cross, I managed to restrain myself enough to go for the deep discount at Amazon rather than the instant gratification of walking into the local chain (besides which, I don’t like the local chain, and don’t trust them to get it on the shelves on time. I miss having a Borders nearby.). The books still aren’t self-contained in any meaningful sense, but I find them more satisfying to read when the story is rounded-off, I suppose, coming around to the beginning but leaving the characters at a natural break in their relationships. Also, the minor verbal tics that bothered me in Outlander have gone away, and the varied narrative voices are done quite well. (And did I mention that I really like John Grey?)
Anyway, I will just have to troll Gabaldon’s website looking for excerpts I might have somehow missed to tide me over until the new book arrives . . .