Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

I finished Dragonfly in Amber on Tuesday. I was sad it was over and debated for a while if I should read another book before I moved on to the third in the series. I briefly looked online to see if there was anything else I was interested in. Then I remembered that I had the third book; it was on my bookshelf at home. Five minutes later I was curled on the couch already immersed in the first chapter.

After reading that I assume you have guessed that I loved the book. Dragonfly in Amber switched between Jamie and Clair during the time leading up to the battle at Culloden, and Clair in present time Scotland with her daughter. The magority of the book takes place in 1744 -45 as Claire tells her daughter about her time in the past.  In the first chapter you are introduced to older Claire (around her late 40's I assume) and her daughter. Seeing them there you know two things right away. 1. Claire went back to her present day and 2. Brianna has bright red hair so must be Jamie's daughter. When I first read this I was full of questions. Why did Clair go back in the stones? What happened to Jamie? Why doesn't Brianna know who her father is?  My biggest concern was what happened to Jamie, cause I was sure that Claire would not leave him in the past. And it is that question that propels the reader through the book. There were a few boring moments while Jamie and Claire travelled Europe and were living in Paris trying to stop history from repeating.. or happening at all, depending on how you look at it. I am not very good at history, so was confused often with all the names of kings and other historical figures and which country they represented, and who their allegiances were with. (Sadly it took me a while to figure out the Bonny Prince and Charles Stuart were references to the same person) The benefit of this was that I learned a little about a history I previously knew anything about at all. At least now if anyone mentions Jacobites I will have enough knowledge not to sound completely stupid.

What I like most about this series so far is that every little moment, no matter how small, impacts what happens later in the book. The story is very in depth and thought out, you never know what little bit information could be significant chapters later. Alot of difficult desions must be made when you are living in the past with knowledge of the future. I think that is one of the things that make these books such page turners; there are constants twists and revalations, things you were not expecting, that keep you on the edge of your seat.