A Breath of Snow and Ashes Synopsis
This is the sixth novel in the bestselling Outlander series - soon to be a major new TV series. Their love has survived the test of time. But can it survive fate? America, 1772. It is only a few years before the war of independence and the colony seethes with unrest. As battle lines are drawn up and loyalties tested, no one is safe in this new country. Jamie Fraser receives a message from Governor Josiah Martin. He wants Jamie's help to keep the backcountry safe for King and Crown. But Jamie knows what's to come. His wife, Claire, has travelled back from the twentieth century and she knows what will happen to those loyal to the King of England. Exile or death. Neither prospect appeals to Jamie. But Claire knows something else. From her own time she's read an article, dated 1776, reporting the destruction by fire of their home on Fraser's Ridge and the death of those who live there. Jamie hopes Claire is wrong, for once, about the future. But only time will tell...
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781784751326 |
| Publication date: |
19th February 2015 |
| Author: |
Diana Gabaldon |
| Publisher: |
Arrow Books Ltd an imprint of Cornerstone |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
1424 pages |
| Series: |
Outlander |
| Primary Genre |
Fiction
|
| Recommendations: |
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Diana Gabaldon Press Reviews
'Gripping.' OK!
'The sixth instalment of the adventures of Claire and Jamie Fraser, already number one on the bestseller list, is a whopping 980 pages of action-packed escapism. It also has surprisingly melancholy and insightful views on the experience of growing old and dealing with the losses that entails... One of the things that sets Gabaldon apart from other romance writers is exhaustive research of the times in which her characters live, so evident in her attention to period detail... plot lines and stand-alone yarns are expertly woven together with the overall theme of impending doom and the question of predetermination.' The Toronto Star
'Fans of Diana Gabaldon's popular Outlander series have another rousing historical-science-fiction-romance novel to savour in A Breath of Snow and Ashes... For fans, this book is another slam-dunk hit. It's a massive, long-lasting source of entertainment.' The Gazette (Montreal)
'Riveting. Gabaldon has a true storyteller's voice.' The Globe and Mail
'Triumphant... Her use of historical detail and truly adult love story confirm Gabaldon as a superior writer.' Publishers Weekly
About Diana Gabaldon
Diana Gabaldon is the internationally bestselling author of many historical novels including CROSS STITCH, DRAGONFLY IN AMBER, VOYAGER, DRUMS OF AUTUMN, THE FIERY CROSS and A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES. She lives with her family in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photo © Nancy Castaldo
Diana Gabaldon on her influences...
I know writers of novels who say they don't read fiction at all while working on a book, out of fear of "being influenced" by what they read. I am struck by horror at the thought of going years without being able to read fiction (though perhaps these people write faster than I do, and take long vacations between books?)—but more struck by the sheer silliness of this.
Everything writers see, think, and experience influences their work. How could it not? Now, it's true that people do ask writers, "Where do you get your ideas?" and that writers--out of facetiousness or desperation--give answers like, "From the Sears catalog" (or "From Ideas.com," depending on the writer's vintage). But the truth is that writers get ideas from every damn thing they see, hear, smell, touch, taste, think, feel, or do—including the books they read.
Naturally, one wants to develop a unique voice, but do kids learn to talk without ever being talked to? You have an individual voice, by virtue of being an individual. And your individuality is composed of your essential God-given spark of personality and of the sum total of the things you encounter in life. Now, whether each encounter is a bruising collision or a fruitful act of love…who knows? But all of it is grist to a writer's mill; so much should be obvious, if one reads at all widely.
Personally, I learned to read at the age of three, and have read non-stop ever since. I'll be 58 next week; you can read a lot of books in fifty-five years. I'm sure that every single book I've ever read has had some influence on me as a writer, whether negative (I've read a lot of books with the mounting conviction that I would never in my life do something like that) or positive.
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