Set in pre-Revolutionary War America, readers finally have the much awaited fourth book in what will probably become a six book series (The Outlander series). The talented Diana Gabaldon continues Claire and Jamie's romantic love affair, and introduces Brianna and Roger's story. Eight hundred pages, and several wonderful new characters later, we wonder why we were waiting for a conclusion. It'll be a long wait for book five, so I recommend you go back and reread Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager to keep yourself sane.


From Publishers Weekly
Gabaldon has few rivals in writing exciting?and hefty?historical romances. The fourth in a series of linked sagas (Outlander; Dragonfly in Amber; Voyager), her new epic has a delicious premise. Claire Randall, the post-WWII bride of historian Frank Randall, steps through a skew in the Scottish stone circle Craigh na Dun and lands in Revolutionary America and the arms of Highlander Jamie Fraser?putting a new spin on the notion of a two-timing woman. Bold and bawdy, but a believing Catholic, Claire struggles to live a rich and moral life?or, rather, rich and moral lives?under these extraordinary circumstances. Claire's adventures in 18th-century Charleston alternate with equally engaging chapters devoted to her 20th-century daughter, Brianna. Raised as Frank Randall's child, Bree discovers that Jamie Fraser is her real sire. She takes off on a harrowing, confrontational quest through time and space with her suitor, Roger Wakefield, in hot pursuit. Gabaldon's range is impressive, whether she's evoking the rawness of colonial America, the cozy clutter of a modern Scottish parsonage, the lusts of the body or the yearnings of the spirit. Her legion of fans will love diving into this ocean of romance. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured alternates; author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Fourth in a series (e.g., Outlander, LJ 7/91), with at least two more titles planned, this novel continues Gabaldon's successful time travel/romance saga. Set mostly in the years 1767-1770 but with some scenes in the "present" (the late 1960s), this fantasy features 20th-century Englishwoman Claire and her 18th-century Scottish husband, Jamie, who struggle to set up a home in the wilds of the American South. Their grown daughter, Brianna, comes from the present to seek her parents and is followed by her would-be lover, Roger. In a work that will be eagerly sought by readers of her previous novels, Gabaldon continues to explore the themes of love, marriage, and family through time. Though reading the entire series would be best, first-time readers can generally follow with a minimum of confusion. Sites on the World Wide Web already have chapters and discussion areas for this book, so be prepared. Gabaldon truly delivers.Rebecca Sturm Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland HeightsCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Arizona Republic
Passionate...remarkable--a mix of history, fantasy, romance and unabashedly ribald storytelling.


The Cincinnati Post Affaire de Coeur
Drums of Autumn is Diana Gabaldon at her finest and most mesmerizing.


From AudioFile
Gabaldon's fourth book in her fascinating series about Jamie and Claire Fraser, displaced Scottish Highlanders, brings the adventuresome couple to the American Colonies. Combining the joy of eternal love, the promise of a new (and, they hope, safe) life, and the drive to reunite themselves with their daughter, Gabaldon lures listeners in and treats them to a thrilling ride. Geraldine James brings her years of theatrical experience to the recording. This isn't a reading; it's a performance. She proves her talent with the soft delivery of Claire and the powerful gentleness she brings to Jamie. The result is a fine tale told with the energy and passion it deserves. R.A.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Gabaldon continues her series of massive time-travel romances starring Claire Mackenzie (nee Randall) and her beloved Highlander, Jaimie. Although parts of the book take place in the present, most of the tale is laid in Charleston, South Carolina, before the American Revolution--in the 1760s, to be precise. There the Scots exiles live under the long shadow of Culloden and the gallows and sense the first political winds that eventually turned into revolution. Gabaldon is clearly trying to write on the same scale as Margaret Mitchell, and in terms of length and of thoroughness of research, largely succeeds (this is no Braveheart: Gabaldon has done her historical homework). She has also created a large cast of characters, most of them archetypal but good of their kind, and has achieved pacing that is sufficiently brisk to help rather than hinder her plethoric tome's other qualities by holding reader attention. Furthermore, it is quite possible to start the Highlander saga with this book, although dedicated followers of this giant among time-travel romances will enjoy it even more. Roland Green


The New York Times
Unforgettable characters...richly embroidered with historical detail...I just can't put it down.

ANNOTATION

From the bestselling author of Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager comes the exquisite fourth novel in the romantic, time-travel tale of Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall. 1767: On the even of the American Revolution, Jamie and Claire land on the shores of Charleston to begin a new life. Jamie, determined to stay away from the rumblings of a war that is not his own, soon realizes that war spares no one--and that love is worth fighting for. The long-anticipated continuation of the best-selling, century-spanning family saga.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Cast ashore in the American colonies, the Frasers are faced with a bleak choice: return to a Scotland fallen into famine and poverty, or seize the risky chance of a new life in the New World - menaced by Claire's certain knowledge of the coming Revolution. Still, a Highlander is born to risk - and so is a time-traveler. Their daughter, Brianna, is safe - they think - on the other side of a dangerous future; their lives are their own to venture as they will. With faith in themselves and in each other, they seek a new beginning among the exiled Scottish Highlanders of the Cape Fear, in the fertile river valleys of the Colony of North Carolina. Even in the New World, though, the Frasers find their hope of peace threatened from without and from within; by the British Crown and by Jamie's aunt, Jocasta MacKenzie, last of the MacKenzies of Leoch. A hunger for freedom drives Jamie to a Highlander's only true refuge: the mountains. And here at last, with no challenge to their peace - save wild animals, Indians, and the threat of starvation - the Frasers establish a precarious foothold in the wilderness, secure in the knowledge that even war cannot invade their mountain sanctuary.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Gabaldon has few rivals in writing exciting-and hefty-historical romances. The fourth in a series of linked sagas (Outlander; Dragonfly in Amber; Voyager), her new epic has a delicious premise. Claire Randall, the post-WWII bride of historian Frank Randall, steps through a skew in the Scottish stone circle Craigh na Dun and lands in Revolutionary America and the arms of Highlander Jamie Fraser-putting a new spin on the notion of a two-timing woman. Bold and bawdy, but a believing Catholic, Claire struggles to live a rich and moral life-or, rather, rich and moral lives-under these extraordinary circumstances. Claire's adventures in 18th-century Charleston alternate with equally engaging chapters devoted to her 20th-century daughter, Brianna. Raised as Frank Randall's child, Bree discovers that Jamie Fraser is her real sire. She takes off on a harrowing, confrontational quest through time and space with her suitor, Roger Wakefield, in hot pursuit. Gabaldon's range is impressive, whether she's evoking the rawness of colonial America, the cozy clutter of a modern Scottish parsonage, the lusts of the body or the yearnings of the spirit. Her legion of fans will love diving into this ocean of romance.

Kirkus Reviews

A convoluted, long-winded tome from Gabaldon (Voyager, 1994, etc.), who brings back the Scottish rebel Jamie Fraser and Claire, a time-traveler from the 20th century and the love of his life, as they face the late 18th century with characteristic aplomb.

This time out, Jamie and Claire arrive in the US from Great Britain and are joined by Jamie's teenage nephew Ian. Although vividly drawn and well-developed, all three characters quickly become tangential; from the very first scene, set in Charleston in 1767, it is clear that the focus is to be not on them but on the "hot button" issues of the time: British/American tension, slavery, Indians, and impending war. There's a secondary storyline as well, which takes place in the late 20th century and involves Jamie and Claire's college-student daughter Brianna and her desperate attempts to find love in her present-day life while simultaneously striving to rejoin her mother—and Jamie, the father she has never known—in the past. Roger Wakefield, a Scottish student who helped Claire travel back in time in the previous books, is the object of Brianna's affection now; the fact that he knows about Brianna's parents' unusual situation allows him both to win her heart for eternity and also help her rejoin her loved ones, in very unusual fashion. Conflict between Claire's past and present lives is omnipresent; at various times she's forced to perform surgery (she was a doctor in 20th-century England), explain TV, and reminisce about life with the husband she had in modern times, pre- Jamie.

Ghost story, historical novel, fantasy, stock romance? In her attempt to be all things to all people, Gabaldon has created a 900- page monster with far too many components. Only for the author's most rabid fans.