Note: Comments on the audiobook narrated by Davina Porter are at the end of this review.
I wasn't as impressed with Dragonfly in Amber as I was with Outlander. Though I enjoyed it, I did have a few issues with it.
The political intrigue was too much. It was well researched, I appreciate Gabaldon's ability to put her characters into a more-or-less historically accurate conflict and I did enjoy the overarching story, but the time in France dragged. Once the story moved on into Scotland, it picked up quite a bit and I didn't want to put it down, but until then I wasn't driven to be reading it all the time.
The viewpoints changed quite a bit during the story, which was both distracting and disorienting. In 1968 we have Claire's first-person narration and a third-person narration centered on Roger that allows us to get inside his head a bit and get a perspective of Claire outside of her head. In the 1700s it is primary Claire's first-person narration with some odd third-person narrations. Including a third-person narration in which 'he [Jamie] is thinking about his wife [Claire],' a scene where I had to rewind to see who he and his wife were.
I'll definitely continue with the series, I hear Voyager is better than Dragonfly in Amber, so we'll see. :)
AudioBook Review
Another excellent performance by Davina Porter. She has great talent for accents and voices, which bring each character alive. The only oddity was her Brianna's American accent.
The only problem with this audiobook was in the shifting perspectives; it was difficult at times to grasp who was speaking or who's point of view the story was in.
I wasn't as impressed with Dragonfly in Amber as I was with Outlander. Though I enjoyed it, I did have a few issues with it.
The political intrigue was too much. It was well researched, I appreciate Gabaldon's ability to put her characters into a more-or-less historically accurate conflict and I did enjoy the overarching story, but the time in France dragged. Once the story moved on into Scotland, it picked up quite a bit and I didn't want to put it down, but until then I wasn't driven to be reading it all the time.
The viewpoints changed quite a bit during the story, which was both distracting and disorienting. In 1968 we have Claire's first-person narration and a third-person narration centered on Roger that allows us to get inside his head a bit and get a perspective of Claire outside of her head. In the 1700s it is primary Claire's first-person narration with some odd third-person narrations. Including a third-person narration in which 'he [Jamie] is thinking about his wife [Claire],' a scene where I had to rewind to see who he and his wife were.
I'll definitely continue with the series, I hear Voyager is better than Dragonfly in Amber, so we'll see. :)
AudioBook Review
Another excellent performance by Davina Porter. She has great talent for accents and voices, which bring each character alive. The only oddity was her Brianna's American accent.
The only problem with this audiobook was in the shifting perspectives; it was difficult at times to grasp who was speaking or who's point of view the story was in.
