A Trail of Fire Paperback – 29 Aug. 2013

I adore Diana Gabaldon's books about Jamie and Claire, their family and adventures and I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series (Written in My Own Heart's Blood). I am hoping that they live long enough for a few more books to be written about them. In the first book, Claire falls asleep on a warm day, among standing stones and wakes up 200 years in the past where Jamie Fraser saves her life and they fall in love with each other. In this book, their daughter (who grew up in the future but followed her mother back to the past) has returned to modern time Scotland because of the health of her child leaving Jamie and Claire in America in the past. Diana makes even the everyday routine of life interesting but there is also danger and excitement as well as an old fashioned love story. Unputdownable.

Another set of 'novellas' from one of the most intriguing writers I know! These are short stories about some of the minor characters involved in the story of 'Jamie and Claire', the Outlander series. The main books tell the story of their lives from Scotland just pre-Culloden across the sea to the American Colonies and the war of Independence via 18thc France and WWII (yes I did say WWII - read the books if you want to know how!). In the The Trail of Fire, Diana Gabaldon fills in the back stories for some of the characters which gives extra information and understanding to some of the events and the bigger characters in the main books. Any of the stories, big or large, can be read independently of each other but make a memorable series of books when read together.

I enjoyed this book very much though on the whole I am not a fan of short stories they always seem to end just as I am getting really engrossed which is a bit of an anti climax, however that is me and no fault of the author whose books have always been a joy and I have read them more than once and enjoyed each time.

I have to admit that I have already read all but one of the stories in this anthology when they have been in other publications so although it was great to have them all in once place it was only really "The Space Between" that want to review here. Although I will definitely reread the others at some point!There are so many little golden nuggets of information in "The Space Between" which both clarify what the reader already believes about time travel and at the same time leaves us with even more questions than we had before. I had no doubt that I would love the characters of Michael and Joan after reading about them in Echo in the Bone but I adored the way they had characteristics of their relevant family members but were at the same time people in their own right. I'm really looking forward to the next "big book" to find out what happens to the two of them. However the biggest surprise in this story was the Comte who I was thoroughly expecting to be a nasty piece of work but who ended up being a quite likeable person even though he was obviously the king of manipulation and selfishness! We really need to know more about this man!

At first disappointed that this did not continue the adventures of Jamie/Claire/Lord John and Briana/Roger/wee Jemmy where we left them at cliffhanger stage, but nevertheless i found it very satisfactorily ties up a few loose ends of related people in a most satisfactory way. Easly digestible short stories with all the usual humour and detailed observation in her "big books", these are, as Ms Gabaldon says, "bulges" in the timeline. They save the main story from meandering off in these none-the-less interesting directions.I'm attempting to write something myself, and I fluctuate beween soaring inspiration to write like this, and the depths of depression that i will never be this good!

This is a great read for fans of The Outlander series.The book is basically 4 short stories about things mentioned in the Outlander book and The Lord John stories, but expanded a bit to give more of an insight into the person or event mentioned.Bulges are what Diana Gabaldon herself calls them!! And a very good description it is too!!A leaf on the wind of All Hallows, tells the story of Rogers parents during WWII, which we don't hear too much of in the main book.The space Between, tells of the Comte St Germain, a tricky customer to say the least, we thought him dead, but was he?The Custom of the Army, is a Lord John story. Following on the heels of an electric Eel party in London, Lord John is forced to flee.And the final story is set in Jamaica where Lord John is sent to try and quell a revolt of escaped slaves, but certainly nothing is as it seems!Bulges of a very interesting variety!!