Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Outlander, Book 8

By: Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Davina Porter

The latest epic volume in the multi-million-copy best-selling Outlander series.

It is June 1778, and the world seems to be turning upside down. The British Army is withdrawing from Philadelphia, with George Washington in pursuit, and for the first time, it looks as if the rebels might actually win. But for Claire Fraser and her family, there are even more tumultuous revolutions that have to be accommodated. Her former husband, Jamie, has returned from the dead, demanding to know why in his absence she married his best friend, Lord John Grey.

Lord John's son, the ninth Earl of Ellesmere, is no less shocked to discover that his real father is actually the newly resurrected Jamie Fraser, and Jamie's nephew Ian Murray discovers that his new-found cousin has an eye for the woman who has just agreed to marry him. And while Claire is terrified that one of her husbands may be about to murder the other, in the 20th century her descendants face even more desperate turns of events. Her daughter Brianna is trying to protect her son from a vicious criminal with murder on his mind, while her husband, Roger, has disappeared into the past....

©2014 Diana Gabaldon (P)2014 Recorded Books LLC

Utterly satisfying!

As one of Diana Gabaldon's huge fan base, I came to this eighth "big book" expecting it to be wonderful -- and I was not disappointed!

Written in my own Heart's Blood weaves four separate story lines effortlessly together, resolving all the cliff-hangers from An Echo in the Bone (while introducing some tempting new questions), enlarging our understanding of the characters -- and providing heart-stopping thrills pretty well all the way through!

When I get a new Outlander book, I find I have to read it very, very fast -- just to be sure everyone I care about will survive -- then I can go back and re-read it slowly, savouring all the delightful details, fascinating historical information and character development. And this is where the audio version really comes into its own: my first race through the book is always done on my Kindle, but enjoying all the details with Davina Porter's wonderful reading (she really is one of the very best readers around!) is utterly satisfying.

No spoilers in this review, I'm afraid -- but I cannot recommend this book too highly!

It's everything I wished for!

Where does Written in My Own Heart's Blood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Diana Gabaldon and Amy Harmon (my favourite authors) have written some amazing books and I rank all of their books equally at the very top of my listening tree. Written In My Own Heart's Blood is a book I have been eagerly anticipating for four years and it is everything I hoped it would be.

What other book might you compare Written in My Own Heart's Blood to and why?

At first I was going to say that I haven't read any other books that I could compare to this one but that wouldn't be true. The first one was named Outlander and was the story of a time traveler named Claire and a young Scotsman named Jamie.

Which scene was your favorite?

I had many favourite scenes but there were a couple of notables that I keep thinking of over and over again. One would be when Bree was reading the letter she found from Frank Randall. It showed just how much he loved and treasured Bree and how he had done all he could to prepare her for the life ahead. The other scene would be the tragedy the family suffered just before leaving Savannah. Absolutely heartbreaking. And then there was William! Oh and of course Lord John.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book is amazing in that it brings together so much of what has come before. I think I will need to listen to it a couple of times to pick up all it has to offer. Did I want to listen to it all in one session? Hell yes! I wanted to know it all. But realistically with a book that spans 48 hours of listening time that was never going to happen.

Any additional comments?

Any book that can leave you constantly thinking about what you have just read, about the decisions the characters made and the way their lives evolved is a gift to be treasured. But now I find that I need to go back to the beginning yet again because I realise that I didn't pay enough attention to what was written before! Well done Diana.

Best author and amazing book as usual.

This is my favourite series of all time and this book was no exception. I loved the tiny details and the emotions she invokes. I can't say enough good things about this book.

I admire Davina Porter for her Narration:

This book, like all the other books of Diana Gabaldon are truly well written, Bravo!

in general, I have like his book

I have listened to this Audiobook on Audible it was narrated very lovely with different voice expressions for every character. The plot of this book was giving a lot of information about the secondary characters. However, still, there was so little information about Briana and Roger and their children, who are currently lost in the past. So that is why I am putting on four stars. There is also a need to read or listen to the next book to get all the information.

Brilliant...

I waited with baited breathe for the new book and as usual was not disappointed..
I just love this series and historically the facts are as true as they can get given that it is fiction. I love the accents and the narrator is fabulous. But start the series at the beginning so that you can follow the story line properly because Diana does not spend any time recapping in the first chapter. She picks up the flow and runs..
I love this series... I can't wait for another one!

Sublime

What a shame that this series had to end. Now turning to Lord John series!

Rambling

I read on Diana Gabaldon's blog that she doesn't always know where a story will take her. This book if proof of that, I feel. For a long while it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. Too many story lines going at once which made piecing it all together and keeping track of who all the characters were in relation to each other a bit more difficult. Having said that, Claire and Jamie's story ... and that of their immediate family .... continues along a very satisfactory path and I was as easily caught up in their lives as with all the other books. Davina Porter's characterisations are as brilliant as always and a pleasure to listen to. I look forward to book number 9 and to seeing how much further the story of Claire and Jamie will go.

Spoiler Alert

Oh no! That ending……

This book was so much better than book 7! For one thing, William’s character started to develop enough, that I started to relate to him.

Naturally my heart broke at the death of both Rolo and Anri-Christian, but I was deeply moved by the prayer Jamie prayed when Jane was buried. The words were beautiful and washed both spirit and soul!

I’m am relieved that Ms Gabaldon is writing at least 2 more books in this series and look forward to visiting all the wonderful friends I have made from this series!

One of the best I've heard!

Excellent narration!! Can clearly hear the different voices, outstanding! Comes to life with every word.