When it comes time to die...

"When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."        

~ Chief Aupumut, Mohican. 1725

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished DRUMS OF AUTUMN. 

So I've just finished DRUMS OF AUTUMN. Wow. I don't even know where to begin. I had a terrible time with Ian joining the Mohawk tribe. I don't mean a "got a little bummed" hard time. I mean a "called my mentor at 10:30 PM, sobbing profusely" hard time.  I just have to say it; WTF??????? Why? WHY? (screamed like Nancy Kerrigan). I don't know why that had to happen. I just know that they TATTOOED HIS FACE. I canna get past it. I try - but I canna do it. Even if he were to escape with his new little wifey and unborn child, and come back to Fraser's Ridge - and grow his hair out and dress in his plaid and breeks - WHAT THE F*CK are they going to do with his TATTOOED FACE????? Unless Claire comes across some miracle herb that will slough off the top 4 layers of his skin, what is the stupid, wee nephew going to DO with that FACE???  NOTHING! That's what he'll do! Because he's NEVER COMING BACK!!!!! It was like a death to me. Sitting there... reading it... suspecting Ian would offer to stay... but never, EVER expecting James Alexander Malcom Mackenzie Fraser to LET HIS WEE ASS do it. But when he walked in all mohawked-out and TATTOOED - I knew that was it. That was the end of Ian. Even if we see him in the future - warning them - helping them - visiting them - FIGHTING AGAINST them... he's NOT IAN MURRAY anymore. He's Brother of Wolf or whatever the hell they're calling him. And I'm pissed off. OH YESSIR I am PISSED. OFF. He's been nothing but good to these people. He's helped in every instance he's been asked to help. He's gone out of his way time and time again to do for others and never asked for SHIT in return. The boy was RAPED by Geillis Duncan for christsake!!!! And what does he get for it? I'll tell you what he got for it: THEY TATTOOED HIS MOTHER FRIGGIN FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK I'm just going to move on to more pleasant topics before I lose my shiz and have to go lie down. (Did I mention my FIVE YEAR OLD'S name is IAN??? No, I bet I didn't. Find a happy place. Find a happy place.)

Moving on... I have done a complete and utter 180 on Lord John Grey. Ho. Ly. Cow. I love him now. My mentor kept telling me this would happen - but I didn't know how. It's not that I didna believe - I did. But I just couldn't see how I was going to take a liking to that pompous, arrogant, Claire-I'm-in-love-with-your-husband-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it ASS John Grey. God even now I think about Jamie embracing him and saying "Oh John" and my skin crawls. But....BUT... this was before. Before he helped Bree... before he shared his feelings with her... and BEFORE BOYFRIEND VISITED THE SLAVE QUARTERS FOR A LITTLE SUMP'IN SUMP'IN!!!  I LOVED that. Once he did that - and told Bree he digs her dad's scene....well, then all bets were off. SHE'S A BIG, FAT QUEEN named JOHN GREY and I love her!!! Tell me you couldn't be best girlfriends with Lord John??? Once I saw him in that light - I wasn't threatened by him anymore. All I wanted to do was hug him - discuss our Prada pieces and visit the Lancome counter!!! Seriously - I've said it before, I'll say it again: The best girlfriend you'll ever have is a gay man. Doesn't matter how masculine he is, either. My friend, Dave was on his local fire department and loves Mustangs. And yet he can tap into my feelings better than anyone I've ever met. THAT is what I needed from Lord John... and THAT is what I got. So kudos to the almighty DG for giving us that gift; I really needed it.

I canna give a complete reassessment of the entire novel; it is too lengthy and detailed. But I can tell you how I feel about it. LOVED IT. And I can also tell you that I still canna pick a favorite. I'm 4 in now - only have 3 left to be current - and am so thrilled that I love them all for different reasons.  Sure I suppose if I had to choose, I'd say Outlander will always be my favorite (you never forget your 1st) but each book is just so good - for entirely separate reasons. What I loved about this was in the earlier part of the book, it was so magical to watch Claire and Jamie relate to each other and fall in love all over again, really. They have such respect for each other and I think that's what makes their relationship so profound. I loved reading about Bree and Roger, though, and I really never expected to. There was a time or two, earlier on in Drums, where I'd actually get annoyed when the story went back to Jamie and Claire. ANNOYED! About JAMIE! That's how I knew I'd be OK with the story evolving into a family story - and not just a love story between two people. But please, oh please, DG, please keep the hot-and-heavy scenes coming with Jamie and Claire. I don't care that they've got a AARP cards up on the Ridge - they're still HOT!!!

OK that's all. I'm exhausted. And I need to go check Amazon and see where the freak "The Fiery Cross" is!!!

Beautiful Fan-made Video

I usually try to avoid the internet where Outlander is concerned. I've seen this beautiful video from Arantxa69 come up on youtube a ton of times and I've always blown it off. But now that I've finished DRUMS (yes - you read that right; commentary to follow) I am starting to get a little bold online. More than halfway there. 4 down... 3 to go, Sassenachs.
Watch this. I don't know if it's the PMS but holy god; it made me cry.

Best. Bree. Line. Ever.

"Do you have any idea how mortifying it is to have your own mother standing up in front of everybody, drawing pictures of penises?!

Dying. Absolutely dying.

Quick Drums Update

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read until you have read chapter 41,  Journey's End.

Well - it happened. Jamie met Brianna. Yawn. Diana - in her usual Diana fashion - gave us a very anti-climactic meeting, a lot like when Jamie saw Claire again after 20 years. I have to believe she does this for a reason, Sassenachs. I really do. It's one of those times where I just have to close my eyes and TID ("Trust In Diana").

Oh and one more thing:

Dear Mr Nickelodeon,


Thank you, thank you, thank you for a little thing called the "Spongebob Marathon". 


We're snowed in but my children are happy. And my husband is napping. And I am now going to read. There is a couch calling my name next to a fireplace that is blazing bright.



Love, 
Carol

MORE LATER!!!!!!

My New "Fiery Cross" Theory

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you've already gotten to where Roger is on his way to Inverness in DRUMS. Not sure what chapter. At least halfway through. Page 464 or something? I canna remember and my book is in my car an it's way too frigid at the Jersey shore to go outside right now.

OK y'all. I came up with a possible theory this AM and I had to share. So Roger knows that Bree has either crossed - or is crossing soon. *I* don't know if she has crossed or not but will hopefully be finding out shortly. NOW - here's my possibility (not really a prediction yet; not enough info).

I was thinking about Bree crossing this AM... and how Diana is always writing about Roger and we never really get inside Bree's head.  I thought "well I don't want to just find Bree in the past... I want to experience crossing over WITH her." And I wondered if maybe Diana would ever go backwards in time and go BACK over something that we have already read - but in someone else's mind - ie: Bree. It was at that point that I thought "Trask... radio...trask...radio".... no wait - what I really thought was "Bree crossing over....The Fiery Cross....Bree crossing over... The Fiery Cross...  So THEN I thought - WAIT A MINUTE - maybe THE FIERY CROSS isn't referring to the NOUN "cross" at all. Maybe it's referring to the VERB "cross" - and it's going to be about Bree's crossing. And we'll get HER story.

So - in summary - I'm thinking MAYBE the rest of this book will show us Roger traipsing around Scotland, looking for Bree and finding some little adventures of his own. (And maybe a return to LALLYBROCH! Squeeee!) while continuing to tell the tale about Jamie and Claire in the backwoods of North Carolina. And then the Fiery Cross will start off in the future - but at a time we've already covered with Roger, Jamie and Claire while Bree crosses over... and then we'll get to experience her cross over and subsequent adventures and mishaps until her final settlement in North Carolina with Jamie and Claire and her new husband Fergus after Marsali dies of the morbid sore throat. Poor Roger... although maybe he's going to take up with one of Ian's sisters at Lallybroch after their husband ALSO dies of the morbid sore throat. Ahhhh the possibilities....

Oh man. I can't WAIT to read tonight!!! The snow is headed our way (I live in NJ)... I'll have a roaring fire... maybe a wee dram of scotch... and JAMIE! It's truly literary nirvana.

PS - I'm giggling at the thought of Tracey and Sassy laughing their butts off at me if I'm completely off base. But admit it - if I'm wrong - it would be a cool way to do it, would it no?

The Slightly Auburn Earl of Brattiness

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you're well into chapter 25 of DRUMS OF AUTUMN.

I canna BELIEVE Jamie Jr. is in the states with John Grey. I only just met him at the river, getting his leeches picked off by Claire, and already I'm annoyed with  him. I have this DREADFUL feeling John is going to leave him there to be raised by Jamie... and I'm getting this strange Kramer Vs. Kramer feeling in the pit of my stomach about how it's going to go. I wonder if Claire likes chicken.

OK backtracking a little...I have a burning question: Can someone remind me what happened in Voyager in the cave as far as IAN goes? Shouldn't he have questions about what Geillis was trying to do... and why Claire almost disappeared in front of his face??

ALSO - another complete tangent - not sure if I've mentioned this but it's come up with three people over the course of the last 24 hours: Clearly they CAN change the future if Jamie's grave was in Scotland - but Roger's got a record of Jamie and Claire dying in a fire in North Carolina. (Let's hope they don't burn up because of an explosion in the privy, due to Jamie trying to kill yon rattlesnake.)

Metal Mouth

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you've finished chapter 23 in DRUMS OF AUTUMN.

HOLY CRAP! THE SKULL IS FROM CLAIRE'S TIME!!!!!!!!! Who IS it???????

OMG this is up-to-the-second commentary. I was going to leave the post like that - but then I read on. THERE IS A PORTAL NEARBY!!! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I knew Diana wasn't going to make Bree go through the arduous task of sailing the 7 frickin seas. I KNEW IT!!! She's going to come over right in NORTH CAROLINA!

Does anyone hear James Taylor playing in the background??? Shall I add him to the playlist? LOL "In my mind I'm going to Carolinaaaaaa"....

PS - I'm just coming the realization that Diana is most-likely going to make me wait until the very end of this book for Brianna to come through. Isna she?