Drums of Autumn

Outlander, Book 4

By: Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 44 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Diana Gabaldon's fans will be delighted to find Jamie and Claire as spirited and endearing as ever in this fourth installment of this magnificent saga. Romance, history, and time travel blend once again as the couple builds a new life together in the wilderness of pre-Revolutionary America.

Twice Claire has used an ancient stone circle to travel back to the 18th century. The first time she found love with a Scottish warrior but had to return to the 1940s to save their unborn child. The second time, 20 years later, she reunited with her lost love but had to leave behind the daughter that he would never see. Now Brianna, from her 1960s vantage point, has found a disturbing obituary and will risk everything in an attempt to change history.

Davina Porter's narrative talent adds a special vibrance and resonance to Gabaldon's complex, colorful characters.

©1997 Diana Gabaldon (P)1999 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

Wonderful read

I have of course read the series so far and I have to say this is my favorite!!! The narrator does a wonderful job of bringing each character to life.

Great

Thank you
excellent book and excellent narrator. looking forward ro the next one in the series.

Still wonderful

Love this series. Each book keeps my interest the whole time despite the length. Excellent series.

I have enjoyed reading and listening to this many times

The book and series are excellent. The narration is beyond amazing! I will continue to read and listen to this series.....don't stop writing Diana!

Narrator was excellent!

She has to be the best narrator that I have ever heard. The story was very intriguing as well.

Holy Adventure Batman

Audio as fabulous as always. Her ability to pull off the accents & maleness is incredible. Loved listening as much as reading. Lots of action. I wish that I could have protected Bri, Roger & Ian more.

Excellent

I loved this story as much as the first. The narrator does an excellent job with all the accents. Excited to start the next one in the series

Love these audiobooks

I thought by now, 4 books into the Outlander series, that I would be sick of it. I also thought I would not enjoy the audiobooks. Well, I loved book 4. Very much actually. And I love the audiobooks. Davinia Porter does a fabulous job.

These books are loaded with drama and at times I do find some of it irksome. What could've been resolved with a simple discussion becomes a full blown nightmare because 2 people had to make each other wrong. But that is how life is more often than not and that's how this story goes.

So, now I will move onto Book 5, The Fiery Cross....

Another sterling installment!

Claire Randall is happily living her life alongside her husband Jamie Fraser two hundred years ago - or so Brianna thinks, until she discovers a newspaper clipping from the past. Now she must choose between staying with the man she loves, or risking everything to change the past.

I’ve got to admit that every time I start another book in the Outlander series, I’m expecting the worst. I keep thinking: what more could happen and how could Ms Gabaldon possibly hold my attention through another couple of hundred pages after the thousands I’ve already read? Yet without fail, when I read the last sentence of each novel, I’m left holding my breath, wanting more.

This installment focuses greatly on one of the most interesting issues raised by the series - the question of whether it is possible to change the past, whether doing so is morally correct, what effects changing the past has on the future and whether the fates are truly fated. This issue is of particular importance with the character of Bonnet and it is fascinating and heart-breaking to watch the Frasers reap the consequences of their timeline interferences.

The relationship between mother, daughter and father is heart-warming. Each character is so human and the dynamics between them are so realistic and yet so right for the time period. In a time when women were married and became mothers in their early teens, I particularly enjoyed the freedom and maturity of interaction between Brianna and her mother. Claire is always there for her daughter, but she allows her to experience her own life and reap the consequences of her own actions.

What I found really interesting, is the way in which Ms Gabaldon created a relationship between two characters who never meet - James and Frank. The effect each one has on the other through the characters of Claire, Rodger and Brianna is fascinating to behold.

The historical setting is once again unique, realistic and rustic. Ms Gabaldon’s descriptions of untamed America are sweeping, beautiful, wild and fresh. I’m astounded by the ease with which she can switch settings from Scotland to France, Jamaica to America and can only assume that she has done her research well and travelled too!

This is still one of the best series I’ve ever read!

an engaging listen

I am going through the Outlander series listens. These stories are so full and Rich making you feel like you are there amongst them