A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Fortunately the author and her agent have negotiated a change in her copyright contract to allow the sale of the unabridged version. Part of the agreement is that the abridged must remain available but that hopefully won't tempt anyone with a modest amount of good sense. After all how can you modify a book so large into such a small recording? (not without mangling it bad) The author is well known to dislike the abridged versions of her novels and is anxious that the remaining one, The Fiery Cross, be available in unabridged form around Nov. of 2011. As always I recommend reading the novels in order to get full benefit of the story of Claire and Jamie: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and Echo in the Bone. Each is technically self standing but each builds on its predecessors and you will be very happy to discover older characters and evens. So if you haven't read any of the Outlander series yet do start with the first, Outlander. You'll be glad you did. A Breath of Snow and Ashes is worth waiting for anyway. :)

Davina Porter's narration is perfect -- again. She is the voice of Claire for me. When I read the words, I hear Davina Porter. Plus, she handles all the other characters incredibly well, with a superb ability to set them apart and to hold their distinctions from beginning to end and from book to book.


Once again, I'm at the end of 57 hours of listening and would be just fine if there were more. I marvel at Diana Gabaldon's ability to write with quality and in quantity. If you're a fan, this is one of the most terrific books in the series. If you've not become a fan yet, start at the beginning. The characters are complex and getting the full measure of their lives is one of the most splendid things about this series.

I'm thrilled that Audible got the rights to the unabridged version of this, I hope the other will follow soon. Davina Porter is perfect in her narration. She pronounces the words perfectly, and carries the voice changes beautifully. It is a very long book I believe 57 hours, however it flew by because it was written and narrated perfectly. Thanks Audible.

A great read to be sure! I read this when it was first released. And I was so disappointed when I found it was not offered as unabridged. Davina Porter's voice has certainly become Clair's so no other will suffice. When I saw that it is now available it took me about 5 seconds to click the download button. It's so easy to slip back to the 17th century when listening.

I have a long commute and I really enjoy Diana Gabaldon's books. They are long, but the stories are so detailed I get lost in them. Davina Porter is a superb narrator. One forgets it is just one person acting out all of the characters. Very enjoyable!

I loved having this unabridged version on audio, narration was great.

some parts were tedious to listen to, so maybe I would have stuck closer to the plot

this compares very well to her other performances

choices and challenges

I love historical fiction, and having lived in Fayetteville NC for a time, I remembered some of the places mentioned in the book, especially the slave auction post that is still standing in the old downtown, as a reminder of that horrible part of US history. Once again, Diana Gabaldon hooked me till the end, I have just ordered book number 7.

This might be my favorite yet! One twist after another! I couldn't stop. It was worth the wait.

This is an exceptional series. It is remarkable that Diana Gabaldon has maintained the writing quality in each book, not to mention throughout the series. While the last book was a minor step-down (a 4 v. 5), this one rebounds to the amazing level of prior books. Excellent book, excellent performance ~ !

Diana Gabaldon is a fantastic writer and brings the story to life. Davina Porter is absolutely fanstatic in narrating this story. Although I did enjoy this book, I was very frustrated with how Ms. Gabaldon starts a story line and then either waits half the book to finish it or doesn't finish it at all. This seems to be the prevailing issue with the past couple of books in this series. I found the first few books in the series to be much better in that the stories were continuing and completed and did not leave the reader/listener wondering what would happen next.

I will listen to the next book in the series as I am too absorbed with Jamie, Claire, Bree, Roger and wee Ian.

Usually good writing is what I crave, and this book has good writing, but the story just could not keep me. After 20 hours or so I gave up (which is really rare for me). If I were younger, inexperienced, and had different hormones, perhaps I would love this series, but while I found the writing superior, I found the story geared for readers more interested in romantic historical novels than I will ever be. If you like well written romantic historical novels and don???t mind there is only mild action and milder sex, this may be for you.