Some things just aren’t meant to be revisited. It entertained you once, but when you go back, you wonder where the magic has gone. You wonder, “Was there even magic here to begin to with?” And then you start to nitpick. You start to find flaws. The thrill is gone.
On the first read, you were swept up in the story, but now you aren’t swept up at all. The broom ran over you, leaving you covered in hair and dust mites.
As you may recall, I decided to rekilt when Written in My own Heart’s Blood was about to be released, refreshing my brain on key details and events. I zipped through Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager. They were still page turners. But then I found myself stalling out in the latter books. Maybe I was having Outlander overdose. Between the pages on my Nook and Diana Gabaldon tweeting at Sheugs, I had lost my enthusiasm.
I’ve been wrestling with what is off for me in the last four books before MOBY, and I think I finally figured it out. Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager read like a trilogy. Those three books are cohesive. There was conflict, characters I was pulling for, and then a satisfying conclusion. Jamie and Claire had a complete story in the first three novels, and the books that follow just feel like…drama. Drama with some minutiae thrown in for counterbalance. The last books are “The Merry Adventures of the Fraser Folk.” Fun to experience but not essential. If I recommend the series to my friends, I never say, “If you don’t cry at the end of ABOSAA, you aren’t human!” I say that about Outlander.
Sure, the “The Merry Adventures of the Fraser Folk” were compelling on a first read, but not compelling enough to make me want to revisit them again and again. The first three books all have scenes that I want to read more than once. Not so with the last four books before MOBY. I enjoyed them the first go round, but not so much with rekilting. I can’t even remember which book contains which events, and I just read them. Malva? Was she in TFC? The governor of North Carolina? Was that Echo? That time on the boat? Wait! I know this answer. That happened in Every. Single. Book.
I wanted to love these books when I rekilted, but I didn’t. I did enjoy great chunks of them. And as someone who loves JAMMF, I get it. We all want to spend as much time with Sawney as we possible can. And Diana Gabaldon was kind enough to give that to us. Her editor especially wanted us to have as much time with Jamie as possible. Look at all the pages she left us!
So here are the things that most stood out to me as my rekilting came to an end. The good, the bad, and the Hiram Crombie.
*This article contains SPOILERS for EVERY book save MOBY.
Camping Sucks
The Fiery Cross opens up at the Gathering at Mount Helicon. More like Mount HELLicon, amirite?
Worst. Gathering. Ever. It’s doesn’t end. It’s muddy and it smells like damp and stinky clouts. It’s 200 pages of trying to get Bree and Roger hitched and that baby baptized. Everyone is wet and not in the good way.
Poor Roger cannot catch a break
Jamie knows how to kill people with dental floss. Jamie he can polyglot his ass off, and he knows how to make the most amazing Bearnaise. But poor Roger flails. He can’t shoot straight because his eyes are messed up. He isn’t sure if his sperm made it to Briana’s egg. He can’t even make it to his own ordination before antics with Bree and Bonnet get in the way.
Roger is the human embodiment of the sad trombone.
Bree gets her revenge
After Stephen Bonnet is caught, I really like that Bree has a say in how he meets his maker. Yes, the state is going to execute him for piracy, but in the end, it’s Brianna who gains back control but shooting him in the head before he drowns. Yes, she did it out of kindness, but she got to make the choice this time. And considering how she first met him – when he rapes her – this is a very good thing.
What Happens when you Die
Gabaldon is very focused on what happens to you after you die, i.e losing your bowels. I’m not sure exactly what happens when you hang by the throat, but if you die in your sleep, rest assured you probably won’t crap your pants. I googled it.
Sweet and (Un)savory
Gabaldon tries to differentiate each characters POV on a sensory level. Claire embraces “othering,” describing slaves and Native Americans based on what color chocolate or Starbucks latte they are. Roger always notes what Bree tastes like. Often, she tastes like onions. Onion breath. That’s Roger’s fetish.
Jem has a birthmark
Jem’s paternity causes Roger great angst, so it’s fantastic that he gets some closure on this issue. The best way to rid yourself of lice? Shave your head. Jem and Roger get shorn after an infestation, revealing birthmarks on both their skulls. And birthmarks like that are usually hereditary. Congrats, Roger! You ARE the father.
Sexual Peril. Are we really doing this again?
Claire’s rape during her kidnapping is unnecessary. Rape as a plot device has gotten a lot of attention lately, so I won’t go into great length about it here. If you want to do some reading on why women are fucking sick of rape in their entertainment, here are two great articles that explain my outrage quite well.
Something to Think About Before Writing That Edgy Rape Scene
“Game of Thrones” glamorizes rape: That was not consent, and rape is not a narrative device
When the Brown gang kidnap Claire, that was enough to move the plot along. There was plenty of drama in that act alone. After Claire is savagely beaten, she is left to nearly drown in her own blood, her nose broken and a gag stuck down her throat. That was drama. That had me terrified for her. Why did she need to be gang raped? Because she had been threatened with it enough times since book one and now she finally had to endure it? Did she have to be sexually brutalzied to justify Jamie and his crew going beserk and murdering everyone in the camp? Jamie had plenty of reasons for doing that without her being raped.
And then afterwards, Clare must endure Jamie’s horrible logic that they must get drunk and have sex ASAP, just in case she got pregnant during the rape? It makes about as much sense as Claire sexing Jamie out of his post-Wentworth stupor.
Menopause?
Claire’s fertility is a Chekov’s Gun. It’s brought up time and time again. Claire thinks she might be pregnant. What a delightful twist! And how cool would it be to see Jamie with his own infant in his arms? So cool.
Spolier: She’s never pregnant.
Tom Christie
Sure, sure. Everyone loves/wants Claire. Everyone. And it can get tiresome, but with Tom Christie, I get it. The two of them quarrel. She represents what he abhors. Claire relies on science, not faith, and it turns him on because deep down, Tom loves a strong woman. He doesn’t love her because she has whiskey eyes and a fine arse. He loves her because she will do battle with him. He loves her because Claire has convictions. He loves her because Claire loves reason and it scares the shit out of him.
Unrequited love is heartbreaking, and Tom Christie thinks he is no match for Jamie Fraser. Oh, but Mr. Christie is. Tom is strong and brave because he is willing to die for her. How does he prove it? By giving up his own life for hers. Swoon. #TeamTom
Ringo Starr is the best Beatle
I’m not proud that my daughter knew all the word to Ringo Starr’s The No-No Song at the age of 2. Okay, maybe I’m a little proud of this.
But when Donner said the name Ringo Starr to Claire, to prove he as from the future, you could have knocked me over with a feather. The other great “future person” reveal was the “tikiback.” Ticket back! Those are the moment that make me say, “Holy crap,” and in a good way.
Ear bug
People on the Ridge have amazing recall for songs and bible verses. And when I say people, I mean everyone. It’s a shared character trait that helps prove DG did some research while writing. It didn’t bug me that much until…
Bree recited the entirety of Longfellow’s Paul Revere’s Ride. Every. Single. Verse.
My daughter’s father was born in 1961 and matriculated through the Boston-area school system. He called shenanigans on that. If you know someone from Revere or Newton who can recite the whole thing, please let me know.
YUMMF
Lizzie start out her American life as an indentured servant to Bree, but ends up living the American dream as the F in an MMF marriage with the Beardsley twins. Malaria will not stop the menage. You get it, Lizzie.
And I’ve made no secret that I would love to see some MMF between Jamie, Lord John, and Claire. We got one step closer when Claire and John think Jamie dead and do the one thing that heals: boning. I can’t recall each of the stages of grief, but a wine-fueled sexathon followed by a “every mouth is the same in the dark” beej are definitely on the list – if Buzzfeed made the list.
A few other final thoughts…
- I am Wee Ian 4 lyfe. You know who ain’t 4 life? Arch Bug. Knowing that he was always out there lurking, waiting to ruin Ian’s happiness, was such good drama.
- We love Malva. We hate Malva. We find out Malva was raped by her brother. Obligatory “Winston has had enough” gif.
- The Dismal Swamp is aptly named.
- Jamie, Claire, and Lord John Grey could have have been Revolutionary War paparazzi. They know where to find all the famous people. Ben Franklin. Nathan Hale. Kevin Bacon. Benedict Arnold.
- Jamie is a toe sucker.
- If Jamie had a Facebook page, he would taking a picture of a snake right now, crowdsourcing if it were poisonous or not. It’s poisonous, Jamie. Trust.
- Media in the 18th century was very inaccurate with facts, especially those that involve dates and house fires. Not that that 21st centruy press is any better. See Judith Miller for reference.
- PSA: Do not ingest glass. Ever.
- Hiram Crombie is no Murtagh.
- You like competence porn? You’ll love Bree. She can make clay pipes, matches, and paper, all while running your hydroelectric plant. This sister is doing it for herself. And she has an AGA stove, the kind that hipsters love and that sell for $10,000 nowadays. You heard me right. $10,000 for a stove. The stove you will use to heat up Bagel Bites.
So now I’m not too jazzed about diving into MOBY. Sad face. Talk me off the ledge, y’all. Is MOBY worth the time?
You can find my previous Rekilting commentary here: Part One and Part Two
