Product Description

From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #781 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-09
• Released on: 2001-10-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Unbound
• 976 pages

From Library Journal
This time-traveling romantic adventure will please fans who have been waiting for the further adventures of Dr. Claire Beauchamp Randall, a 20th-century American who goes to Scotland in search of her 18th-century husband, virile Scot Jamie Fraser, whom she met and married in Outlander ( LJ 7/91). Book 2 of a planned trilogy takes readers along on Randall's quest, as she hopes to find a state or time (like that of the title's dragonfly suspended in a piece of amber) where Fraser still exists. This imaginative novel suffers somewhat from the author's overuse of personification ("spectacles gleaming with concern and curiosity") and her confusing switches between the two first-person narrations, which sometimes cloud an otherwise intriguing adventure. But Outlander 's readers will still devour this hefty volume without complaint.
-Marlene Lee, Drain Branch Lib., Ore.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
An engaging time-travel romance, the second of a trilogy (after Outlander, 1991), that animates the people and politics of a pivotal period in history--while turning up the heat between an appealing modern heroine and a magnetic romantic hero. It's now 1968, and Claire Beauchamp Randall has returned to Inverness, Scotland, with her daughter, Brianna. This is Claire's first visit back since she and husband Frank visited 22 years before--when she walked through a Druid stone circle into the middle of the 18th century. Now, Frank is dead, and Claire hopes to learn what happened to the second great love of her life--gallant Jamie Fraser, laird of Lallybroch whom she married during her journey into the past. She's also looking for a way to tell Brianna who her real father is. Framed by these dilemmas, the bulk of the story consists of the second installment of Claire and Jamie's adventures. Escaping the English death sentence passed against Jamie, they flee to prerevolutionary Paris, where they secretly work at foiling Bonnie Prince Charlie's efforts to regain the Scottish throne. But this espionage is only the beginning...A most entertaining mix of history and fantasy whose author, like its heroine, exhibits a winning combination of vivid imagination and good common sense. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
“Diana Gabaldon is a born storyteller.... The pages practically turn themselves.”—Arizona Republic

“A triumph! A powerful tale layered in history and myth. I loved every page.”—Nora Roberts

“Compulsively readable.”—Publishers Weekly


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews

It's a treasure!
Those people are crazy! I don't see what the problem was with this book. It was definitely not as good as the first...none of the series are because the first is always the best! But Dragonfly in Amber is wonderful! I couldn't put it down...I had to know if their interventions in Paris would change history, or were the Highlanders fated to defeat at Culloden.
Jamie and Claire's passion is developed further which solidifies our affections for this tragic couple. The twist of historic development is key in giving the series credibility as historic fiction. The end is heartbreaking...and draws you into the next book.
Don't listen to critics! It's just as entertaining as the first.

It's a GREAT BOOK!
One review said that this book (Dragonfly in Amber) must have been written by someone whose research came from English history books. I've read Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and am now reading Voyager. Okay, I know the Scottish view of Bonny Prince Charlie and the highlanders who fought at Culloden is somewhat idealized, but the book was obviously well-researched. It's clear that the author went to some trouble not to just grab the everyday information that's available from "English history books." Most common sources don't include quite a few items that the book makes note of; therefore, the author went to extra trouble to find the information and make use of it. Dragonfly in Amber is a wonderful book. Many authors try to achieve the level of writing that Diana Gabaldon employs, yet so often they fail. The entire Outlander series is a must read for everybody, not just those who follow this genre. Aspiring writers should read this book to learn about how their craft should be done. Others should read the series if they are at all interested in romance, Scotland, Europe, timetravel, and just because it draws people in and doesn't let go.

Not a big fan.
I muddled my way through the first book, but the second one completely lost me. I think that Gabaldon's details, while incredible, end up losing the story after a certain point. Too many time-skips and back and forth. I couldn't pick up the book and immediately follow it. I found Claire had lost a bit of her spark in the future, and her daughter was a vile creature. It frustrated me to have the story jump back and forth between the current future and the past. I was also disappointed that the story skips ahead 20 years into their lives. Why? Did nothing good happen for 20 years?

At any rate, I wasn't impressed. But again, I am a harsh critic of sequels. If you would like to continue in the series just because it's another book by the author dealing with the same characters, you'll probably like this.

If you want an independent, engaging story you can immediately sink into without having to re-read the first, I suggest you look elsewhere.