Drums of Autumn is the fourth book of the Outlander series, and I snuck it in right before the TV series comes out, so ha! Unfortunately, this installment was my least favorite of the series so far, so the huzzahs are mostly focused on it being blessedly over.

This is Gabaldon though, so everything is not completely terrible. Voyager left Jamie and Claire recovering from shipwreck in the American colonies. Drums of Autumn picks up very quickly after and focuses on the establishment of Fraser's Ridge, Jamie & Claire's home in the Carolinas. Meanwhile, back in the 1970s, Brianna and Roger explore their relationship and discover that Fraser's Ridge and its inhabitants will meet a fiery demise. Brianna's response to this information is to fly across time & space to warn her mother. Roger's response is lots of misogynistic bullsh*t, which, coincidentally, leads him back in time to Fraser's Ridge.

Yeah, I really, truly, deeply dislike Roger, after this book. Not only did he run into the Green Principle, where I stop caring for a character after they cross a certain level of stupidity, but also his actions were downright distasteful. He is hot-headed in decisions, self-absorbed to the extreme, constantly objectifies women, and rarely competent at anything. Toward the end, Claire comments how Roger has gained an aura of quiet, potential violence about him, and I was not pleased. I'd rather him go away. Brianna's love for Roger, while understandable as her "first," was lots of me whispering "oh, honey, you can do better than that" into the pages. Roger & Brianna's romance was much more mundane than Jamie & Claire's, like background characters falling in love, but we have pages upon pages upon pages devoted to it. Why must we tough out five hundred pages on their limp duck romance when we have a bloody filet mignon Jamie & Claire romance going on? Why, I ask you. Why.

My dislike of Roger was even more unfortunate because he's a POV character and therefore hard to escape. Gabaldon continues to use third person point of view for people who are not Claire, and she struggles visibly, with chapters bouncing among characters' heads like escaped ping pong balls. I understand that no one is as awesome as Claire and that this series is Claire's story, but must I be reminded every twenty pages? It was confusing, and toward the end I breathed noticeably easier during Claire chapters.

There was also the problem of the plot, which other reviewers have noted. While not as divided as the other novels, this plot only held together by making previously intelligent characters moronic and more stubborn. Brianna is a woman and studied history: she should know what "meet me later in my boat" with waggly eyebrows means. Hell, the Brianna of previous novels would have walked into that meeting knowing full well what Bonnet intended, yanked the power out from under him by loudly consenting, snatched her mother's ring back, and told Roger all about it to spite him. There is nothing shameful about sex work, and thinking otherwise is patriarchal nonsense. The Jamie of previous novels would have told Claire things immediately, and not threatened, manhandled, or manipulated his daughter. The Claire I know would not have shrugged off the duty to teach Jamie & wee Ian feminist principles about how women have control of their bodies, and she would have worked to close the cultural gap between her culture and his. The last arc of the novel left me feeling heartsick all around. Not a good time.

As I said, however, Drums of Autumn has its strengths. Gabaldon has created characters that we love so much that we are eager and hungry for every morsel, so I was delighted when the entire plot was just "And then Lord John and Willie visited," "the pig is stuck in the pantry," or "there's a snake in the toilet." These little slice-of-life sections felt like fluff fanfic, and I gave thanks. The depth of historical research, the sense of adventure, the breath-taking, nature-centric poetic language, the steamy smex scenes: those were still wrought with masterful vividness. I quite liked the mystery in River Run, and, while as a white person I'm not the best to ask, the portrayal of Native Americans seemed respectful. The "Claire is a witch with supernatural powers" theme is deepened, and it is my favorite. If anyone has fanfic recs of Claire/Jamie/Gellis/John Grey OT4 with Gellis & Claire as light & dark witches, please pass it along.

Overall, I'd recommend Drums of Autumn to Outlander fan purists. My partner assures me that the series (and Roger) gets better, so, if not offensive to your bookish sensibilities, skip this book, look up the summary, and move on to The Fiery Cross. Maybe the TV show will be better. If you must read Drums of Autumn, gird your loins for a rough ride.