Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone

Rating: 3 out of 5

In the words of Claire Fraser "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ." Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone is the newest installment of the Outlander series. This book picks up in 1779 with Jamie and Claire reunited with Brianna and Roger, who have experienced their own adventures in the time they were gone. While this should be a joyous occasion, the threat of war hangs over the Fraser clan. Fraser's Ridge can't remain out of the conflict for long. What with split loyalties running rampant among the tenants and the effects of war becoming more apparent.

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone is one of those reads that turns out to be disappointing. I started the book as soon as it came out and then left it unfinished for months. When I thought of the book it was never with a desire to know what happened next but more of an obligation to finish because I had come so far in the series. Jamie and Claire are by no means the focus of this novel. A great deal of time is spent on side stories and outside events that it is easy to lose sight of the greater narrative of Jamie and Claire's love story.

Brianna and Roger return to the Ridge with gifts, one being a book written by Frank Randall which discusses Highlander's involvement in the American Revolution. Frank Randall's book seems to be meant as a warning to Jamie foretelling the death of our beloved Highlander. Are Frank's words as a historian to be trusted? Is this his way of getting revenge on Jamie after all these years? Only time will tell as the Fraser's race headlong towards the events at Kings Mountain. Will Jamie and Claire's love for each other save them yet again?

We pick up with William who is still struggling with the revelation of his paternity and what this means for the life he had seen for himself. He has resigned his commission and is ready to set aside the title of Lord of Ellesmere, in fact refusing to be called by this title. William and Lord John Grey work to reestablish their relationship with these new revelations; but what will William do when Lord John Grey finds himself in trouble? To whom can he turn for help? Are events all conspiring to bring the Murray's, Grey's, Fraser's and Mackenzies' all back together.

In order to answer some of these questions one must endure an overwhelming amount of subplot and side stories. Along the way elements of the novel appear cliche, simply because we have encountered the exact same issue and situation in previous novels within the series. It is hard to miss that Jamie and Claire do not get their fair share within this story. The reader begins to wonder if our love for Jamie and Claire is enough to withstand Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.