Romance Novel Rant

Related to my last post, one of my pet peeves is people who think romance novel == stupid fluff (and the corollary to that, that romance novel reader == stupid bimbo). Outlander is not a romance novel, but I’ve certainly devoured more than my fair share of romance novels.

Here is a new flash: romance novels range from absolute trite nonsense to brilliant works of literature just like any other genre. Shocking. Just as in other maligned literary genres (such as sci-fi, fantasy, graphic novel, suspense), there is a lot of dross to wade through before hitting gold. In each genre, there is a certain focus or theme that makes the genre what it is, and in the case of romance, the focus is on relationships, whether that means people falling in love for the first time or people examining their evolving relationship over a course of decades.

My two favorite “comfort reading” genres are historical romance novels and British cozies (term for murder mysteries that take place in tiny quiet British towns). Historical romance novels are interesting to me because unlike many other historical fiction, they spend a lot of time also covering tidbits like local customs, social hierarchies, and styles of dress, rather than focusing solely on politics.

Ok, so now we’re cooking with rambling! 😀 Anyway, the second point I was going to make is that even if you are hung up over the idea that something called a romance novel must be shallow fluff, the books of the Outlander series were seriously miscategorized anyway. They were originally published under romance, but got moved to historical fiction, then moved again to literary fiction, then again to romance, then for a bit to paranormal. I think it depends on your bookstore. My feeling is that it belongs in historical fiction because so much of the stories is about the major historical events and politics and how they impacted the people involved. The book also deals with love, relationships, and sex, which is why it is/was in the romance section.

One of the elements that I love the most (aside from the detailed descriptions of 1700s medical practices) is that it’s like real life: there is laughter, there is pain. Really bad things happen to good people and you hope they get through them. Some do, some don’t. But it’s all written in an engaging way. Some you root for. Some you hope never get mentioned again in the stories. There is moral ambiguity, questions of honor, loyalty, oaths, merciful killings? The stories are full of grit of the daily routine of life. I hate books that are just one-note: all suspenseful or all serious or all humor. They feel so lifeless to me.

Blah blah blah.

Book Review: A Breath of Snow and Ashes, by Diana Gabaldon

I just finished reading “A Breath of Snow and Ashes”, by Diana Gabaldon. I am not sure what I want to write here as I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I definitely liked it more than “The Fiery Cross”. I would rank the books as follows:

1. Outlander (1st book)
2. Voyager (3rd book)
3. Dragonfly in Amber (2nd book)
4. A Breath of Snow and Ashes (6th book)
5. Drums of Autumn (4th book)
6. The Fiery Cross (5th book)

Seppo asked me if I thought this would be the last book in the series. It was originally planned to be, but then again, so were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th books. What I’ve heard is that as the author writes her story, she finds that there is too much material before the “end” for her to cram into the current book, so she simply leaves it for the next book. However, this book did really feel like there were a lot of things being wrapped up, a lot of looming questions that had been answered.

All in all, it was a really satisfying experience. If I ever take an extended period of time off from work or something, I hope to be able to read all the books back-to-back again, which will take a considerable amount of time as each book averages around 1000 pages. The worst part is that the stories are so compelling that it is hard to put the books down to go to sleep once you start.

Hopefully, the following information will not be spoiler-y. (Click on this link to see my comments.)This book takes place between 1774-1776 in a colonial settlement in North Carolina, beginning with the seeds of rumblings of the American Revolution.

The story finds Jamie and Claire settled on Fraser’s Ridge, with their daughter Brianna, her husband Roger, and their child Jemmy residing in a cabin nearby. They’ve helped settle a group of Scottish immigrants in the area, people Jamie had known during Culloden.

Hmm. You know, I think I am going to give too much information. I am going to have to switch to my reactions and impressions rather than what happens in the story.

Ok, then. If you are a fan of the Outlander series, you will be extremely happy to know that a lot of the common open questions we have had over the years have come to reasonable, satisfying conclusions. The writing feels somewhat more fast-paced than the last book, and once in a while, I felt like it was really too much happening too fast. But that’s not necessarily a complaint, as it tries to convey the difficulty of living in colonial America, where everyday tragedies were, well, frequent.

Each character, many of them existing characters with a small set of newer characters, has a life of his or her own. You can see the person and understand each person’s motivations as things happen, and it makes sense. And yet, the plot unfolds in a way that keeps you in suspense, even knowing that the American Revolution is coming and that the Americans will win.

Eh. Just go out and get the book if you are a fan. It’s better than the last one, as I said. If you are not a fan, for the love of monkey, read Outlander first. I’ll even buy you a copy if you show any interest. Seriously. Leave me a comment and I’ll get you a copy.