Sarah Thody

I'll start out by saying that I DID enjoy this, and found an awful lot interesting, thrilling and enjoyable. But as other reviewers have noted, there is a HUGE problem in the editing. Repetitious uses of the same phrase are too common, almost as if written by a "bot", but there are also continuity errors, factual errors, and plain mistakes. I spotted at least two instances where something was referred to that hadn't happened, or where someone appeared in the middle of a scene who had not been there previously. The behavior of the characters - going to cities under siege, dashing around all over the place for seemingly not very good reasons - was odd and unconvincing. There were some great "set pieces" - the bear attack, the delivery of the Cloudtree twins - and I loved the Lord John, Fanny and Richardson storylines, but too much of the rest seemed thrown together in a hurry and did not gel. Actually, the Richardson thing was just plain odd, and unsatisfactory. I have no clue how Bree managed to connect him to Michael Callaghan. I re-read all the Richardson/Callaghan bits in the other books and nope, it doesn't work. I'd have LOVED to know who the Evil Lawyer was but again - unexplained. I dearly want to know about how Master Raymond is involved in all of this, the origins of Jane and Frances Pocock, and is the Duc D'Orleans back? The Fraser Conspiracy? The other time travelers? But there's been too much teasing and not enough resolution. If the next book takes another 7 years I suspect lots of these will be forgotten about and unresolved. Plus, some of us might not last another 7 years. It's ultimately, a "gripping yarn" but too much is disappointing, and somewhat sad. Jamie and Claire have faded; the only really interesting story-line left is the science fiction / time-traveler one, and I'd lay odds on Diana not wrapping this up satisfactorily. I'd like to volunteer to be one of the editors and "nit-pickers" for the last book, because I don't think she has enough of them for a novel of this size and ambition. I've given 4 stars because I LOVE the series, but really this one only deserves 3. At the end of the day, as well as everything noted above, it's TOO LONG (like this review). As if length itself is a virtue. Diana, you can write a shorter pithier novel to finish to story and satisfy your fan base. I don't thing most of us would mind.