The Outlandish Companion

by:Diana Gabaldon
In Which Much is Revealed...if you really want to know. Truth is, I don't need to know. I don't need to read emails between Ms. Gabaldon and her fans about herbal medicine practices. I don't need to read the birth charts and horoscopes for Jamie and Claire. I don't need a synopsis of all the books I've already read, thanks.
I had checked this out of the library when I had begun The Fiery Cross, intending to blast through FC and the latest book, and continuing on to Companion. Unfortunately (or really rather fortunately) I was only able to skim this before I had to return it to the library. I read the chapters I wanted and skipped such things as character horoscopes, emails between Diana and her readers on various obsessive topics, and bad computer generated images and rehashed descriptions of items like wedding rings, necklaces, and other "Objects of Use."
What I did get out of this book was the process of Diana's writing and research, which was interesting. Just as I suspected she writes random chapters and then strings them together with filler. Enh...whatever works for you. She frequently re-iterates that the first book was for practice and never meant to be seen by anyone, therefore she has been using this series to develop her style and process. OK, I can live with that. Seriously though the editing still needs work, I thought the point of the editor was to help the author string these things together.
The other big point of interest was the chapters of things she has already written for future books. One was for The Fiery Cross, which has been published, although part of that ended up in A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Interestingly the series was intended as 6 books with the final being King's Farewell. But we know A Breath of Snow and Ashes is #6 and the chapter from King's Farewell "Surgeon's Steel" was not in Snow. So I'm thinking we still have one more book to go.