It's exciting news, and really sad to find out the title of the last Outlander book that will ever be created by Diana Gabaldon. Exciting for the title, sad for the ending of the main series! What an epic journey through decades of life it's been.
The book 10 title is, 'A Blessing For A Warrior Going Out'
And my first thought was Jamie, a 60 some odd year old man is going into battle again?? By now I would have thought William, and the younger sons of the clan would have been called to do so! After all, it's why people had children back then isn't it? To work the land, and to fight the battles? (by the end of this final story, Diana has said Jamie will be into his 70's)
I've read many stories about history. My favorite books are of the 1700's, 1800's historical fiction. I've never read where a man that old was a warrior going into battle, aside from the Outlander books.
Diana assures, it doesn't mean Jamie is or will be dead. But she does indicate that it is him that bares the St Michaels Blessing. (the name of the book)
Read below for Diana’s Facebook page post about the title.
GOOD OMENS
Well, first things first—
A Very (slightly ex post facto…) Happy Birthday to Sam Heughan! When he was first cast to play Jamie Fraser, I noted that he was born on April 30th, while Jamie’s birthday is May 1st—one on either side of the Beltane fire.
Beltane is the Celtic fire festival that marks the beginning of summer, so plainly a time of good omens. As it turned out, it was indeed a time of good omens for All Things Outlander, so it seems an appropriate time to offer up two bits of (what I assume will be) further Good News. One on either side of the fire, as it were…
The newly recorded audiobook of OUTLANDER, recorded by Kristin Atherton (the lovely actress who played the “mature” version of Jenny Murray in Season Seven), was released just yesterday, and I’m pleased to see that so many people already are excited about it and delighted with the quality.
(This in no way denigrates the wonderful Davina Porter, who has read all the Outlander novels, through GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE. Davina has retired, but all of her recordings will remain available, alongside the new ones.)
[Should you want to check out Kristin’s new audio version, here’s a link:
https://rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9798895949726/?utm_content=331391525&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-163400547032308 ]
And on the _other_ side of the fire (aka May 1st)…I thought I’d let you know what the title of Book Ten is (so we can stop calling it Book Ten, which is slightly boring…).
First, A Word of Warning: THE BOOK IS NOT FINISHED. IT HAS NO PUB DATE (because the publishers wisely won’t set one until they have the full manuscript in their eager hands).
I AM STILL WRITING IT.
YES, I DO KNOW HOW IT ENDS.
NO, I’M NOT TELLING YOU.
NO, YOU CAN’T ORDER IT YET, BECAUSE THE PUBLISHERS DON’T HAVE PAGES SET UP FOR ORDERS BECAUSE THERE IS NO PUB DATE AND BECAUSE I HAVEN’T TOLD THEM WHAT THE BOOK IS CALLED.
Until now. <ahem>
The title of Book Ten of the OUTLANDER series (and yes, this is the final book of the main series, though there may be other companion books and side stories, depending on how long I live…) is
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
[spoiler space for people who don’t even want to know the title, but couldn’t help reading this far]
.
.
.
.
A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT
(NO, that doesn’t mean Jamie’s going to die. It’s not a death blessing, it’s the Blessing of St. Michael, said for a warrior about to go and do something important and possibly dangerous. There are quite a few people in this book who qualify for that blessing, believe me…)
It seems only reasonable to append a small sample from near the beginning of the book, but I know that not everyone wants to read bits and pieces, preferring to wait for The Whole Thing. Ergo, here’s another chunk of spoiler space:
.
.
