It's not easy to follow up on the extraordinary (and already vast) beginning of Claire Randall's life in 18th-century Scotland with the complex and impressive Jamie Fraser, but Gabaldon manages to enthrall at least as much in the 2nd book of the series as in the wild and thrilling first one. As the past meets the present and intrigues are revealed about both that make for a very compelling and uncertain future, I found that I couldn't put this down for very long before I "needed to know" what came next. To paraphrase the great Scot himself, "Oh, Outlander series, ye do break my heart wi' loving you."