‘Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone’ (Outlander Book 9) Book Review

Are you a fan of the wildly popular Outlander series that airs on Starz? If so, then Go Tell The Bees That I’m Gone is going to be a book you’re interested in!

Outlander Season 6 is coming in March of 2022. And with a nearly two-year gap since Season 5 in 2020, we have been experiencing a Droughtlander, as it has come to be known. 

As far as the TV series is concerned, while COVID did play a role in the Season 6 production being delayed, that was but only one of their challenges. At New York Comic Con in 2021, Sam Heughan (who plays Jamie Fraser) shared how they had to reshoot parts of Season 6 to accommodate his on-screen wife’s real-life pregnancy. Caitriona Balfe (who plays Claire Randall), and her husband Tony McGill welcomed their baby to the world on August 18, 2021. 

On the rest of filming, Heughan admitted, “It’s been challenging. I think shooting through a Scottish winter during a pandemic, it was weird. We would go to work, especially at the start, and we didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Starz revealed that the crew was wrapping up production in June 2021 and will premiere in March of 2022. However, the new season will be shorter than the normal 12 to 13 episodes. We’ll only have 8 episodes to indulge in this spring.

But there is good news! Outlander Season 7 has already been ordered. And it will feature 16 episodes, while Season 6 will only have 8. However, the premiere will be an extended 90-minute episode. 

But Back to the Books!

But for those that follow the series and the books (on which the series is based), there is some great news: The ninth book is here!

We’ve only been waiting 7 years since 2014’s Written in My Own Heart’s Blood. To put that in perspective, the first book, Outlander, was released in 1991.

For fans of the series that haven’t yet ventured into the books yet, we highly recommend it. It’s a great way to indulge more in the story, and the Starz series actually follows the books pretty closely. Go Tell The Bees That I’m Gone is about 3 seasons ahead of the upcoming Season 6.

So with that said, let’s get to the book! What’s it about?

Warning: Potential Spoilers!

A Look at Go Tell The Bees That I’m Gone

Those familiar should already know the primary stories of the series. Jamie Fraser is a Scottish leader that has moved to the Appalachian area in the late 1700’s to make a life in the United States with his wife, Claire. It’s Claire who is the “outlander” – that is, a stranger. But in this case, she is a 20^th century doctor that has time traveled back to 1740’s Scotland and is living her life with Jamie.

When we start this book, we are well into the Revolutionary War, but thus far Jamie and his clan (tenants on his property) have managed to largely stay out of it, although he firmly stands with the Patriots.  When the war starts to get closer to Jamie and Claire it inevitably has an impact on them. And they are forced to participate in a way.

Lives are lost, loyalties are broken. There is backstabbing, plotting, and death all around.

When Jamie stumbles across a book written in the 20^th century (written by Claire’s former husband in the 20^th Century) it points to his own death at the Battle of Kings Mountain in North Carolina. Knowing his own place and date of death, is Jamie’s death an inevitability? Or can he change history and avoid his own end?

What I Liked About Go Tell The Bees That I’m Gone

As a fan of this series, there is a lot to like. We have not seen a lot of the characters in years. And it was a lot of fun to catch up and see what is happening.

For history buffs, this is a wonderful entry into the series. Author Diana Gabaldon has clearly done a ton of research and it shows. She weaves a lot of historical figures into her stories.

The one that stood out to me is Francis Marion, also known as the “Swamp Fox” who was a key member of the Continental Army. Gabaldon also shows the difference between the romanticized notions of him and the man in real life.

She also gets little things right, like the city of Charles Town, NC. This is now Charleston, but Charles Town was correct for that era in time.  And was an important location in the Revolutionary War. It’s fun to see history come alive.

What I Didn’t Like

It’s hard to criticize a work of fiction like this. But it does have a couple of things I think should be mentioned.

One, and this is not new to the series, is that Gabaldon is very detailed and with some of the most gruesome scenes. She paints a very vivid picture. One scene that stands out involves a bear attack and the details in a most unsavory way.

There are also a ton of new characters that seem to appear every other page, and each has their own rich backstory, which can be a lot to keep up with. The book also ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Since this is the ninth book, out of what is supposed to be a ten-book series, it is somewhat expected. But I do tend to love books that are self-contained. 

Go Tell The Bees That I’m Gone Review:

Grade: A (I would give an A+ but leaving the book on a cliffhanger makes it fall just a little short in my opinion, but other readers may think otherwise.)

Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone is available now in hardcover from Delacorte Press.

Are you excited for Go Tell The Bees That I’m Gone? How do you feel the Outlander TV series compares to the books?

Sound off in the comment section below and let us know your thoughts!