The fourth in the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn begins in Charleston in 1767 where Claire, Jamie, Fergus and Ian begin a journey to find Jamie's Aunt Jocasta who owns a plantation in North Carolina. As with the previous three novels in this series, Diana Gabaldon weaves stories within stories creating a rich tale of adventure, suspense and love.

In Drums of Autumn Brianna, Jamie and Claire's daughter travels back in time to find her parents to warn them of disaster in their future. Brianna found a story in an old newspaper telling of the death of Jamie and Claire Fraser in a house fire. Roger Wakefield, Brianna's sometime boyfriend, also found the story. Roger decided not to tell Brianna for fear she would attempt to go back in time to warn her parents. When Roger learns that Brianna has done exactly that, he follows her through the stones back to 18th century Scotland. Brianna finds her way to Lollybrach and meets Jenny, Jamie's sister, and Ian and all the children. This is a wonderful part of the book where the reader can appreciate and feel the amazing connection between past and future, gave me the chills just reading it.

Roger eventually catches up with Brianna in the colonies after Roger's most arduous ocean crossing. I do agree with several of the other reviewers who feel that Brianna's character is a bit weak. I haven't caught on to, or much liked, Brianna at all since the first introduction of her character. Brianna does not have the depth or heart that Claire has and comes off as a self-centered child in many ways.

Brianna and Roger each have their own separate adventures and each is intertwined with Jamie and Claire's. Lord John Grey appears again to play an integral role in Brianna's life. The character of Lord Grey is one of my favorites as he is a man of honor.

In Drums of Autumn Jamie is not the ferocious warrior, nor the persecuted prisoner; he's a farmer and a builder. Although it was a relief of sorts not to endure any floggings or near-death misadventures, it seemed as though Jamie was out of his element having been removed from Scotland. Nonetheless, this book was everything the previous books were in it's own way. Diana Gabaldon has succeeded in continuing the `love that spans time' between Jamie and Claire and has added more depth to their relationship.

This series is one of the best I have read. I was overjoyed to discover the 5th in the series, The Fiery Cross, has already been released already so I won't have to wait to continue this engrossing saga.