Previously: Claire came back and it’s all chaos, all the time.
Oh, and Young Ian got laid. Well, mostly.
The title card is a small girl and a Hogmanay table.
Jamie, Claire and Young Ian ride to lallybroch. It’s an…. awkward homecoming. Jenny is PISSED, and stares at Claire with a whole BUNCH of emotions. Ian at least told her that Claire was back, so she’s had some time to process. “I know it must be quite a shock. But here I am.” “here ye are.” Jenny hugs Young Ian, then smacks him. Young Ian is like I didn’t want to worry you! His father sends him inside before he talks his way into more trouble.
Inside, Ian and his parents have it out. Young Ian said he was earning a wage, you know selling smuggled booze, and his parents, especially his mother, are not impressed with that. “You had my son selling liquor and consorting with criminals?” (I’m sad they didn’t include the bit where Young Ian reminds them that he signed his note “Love, Ian” because he wants to make sure they understood that he DOES, he’s just, you know, 16 and chafing.)
Jamie says that things were fine, until there was a small fire (“Small? There’s nothing left, is there?”) and Jenny’s like, oh that’s why you’re home “dragging a stray.” Jamie explains that there was a small issue of Claire sort of killing a goon, and the adults send Young Ian away (who better be findable when it’s time for his thrashing) and Jenny’s like, “You killed a man in front of my boy?” Which… well no.
Jamie tries to stand up for the kid and his life choices, and Ian’s like, okay, YOU punish him, and hands Jamie his belt. Jamie eyes Claire, and offers another idea. Young Ian is set to making dall, which is a fuel for fires made of sawdust and cow poop. It’s gross. He’s grumpy. His younger sister Janet (who is the spitting image of Laura Donnally, and sassy to boot) makes fun of him, telling him that he’s got muck around his mouth. He claims they are whiskers, which is… no. Jamie and Old Ian both admit that the other one was right.
Inside the house, there’s a pack of tiny grandchildren running around, and there’s glimmers of their old relationship, but she’s unable to resist making a dig about things changing when 20 years pass. A young man comes down with a tiny baby- it’s Wee Jamie, who responds the way many of us do when told “last time I saw you you were two feet tall!” He’s married with four kids now, and Jenny won’t let Claire hold the baby- why confuse him with a new face?
Outside, Jenny is doing laundry, and Jamie tries to have a civil conversation with her. She asks if he’s an authority of raising kids, and he’s like no, he’s an authority on being a 16 year old kid on a farm. “You should give him some freedom now, while he still thinks it’s yours to give.” She snipes back that he should also know that it’s a mortal sin to take another wife while still married. He glances at the door and says, quietly, that he wouldn’t have married again if he knew Claire was still alive, and Jenny asks why he didn’t share his grief with her, instead of locking it all up?
Jamie could barely breathe, he couldn’t speak of it. Jenny sighs, and she knew that, but he needs to tell her what happened. He tells her a version that tacks close to the truth- he planned to die at Culloden, and arranged for Claire to hide in a village nearby with money to go to the Colonies, but he heard (after not dying at Culloden) that the British went through the village and killed everyone, so… he thought Claire was dead. Claire thought he had died, so she went to the Colonies, as planned. Jenny doesn’t buy it- she and Claire went after Jamie when he’d been taken, and the Claire she knew wouldn’t abandon Jamie like that.
That night, Jamie thinks they could build a cottage on the edge of Lallybroch land and live there. Claire thinks that’ll be awkward with Jenny being so angry, and like, what if we told her the truth? Murtagh got it. Jamie doesn’t think Jenny will take it well, since Jenny hasn’t left the farm ever. That’s selling Jenny short, I think. Claire: “Jenny casts a very warm light on those that she trusts, and very cold shadow on those that she doesn’t.”
Jamie tells Claire about swimming to the island when he escaped Ardsmuir, because Duncan Kerr said the treasure on the island was guarded by a white witch. When Jamie swam to the island, he found a box filled with jewels (more portable than coin) behind a stone etched with the Mackenzie crest, but no Claire. So he went back to the prison, since there wasn’t anything for him outside, and the men in the prison needed him; he was their leader.
Claire tells him that she did wish that he’d have found her, and that when she heard birdsong, she would pretend that it was Jamie, talking to her. Jamie tells her about the greylag goose- they mate for life, so when you kill one, you should wait for it’s mate to come, so you can kill it, too. “Other wise it’ll mourn itself to death.” Claire kisses him, but he’s got something else he needs to tell her, but he was hoping to talk to ned Gowan first “To see if the law was in our favor.” Claire grasps on one important bit- Ned Gowan is alive! But before Jamie can actually tell her, two girls- one tiny and maybe 8, the other a teenager- burst in. “Daddy!” “Daddy, who is that woman?”
The girls’ mother bursts into the room, and it’s Laoghaire, and she is PISSED. She’s also shocked to see Claire, since Claire was supposed to be dead. Caitriona plays Claire’s shock and bewilderment and total confusion beautifully. This is the woman who tried to get her burned as a witch, after all. The tiniest girl, Joan, says “Daddy, Ma! Stop!” and Claire breathes “Daddy?” Laoghaire crows in triumph that Jamie didn’t tell her, and that “He’s MY husband now!” Laoghaire runs out of the room, with the girls following her, and Jamie following them, leaving Claire shaken and shaking.
Downstairs, Wee Joan asks who “that woman” is and why her mom is so upset. Jamie tries to explain in terms a kiddo can understand. He planned on telling Joan and her sister about her, but, well, things happen. “What about Ma?” Jamie tried to be a good husband to her, but they just didn’t bond. “And ye have that bond with that other woman?” He does. Joan worries that he’ll go away forever, and he tells her to not worry- he’ll always take care of them and love them. Joan flings herself into his arms, hugging him for all she’s worth.
Upstairs, Claire is getting her clothes together and crying. Jamie comes in, but she’s in no place to have a conversation, because EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE KNEW and he didn’t tell her. He admits it was a great mistake, and Claire’s like, two kids? Took you a while. Jamie tells her the girls aren’t his (“The little girl? With red hair?” “There are other red headed men in Scotland, Claire.”)
Laoghaire was a widow, they’ve been married two years and haven’t lived together most of that time. Claire: SHE TRIED TO HAVE ME KILLED. Jamie: You told me to be kind to her! Me: Oh shit. Frank: Oh shit. Literally every man who died at Culloden: OH SHIT. Bonnie Prince Charlie: Bro, even I think that was a dumb thing to say. Claire: The fuck did you just say.
Jamie admits that he didn’t tell her because he’s a coward and he was afraid she’d think it was too much, and that she’d think it was a deceit on his part. “Even though you left me!” I hide under the table. Claire: Left you? YOU MADE ME GO BACK EVEN THOUGH I WOULD HAVE GLADLY DIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD WITH YOU. YOU MADE ME AND NOW YOU’RE ANGRY I DID? HOW ABOUT YOU GO FUCK YOURSELF. “Do you know what it is to live 20 years without your heart? To live half a man and accustom yourself to live in the bit that’s left?”
YEAH SHE KNOWS. SHE DID THE SAME GODDAMN THING JAMES FRASER. They throw down: she’s angry that he married Laoghaire and he’s angry at all the times he thought about Claire lying with Frank and Frank holding the baby. There really needs to be some sort of couple’s therapy for time travelling spouses, because they need some help sorting through the issues. She turns to leave, he grabs her arms and says that if he had told her, she would have left without a word, and “I would do more than lie to keep you.” He kisses her, she slaps him, he flings her to the bed, she wrestles until they are on the floor, and what was a fight turns into anger foreplay. But before they can do much, Jenny flings a pitcher of water on them.
“Fighting and rutting like wild beasts and not caring if the whole house hears ye!” Claire rights her chemise and stops downstairs. In the hall, Wee Janet offers Claire a whiskey, which Claire admits she could use. Wee Janet apologizes for going to get Laoghaire, but to be fair to her, Jenny told her to go.
Jenny enters, and Claire’s like WTF. Jenny: She’s his wife. Claire: I’M HIS WIFE. Jenny: look, you vanish, we thought you were dead, there’s no word from you, then you come back and kill a dude, burn his print shop, and he’s on the run from the law. Again. While a lot of that is just a factor of Jamie being, well, Jamie, Claire didn’t HELP. “I wanted to come back and be part of this family again.” “Family writes letters.” Claire admits that she had another husband, in America, and she had to put her past behind her. Jenny: Does Jamie know? Yup. Kids? No. “I never had children with him.” He died, she came back to find Jamie’s grave, and found Jamie. Jenny admits that she hears truth, but also sees that Claire is hiding something from her. “When a horse breaks it’s leg you put it down because it’ll never heal right. And neither will this family.”
Ian is still the Fraser Whisperer: Jenny asks him if the fact that Jamie “lay with both wives” doesn’t bother him, and he’s like, you kind of brought this to a head. Jenny: What now. Ian: you pray every night for Jamie’s happiness, Claire’s back, he’s happy, you can’t let him have it. Jenny, with a look on her face that implies that she knows he’s right, but she’s a Fraser, she can’t admit it: “Does this look like happiness to you?”
In the morning, Claire’s packed and ready to go, and Jamie tries to apologize and hopes they can start over. Claire hits him back with what he said on their wedding night: “when you tell me something, let it be the truth, and I will promise the same.” He tells her that he’s only known one love, and before Claire can respond to that, Laoghaire comes around the corners with a pistol. And yells that Claire should just go, since “what we had wasna perfect, but you were mine!” Jamie tries to calm her down, but she accidentally fires the pistol, hitting Jamie in the arm.
Welp.
Claire shoves Laoghaire away, who runs away, crying like she’s the victim. Claire hustles Jamie into the house, and starts the surgery to dig out the pellets. (Jenny’s face when she hears that Laoghaire shot Jamie is wonderful.) Young Ian is helping, and he’s very impressed at her scalpels, calling them very fancy knives. Young Ian has basically decided that Claire can walk on water, and it’s very cute. He is the only who calls her Auntie.
Jamie wakes up by the fire, when Claire checks his bandages. After some silence, Claire says that she won’t understand what he saw in Laoghaire, and he offers to tell her, if she won’t get angry. “I haven’t stopped being angry, so you may as well explain yourself.”
When he got back to Scotland for Helwater, he didn’t fit in anymore, and he felt like a ghost. And he was lonely. We go into a flashback, where everyone is happy and dancing, and Jamie was in the corner, “filled with joy and loneliness at the same time.” Wee Joan asks if he’d like to dance, with her and Marsali, and they do. Jenny smiles to see if at least pretending to live. Wee Joan tells him that he’s a bonny dancer, and they tell him that they are Mistress MacKimmie’s daughters. She was twice widowed and two girls, aching for a father, so… well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. He wanted to be a father, and a husband. But it didn’t work out. He loved Marsali and Joan, but Laoghaire wasn’t easy to live with. She would go days without speaking to him, and he tried to be gentle with her, but she was traumatized by sex in at least one of her previous marriages, so there wasn’t anything that would help.
Claire notices that Jamie is feverish, and he’s like, look, if you’re gonna leave, I’d rather die. She’s not going to let him die, though. She snuck some penicillin through the stones, and a syringe. She takes some joy in sticking him in the ass with a needle.
Outside, Claire sits down with Jenny. Jenny says she had vision of Claire, standing between Jamie and Laoghaire when they married. She doesn’t know who or what Claire is, and when Jamie told her that Claire might “tell her things” she didn’t question it. “Ye said plant potatoes, I did as told.” And that crop saved them, and Jamie chose Claire, and that was enough. Claire: it’s not enough now? “I suppose you’ll never tell me the full story.” Claire says that she loves Jamie, she never forgot him, or the family, and she never took off the right. “You were a sister to me.” “I loved you too, Jenny. I’m only asking for a second chance.”
AND NED GOWAN COMES TO SAVE THE DAY. Claire is as thrilled to see him as I am, and he’s so happy to see her that he must dab his eyes with his tastefully lace-trimmed handkerchief.
At the table, Ned breaks down the issues: first there’s the bigamy issue, so Jamie needs to make some reparations to the Church. And Laoghaire made a complaint to the justice of the peace for distress and lack of support. Jamie and Claire could get her tried under the Disarming Act (no one is supposed to have a firearm), but that would get her transported, and Jamie doesn’t want that (Claire does). What Laoghaire wants is Jamie’s balls mounted on her wall, but will settle for 20 pounds, and 10 pounds a year in alimony until the girls are wed.
Jenny points out that that’s a year’s wages. Jamie proposes to go get the jewels and coins on the island. Claire points out that his arm is full of holes, and Young Ian overhears and asks how far it is. It’s a quarter mile, and Young Ian is like, yeah I can do that. Jenny sends him away, and asks how Jamie plans to turn the jewels into money? Why, he’ll take them to France and Cousin Jared (still kicking) can help. Jamie also proposes taking Young Ian with them. Jenny sighs, but agrees, since it’ll be good to give him freedom while he still think it’s his parents’ to give. Ian asks that they take better care of him this time. “We will. You can trust us.”
On the cliffs on the coast, Jamie and Claire watch Young Ian swim, and once the kid is on the island, Jamie feels like it’s time for a heart to heart. He notes that Claire can’t meet his eye, and she admits that she’s afraid they don’t belong together anymore. They both had lives and families, and she didn’t hate her life. And maybe he didn’t hate his. “Being a printer was naught compared to being your husband.” She admits that it’s been so much harder than she imagined, and he’s like, when’s it been easy? He apologizes again. “Will you risk that man I am for the sake of the man you once knew?”
But before she can answer, a ship appears from behind the island. A boat from the ship rows to the island, and they see that Ian is making his way down the water. They call for Ian to go back, but they can’t be heard over a quarter mile. A man from the ship surprises Ian, and he gets hauled into the boat, and back to the ship. Claire and Jamie run down to the water, and they watch, helplessly, as the ship drops sail and leaves.
Jenny is gonna kick both of their asses.
Elyse: Don’t fuck with Jenny. Don’t ever fuck with Jenny. She’s no fool
Honestly I’m as invested in Claire and Jenny’s friendship as I am in Claire and Jamie’s romance.
So of course Jamie was married because we can’t be happy.
The whole idea that Jamie left Laoghaire because she couldn’t stand physical intimacy due to abuse really, really pisses me off. I’m not a fan of Laoghaire at all, but that’s such a BS reason to bail, especially when he tells us how badly he wanted to be a father to the girls.
Ugh.
Also they couldn’t get Ian a dinghy?
RHG: I think that the lack of intimacy wasn’t even in the top five problems with that marriage. The not speaking to him for days on end and generally making the house a miserable place to be, I mean, that whole idea was bad from the start. Laoghaire doesn’t know how to have an adult relationship, and Jamie needs that. I don’t think there was any way to save that situation without intensive, anachronistic therapy.
Jenny and Claire being at odds makes me very sad. I mean, from Jenny’s point of view, she’s right. Claire just left, and never let the family she said she loved know that she wasn’t dead. She let them be sad, and she let Jamie be broken. That’s what Jenny sees. (I honestly think that Jenny could understand Claire’s special circumstances, but Jamie and the writers don’t agree with me.)
What about you? How did you like this episode?
I’ve never read Outlander and these synopses confirm for me that I don’t want to. These people sound absolutely horrid.
I think I’m the only one who has never liked Jenny. Too strident. It began with the famous waterwheel scene. Poor Jamie is necked and trying to get out of the cold water and she’s just standing there. Go away! Then she encourages Mary to put a move on Jamie while he’s in the cave. And worse of all, she encourages the Jamie/Laoghaire thing. And worse if all, she sends her daughter to rat on Jamie. I never visualized Jenny to be so obnoxious when I read the books. She needs to mind her own business.
In my honest opinion, this episode is better than the last. It also made me chuckle when Jamie and Claire where sex fighting and I was like “God, you two are ridiculous but I love you anyway”
– @Michelle
They are. I stopped reading the books at this point because I wanted all of them to just go die in a fire. (That, and all the rapes.)
This may be the first episode I found fully satisfying. Partly because they had actual converstations, but mostly because Jenny. One of my Outlander trip friends hosts a dinner cooked from the Outlander Kitchen cookbook which they eat after viewing. She asked for a suggestion for last Sunday and I told her whatever she decided she should probably char it since I anticipated lots of burns from Jenny. Aside from that bucket of water the only thing that mad me happier was the reappearance of Ned Gowan. They’ve been teasing for two weeks and there he finally was, eyes still a twinkling.
Easily the best episode so far.
And I loved the changes the show writers did… the best was showing Jamie falling in love with the little girls first and foremost… I really understood then how he could have married L.
@Jennifer
To be fair, in the books, when the Protagonists act like jerks, they get called out for it.
@Jennifer in GA: I stopped reading after the first book (and only finished that because I knew how very popular the series is and I’m an optimist and not a quitter) for similar reasons. The end of the first book about killed me and I knew I wouldn’t be able to watch it. I do eagerly read the synopses for this and Poldark (which I stopped viewing after season 1 due to way too much melodrama and I knew about the upcoming rape of Elizabeth). So thank you for that and for the images I miss.
I don’t know why they don’t just tell Jenny and Old Ian the truth. They have both seen some shit – I have no doubt they could handle it.
One of the things I loved about this book is that Jamie gets some life experience and character development without Claire around. But he never becomes too perfect – like in this fight scene when he done fucked up.
I am stoked we’re getting to the nautical section finally!
The writers had a twitter discussion about this recently — they felt too many people would know??
The series is awesome guys. They’ve ‘updated’ a lot of the problematic source material… Just the costumes alone are worth the price of admission!! 🙂
@MClaudia
Agree wholeheartedly, on the series being awesome. I love the romance, and I love the story. I love both the books and the tv show, but let’s face it, the books are not entirely perfect, some contain stereotypes (such as with Mr. Willoughby), and there is some gay panic from Captain Randall in the books, like he’s a typical evil bisexual sadistic pervert.
I’ve been binge-watching the series thanks to temporary free On Demand from Verizon. So here’s my 25¢:
One minor correction: The quote about the two of them being honest with each other isn’t from their wedding night. It’s from Devil’s Mark, S1E11, after Jamie rescues Claire (again) from being burned at the stake for being a witch, because she simply cannot listen to anything he tells her (stay away from Gellis) and she tells him the truth about her being from the future shortly after they are speaking those words.
I despise TV Claire and she’s why I quit watching the show. I keep up fine here, as you guys give awesome summaries! Claire does nothing but cause trouble and act superior to everyone around her. I know book Claire wasn’t as snotty from reading good summaries of them (like these excellent TV episode recaps), and now I cannot find the website where I’d read those! I was inspired by these TV recaps to revisit the show, and the books (in condensed form). Book Claire was a likeable character, and not a scrawny waif,unlike TV Claire, IMO. TV Claire is this superwoman who knows it all, constantly contradicts Jamie, and who every guy wants to screw, and it’s just not attractive.
How many kids do Jenny and Ian have now? Can’t believe Jenny survived so many childbirths! How did Wee Jamie pop out 4 kids by age what, maybe 22? He was a toddler of maybe 3, tops, when Jenny had her mini-me that Claire helped deliver, in season 1. How young did they marry back then? And why is Young Ian running around in town an issue at age 16 when clearly Wee Jamie was already married by then? Married and having a baby each year since. And why doesn’t Claire tell Jenny about Brianna? Like, “I was pregnant when I left for America and that’s why I married” or something? While she was half-explaining her missing 20 years she could have mentioned their daughter, to validate her marriage in America “for survival”, and so she and Jamie could actually mention her again. They just stopped mentioning Brianna after Jamie complained about the bikini the second time.
Another issue I have with season 3 so far was young Fergus remaining so young, when he was supposed to be a teenager (shown playing with guns in the barn with the other tweens,etc). He was still the 8-year-old from before when he lost his hand! And by then Fergus was in his teens, because it was well after Culloden, when Jamie was hiding out and known as Dunbonnet. The show couldn’t get a teen actor to play the one episode of Fergus being a teen? We went from the cute brothel orphan straight to late-20s Fergus in season 3, actor-wise, and luckily the older Fergus actor has those big expressive eyes just like the child actor did. Just a pet peeve about the kid being a kid and his teens skipped-over visually on the show. I’m a stickler for details, especially in shows like this that strive for realism. (You don’t even wanna hear me shred Walking Dead, lol)
Seems to me like too much is happening too fast after Claire’s return compared to previous seasons. At least they addressed Jamie’s fabulous physique 20 years later. Would like to know how the books handled the marriage issue to Loghaire (which to me is mentally pronounced “Log Hair”. How they get variations of “Laurie” from that spelling I will never know). Jamie leaving because she was skittish in bed is complete and total BS. After the way he was so nice with the b¡t¢h who blackmailed him into taking her virginity in England? Then got pregnant as a result yet was too stupid to consummate her marriage at least? How did she explain that? And why did her husband keep her? Asinine! And why didn’t Jamie negotiate the alimony amount? I know in the books he volunteered to support her daughters, wasn’t forced into it by that conniving wench Loghaire. Chaos reigns when Claire is near for sure, yet she always saves the day with her doctorin’ expertise (or some future knowledge like songs and books), if Jamie isn’t rescuing her from something he told her not to do. I can’t imagine the books and how cumbersome they must be (especially the one this season is based on) with all of these locations coming up (I don’t wanna give any spoilers but they travel around and do quite a bit of history participation in the books, from what I recall from those synopses I had read).
Ok. I’m done ranting and raving. See why I rarely comment?
I just adore Jamie though. So romantic with the things he says. So honorable, even when involved in criminal activities. *swoon* Too bad TV Claire is such a downer.
Trivia tidbit: the actor who played Frank/Captain Randall was in Underworld: Bloodwars (2016). He played the head Lycan, Marius. Weird casting there, IMO.
I am a total unabashed book and show lover! Read and re-read all the books for years and totally adore everything they have done/will do in the show. I think they are doing everything right and have no complaints at all. And I adore your recaps. Keep up the good work. I heartily recommend that those who have not yet read the books – take a deep breathe and dive in – the time is worth it; they are life-enhancing!
Excellent recap. I’m going to hold off on any book to television grumbling because they’ve done a mostly decent job of working around some of the problematic source material. Plus, it’s an adaptation and not a line by line rendering, so… 🙂
Hey @Nicki S? Tobias Menzies who played Frank/BJR is/was one of the most accomplished of the cast members and he’s been in LOADS of things from Rome to GoT to British historical dramas, etc. as well 🙂 He did a stellar job of bringing the Randalls to life too IMO
Pamela,
Oh no, I agree that Tobias is a fabulous actor. (I’m absolutely terrible with remembering names, BTW, and was too tired to look it up, otherwise I would have mentioned him by name.) I only know him from GoT and Outlander, and the way he differentiated Frank from Capt. Randall was very impressive. He’s an extremely talented actor. I meant that his role in Underworld seemed so beneath him, knowing what he’s capable of. I certainly meant no disrespect whatsoever. I should’ve been more clear on that, and I apologize if it came off wrong. I intended for it to mean it was weird for him to accept that role as he in no way comes off as a crazy Lycan, IMO. A dignified elder vampire, maybe…
AND I’m so glad to hear that he’s in Rome! I recently scored the complete boxed set of DVDs of the older HBO show and can’t wait to watch it. (I’m a wee bit of a history buff.)
@ Nicki S: Book Claire was an incredibly smug character. Always right. Everyone wanted to bang her. So self-righteous it made you want to rip your face off at times. I actually think she’s a lot less annoying on the show, by a very wide margin. They take some of her more annoying traits and soften them a touch.
Source: I’ve read the first four books multiple times like a total masochist.
Wow. I guess the fans behind that website (that I can’t find again, naturally) decided to overlook that crucial fact. How did you manage to reread the massive books with such an annoying heroine? I am a huge fan of DNFing books for that very reason. I quit watching the show because of it. I’m too old and there’s too much else out there to waste my time being annoyed, lol. Looks like the show is doing a better job with Claire than I’d thought, besides her physical attributes anyway. I definitely will never be reading the books despite my adoration of Jamie and some side characters. I despise Claire way too much and am glad that my free preview of Starz has ended. Back to strictly enjoying these recaps!
@ Nicki S.: Haha, “Smug Claire” is definitely a “your mileage may vary” type of situation. A lot of people are super attached to Claire, obviously, and don’t think that at all. But, if you’re annoyed by Show Claire, I personally think that Book Claire would make you want to tear your hair out. I could be wrong, though… 😉
I see and hear your DNF policy… You’re right: life is too short for books that annoy you! Unfortunately, I first read Outlander when I was young — 12 or 13? My mom read it, forbid me from reading it because it was too adult (she was right), but I knew where she kept the book, so I snuck it out. Even though it’s been many years, the books still have this weird nostalgia hold over me.
The New Classic,
Ahh, nostalgia is a powerful thing. I can relate; after reading a review of the 6th book (that I hadn’t even known existed, lol) in the Clan of the Cave Bear series here at SBTB, I began re-collecting the paperbacks for a re-read. So far I’ve found all but book #5 in paperback, and have spent $6 total on those 5 books. I’d read the first 3 books in the series around age 14 I believe, and at the time really enjoyed them. I was a history buff then as well. I’m sure I will have a different perspective now, a few years *ahem*decades* later, but the memories alone will make the re-read worthwhile.