The never ending story

So the series that has been a constant companion for me in 2010 has drawn to an end, or at least that is what I expected to happen when I began to read the much anticipated seventh book in the Outlander series "An Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon. I had heard someone say that this series may never end recently, but supposed that they were just having a hard time slugging through the lengthy novels. I was reading this last book with mixed feelings of joy over having made it through the series and sadness that the characters whom I had spent so much time getting to know were no longer going to be having any new adventures.
Instead my "friends" have quite the adventure ahead of them. The book closes with numerous cliffhangers. The unfortunate part is that this author is not exactly known for writing novels quickly. This may very well be why each book is so beautifully written and complex, but that likely also means I may have a year or years to wait before I find out what happens next.

Here's what has happened so far!

Outlander:
While on her second honeymoon in the British Isles, WWII nurse Claire encounters mysterious standing stones which hurl her back in time to the forbidden Castle Leoch with the MacKenzie clan. Not understanding the forces that brought her there, she becomes ensnared in life-threatening situations with a Scots warrior named James Fraser. To protect Claire from the forces that seek to destroy her she must gain the protection of the clan which is only accessible to her through marriage. Though she is horrified to find herself married to a stranger when she is already married to her husband Frank in the future, to her surprise the marriage sparks a love and passion like she's never known.

Dragonfly in Embers:
For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones, about a love that transcends the boundaries of time, and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his
Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart, in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising, and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.

Voyager:
Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her.
Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her.
Drums of Autumn:
Set in pre-Revolutionary War America this book continues Claire and Jamie's romantic love affair, and introduces Brianna and Roger's story.

The Fiery Cross:
In this pre-Revolutionary War period, Claire Fraser and her husband, Jamie, have crossed oceans and centuries to build a life together in the bucolic beauty of North Carolina. But tensions both ancient and recent threaten not only Claire and James, but their daughter, Brianna, her new husband, Roger, and their infant son, Jemmy, as well as members of their clan. 
 
A Breath of Snow and Ashes:
The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.
With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that in three years time, the result will be independence with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

An Echo in the Bone:
In this seventh installment, Claire and Jamie's story of adventure through the major turning points of the American Revolution and journey back to Scotland are skillfully entertwined with the story of Claire's daughter Brianna and her husband Roger who have returned through the stones to the 20th Century in hope of getting life saving heart surgery for their daughter Amanda. They have moved into Lallybroch, Jamies childhood home and discovered there a treasure of letters put away safely from their parents to greet them. A new danger hunts this young family and leaves Brianna to face a cruel new foe alone with her young daughter. Interwieved with this is the story of Jamie's son (which he had with a woman who died in childrbirth many years after Claire disappeared through the stones to protect their child). William has always believed himself to be the son of Lord Ellesmere, his mothers husband who also died on the day of his birth. He has been raised by his kind Uncle Lord John Grey. John has done everything in his power to protect William from the truth of his patronage, but this will become more difficult when each encounters the other on the battlegrounds between the Loyalists and the Revolutionaries.