Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 88 breakdown

Roger buys a sword in Outlander Book 5, Chapter 88

After doing some sword training in the last couple of episodes, it’s time for Roger to buy his own sword. That takes place in Cross Creek in Outlander Book 5, Chapter 88.

It’s a short chapter. We get to see Roger pick up a sword and test it out. How do you test drive a sword? That’s something for Roger to figure out when a doctor steps forward and suggests they compete with the first to draw blood the winner.

Roger can’t exactly say no. He’s not used to this as test driving something, but he’s in a completely different time period. And I love that we get to see just how someone would test out a sword before committing to buying it. After all, how else are you meant to make sure the sword is the right weight and size?

Jamies watches the whole thing play out. It’s clear that he’s curious to see how Roger will do in this fight against someone else.

The chapter was partly used for the series. Instead of seeing Roger test drive the sword on someone else, we get to see Jamie take that place. I do think that this change worked and was important, and I’ll share why in the adaptation section.

Does it really foreshadow anything? I don’t think so. Maybe one small thing between Jamie and Roger.

Let’s dive into The Fiery Cross Chapter 88.