Outlander

I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of these books until I heard everyone talking about the new show. When the wedding episode aired, my entire Facebook feed was filled with excited posts about it. Curiosity got me and after discovering I had Starz on my cable I went and watched the first episode. I was hooked and promptly watched all of the episodes, each one better than the last! I fell in love with these characters and figured if the show was that good then the book was probably even better so I knew I had to read it! When I learned that the midseason hiatus would last until April I thought what better way to pass the time than to read the books? Well I finally just finished Outlander and I have to say, it was everything I hoped it would be and I fell even more in love with these characters and this epic story and epic love throughout the course of the book! I’m an avid reader of romance novels, but historical romance was not a genre I’d ever considered, and if I had never seen the show I probably never would have given it a try. Which would have truly been a shame because I would have missed out on this great adventure! Normally I prefer reading the book before I watch a movie or TV adaptation, but in this case I’m glad I did because it gave me a frame of reference and I could clearly picture the locales and the characters as I read. And I can just imagine the brilliant performances we’re going to get to see as the 2nd half of the series unfolds. But back to the book. I loved the concept of time travel and I love how resourceful and strong Claire is when faced with the prospect of having to live in the 1700s. She could definitely hold her own and I loved that she continually stood up for herself and for what she thought was right, often risking her neck in the process, but she didn’t let these foreign times get the best of her. I loved the development of her relationship with Jamie, first as friends, then as reluctant lovers after they are forced together in marriage and finally as soul mates who are clearly meant to be together. Of course the both of them are incredibly stubborn and strong willed so their relationship is not without its fair share of arguments and disagreements but I like how they learn to navigate each other and work together as a partnership. Jamie was a wonderfully written alpha male who like I said was very stubborn and strong willed, but he was also playful and caring and loving. There were many different sides to him and it didn’t take much to fall in love with him! Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from Jamie to Claire that show his alpha and softer sides: “Ye need not be scairt of me,” he said softly. “Nor of anyone here, so long as I am with ye.” “Aye, I mean to use ye hard, my Sassenach,” he whispered. “I want to own you, to possess you, body and soul.” “Oh, aye, Sassenach,” he answered a bit ruefully. “I am your master… and you’re mine. Seems I canna possess your soul without losing my own.” “I wanted ye from the first I saw ye – but I loved ye when you wept in my arms and let me comfort you, that first time at Leoch.” All the while that this beautiful love story unfolds, there is also an epic story going on as the Scots are at war with the British and danger awaits at every turn. Claire is dealing with trying to conceal her true story while trying to fit into this foreign time (with witch hunts a common occurrence and just by virtue of her being an Englishwoman mysteriously appearing in the Scottish Highlands, this often proves to be difficult) and Jamie is trying to keep a low profile due to being a wanted man. And with a sadistic man after them both, the action never lets up. There are many humorous moments and equally as many heart breaking and difficult moments. This book really had it all and I am so glad that I read it. I look forward to watching the second half of the season when it returns and in the meantime I look forward to continuing their journey in the other books in the series!

I’m writing this as a review for the *Outlander* series as a whole, even though it isn’t finished yet. What can I say? It’s one of those acclaimed series that actually earns its reputation. It won awards, it got turned into a TV show, it shows up on all the “best of” lists. So of course you go in expecting it to be good. The surprising part, for me, is that it still managed to meet those expectations and even surpass them at times. I don’t enjoy romance novels. At all. I do love time travel novels, they’re my favorite genre, but I really hate when the time travel is treated like a background gimmick or a sub-genre label. In Outlander, the time travel is definitely more of an abstract framework than a hard sci-fi system, and there's a lot of romance. On paper, that should annoy me. But this series is just so good that I’m able to forget all of that. Obviously every book is written by an author. But every now and then you run into an Author, and there is a difference. This is one of those. You can feel the words on the page flow through you. You can see the scene play out in your head. You end up highlighting a line or two almost every chapter because it’s written that well. Phrases you never would’ve come up with in a thousand years show up every few pages. The emotions are handled beautifully, some of the best I've ever seen. When the action (which is rare) does show up, it feels perfectly placed. The background stories are rich. The world building is immaculate. It all just feels incredibly well crafted. I usually enjoy fast-paced novels. This series is not that. You’re pretty much forced to read it carefully. If you skim, you’ll find yourself going, “Wait, what just happened, what did I miss?” and flipping back. And yet, somehow, even for a guy like me who likes action-heavy books, everything still ends up being interesting. The world building is that good. I can’t even imagine how much work and research went into this... it feels like there was a massive amount of research done just for a single random chapter. There are so many little historical tidbits and details sprinkled in. The dialogue and characters are just as impressive. You meet one person and they have their own distinct way of speaking. Then you might see that same character again several books later and they still sound like the same person. Same dialect, same favorite words, same tone. Another character has a completely different voice. That consistency across such a long series is incredible. I honestly can’t fathom the amount of work it takes to keep all of that straight. This is also one of the very few authors I’ve actually subscribed to for updates. That’s how much I respect what she’s doing with this series. It isn’t perfect, of course. Some of the romantic stuff is, to put it mildly, a bit unhinged. There are a good many clichés here and there, and a good many implausible coincidences. The length and slower pace can absolutely be a downside. Sometimes it really does feel like a slog, and you have to be in the right mood to tackle it. But even with those flaws, what the author's pulled off here is incredible. This level of craft is rare. And this is coming from a male reader. I know this is very much seen as a “female” series in a lot of ways, and I know there probably aren’t that many guys who pick it up. All I can say is that yes, it really is as good as the hype says. For me, it even exceeds the hype. If you can handle long books, a slower pace, and a heavy dose of romance wrapped around a more abstract time travel setup, this series is absolutely worth your time.

With over 13,000 reviews on Amazon, it hardly seems likely that Ms. Galbadon needs my 2 cents. But, Outlander heralds one of the largest turning events in the history of book publishing. Consider this: not only was the book so incredibly popular and loved that it launched its own subgenre (kilt pron), it was also a harbinger of the move towards more intelligent writing in the romance genre and the concept of cross-genre marketing. Yes, it's a bit of a bodice-ripper at heart, but thank goodness the original publisher gave it a little more respect and gave it more mysterious cover. I first read Outlander right after it came out, when someone who claimed to know and love me gave it to me. They knew I liked books, and they had heard it was very popular, so somehow I ended up with a copy. What on earth do you get for someone who loves Isaac Asimov, Chaucer, and John Steinbeck? Apparently, "Outlander." (heavy sigh) At some point, I ran out of reading material and picked it up and gave it chance. It had time travel in it, which I guess might have been confusing. I have read a few Gothic romances and bodice rippers in the past, after I'd finished the backs of all the cereal boxes and was at a complete loss, so it's not like I was losing my mass market cherry. It wasn't bad. It was even enjoyable. It was even pretty well written. I couldn't complain. I enjoyed it, admitted to it, and left it there. I not only didn't read the sequels, I didn't even know they existed. Twenty years passes. I decided to give it another read just recently to see if my memory served right that it was an unusually good example of the romance genre. With the TV show coming out and many of my book loving friends enjoying the resurgence in popularity, and having the $1.99 it cost me on Kindle, I thought I'd see if it stood up after all this time. You don't need me for a recap, so I'll skip that part. It's a fun, laid-back kind of read. It's not life-changing. The history angle is rather engaging and I wish there had been more of it. I love time travel stories, and I wish there had been more focus on that. The sexy bits were okay if you like that sort of thing. The violent scenes were a bit too violent and creepy for me, but I guess the author had to make a point. The cultural comparisons were kind of interesting. The plot and subplots were sort of developed, and I wished I'd gotten more out of them. But I've got to admit, and I hate to say it, but I really got sick of Jamie Fraser. Every little detail about his childhood and the pages spent on them wore me down. Just TMI. I suppose we had to fully understand how wonderful Jamie was in order to give the protagonist a pass for being an adulteress. But, you know, if that means I have to skim over pages and page and pages of Jamie's stories, and stories about Jamie, and accolades of Jamie and his wonderful deeds in order to accept the protagonists situation, then I'd rather not be bothered. It's a well-written, relatively engaging book, purely entertainment. But the author spends so much time apolobizing and justifying her characters that it really kills the flow. Yes, Claire is sleeping with a man who is not her (original) husband. We get it. She's stuck 200 years in the past, and quite frankly it looks like the best option. So, we have to spend way too many pages in order to justify why this is okay by making Jamie just a little too good to be true. It's like having a drunk girlfriend hanging off of you , slobbering about how great the guy who won't leave his wife is. Along with that, she spends a lot of time justifying that the bad guy just happens to be gay. That's not the point, subtext tells us. The problem isn't that he's gay, the problem is that he's an unrepentant sadist (and an incestuous one, at that). In fact, she introduces a perfectly nice gay fellow just to show she doesn't mean to seem homophobic. Of course, she has to qualify that via the opinions of these barbaric primitives of the past. I can't see myself reading the sequels. I've had enough Jamie Fraser for one lifetime.

I have to admit that the first time I saw this book in the library, I avoided it. As much as I love the time travel genre, the length put me off. That changed when the Outlander series started in August of 2014. I discovered that this book is more than just a time travel romance, but a journey into an era that covers so many aspects of human existence. Reading this book led me to the other books in the series and I find myself immersed in the lives and times of people who struggled to survive a terrible crisis in Scottish history. Diana Gabaldon wrote a series that begins with three people that will become entangled in events they have no control over. Claire Randall, on her second honeymoon in Scotland with Frank, witnesses a ceremony that will change her life. At Craigh Na Dun, she is pulled into what I think of as a time vortex and ends up in 1743. The first person she meets up with is a man who is a descendant of Frank, Captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall. At first, she thinks he is Frank, but soon finds out that he is nothing like her husband when he attacks and tries to rape her. Fortunately, she is saved by Murtagh, a Jacobite sympathizer, who takes her to where the rest of his raiding party is hiding. There, she meets Jamie, who has a dislocated shoulder and the rest of the "gang" who are very suspicious of a English lass wearing nothing but her "undergarments." She fixes Jamie's shoulder and is taken along to Castle Leoch until it is discovered whether Claire is a spy. This is just the start of a very long and intricate story, full of intrigue and characters that can never be taken at face value. It is no wonder that Ron Moore is making a television series out of it. I have never been so impressed with a story that makes me laugh so much or cry so much in one book. The relationship between Claire and Jamie is different from most "romance" since they are friends, long before the next step is taken. This may be due to the fact that Claire doesn't want to cheat on Frank, even though, technically, he doesn't exist yet. Also, though Jamie is not perfect, he respects Claire enough to keep his distance, though you know that he is falling for her. You will find many uncomfortable situations coming up in this book, which will test your patience with the morals and beliefs of people in the 1740's, but Diana is very honest about these moments and does not sugar coat them. You will have to make up your own mind about them as you read. I personally felt sick to my stomach at many of the events, especially with what happened to Jamie in prison because of Randall. I try to use it at an object lesson to remember to care about others and be careful about becoming prejudiced of any group of people. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and watching Ron Moore's adaptation on Starz. Hopefully, they will approve the release of the series on DVD for those who do not have cable. Everyone deserves to see this book on film. As Jamie would say, "Je Suis Prest-I am ready."

I’ve been meaning to read Outlander for years. Part time travel, part historical fiction, big best seller… it’s also fundamentally a Romance (cough). This last gave me pause, but finally, after checking out the show (to be reviewed later) I bit the bullet. It’s funny how bestselling series drive against the current of writing “shoulds.” This book is long. It’s detailed. The protagonist is often adrift without clear “motivation” or “agency.” The prose can be highly redundant. There are countless scenes that don’t serve the spine of the plot. But these “problems” also help make for a good read, and a good read it is. Fundamentally this is a novel about interesting, and well developed (if sometimes problematic) characters, caught in an unusual and fascinating blend of setting and situation. Setup: It’s 1945 and Claire Randall is a happily married nurse. On holiday in Scotland with her husband, a circle of ancient stones mysteriously teleports her to 1743. Stuck there, she meets and falls in love with sexy highlander Jaime Fraser against the backdrop of the coming Jacobite rising. This sounds fairly trite, and it is, but the historical detailing of 18th century Scotland is very well done. The author clearly did her research, and she builds a cast of interesting characters and a rather fascinating world on the edge of war. There is an intrinsic tension between Claire’s two lives. Her modern husband isn’t a bad guy at all, even if he lacks Jaime’s manly-man energy. But she finds herself in this new place and in love — so what does she do? This dilemma provides for most of the conflict during the first two thirds of the novel. Let’s back up and discuss prose and voice. Gabaldon is a good writer. Her prose is energetic and descriptive, often erudite. The voice is completely first person from Claire’s POV. She has an engaging, if a bit overly clinical viewpoint. I had small problems with repetition. Gabaldon often repeats words a sentence later without reason of parallelism and has a tendency to elaborate on a point more than necessary. This is a book where a great deal of the subtext is in the text. Claire spells it out. Sometimes twice. Sometimes thrice. This, by the way, is another of those writing “shoulds.” You’re not supposed to “tell,” but “show” (imply). That’s “better writing.” But as far as I can tell, bestsellers don’t tend to be subtle. There is a lot of Scottish accented dialog in this book, and it’s very well handled. Claire’s POV is generally excellent, but it does result in a few issues. Occasionally (particularly in the later part of the novel) some events occur “off screen” (when she isn’t there). Gabaldon then results to gratuitous retellings where other characters relate the event to her in unlikely detail. Occasionally, a briefer recounting leads to some reader confusion. Claire is also hyper aware and overly clinical. As the author likes to handhold us through her thought process, it sometimes feels like exactly this, author handholding rather than genuine cognition. This leads to one of my bigger “motivational gripes” with this generally excellent novel, that Claire often feels fairly selfish and overly analytic. Particularly in the middle of the novel, Claire is nominally still plotting to head back to the future, but this tell feels incongruous with the emotions the author has her “show” toward Jaime. As I mentioned, the historical details are good. The attitudes of the 18th century men and women are well handled and relatively free of anachronism. Things are properly grungy, sexist, and occasionally brutish. It is occasionally a little odd that Claire herself is not terribly discomforted by this. She points out plenty of good stuff, particularly having to do with justice, medicine, and punishment, but she doesn’t really seem to miss toilets, showers, medical care, comfortable clothes, or well preserved food. Perhaps her life as a nurse during WWII was grungy enough to prepare her. She occasionally mentions discomforts flipply, but less than I’d imagine. She never really complains (or seems to suffer) with regard to food, sleeping in haystacks, or walking barefoot across the chilly Scottish moors. The time travel element is very light SciFi/Fantasy in this first novel at least, but is used to good effect. There is no mumbo-jumbo explanation to gum things up. Being a romance, and a fairly erotic one, this is also a novel full of sex. Jaime and Claire go at it like rabbits — and things are often fairly explicit, at least in a literary way. I have no problem with most of this, as it’s actually pretty hot, and I imagine that for many women it’s insanely hot (see, word repeated deliberately for effect!). But there are aspects to the sexuality in this novel that are weird. Two huge ones (spoiler alert): 1) In the middle, after Claire disobeys him, Jaime “punishes” her by strapping her bare ass (to put it bluntly). To tell the truth, his reasoning is perfectly typical by 18th century standards, but comes off as a bit twisted by ours. And some readers will be bothered by the otherwise very spunky Claire’s fairly rapid absolution of her wife-beating lover. In fact, it’s clear that Gabaldon has a bit of a “thing” for corporal punishment as it’s a constant theme in the book. Jaime goes way overboard to emphasize how much hiding her turned him on. 2) More disturbingly, Gabaldon probably isn’t the biggest fan of Homosexuality. The novel’s villain (Black Jack) is not only gay, but she goes to great lengths to integrate his evil tendencies and his sexual proclivities. Otherwise, he’s actually a rather excellent villain, but she goes big time overboard in Jaime’s recounting of the intensely odd and twisted “final hours” between Jaime and the menacing Black Jack. It’s pretty darn nasty and twisted. This, along with a retelling of an older encounter between Jaime and a gay Duke feels like an overzealous attempt to demonize… to quote the novel: “poofters.” Overall, this is an excellent novel. None are perfect, and it’s engaging throughout. The place/time is vividly depicted, and the characters are boldly executed. Both stay with you — which is no small feat for any author. Andy Gavin, author of Untimed and The Darkening Dream

"Outlander" is a novel that fits into many different genre's. It has adventure, intrigue, suspense, witchcraft, time travel, and history to name a few. But first and foremost it is an epic love story. It tells of a love so great that it transcends time and makes one woman give up all that she has ever known to be with that special man despite the dangers present two hundred years in the past. Claire Randall was a nurse for the English Army in World War II. As the war had just ended and she had been gone several years, she goes to Scotland with her husband Frank for a second honeymoon and the chance to become re-acquainted. Frank, a history professor, was working on a family tree and was gathering information on some of his ancestors who had spent time in Scotland. Claire, on the other hand, was content collecting herbs and wildflowers. It was on one of these excursions that she came upon Craigh na Dun and the miniature stone henge located there. She and Frank returned the next morning and witnessed a Druid ceremony, leaving cautiously so as not to be seen. Claire returned alone later to retrieve a lovely wildflower she had seen earlier, but when she walked between a cleft in the rock, the world became fuzzy and began to spin. As her senses recovered, she saw a band of Scots and British redcoats battling in the field below. Thinking it was a movie being made, she headed for the forest so as not to interfere with the filming. There she came face to face with the spitting image of her husband Frank. He introduced himself as Captain Jonathan Randall of the British Dragoons, the very ancestor Frank had been investigating. Thinking quickly, she used her maiden name and introduced herself as Claire Beauchamp. Claire quickly learned that any resemblance to Frank did not extend to personality traits as the honorable Captain Randall attempted to rape her. Rescued by a band of Scots, who she later learned was the McKenzie clan, Claire was taken along with them. It soon became apparent that she was in another time, 1743 to be exact, and the McKenzie's were taking her away from the henge and her only chance to get back to her own time. Claire could not explain how she came to be where she was and the Scots thought she may be a British spy, while Captain Randall thought she was either a spy for the Scots or the French. As the Mckenzie's were discussing what was to be done with her, she saw a young man who had been shot in the shoulder and the joint dislocated. The young man, it was learned later, was named Jamie Fraser, and he and Claire became bound together at that time, though neither knew it then. After treating his wound with a great degree of skill, they decided to take her back to their castle if nothing else than to be a healer. And so began the adventures of Claire Beauchamp and Jamie Fraser. Circumstances threw them together, and as they faced more and more dangers, they became ever closer. I will not spoil the book by going into further details, but the book navigates through a series of twists and turns and kept me on the edge of my seat. The descriptions of the Scottish highlands and the customs of the time brought the setting to life before my eyes. I don't think I would have enjoyed the book so much if it was strictly romance, but the other action and adventure involved brought a high degree of excitement along and I did not want to put it down. It seemed to have just the right mix of elements to make this a highly enjoyable read.

What can I say to anyone who's read a Diana Gabaldon book? This woman has 'the gift,' (and I am also a 'paid' writer/part-time editor, so don't write many customer reviews on books unless they're REALLY, Really good OR, REALLY, Really bad)! I have to admit that although I'd heard of Diana from my sister who's read her books, it wasn't until we watched the (Starz) televised version of her first novel, Outlander, that I sought out her novels. All of Gabaldon's novels are a unique mixture of genres; Romance (but do NOT let this turn you off guys as there is plenty of 'manly action,' and testosterone in the male characters via clan conflicts, revolutions, and plenty of broadsword and dirk, hand-to-hand fighting), History - including U.K. in post world II, and later, US and U.K. in 1960s and 70s, AND, even Scotland, France, & more in the 1740s and, 1760s, because it's also somewhat Sci-Fi due to time travel! I am not typically a big Science Fiction or time travel fan, but Diana has found a most uncommon and pretty fascinating way to weave all of these topics together in such a way that it is quite believable and very entertaining. Her stories are also an inspiration because she had never been to the U.K., Scotland, or France, before writing her first few novels (and to think I was worrying about my current writing project because it covers several time periods and mostly takes place in another major city in the U.S. that I've not really seen firsthand - D.G. has definitely helped to alleviate my fear with this). As a college Professor, Gabaldon, certainly zeros in on research and it shows in the intricate and factual details about pretty much everything she writes about - I love that while being completely entertained, I'm also always learning something new while reading her books! I think that since I saw the TV series (Season One last Fall), I was totally ready to submerge myself into these books and, while I'm on novel number four now, Outlander may always be my favorite - it being my first. This first book begins with the main female character, Claire, and her fairly new husband, Frank, taking a much needed get-a-way to a quaint town in Scotland right after World War II. Claire, who worked through the war as a nurse, and Frank, an officer, hardly saw each other during that time between 1939 and 1945. Anyway, their little second honeymoon doesn't end up being the catalyst for bringing them closer together but instead, on a trip to an ancient circle of stones, Claire is transported back in time through one of the stones smack dab in the middle of a skirmish between the Scots and British soldiers. It takes her a while to realize she's not in the middle of some filming crew doing a historical movie or documentary, but REALLY, 'in' the 1740s! The story just gets better and better as Claire is rescued by a band of Scots from a villainous Red Coat who is about to have his way with her, and, just happens to look just like her husband, Frank, BECAUSE, he is Frank's Great, Great, (however many 'greats') Grandfather. The Scottish clan who swoops her out of harm's way doesn't quite know whether they can trust her since she's English or, as they say, an "Outlander," or a Sassenach. As the story progresses and Claire constantly tries to think of ways to get back to the circle of stones and, her own time frame (and husband), she inadvertently finds herself falling for one of the young Scots, Jamie Fraser and well, by this point, you won't be able to put the book down (or, stop watching the series). Does Claire fall for the handsome young Scottish warrior with a heart and soul as big as he is, or does she find her way back to the stones and her own time and, Frank? You'll want to know so I'll not include any spoilers from this point. I will say, that my husband, is not much for "period romances," but after he watched the first two episodes, he was hooked - like I said, plenty of 'action,' all around if Diana Gabaldon is behind the story. Season 2 of Outlander starts April 4th here in the U.S. and we've already set it to record. In the meantime, you can go to Starz web site and find out how to catch up with Season 1 - which is playing now I believe as a precursor to the upcoming season. I'll also be reading on through novel number four ( Drums of Autumn). There are four more novel waiting after this as Diana has written a total of eight novels in this series - and to think this incredibly gifted author started writing Outlander, "Just to see if I could write an entire book." Uhm, Ms. Gabaldon, I'm pretty sure we can say a resounding "YES" to that!

After some thought, I've given Outlander 3 1/2 stars. Normally I would've rounded that up to four stars for the sake of leaving some room for aspects of the novel which were only a hindrance to my enjoyment, personally. However, I am reluctant to do so in the case of Outlander because I'm sure that what bothered me will also bother many other readers. There's nothing outrightly wrong with Outlander in the way it is written, save for a little cheesiness now and again which is easy to overlook when taken over by its fast-paced, action-filled plot. And it has definitely got one of those! After the first few chapters, which are deceivingly slow, the story line is filled with action sequences, escapes, fight scenes, mortal danger, etc. There is no doubt that Gabaldon is a master storyteller, and that her main character Claire is a lively narrator. But Outlander is, at heart, a love story. It never pretends to be anything else, and a good love story coupled with a good plot and plenty of excitement in the form of life-threatening situations is usually a good recipe for a wonderful read. And sometimes it worked in Outlander, but at other times, it failed miserably, repulsing the reader instead of compelling them. The main problem lies in the character of Jamie Fraser, the romantic hero of Outlander, if you will. He is one of the biggest reasons why I think that this book was only meant for certain readers. If you fall in love with Jamie like Claire did, then you will undoubtedly love the rest of the novel, and from what I've heard, most Outlander fans would give their right leg for James Fraser to be real. But I was not one of them, and as a result struggled through the novel without much hope of redeeming him in my eyes. That's where I believe the real dividing line is. Depending on who you are-- and consequently how much you like Jamie's character-- you will either love this book or hate it. And to give you an idea of which category you will fall into before buying the book: [MINOR SPOILER WARNING] there is a scene where the "romantic hero" Jamie beats the heroine viciously with a leather strap, and the heroine forgives him about two pages later. I know that in those times, it was not uncommon for a man to beat his wife, but her forgiveness of him just made me lose all respect for her. And more to the point, Jamie says that he enjoyed beating her, which I'm sure is not the mark of a sane human being, either now or then. The main antagonist, Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall is also a sadist, maybe in a more extreme sense, but I kept feeling that at least he was always portrayed as such, whereas Jamie was touted as this warm, kind individual who just occasionally enjoys beating helpless women. Ugh. [END SPOILER] Again, if you have no problem with that, and are just as willing to forgive Jamie for what Gabaldon seems to think is a small indiscretion, then you will probably emerge an Outlander fan, but if you are like me, you will end up not caring what happens to the main characters. And that's never good. There are a number of other characters that most will like, of course. Claire's first husband Frank, though only appearing briefly, was possibly my favorite (kind, handsome and a historian?) and there is a witch named Geilie Duncan who is an altogether fascinating character, not to mention a kindly Franciscan who is everything a proper priest should be. In opposition, the villains of Outlander are amazingly villainous, particularly the aforementioned Jack Randall (although the descriptions of his villainous "actions" are not for the fainthearted or the weak-stomached, another group of people who would do well to stay away from this book). His resounding evil makes the plot enjoyably tense and fraught with danger, as it should with an antagonist that knows no bounds to his cruelty. The main character Claire (who experiences most of this tenseness and fear) is sometimes vivacious, human, and her situation is rightfully intriguing. Somtimes. Mostly she has a very, very irritating way of arguing with almost everyone and being amazingly pigheaded and childish. She hardly gives Frank a second thought, which also makes her shallow in my opinion. Out of sight, out of mind, huh, Claire? Again, just my point of view. So perhaps I shouldn't say that I hated Outlander. I will say that I would have loved it, in fact, had it not been for the one glaring exception of Jamie Fraser. However, as it is, I could not truly enjoy Outlander when its idolized male lead was someone I could not respect or even like.

I have been reading these books for 30 years. This one was a gift to a friend. She was very excited.

Excelente libro

1ヶ月足らずで読破しました。とにかく面白い！！ 高校の英語の授業が難しくて大変でしたが、この本に出会ってあのとき頑張って良かったなと（笑）思えるくらい原作ならではの表現（ジェイミーをlike a big cat、the large, warm objectという！）を楽しみました。 読むのがつらいほど苦しい場面の描写もありますが、これくらい面白い本が教材だったら、もっと英語が上達していたと思うほど！（無理か…笑） ドラマも楽しく観ていますが、本の中のジェイミーとクレアはまた別の意味でとっても素敵です。 感謝や愛や憎悪、暴力や行為だけで手にしようとするもの、本当に欲しいものを手に入れられない葛藤、傷を癒し見えない心の傷も癒そうと、本質的に本能的に人を救おうとするクレアと彼女を守ろうとするジェイミー。 久しぶりに本を読みながら、泣いたり声を出して笑ったりして、心打たれました。 数年前に英国王室のベビー誕生の際、ジョージかジェームズかが予想され賭けもされていましたが、この本を読んで、ジェームズはありえない、その名をつけられないだろうというのがわかるようになりました。 ハイランダーズ（ラグビーのチーム）もますます好きになり、すっかりスコットランドに夢中です。 まだ完結していないのと、まだ1巻目しか読んでいないので、ゆっくり楽しみながら読み進めたいと思います^ ^

I’ve been ever so excited to read this book and bought the Paperback for a better quality read, however the book was just thrown into the box along with other items I had purchased… this caused a huge bend on the book cover… I will not return the book, but request Amazon to better its delivery packaging…

Não tenho palavras para descrever sobre autlander!! Simplesmente espetacular!! Filme demonstra sentimentos bons e relacionamentos que inspiram !!