Title: Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Series: Outlander #1
Pages:850
Published: Jun 1st 1991
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
Yes, it is a big book. It’s daunting and intimidating. It’s a task to take on and read but it very rewarding. And it’s hardly a slow and boring book. It’s filled with action, history, romance, politics and adventure.
Diana Gabaldon takes her protagonist Claire Randall back in time through a ring of standing stone from 1945 to 1743. With her versatile knowledge of botanical healing and nursing from her time in WWII, Claire manages to survive the Scottish Highlands despite accusations towards her of being an English spy as well as a witch. But in order to escape arrest, rape and assault, Claire is forced to marry and leave her husband Frank alone in the present.
Talk about an original plot. Not only is this book a modern classic, but it deserves it’s own genre. Nothing like this has been seen before. Not in this way. Not too much magic is involved. Only enough to make the story possible. There is just the right amount of politics and history to keep you interested but not too much to make you bored. All characters are necessary for the story and given enough time to truly become memorable.
As much as I’d like to express my love for Claire and Jamie as characters, I do not wish to spoil their story as it is better experience amongst the pages of Outlander. But it is worth mentioning that their relationship is masterfully done with a genuine tinge of human complexity, closer to real life than most books. The development of their relationship and feelings and expressions are very skilfully woven into the story. Their characters are explored and exposed to the reader through the help of each other. However, I shall leave that up to the reader to fall in love with.
What’s really worth mentioning is characters like Dougal MacKenzie, Murtagh Fraser and Jonathan Randall. Dougal is the character you love one second and hate the next. Two-faced and only interested in his own agenda and the Jacobite’s cause. he is a very interesting and strong character. A scene with Dougal is never disappointing. And his relationship with his brother Colum MacKenzie is so well developed and executed that it can be seen as it’s own story. As for Murtagh I do not think the story would work without him. He is impossible to hate and his presence is so loved. Everyone deserves a Murtagh and I think he is under appreciated. Nonetheless let’s talk about Gabaldon’s villain. Jonathan ‘Black Jack’ Randall is by far the worst villain I have ever encountered. It’s as if though Gabaldon has thought of the worst, most bizarre, absurd, and disgusting things no one in their right mind would do and she makes sure Randall finds a way to do it and go there. If you want to be truly disgusted by a villain and feel physically sick by a personally entering a scene, this is the book for you.
I cannot express my love for this book enough. Not only does it have a wonderful love story, a disgusting villain and takes place in Scotland. It is so well balanced, that I would argue that it'll satisfy every reader somehow. I highly recommend this book and although long and daunting it is a hundred percent worth it. I have met people my age reading it as well as older ladies at the library asking for the next book.
And even if you find it too long to read and you know you cannot take on a book of this size at the moment I encourage you to watch the STARZ TV Series adaptation of it. It is incredibly accurate and has treated this series with such respect. Each season is the equivalent of a book and even if you may find the first episode slightly slow (as you may find the book) I suggest you keep watching because you’ll find that you can’t peel your eyes of the screen.
I urge you all to become your own outlander and get lost in such a vibrant, historically fascinating, sometimes terrifying yet beautiful world of the past.
I’ll see you at Craigh na Dun.
Plot Summary:
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon - when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach - and "outlander"- in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord... 1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life... and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a young gallant Scot warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire... and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
My Rating:
10/10
Unlike anything I've read before.
Other Books in Outlander:
Outlander (Outlander #1)
A Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Voyager (Outlander #3)
Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander #7)
Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Home (Outlander #9)
Virgins (Outlander novella)
The Space Between (Outlander novella)
