Outlander
Ratings430
Average rating3.9
I really expected it to be more scifi/fantasy and not just like a romance novel. Not a fan.
WHAT
A historical romance about a compassionate nurse out of her place and time and a gallant young Scots warrior. Caught in a war of England and Scotland, not fully trusted by either side, Claire is torn between the love for her husband, and Jamie, for whom amidst the chaos she forms a bond too strong to resist. Religious traditional romance lovers beware, this books contains logic, adultery and some fantasy.
TLDR
+ plot is organically developed, things make sense, scenes have plausible outcomes
+ good understanding of human nature
+ fully fleshed out, relatable, likable characters
+ incredible attention to details without over doing it
+ minor humor bits that made me laugh
- it's still just a romance, no exceptional elements
. many sex scenes, some brutality
. little to no fantasy
ANALYSIS
Time travel. That's as much as you'll get of fantasy in this book, as it is not important to the story overall. You will however experience a time travel effect as you'll be transported to 18th century Scotland and find yourself in the middle of a war with England.
This is not my kind of book, it is a romance, a genre of heavily emotional stories. I'm a fan of fantasy, which is by definition the opposite of ordinary. I don't like ordinary stories, and nothing is more ordinary then emotions. Most romance stories I know, through books or movies, favors love over reason and are full of “roll my eyes” and predictable moments.
The first thing that sets this book apart is the exceptional quality of the writing. Diana Gabaldon is a pretty talented writer, she structures her sentences intelligently, and kept me interested in the book in a way that only Marion Zimmer Bradley could. And that is without the arthurian mythos behind it!
The plot and the individual scenes makes sense, the sequence of events are cohesive and logical. Given the premises of a given situation, a very sensible course of action is taken. For instance, at one point Claire was prevented from going back to her time simply because she was a long way from the place she had to go. It may sound ridiculous, but she was a woman in the 18th century, alone, with no survival skills, no way of transportation. Many other reasons were given as the plot evolved, and they all felt natural and integral to the story.
The love between the protagonists is another example of an unavoidable consequence. The story was built in a way that gave them no other option, from the moment they first met to the point they are forced into being together by forces outside their control. Everything is explained and conceivable.
Sometimes I got worried the plot was going to take a wrong turn, but the author pulled through and kept the quality rising. I was going to give this a 3 star, then after reading over half of the book I decided it deserved a 4 and I had to hold on giving a 5 just because in spite of all, it is not an intellectual challenging premise. The sex scenes are very well exposed, the desire Clarie and Jamie felt for each other was palpable, the tenderness of their relationship came through really well. But its just not interesting for me by itself.
Finally the characters are convincingly brought to life through their virtues and vices. The protagonists are throughly described and side characters are given enough attention to make them matter.
Jamie is the perfect representation of the knight in shinning armor, and also a typical stubborn hot headed Scotsman, an educated barbarian, a naive young man, a natural born leader, a humble and loyal servant to his Laird. His love and devotion for Claire is moving and awe inspiring.
Claire is pragmatic, compassionated, strong willed, sharp tongued, “take not shit from men home”, plucky, and opinionated. The author draws a nice conflict for the reader by making her seem a bit cold when she is trying to escape Jamie to go back to her time, even tough he has wholeheartedly given himself to her, at some personal cost as well.
Randall is cruel, ruthless and duty bound. He doesn't appear much but plays a major role, even when not present. You'll learn of what he is capable of throughout the book and by the end of it, you will really hate him.
On a side note, I thought the plot was going to develop in a different way. Claire learns at the beginning of the book that Randall is some sort of spy, and when she finds out he resembles her husband, I figured he would be a love interest for her, and consequently they would form a love triangle with Jamie. This would work in so many levels! For a long time I believed that Randall was faking being cruel to put himself above suspicion.
Among the things I didn't like too much, the story did focus a lot on common day events, but I would say that was more or less acceptable for the purpose of bringing up immersion. Also, the story felt stretched out towards the end. Although I liked Lollybrook, the book could have ended before it and it still would have been great. The prison arc though was a little less convincing. Here my suspension of disbelief was somewhat shaken, but I took it to add to the adventure feel of the book.
To conclude, this is a deep and moving love story, about two characters that are completely devoted to each other, that found love in an unlikely situation and had to face many trials to be together.
Addressing some of the review's criticisms here at GoodReads:
The story is trash: Nonsense. I hate romances, I love good plots. Never would I consider reading this book, or let alone continue reading it as it is a very long book, if the story wasn't really good. There is a little of everything here, intrigue, heroic deeds with consequences, humor. Maybe it could have more of those, but I didn't feel necessary, the story felt pretty authentic the way it was told.
The story is an excuse for adultery: one of the claims is that the little amount of attention given to the protagonist's husband makes this book a cheap excuse for adultery. For me the conclusion is different: it means the book is not about adultery. It is about a woman out of her time (not in a time travel sense) that given the circumstances makes the best as she can, inadvertently falling in love in the process. The plot clearly describes a gradually growing and unavoidable relationship. Adultery plays little role in comparison to this.
Another complaint is that the time travel also is a bad plot element and a cheap excuse for adultery as well. That holds no grounds, the protagonist husband being in a different timeline is only a detail. Time travel is irrelevant in this book, it could easily have been replaced by “in a distant land, unable to go back home”.
This kind of criticism stems from people who are religiously conservative and/or have zero tolerance for fantasy. What would be a good excuse for adultery? Your standard “my husband does not appreciate me, beats me up and cheats on me?” Time travel is the perfect excuse because it is logical and interesting. The discussion with father Anselm in the end of the book tries to show some arguments in favor of the so called adultery. At the very least it shows that Claire does care about the issue.
The time travel aspect is so insignificant for me that this book does not even registries as a fantasy. You have a woman in an impossible situation. For some, this spells “she wants to cheat”, as there is no such thing as impossible situations, there is only reality, and it is harsh and you're stuck with your dead beat husband for whom you swore your obedience until your dying breath.
Rapey: hmmm... no. The book is very graphical, everything is told in great detail. The author makes you see and feel everything she is writing about. You are actually teleported to this backward Scotland, where things are not like present day America. The book has many mentions of rape. Guess what, people are mean, they actually do this kind of stuff. There is only one scene I think though, and it was very sick, gruesome and integral to the plot.
Abuse-apologist: really not. Morality is not black and white. If you ask a bully why he beats up someone he will not say “because I'm mean”. The author describes the reasons the characters behave the way they do in an incredible realistic style. It shows great depth and understanding of human nature. This is not apologetic, its storytelling. Regarding the wife-beating scene, the woman in no way validated the abuse. She in fact fiercely maintained her disapproval despite all his explanations. She said she would kill him if he ever laid his hands to hurt her again.
And if that sounds weak and apologetic, remember that although this is “not quite the Dark Ages but they were a far cry from modern women's rights” (this is from other reviewer). By the way, did this upset you more then the witch burning? Why? Because that was normal in those days, but beating up women wasn't?
read ahead if you want a reason to never read this disgusting excuse of a book.
Are you kidding me? i am violently disgusted. I read 46% of this book and liked it until chapter 21 and 22. I can't physically read anymore because it's making me ill. I'm shaking.
I actually loved this book but what happened just really disgusted me.
I will be discussing rape and women violence from here on out, not really spoilers but read on if you need a reason to not read this book.
Our main character is raped. Jamie saves her. Jamie then says its her fault, angry at her for disobeying his orders and there for deserving what she got, he threatens to beat her for being upset about being raped, calls her names for being upset, makes it about him and how her being raped upset HIM and forced her to apologize for being raped, he then wants to punish her by wanting to have sex with her but she says no. I quit reading as soon as it looks like it was going in a disgusting direction so i dont know if he ends up raping her but i don't doubt it.
Theres 9 or 10 books about this couple and people enjoy it? i can't even look at this man without thinking about what he has done.
Again... people love this man????
if you do then i think you need to have a deep hard look at yourself and think about what went wrong.
I don't care if he makes up for it in other books, what he has done is unforgivable and a slap to the face of women everywhere.
Put this down for several weeks (months?) and just picked it back up. Not sure if I'll continue the series.
I can't rate this book. I was good with it at first, but when the main character goes back in time, I just can't relate to her. She doesn't emote how I keep expecting her to. It drags me out of the story.
I started reading this because I was enjoying the show so much. I was quite surprised to find out this was nearly as old as I am. Unfortunately, the show doesn't stick to the book as much as I hoped, especially since I ended up liking the book even more (but that's pretty typical of books-turned-film). Claire is more willing to adapt in the books and has a more logical head on her shoulders, though can still be a bit daft for someone supposedly so educated and with her experiences. Of course, as all readers will, I fell absolutely in love with Jamie and continued reading mostly for his story than Claire's. Lots of nods to real history and the sweeping descriptions of the Scottish landscape are also a treat.
I wouldn't call this a dime romance novel as many reviewers expect - besides a brief tussle with her husband in the beginning of the book, there isn't any sex for a good 200 pages - and would even say it could appeal to both sexes equally with its descriptions of action, weaponry, violence, 1700's prison practices, and a fair amount of raunchy humour.
There are some moments where it seems the locations or actions jump forward a bit without a segue but was overall pretty easy to follow and I was enraptured by the characters. For a 850 page book, I finished this in only a few days where I've had books ?? of the size collecting metaphorical dust in my Nook.
If you've any interest in Scottish history (and Scottish men), I'd definitely recommend you give this novel a try.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I'm not a saucy book reader in general, so this was way out of my wheelhouse and all the naughty parts just...smacked of Twilight in their repetition. But it was about time travel, so I plugged along. I found parts of the book very intriguing, like the ‘witch' Claire befriends. Frankly, I found her a bit more interesting than Claire.
Can't say if I'll pick up the sequels to this, they are doorstops and my to-read list is a mile long.
I love Scotland though, and it was a treat to read about highlanders and all the clan stuff. Loved it for that.
With the TV series for this book coming out later this year, and this being one of Marilyns favorites, I knew I had to read it before that. Although the characters were intresting, for a story about someone who lived through World War II, and time travels 200 years back to Scotland, this was surprisingly boring. The story is interesting, but I wanted more sci-fi/fantasy/time travel and less romance and political intrigue.
I've owned these books for years but have always been intimidated by the length of them. So after bingeing the show (twice) over quarantine, I thought what better time to start reading them than now. I'm mad at myself that I waited so long. I am obsessed. James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser and his love for his Sassenach has ruined me.
Well-written, rich history, and background but many times, I felt, the story dragged and unnecessarily long. Clair was a very relatable character. Jamie was very complex. Their romance was not rushed and with the care handled, realistic. The time travel was handles well and wasn't confusing at all.
i'm not sensitive to sexual assault in fiction, it doesn't bother me, but there's like a goofy amount of sexual assault in this book. that said it is incredibly fucking good
I really wanted to love this book and I think that's where the downfall started for me. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but this story fell short of expectations...maybe it was the setting, maybe it was the prose, or maybe it was just the length of the novel. I don't know... but at one point the story just plateaued for me and I just wanted the book to end.
One thing that really disappointed me was the fact that we never get to fully understand why Claire gets to travel back in time... Was it magic that led Claire through the stone? Was it genetics? Was it some sort of time warp thing? In addition to this, the author does not explain how Claire's actions and choices effect what happens during her own time (has this happened already, or is she actively changing the timeline?). Exploring these questions are one of the reasons time travel books are so interesting to me. The book is told from Claire's POV and since she doesn't know how or why she became lost in time, nor how her actions will effect the future, then we shouldn't; however, I felt cheated as a reader. After 500+ pages of reading, there is nothing but romance and more romance. The only time travel descriptions we get is the odd sensations Claire experiences when she touches the rocks on Craig na Dun, and a half-assed explanation from one of the monks about how all our actions effect the future, etc...(side note: I actually digged this conversation Claire has with Brother WhatsHisName. I think it really helped heal her, but it did nothing to assuage my curiosity about the whole time-traveling aspect of this book).
That being said, the overall book was interesting and I didn't hate it. There were definitely parts that I really enjoyed reading and I am still really excited for the STARZ TV series to come out. I think Diana Gabaldon does a great job with dialogue and really defines each of her characters. Will I be picking up the rest of the books in this series? Nope, I'll be content with just watching how the rest of this story unfolds on screen.
3 out of 5 stars.
Also, check out the trailer while you're at it: https://www.goodreads.com/videos/57817-outlander-starz-first-look-trailer
4.5 STARS.(Review originally posted here at Fictionally Inclined.)My first impression of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon was this: “Now, that is big book.” Seriously. The thing is huge. I mean, I started it when I got to a class early, and when I went to hold it in one hand and prop it against the table to read, I dropped it because the weight of the unread side was so heavy that it actually caused me to lose my grasp of the book. Thankfully, I (not-so-)gracefully caught it before it landed on the floor, and no damage occurred. This is particularly good since I got the anniversary edition, with the fancy, cushy binding and the CD of tracks from the Outlander musical (which I didn't even know existed). Anyway, back to the size. I almost let the size dissuade me from reading the book. After all, there wasn't much left of the school year, and a book like that was sure to eat up what little free time I did have. I'm also not a huge time-travel fan. However, I'd heard good things about it from romance fans, and the word “classic” was thrown around a lot. So I decided to give it a shot. BEST DECISION EVER.I almost did a video review of this book a few days after I finished it. Except it really would have wound up being ten minutes of uncontrollable flailing and rambling and tangents that would make no sense, due to trying to avoid any spoilers. So I decided a regular review would be the way to go. At least this way I can pretend to be a little bit organized.First of all, there is absolutely no denying that this book is huge. However, what you might not guess is that Outlander is like a time continuum or vortex or time-travel contraption all on its own. Because every single time I sat down to read this book, I was completely lost in the world. It was as if the time I spent reading just disappeared. It was so compelling, so enthralling, that even though it did take a substantial amount of time to read, it never, ever felt like it. In fact, I wasn't ready for it to end, even when it did. A lot of times, I will (very carefully, avoiding any of the text) look at the last page of a book to see how many pages long it is, so I'm not fooled any deceptive 20-page-long Reading Guides/Author's Notes/whatnot at the end. Unfortunately, I somehow got the wrong number in my head for this book, so I thought it was almost twenty pages longer than it actually was. Thus, the last thirty seconds of my reading looked kind of like this:Me: *reading along and smiling though a slight mist of tears...turning page...jaw dropping in horror WAIT, WHAT?! IT'S OVER? NOOOO!
Roommate:looking up from her book ...Um. Are you okay?
Me: I don't know. leaping off the bed and hurling self toward laptop to check Goodreads for the second book
Roommate: Right. Okay. going back to her book
The funny thing is that it actually wasn't a bad place to end. It was a pretty good one, really. But because of my page count mistake, I was not mentally prepared for it to be over. And I need my mental preparation! Especially when I've loved a world so much as this one. Thus the ever-so-slightly dramatic reaction.
Speaking of the world, I really should get on with the whole review part of the review, huh? Well, the world was one of my favorite things about it. I've read tons of historical romance, but very few of those have actually been set in Scotland or the mid 1700's. I tend to focus mostly on Regency (surprise, surprise) with some others thrown in for good measure. Therefore, I didn't have a basis of comparison. The world building in Outlander was fantastic. I actually felt like I was in 18th century Scotland. And what's more - Gabaldon made me feel like I wanted to be there. It had a very similar effect to that of when I read The Scottish Chiefs, which is mostly the story of William Wallace (Braveheart), which I read for History class back in high school and loved. Back to Outlander, though. The details were perfect. They lent the world a strong sense of authenticity but never felt overwhelming, unnecessary, or boring. Everything from the characters to the setting worked together to form the Wonderful World of Outlander, which I never wanted to leave.
As for the characters, Claire was a great heroine. She was delightfully normal, with both admirable traits and flaws. I enjoyed reading this story from her perspective. The supporting characters were interesting. The villain was appropriately horrid. And now, for the character you are all wondering about. The hero, Jamie. Swoon with a capital S. And, really, a capital WOON, too, because he was just that wonderful. Honestly, I don't know what more to say. For you to discover how amazing he truly was, you would just have to read the book.
There were several other things I enjoyed about Outlander. I expected not to like the beginning before the time travel occurred, but I actually enjoyed it. The pace of the whole book was perfect. As one would imagine, the story did not unfold quickly, yet somehow it never felt like it dragged. It felt just right. Although I did not always like the circumstances themselves, I appreciated that Gabaldon treated things in a period-appropriate manner.
Outlander came this close to being a 5-star book to me. Unfortunately, there were a few things that rubbed me a little bit the wrong way, but I still loved it beyond belief. While I'm on the subject, though, I might as well address it, since I've been meaning to for a while. Obtaining a 5 star rating from me is a nearly impossible feat. I know some people say “5 stars” all the time, and I don't hold it against them. But for me, I see 5 stars as Absolute Perfection. If a book is not absolutely FLAWLESS, or does not make me absolutely adore it so much that I can overlook any flaws, I will not rate it 5 stars. Period. The last book I rated 5 stars was Heart of the West by Penelope Williamson, which I read in September 2010. That's almost 2 years ago; I've read approximately 200 books since then. Not a one (other than re-reads of old favorites) has been rated 5 stars. That's actually why I switched over from using a rating scale based on numbers. I do still use numbers, obviously, but I no longer include them in all my reviews. Aaand look at that. I seem to have digressed again. But I'm wrapping up now, I promise.
I will just toss this out there: Outlander had some things I didn't think to expect, and it wasn't some of the things I thought it was. There was drama, and there was intrigue. There was a charmingly unique world. But most of all, there was a beautiful, crazy-good-chemistry, make-your-heart-melt-and-ache love story. AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
Random end note: I may be the only person this happens to, but after I've watched a film/series where the people have British accents, sometimes my inner monologue/thoughts will pick up that accent for a short period of time. I've never had it happen with books before, but it happened a little with this book. Some words had a slight brogue when I thought them, and I used tons of Scottish contractions in my head the way Gabaldon wrote them (like “doesna” and “havena” instead of “doesn't” and “haven't”). WEIRD, I KNOW. But it totally happened, for the last couple days toward the end of the week I spent reading it.
PS! For those of you who donna don't know, there's a read-a-long of Outlander in June hosted over at The Reading Housewives! I would highly suggest checking it out if you're interested. I'm sure it's going to be a blast! If I had not read the book so recently, I would be joining myself. In fact, I might drop by for discussion from time to time just because I can. I do love talking about this book, as evidenced by this review (and trust me, there was way, way more).
Good gracious. Apparently I was feeling verbose today. If you actually made it through all that, let me know! I'll be sure to give you an interweb high five!
Quotes:
❝Getting up once in the dark to go adventuring is a lark. Twice in two days smacks of masochism.❞
❝No wonder he was so good with horses, I thought blearily, feeling his fingers rubbing gently behind my ears, listening to the soothing, incomprehensible speech. If I were a horse, I'd let him ride me anywhere.❞
❝Not for the first time, I reflected that intimacy and romance are not synonymous.❞
I have been lost this last week, completely and utterly entranced, captured and enthralled by the joy that is Diana Gabaldon's Outlander the first in her series of historical time travelling novels. I have barely been able to part myself from the book and have foregone even television the past few evenings in order to further immerse myself in this wonderful book.
Having watched the initial 2 episodes of the new television dramatisation of the book I suddenly found myself longing to spend more time with the characters and so delved into the book. It is a story which,when I initially read the outline, sounds an odd premise for a book. A young nurse on honeymoon in Scotland in 1946 touches a magical circle of standing stones and is transported back through the stones by 200 years to 1746 and a time before Culloden where Scotland is a land of Clansmen and fierce overseer's from England's army. A simpler time in many ways but a harsh one where Claire finds superstition and treachery are order of the day.
There she meets Jamie Fraser and through necessity of her safety finds herself drawn to the strong young Scotsman, and facing a situation which will see her forced to marry this brave and noble young man.
Sounding a little odd? Well it may, I thought so too before delving in. Instead though I found it enchanting. I have lots of knowledge of The War of the Roses leading into Tudor history but this is a period I was less familiar with and I also found it educational, as it led me to go away and read more about the period. It was perhaps though less advisable to read it the week before I need to vote whether Scotland should break free from the UK and be an independent nation. Perhaps a book where we learn the brutality many Scots faces at the hands of the English was not the best choice for enforcing the ‘Better Together' campaign!!
There are so few books which have engaged me as fully as Outlander did, few which has hade literally whooping with joy and punching the air when the hero rides in to save his fair maiden with the words “I'll thank ye to take your hands off my wife!” Not in so long have I truly been able to truly feel such exalted pleasure in the trouncing of a villain as Captain Jack Randall.
I have read many people say they found it full of unnecessary sexual scenes and too much soppy erotica. For me it was just wonderfully romantic and passionate. Several reviews have said they couldn't buy how easily Claire left behind her husband Frank for new husband Jamie, personally he comes across as a wimp and next to the brute force and sheer sexuality of Jamie Fraser I'm not sure I'd have been rushing back through the standing stones.
It has translated amazingly onto screen also, the television adaptation is visually stunning and I am so excited to see how the rest of the series continues to bring the story of Claire & Jamie to life, so far it had been outstanding and our hero and heroine haven't so much as kissed yet. If it's half as sizzling as the book it will set the screen on fire.
I cannot wait to spend more time with Jamie and Claire, the only reason I'm not moving immediately on to read Dragonfly in Amber is because I'm sure my children would appreciate a little engaging conversation with me in the next few days instead of my head being lost in my book.
Outlander is one of the most intensely researched time-travel novels I've ever read. This books transcends the Time-Travel genre into full-fledged novel. The characters are fleshed out realistically, athough there were a few farcical moments late in the book. Outlander does for time-travel romance what Braveheart did for war movies.
Ik was zeer te spreken over Outlander, de tv-serie: ik ben een totale push-over voor romantische series, en qua romantisch was Outlander bijzonder zéér romantisch te noemen.
Claire Beauchamp, een verpleegster van 28 op het einde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, trekt met haar man, die ze op zes jaar tijd nauwelijks gezien heeft, naar de Highlands van Schotland voor een soort tweede huwelijksreis. Haar man, Frank Randall, heeft recent een passie voor genealogie opgedaan, en gaat op zoek naar gegevens over zijn verre voorouder, ene Jack Randall.
Op een ochtendlijke uitstap naar een plaatselijke cirkel met menhirs wordt Claire op de één of andere manier 200 jaar terug in de tijd gecatapulteerd. Ze komt er in een Schotland terecht waar de slag bij Culloden nog niet gebeurd is en de clans dus nog bestaan en macht hebben. En zowat de eerste persoon die ze ziet, ‘s nachts in het bos, is Jack Randall, die er precies uitziet zoals Frank Randall. Helaas: die blijkt zijn bijnaam van Black Jack ruimschoots te verdienen, wegens al meteen poging tot verkrachting.
Ze wordt gered door een bende Schotten, die niet goed weten wat te denken: is zij een spion? voor de Engelsen? de Fransen? Maar wat doet ze daar dan in het bos, alleen en gekleed in een soort licht nachthemd?
Claire bewijst snel dat ze nuttig kan zijn, met haar jarenlange ervaring van oorlogsverpleegster, en als ze haar gastheren ook nog eens waarschuwt dat er op een bepaalde plaats mogelijks een Engels garnizoen zou in een hinderlaag kunnen zitten (dat had Frank haar verteld, 200 jaar later), nemen ze ze mee naar het kasteel van hun clan. Alwaar ze al snel de lokale dokter wordt.
De tv-serie volgt het boek redelijk dicht, met soms heelder scènes letterlijk overgenomen, maar ik vind de serie tot nog toe beter dan het boek.
Het boek is, en we gaan daar niet lastig over doen, niet enorm ver van een stationsroman. Verhaal en wereld en personages okay, maar laat dat vooral niet te veel de al dan niet omfloerste seksscènes in de weg staan! Hoofdpijn? Slecht geslapen? Kom hier dat ik op uw tepels zuig! Bijna net vermoord? Tijd voor a roll in ze hay!
Waar het in het boek allemaal enorm vanzelfsprekend lijkt te gaan, toont de tv-serie veel beter hoe verwarrend het voor Claire allemaal is, en hoe onduidelijk – de mensen die Gaelic spreken rond haar, waar ze geen woord van begrijpt, hoe ze zich uitgesloten voelt, hoe ze zoekt naar motivaties voor zaken en niét meteen de juiste uitleg vindt: allemaal veel en veel beter in de serie. Die ook zijn tijd veel meer neemt dan het boek: acht afleveringen van een uur voor ongeveer de helft van het eerste boek.
Het heeft er ook mee te maken, denk ik, dat waar Sam Heughan (Jamie) helemaal precies zoals zijn karakter in het boek is, Catriona Balfe een andere Claire neerzet in de serie dan in het boek: meer geconflicteerd, meer genuanceerd, intelligenter. Ik heb de indruk dat Claire-in-het-boek 85% van haar hersenen kwijtgeraakt is als er een mogelijkheid is dat ze in bed kan duiken met Jamie: bij Claire-op-televisie heb ik die indruk nooit.
Ik denk dat ik even stop met de boeken. Er zijn nog zeker zeven vervolgboeken op Outlander, maar ik wacht even af wat de serie mij brengt.
I'm not putting this in a fantasy category because the fantasy is only the trope to get the protagonist to the past where she can have a lot of sex with a young musclebound scotsman. Which is not entirely a bad thing, I suppose, but there's nothing I would call fantasy beyond that.
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, really. It fulfilled the need I had for a long audiobook (33 hours!), and despite the reviews mentioning all of the sex (won't somebody think of the children!) it was really a non-event. My main problem was that I would be pottering around doing the housework, Claire would get into some kind of danger, and her Scotsman would ride in (literally) and save the day. Again. At which point I was reminded I was listening to a romance, not just the story of a lady who got magically transported back in time.
Davina Porter narrates the audio version brilliantly, and I will keep going with the series.
I greatly enjoyed Claire and her story. Aspects of it get a little long and repetitive, but I stayed highly engaged in the story for the vast majority of the book.
I heard such good things about this book that my expectations were high but 200 pages into the book and I was bored to death
The Good: The book itself was fairly well written and flowed easily. The story was interesting and pulled toward the ends (I will expand on the plural later).The descriptions of medicinal plants were detailed and I found them to be interesting.
I was fairly into the story, right up to the spanking scene. (Later)
I really liked the setting; the historical aspects were fascinating, having mostly studied the land across the border. And I will say that I would like to hear more about Claire's time as a war nurse, give me that story!
That being said: I found Claire a little problematic, she seemed to accept fairly easily that she had traveled about 200 years back in time, but scientifically questioned most everything else in the world, looking for rational explanations of fortune telling and witch craft. Which is great but I wish she would have put a little more effort into rationally explaining why she was there in the first place.
Some of her ‘inner conflicts' were a little grating for me, I feel like the author threw in the questions about her husband's fidelity to morally justify her time traveling infidelity. Another reviewer brought up the point that this is a story of how to cheat on your husband without technically cheating and I can see merits in the argument.
And don't get me started on the spanking scene... REALLY!?! I don't see it as justification that it was the time period, because Claire was not part of that time, seriously Claire, get out of there! She spent a lot of time and effort trying to get away early in the book but it isn't her first thought after she gets spanked liked a child! REALLY!?!
Jamie was (at different times in the story) both alpha and man-boy, and fairly inconsistent in either role. And honestly, I had a big problem with near-rape experiences being an aphrodisiac for either character.
The book was too long, I don't mean the number of pages or chapters, I mean the number of endings in the book, at some point you have to stop adding elements).
And by the end spoiler I didn't care whether or not she was pregnant.....
All-in-all... it was okay.
That was a huge commitment for only 3 stars. Phew! (I felt I had to finish it though as it is a friend's favourite book
I enjoyed this book about a nurse enjoying a post WWII holiday with her recently discharged husband who falls through some standing stones at the top of a hill in Scotland and winds up in mid-18th century Scotland. I couldn't help but see many echoes of Dorothy Dunnett's Francis Crawford of Lymond, though, and of the two, the Lymond Chronicles are less domestic, more prickly, and more interesting. I'm not convinced I'll read another book in this series.