Outlander

I'd heard about 'Outlander' from friends who had watched the TV series, but wanted to start my adventure with the book - and I wasn't disappointed! I love historical fiction as well as sci-fi and fantasy, and it was a treat to learn about this period via such fascinating and well-drawn characters.
As with 'Fourth Wing', I immediately sought out the sequel(s) - though I still have a lot of catching up to do!

I loved this book because it is another time-slip novel, but mostly because of the characters that Gabaldon has created. Claire is a strong woman both in the present time zone–post-war Britain–and the Scottish Highland time zone of the seventeenth century and the uprising. You sense immediately that she is in danger as the story is told from her point of view. 

I loved learning about the lives of the Scottish highlanders, how the story moves from one-time zone to another, and how the characters overlap.

Is Claire supernatural because she can go through the stones? Her skin is certainly milk-soft and bright enough to shimmer in sunlight, but she doesn’t. Even when her hair starts to go white, it doesn’t exactly shimmer. However, she does fit, and so does the story because Unusual things happen to quite ordinary-looking people.

But the most magical thing about this book is the love that Jamie and Claire find in each other. Swoon.

What happens when you take a modern woman and place her in Scotland 200 years in the past? Outlander. This has it all: epic romance, the science of medicine in its herbal beginnings, historic references, and an intelligent, relatable FMC.

Claire is torn from her present and thrown into a mindboggling situation where she must use her smarts to survive a dangerous environment and a fiendish villain. She also finds herself battling a physical attraction to the perfect Scotsman, all while hoping she makes it home to her husband.

I loved immersing myself in the fantasy of highland lore… show more.

This historical novel, with its time travel and romance elements, swept me away into the 18th century and never let up. I’ve now read it and its sequels many times, and they’re still magic.

When I read a hundred-page description of a wedding told from four different points of view, I don’t get confused or lose track of a single character. I fell in love with Jamie. Doesn’t everyone? But the love story is only one part of the whole. In one scene, Claire kills a wolf with her bare hands. It would be the climax of another author’s… show more.

The Author’s style is totally immersive. It begins with time travel through standing stones, and the genres multiply from there. The story has a good pace, plenty of action and adventure, humour, and a hunky scotsman… what else could you ask for?

In all seriousness, the main character is a feisty WW2 nurse who, when challenged, is ready to voice her opinions with plenty of sass. She is also strong, skilled, kind-hearted, and downright funny at times. She reminds me a lot of myself.

Gabaldon is a master at blending mysticism and history. She uses Stonehenge-like stones as a time-traveling device to send a British WWII nurse (Claire Randall)  back in time to Scotland in 1743, where she falls in love with a Highland warrior named Jamie Fraser and becomes involved in a doomed Jacobite uprising.

While it is a love story, it's also a very compelling epic drama that transports the reader (like Claire) to a different time and culture. Her struggle for survival and love, coupled seamlessly with Jamie’s clan’s struggle for freedom, keeps the plot engrossing and always entertaining. This, too,… show more.

Time travel + epic love story + strong female protagonist? Yeah, I’m in.

Though this is more historical fiction than what I usually gravitate towards, the love story between Claire and Jamie is irresistible and just too powerful to ignore. She literally crosses time to be with him! Albeit accidentally at first, but still!

This book is beautifully written, and I adore Claire so much for being ahead of her time in the 1940’s and way ahead of her time in the 1700’s. She’s one of my favorite book heroines because of her strength, passion, and conviction. And the love… show more.

I am in awe of Diana Gabaldon’s achievements as I relate to her writing while raising three children.

At first daunted by the 850-page length, once I started reading, I became enthralled with the fantasy of Claire’s time-traveling into the past and meeting the love of her life. I fell in love with the beautiful boy-man, Jamie. He reminded me of the love of my life. Gabaldon’s handling of the attraction between Claire and the Scottish highlander is beguiling, especially in the sexual scenes.

Weaving their love story into real history, her descriptions, plots, and prose are exquisitely compelling. I… show more.

This amazing story is one that belongs in multiple sections of any bookstore. Where would you shelve a historical fiction, action-adventure, time-travel, romance? Anywhere you want. This is the quintessential genre combination series, perhaps the best of all time.

I discovered Outlander in 1998 when the fourth book in the series was published. I bought it on a whim, liking the sound of historical fiction/time travel. The book immediately transported me along with Claire into the 1700s, where I rooted for her to fall in love with Jamie Fraser and stay with him.

There is so much love, lust, heartbreak,… show more.