Outlander

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Enchanting.
Review: Diana Gabaldon's tale of a 20th century woman caught up in an 18th century adventure is one in which I became completely consumed. Her language is not at all what one would expect from an author forever banished to the "romance" section of the local bookstore. I found her writing to be refreshing and full of depth. The historical aspects of the novel seemed to be well researched; and Gabaldon does not overwhelm the reader with too much political detail. Do not be dissuaded by talk of violence, torture, and beatings. I imagine it comes with the territory of telling an authentic tale of life in 1740s Scotland.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I have been meaning to read this book for a long time. I am glad that I finally got the courage to tackle this lengthy story. I was almost sad to read the final page because I wished that it would last a little bit longer. Now that I have purchased the rest of the Outlander series I can continue to make the journey through time with Jamie and Claire.

This book is a good one to save for a rainy day when you don't feel like doing anything else. Once you begin this book, there isn't a good enough reason to stop or a bookmark suitable for keeping your page.

Usually I stay away from books that include fantasy/time travel themes, but this book is a MUST-READ for anyone who enjoys romance and adventure. The book is more realistic than I anticipated. The story draws you in and the intrigue keeps you reading. Gabaldon is excellent!!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Tale
Review: I was drawn to this book because so many people have said they loved it. I can see why. This tale of romance between Jamie and Claire drew me in from the start and held on until the last page.

You may look at the description of the book and think, "Time travel? Highlanders? Huh?" Yes, that is a big part of the book, but there is so much more. This book would suck in any romance enthusiast as well. The loving scenes between Heroine and Hero are fantastically sappy, but sweet (romance, romance). Jamie is the sexy, gallant hero of the story - I haven't come across a better one yet.

The characters are described so well that they feel like someone I have known. I won't give any spoilers, but on the last page of the book, I smiled and vowed to read the second installment of the series of four.

Read it!!

Rating:
Summary: strange creatures
Review: This wildly popular historical-romance-time travel series has broken out of its genre and won fans of both sexes and all ages, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them. The story centers around, Claire Beauchamp Randall,
a British nurse who's just been demobbed at the end of WWII. On a visit to her husband's native region of Scotland, she is mysteriously transported back in time to the 1740s, where she becomes romantically involved
with Jamie Fraser, a young, and we soon discover "inexperienced" Highlander. The two marry but run afoul of a brutal English overlord, "Black Jack" Randall, who Claire realizes she can't kill because he's her real
husband's ancestor.

That's all well and good--set up nicely, with lots of authentic color thrown in--except for one thing : we know that given the conventions of the genre that Black Jack must disrupt the romance, but in an
ultra-modern twist it turns out that his great lust is for Jamie rather than for Claire. Even that would be okay, it's actually pleasingly incorrect to make him more evil because of his vile homosexual desires, but then Ms
Gabaldon goes one very disconcerting step further. When Black Jack captures the couple, Jamie agrees to be his plaything if Claire is let go. Then, when Claire manages to free Jamie, he confesses that he became
aroused during Black Jack's assaults. And there Ms Gabaldon loses me.

I'm perfectly willing to concede that I'm a repressed Puritanical man of the 1690s trying to relate to a novel of the 1990s. And I have no problem admitting that what I don't understand about women would fill
libraries. But is there truly something sexy to women about the notion of a man responding positively to his own torture and rape? Does the modern woman really want her man to be quite that submissive and in touch
with his feminine side? Man, oh man, women are strange creatures...

GRADE : C-

Rating:
Summary: Unusual reading choice for a man...
Review: ...but definitely worth it. Having an interest in all things Celtic, my fiancee, who had read this series and had been to Scotland, recommended it to me. Now, I like historical fiction, and had been hoping to find this book in the literature section; imagine my horror when she informed me I'd have to look in the romance section! *gasp* One of those places you just don't find a man, especially in a bookstore, doing any sort of browsing...call it a surgical strike. :)

Well, it ultimately turned out to be worth it; Gabaldon has more of the historical element, and less of the romantic element, contained in the series...enough so that even a man can feel comfortable reading these books.
And Jamie Fraser is the sort of Scotsman I wish I could be--a big, handsome, quick-with-a-sword kind of fellow, though I could certainly do without the more negative aspects of his travels! The story is well told and fittingly detailed, and throughout it I could well imagine myself heading for the Battle of Culloden Field (a goal not achieved in this series until the end of the second novel, "Dragonfly in Amber"). Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This series is perhaps the most intelligent of contemporary fiction that I've read. Highly, highly recommended. Fun, light, skillful, historical, terrifying, startling, passionate... incredible. I've been continually haunted by several "scenes" from this story.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Time Travelers I have Read....
Review: I am slow in reading this series, it being 11 years since its release, but am sucked in like the rest and become addicted to the characters and plot. Written in first person, it felt like looking through the eyes of the main character, time-traveler and WWII combat nurse Claire Randall. Ms. Gabaldon makes everything so real and believable that I was starting to think that maybe it would be possible to travel back in time as she did.
No elaborate thrills or magic spells to convince us the reader, Claire is propelled from 1945 back to 1743 by way of a circle of stones on one of the British Isles; when she and her husband go on a second honeymoon. She is attracted by the stones and innocently touches a boulder in amazement at their structure and finds herself laying facedown in the woods with distant screaming and swords clanging.
She is now a Sassenach- an "Outlander" stuck in war torn Scotland. Almost being captured and completely confused, she is rescued from a man she strangely knows in the future who wants to bring her to London for being a spy, by some rough members of Clan MacKenzie.
Riding all night, she sees she is being brought to Castle Leoch, the same castle she and her husband spent their honeymoon in 1945! But now it looks different. Old. Gray. Devoid of laughter and fun. It's inhabited by the clan and the clan is readying for war. She is thrust into lairds, spies and politics of the time. Claire soon realizes with shock and horror that she is in the past and she is also horrifed that Clan MacKenzie wants her to marry their gallant young Scots warrior Jamie Fraser.
Marrying Jamie will save her from the English that want her dead for spying but Claire is so confused and scared, she fights it. Fate steps in and she finds herself attracted to the young man and madly in love.
Torn between fidelity and desires she cannot understand, Claire finds her life and heart also torn between two worlds and two men...
The descriptions were so rich and detailed I still can't get the imagery out of my head. The sacrifices she makes and he makes will have you in tears. I was also pleased to see that Claire realized she was in love with two men and was confused and heartbroken at the same time. Too many books out there make it seem so easy and plain where her heart should be, but in this case, it isn't so easy or cut and dry. Truthfully, I liked Jamie better than her husband Frank and think he is a much better person all around. But I also feel for her and how she misses Frank.
The history was clear and the countryside of Scotland was so beautiful and written with such flair that it made me wish I could be there with her. Ms. Gabaldon's small details of smallpox shots and herbs made it seem even more real and I applaud her. Very original and with a heroine that keeps her head above all odds, this is a classic...

Rating:
Summary: The beginning of a phenomenal series ....
Review: When I bought this book, I was thinking it would be an interesting little read to keep me busy for a few days. Little did I know that I would be AMAZED at the writing abilities of Ms. Gabaldon and ENTHRALLED with the story only a few pages into the book. I fell in LOVE with Claire and Jamie.

Once you read this book ... you will be compelled to immediately buy the other four books. Then you'll have to buy the "Outlandish Companion". It's an addiction ... and a highly entertaining one at that.

I'd recommend these books to anyone who likes a good romance, good historical fiction, and simply good writing.

Rating:
Summary: NO WORDS TO EXPLAIN
Review: No words to explain how wonderful this book is!! I could not put it down. I fell in love with Claire and Jamie. The age differnce put a special tough on this love affair. I enjoyed the way thier love grew and became so strong. The way Gabaldon discriped each scene is wonderful, even the part when Jamie was imprisoned by Randell. I would have to put it down, then be back in a few minutes to read more. Gabaldon has a great gift of words. I'm going out today to buy Dragonfly in Amber.

Rating:
Summary: Boring! Couldn't get past the first chapter
Review: Usually a good author tries to grip you with the first few pages. I gave this book a whole chapter, and couldn't feel anything for any of the main characters. A whiney husband, and his ditsy wife go visiting vicars and tea-leaf readers. No thanks. I had just gotten done with Memoirs of a Geisha, and I'm sorry, but reading this book after Memoirs is like eating a Big Mac after having filet mignion the night before. I don't recommend this book unless you are a very forgiving reader.