Outlander

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely dreadful.
Review: This book is nothing but soft-core pornography and endless scenes of rape and torture. The premise was interesting: the heroine, nurse Claire, is sent back in time to Scotland. Even though Claire is happily married in her own time, she meets and marries a young Scotsman, Jamie. I had trouble believing that the two characters could possibly be attracted to each other. Claire just seems cold and uninteresting. Jamie is much too immature for an older, married woman. I saw nothing about them that made me believe that there was anything "timeless" about their relationship. They seemed to have nothing in common outside of the bedroom. At one point Jamie asks Claire "Is this normal? This wanting you all the time?" The reader is supposed to believe that the relationship is somehow different from the norm, but there is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about it. Claire and Jamie are simply going through that "I've got to have you now" phase that we all experience at the beginning of a romance.

I was particularly shocked during one scene in the book, where Jamie beats Claire so hard that she is in pain for days afterward. This is all treated with a wink and smile, instead of as the wife abuse that it is. We could try to argue that Jamie was simply a victim of his time, and that that is way things were done "back then." But to what purpose? It would have made the hero seem much more mature and compassionate if he'd thrown his upbringing out the door and told Claire "This is the way it's usually done, but I love you too much to ever cause you harm."

Part of the problem is that this book could have been so much more, but wasn't. I expected to see Claire, with her knowledge of future medicine, crying, wishing for antibiotics and desperately trying to save the life of some Scottish child with smallpox or some other illness. Instead, the only person she ever tries to heal is Jamie, after his neverending role as the professional victim. She seems not to care at all about the people surrounding her. Her only interest is in bedding Jamie as quickly and often as possible. I found Claire to be a selfish, cold, silly heroine. I couldn't identify with her at all.

This was a first for me. I actually threw this book in the trash after I read it. I was afraid that someone with a little intelligence might stop by my house and see that I'd actually paid for and read a book that is so abysmally awful.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting and involving
Review: Diana Gabaldon has woven many elements together to create a time travel story that is thrilling, complex and involving. Outlander is the tale of Claire Randall, a British nurse in WWII who is drawn back in time to the Scottish Highlands of 1743, a few years prior to the rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie. She is quickly drawn into the lives and politics of the Highlanders she meets, drawing on her knowledge of history and medicine. Diana Gabaldon's research and well done characters easily compensate for some of the more disturbing aspects of the book. It is not for the squeamish!

Rating:
Summary: Outlander
Review: This book kept my interest and I enjoyed it throughly. I plan to get the whole series of them I can't wait to read them all.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't finish
Review: I realize I'm going to be incredibly unpopular with my comments but... I could not finish this book because I thought the first 100 pages were too boring to want to continue. Maybe it got better, I will never know. I have to agree with the reader from Washington 3/20/00 and the reader from Ohio, 11/17/99. (I'd probably find myself agreeing with others but I don't want to read all 400+ reviews.) This is one of those books you either love or hate, From the reviews I read, I really don't think there's a middle ground. I did not like it one iota. This was my second time travel only because I loved "A Knight In Shining Armor" by Jude Deveraux and thought this one would be as wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Too Much Sadistic Sex Descriptions
Review: This story starts our very well. I was, in fact, mesmerized by the story line. But then Gabaldon begins endless descriptions of the love aspects of the two main characters. Just when I thought I could not stand it anymore things get really worse. I started wondering about this author when she descibed a belt whipping that the heroin got from the hero. Then the heroin went through the process of convincing herself that she deserved it. (NOT!). Later in the book a very detailed description is given of a homosexual torture rape, complete with knives, blood licking, and you name it. Then close to the end, to save the hero, the heroin reinacts some of the same acts on the hero. It was too much for me.

Rating:
Summary: Yuck
Review: This one was recommended to me by someone and has been touted as the ultimate romance. I thought it was stupid. I couldn't even finish it.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: Outlander is quite possibly the greatest book I've ever encoutered. Her story is truly too enthralling for words, her characters are vivid and completely three-dimensional, and her writing style is simply beautiful. As a debut novel, and written by a research professor, Outlander is nothing less than a masterpiece. Jamie and Claire are wonderful! It's no wonder that so many people are so obsessed with Gabaldon's books! Don't let the size scare you! In fact, once you've read this book, you will have to read the others...over and over again. This is a story worth savoring.

Rating:
Summary: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Review: I was taken back and mesmerized by Outlander. I'll admit it - I delibrately skimmed the book to figure out what happens in the end. But now that I can read the book word for word and savor it, it's like a whole new experience. Like anything, Outlander has a double side - and those who read it are the only ones who can understand it - truly, this book made me feel like these two characters can live and breath like we can. That is the power of Diana Gabaldon's writing. It's prose is bewitching, it's tone amazing and it's pace near break-neck speed. I haven't yet read the sequels and I'm not in a rush to. I've got to recover from reading Outlander first. Thank you, Mrs. Gabaldon. Your talent is amazing. Outlander deserves any and all rewards in the catagories it falls into.

Rating:
Summary: Extrordinary, spellbinding, captavating, engrossing,adictive
Review: Diana Gabaldon has ruined me for other authors, I am afraid that I cannot read another book without comparing it to hers. This book, along with her others are just wonderful, I don't know how else to tell you that this is one of the best I have read. This book should not be classified as romance because it encompasses so much more than that. This book or this series will keep you up at night and thinking of it all day, I wouldn't be surprised if you become a fanatic of Scotland and it's culture when you are done with these books. I can't speak highly enough of her books or her writing, I feel Diana Gabaldon is a master storyteller and her writing is just superb.Jamie and Claire are so well written and the story so plausible (to some I am sure), you are just drawn in to their world.I cannot speak highly enough of these books and you will never know for sure till you read them how good they are. Well worth your hard earned dollars, every book by her and don't be surprised if you can't find another book that compares to these!

Rating:
Summary: Must read!
Review: All four of Gabaldon's series are fantastic! Her writing puts you in her books. I could not put them down, and still read them over and over again. I am anxiously awaiting another book! I just can't get enough of the Frasers.