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Summary: Me...read ROMANCE novels??
Review: Friends of mine kept telling me about these awesome books by Diana Gabaldon, but I could never find them in the store. Finally I swallowed my pride (I like to think I know bookstores inside-out) and asked a clerk where the books would be. When she said in the romance section I was not thrilled. Sorry, no offense to romance readers, I just tended to lump all "those type" of books into great on "passion & pleasure" at an unrealistic level and weak on story line and value. After purchasing a false mustache and glasses, I nonchalantly made my way towards the only unexplored territory in the bookstore...the ROMANCE section!! Gotta tall ya, by the time I was half way through with Outlander I returned plainly and clearly to purchase the rest of Gabaldon's series. I am HOOKED!! Roamnce...yes. Passion...oh yeah. Historically acurate, amazing, amazing! character development, sights, sounds, smells...they jump out at you. I lost myself in this book and in the books that follow. I am so greatful that I took a step into the romance section and was so pleased to have discovered a series that gives readers all the passion they could want and throws in plenty of story line, character development, adventure, history and just pure MAGIC. READ OUTLANDER and the rest of the series will find their way to you quickly!!
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Summary: Keep'em Coming, Diana!
Review: This book was the most incredible book I've ever read. I loved it! As a teenager, I have trouble finding books that I like to read, because so many of them are just boring adult novels or they're immature teenager novels, talking only about guys and drugs. This book was the best. I have a strong pride in my heritage, being Scottish, and reading about the things that happened then is really helping me to understand my history. Diana has a wonderful writing style (though I could do without the sex). I found myself laughing out loud in some scenes, earning strange looks from my classmates. I found myself crying for Jamie and Claire at the prison, and furiously hating Jack Randall. When I picked up Outlander, it was a deal between me and my mom - I read her favorite book, if she read mine. Turned out mine was too complex for her, but I couldn't put Outlander down and I finished it in three days - even though I had school! Occasionally it would get slow, when Diana simply told of history, but for the most part the story moved and lived and breathed a life of its own. I've just finished Dragonfly in Amber, and I'm ready to start Voyager! Keep'em coming!
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Summary: Once you start . . . you can't stop!
Review: This book is amazing . . Once you pick it up - you won't beable to put it down - it draws you in and makes you forget about everything else but what's happening inside the story. You feel as if you are there - with the characters! It's a wonderful series!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the Meat?
Review: The first book of the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon has an interesting premise: A post WWII nurse is mysteriously whisked away to the Highlands of 18th century Scotland by way of a "Stonehenge" type cirlce of stones, while enjoying a "second honeymoon" with her husband. After her initial shock and confusion of finding herself in the same place she had been..but in a different time, "Claire" becomes entangled in the politics and personal lives of the people of the 1740's Highlands. Specifically in the life of one James ("Jamie") Fraser. Great idea! So why my frustration? The Scottish dialouge is convincing, the surroundings described well, and the characters are interesting; yet something is missing. Frankly, in my opinion, this is one of the longest reads I've struggled through in a long long time. For one thing, the long stretches of "soft porn" wore on my nerves. The various techniques and positions of the protagonists detracted from the story to the point I found myself skipping over those scenes as they occured, and they occur often. Then, there are these long sections of details and names that seem to bog down the momentum of the story itself. Perhaps it's the author's style of writing I object to, for, in my opinion she seems self-conscious and plodding. She does have her moments of moving things along at a right good pace. I recall I actually laughed out loud at one point during the scene at the water wheel. But overall, I just didn't find the treatment of the subject "believable" for the characters and times Ms. Gabaldon is writing about. I observe that the author appears to be quite young (certainly not over 40), lives in Arizona and studied botany. Yet she is writing about people from two time periods that she can have no way of knowing or understanding about. The overall impression I kept getting was that Ms. Gabaldon liked the "Braveheart" story, and wanted to write a romance novel about Scotland as a result. Her "modern day" setting is in the 1940's post war era. And I wasn't convinced she understood the psychology or culture of that time at all. The story in the Highlands of 1740-something was like a fantasy-based-on-a-movie rather than on what actually might have happened then. She did do a lot of research, and her facts are good, but they seem to lack substance, as if there was no real belief or motivation behind the facts. I consider this to be a very long "light weight" book with a great idea that fizzled in the effort to make it a novel.
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Summary: Has high and low points, but a strong 5-star in the end
Review: Claire Randall unexpectedly finds a time portal and in an instant she goes from 1947 back to 1743 Scotland. There, she finds a whole new world, a whole new scot clan, political intrigues, and a new love, named Jamie Fraser. The problem is, she was married in the XXth century. What is worse, Jamie Fraser is hiding from the red-coats englishmen because of a capital felony. What's even worse, one of the english officials, named Jack Randall, is completely (and strangely) maniac about putting his hands on Fraser, and this very same Jack Randall is Claire's XXth century husband's great-great-great-great-whatever-grandfather.The plot seems complicated, no? Well, in fact it is a little bit, but Diana Gabaldon uses well the 800-plus pages of her first book in the Outlander series to develop and explain not only the plot but the characters on the book (and there are dozens of characters). "Outlander" surprised me not only because it's a better book than I expected, but because it's full of action, full of real and also fantastic situations, full of sex scenes (described with good taste, even if there are some hot sex scenes). More than that, Diana Gabaldon was able to create and develop at least fifteen complete characters, with background, motivations and credible reasoning. Also, the story is completely immersed in the political background of the English-Scottish relationship in the XVIIIth century, giving more realism to the plot. But there were a couple of things that didn't go well with me. The first thing is: even if there are lots of dangerous situations and plot twists along the book, I thought they were all pretty much the same, only disguised here and there a little bit. The second thing is: even though I knew "Outlander" was the first book in a series, I thought it was going to be a complete book, and it is not. Towards the end (the last 100/150 pages), the story gets slower, and in the end, there are lots of things left without answer. I know, these will be properly answered in the next books, but I wanted them answered now, and I couldn't help feeling a little cheated. Well, I was going to buy "Dragongly in amber" anyway. To sum it up, the "Outlander" series, from what I felt about the first book, may be one of the most interesting and well-written that I've read. It's got all the necessary elements: good characters, a good plot, and a good writer. Grade 9.2/10
Rating: 
Summary: Yuck!
Review: I chose 1 star for this book, only because there wasn't a zero star option. In my opinion, the time travel premise of this book is simply a hackneyed device to draw the reader into a banal, unbelievable, and gratuitously violent historical romance involving a (married) heroine and another man. I found the characters shallow, inconsistent, and unbelievable. The violent, sadistic scenes had me wondering about Ms. Gabaldon background and her concept of love. She may benefit from reading some of Alice Miller's books. I plowed through the entire 800 pages, hoping that I would find at least one redeeming characteristic in this book, but I found the experience similar to watching an inexorable natural disaster. I find it frightening that so many people gave this book such high marks.
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Summary: Outlander
Review: Dived right in, the most pleasent part of this book aside from the fantastic story line and great characters is that it doesn't have a lot of mindless fillers to skim over. Every page is important and every sub-plot has real value. I found myself after several hours of reading and growing tension wanting to skip ahead and find out how it ends, but it ruins the details. The details are savory and not at all to be missed. Being that I am a die hard quicky romance novel lover the size was a bit daunting, I worried it was a bit too scholastic for my daytime reading tastes, but the pages turn quickly and then I realized that 850 pages weren't enough. I am happy to recommend this to everyone.
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Summary: Outlander
Review: Absolutely fascinating...I read this book (almost 900 pages) in four days - and it took me that long because I had to feed my family!! I devoured this book and wanted more!! I can't recommend it highly enough. I just adored Jaime but I did think that Clair's character could have had a little more personality than just bossing Jaime around when he was wounded. Be that as it may, still one helluva book.
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Summary: Bravo!
Review: Don't let the size of the book scare you off.It goes way too quickly.Adventure, danger and passion, what else do you need.
This was the best book I have read in a long time,having been to the areas it is set in, added to my pleasure.
I agree, I cannot begin to use all the word of praise it deserves. I could not stop reading it and when I had to put it down couldn't wait to again go back into that world to see what would happen next.
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Summary: ENTHRALLING!
Review: Thankfully, I am a latecomer to Diana Gabaldon. I don't think I could stand to wait for each sequel. A girlfriend and her mother HIGHLY recommended the series so I purchased book 1. There are not enough adjectives to describe these novels. I am hooked, and have made several frantic searches and subsequent desperate dashes to the nearest bookstore upon completing a book. I couldn't wait to pass them on. My mom has refused to accept any past the first book as her house was in shambles.......book good, housework BAD!!! These are truly the absolute best books I have read in my 33 yrs as a reader. Currently on #4 and I am already looking forward to reading them all again...... A DEFINITE MUST-READ
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