Voyager

Rating:
Summary: A little too convenient
Review: This series of books has held my undivided attention since I started reading them. The historical details, and the ways that Claire, a modern woman, deals with life in the past are incredible. It's almost like being there. My problem with the series comes from Claire's sometime submission (which is not as prevelant in Voyager as it was in Dragonfly). The problem I had with Voyager, while it is a great adventure story, there is just too much adventure for it to be believable. That much stuff could not happen to any one set of people in 10 lifetimes let alone in less than 1 year. (Diana - Can't they just be allowed one day of peace!) Also, the way characters keep popping back up. The world was smaller in the 1700's, but not that small. I just couldn't buy that the guy Claire meets in the jungle in Hispanola and rescues her is someone that knows Jamie from a chance encounter at the brothel in Scotland. Too farfetched and convenient. I don't mean to pan the book. I couldn't stop turning the pages to see how they were going to get out of the next dilemma - it was just too much. I really like these characters, but I can't decide if I will read the Drums of Autum now that the series seems to be getting too over the top.

Rating:
Summary: Not Diana's best, but still thumbs up
Review: The story follows Clare back in her current time through her pregnancy and the growing years of her daughter until she's ready to venture back through the standing stones to spend the twilight of her life with the man who owns her heart. At the same time, we get a glimpse of Jamie's life in post-Jacobite Scotland as a war criminal and his struggles to survive after the Battle of Culloden and the disbanding of the clans.
Although I love Diana Gabaldon, in this third of her Outlander series, the always-in-trouble hero is in trouble too often and the traveling left me with whiplash. She has a lot of ground to cover to get the hero and the heroine back together over a span of years and unfortunately, it was a rough ride. I would still recommend it, the meat of the story is well worth it and the detail is still good reading.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not quite as good as the first two
Review: Voyager was an interesting addition to the series begun with Outlander. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite in the same league as Gabaldon's previous novels. To put it bluntly, this book loses some of the "believeability" of the first two books. There are simply too many plot twists that come flying in from left field. This makes much of the book feel strained-- as though Ms. Gabaldon knew she had to come up with SOMETHING for Claire and Jamie, but she wasn't sure what. Still, it was entertaining, and I can't say that I didn't enjoy reading it. I suppose I was just spoiled by the excellence of the first novels in the series.
One other thing, this is kind of a non-sequiter: I hope the next novel(s) by Diana Gabaldon have a bit less flagellation in them. Someone always seems to be getting hit with a whip, belt or razor strop. Maybe I'm way off here, but the whole punishment-thing seems to show up in all her books. Hmm.

Rating:
Summary: Each one better than the last! WOW!
Review: Since this is the third in the Outlander series, let me give you a brief recap first. The books revolve around Claire, a 1940's post war nurse who falls through a circle of stones in Scotland, similar to Stone Henge. She ends up in Scotland in the 1700's, meets up with a Scottish Highlander named Jamie Fraser, and goes on many incredible adventures. What I probably like best about these books is the fact that it is told from Claire's viewpoint, on finding herself in the past and the amazing love affair with Jamie Fraser, who any woman would swoon over. The first book is how they met, the second revolves around the Battle of Culloden, and this picks up with Claire, after being sent back through the stones in the last book, now twenty years later with her daughter Brianna, discovers that Jamie survived after the Battle of Culloden. It involves her search into what happened to him, and her decision with whether or not to chance going back through the stones after him. She then meets adventure with pirates, voodoo and discovery about the man she has loved all these years. I won't give away the end but I have to tell you that I simply could not put it down till I was done. I literally stayed up for HOURS one night salivating to see what happens next. I can tell you with regards to the ending, and the whole book, is that it is like a fireworks show...it's exciting to watch the whole time, but the finale, with all those fireworks going off all at once with the excitement, is the way the end of the book was. I was blown away by things in the end. I have already started Drums of Autumn and I know from the author's website that there will be at least two more books in the series after The Fiery Cross, and I only hope there will be more. I have never read books that captivated me more. It is definitely not a traditional romance novel, which I never liked. It is full of non-stop adventure, an amazing historical picture, time travel, an amazing romance and is absolutely addicting. I have gotten two more friends hooked who weren't sure they would at first like the series either. You have to read it but I will say you really need to start at the beginning with Outlander and go in order if you haven't already.

Rating:
Summary: A Terrible Disappointment. . .
Review: I devoured the first two novels in the series, Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, so I was thrilled when I began this third volume in the series. I felt the first two novels were beautifully crafted, deeply imaginative, and devastatingly romantic. I especially liked Gabaldon's characters--they were authentic, admirable, and all too human.

My excitement turned to great disappointment, however, by the time I'd read to the middle of this entry in the series. I had suffered through too many plot devices and character revelations that were just not up to the high standards of the first two books.

I really disliked how Gabaldon portrayed the character of Frank, Claire's first husband, in this book by branding him a racist and then killing him off. I also found Claire's willingness to leave her 18 year old daughter forever, so she can return through time to Jamie, unbelievable (at least the way Gabaldon describes it.) The circumstances of Jamie's marriage during his 20 year separation from Claire, and his sister's part in it, also was jarring to me--given the way the characters had been portrayed in the first two novels.

There is one scene that was up to Gabaldon's best writing, however: when Jamie takes leave of his young son. I had tears in my eyes (something that had never happened to me when I'd read the first two books.)

The phrase I would use to describe this work--in comparison to the first two--is that it lacks the integrity of the earlier works. The characters behave in ways that don't seem consistent with what we'd come to expect of them. Also, Gabaldon shows some distasteful prejudices about short men and fat people that I found disturbing (one of Claire's last exhortations to her daughter in her farewell letter to her is "try not to get fat!" Thanks for the deep advice, Mom.)

What a sad ending for me to what had been a great reading adventure! I've lost my taste for Gabaldon's work.

Rating:
Summary: Everlasting Love Found, Windswept Seas & Adventure Abound!
Review: The third in the 'Outlander' series and still kept me riveted. In this enstallment, Claire is in her own time and its twenty years later from the time she first went back (1945)and she has a daughter from Jamie, Brianna who is 20 years old.
Claire is now a succesful doctor living in Boston and still longs for her lost love, a Scottish warrior from the 18th century named Jamie Fraser. Her twentieth century husband Frank having passed away two years ago, Claire is feeling that heartwrenching pull to return to her love.
But how does a mother leave her only child to find a man she once knew and loved almost two hundred years ago? How does she explain this to the man's daughter who looks just like him? Just seeing Brianna makes her heart ache for Jamie.
With the help of Brianna and a friend who studies genealogy charts, Claire finds out that Jamie somehow survived the bloody Battle of Culloden! Dare she risk another trip through the stones to find him?
With understanding and the love from her daughter, Claire finds the support and courage she needs to take the plunge into the unknown with the knowledge that she may never again be able to return to the future and Brianna.
Seeing Jamie again nearly knocks the breath from her. Their love is still intact, even 20 years later. Trouble is still in the air, this time they are uprooted from the battlefields of Scotland to the exotic and mysterious West Indies. Coming face-to-face with an 18th century serial killer, Claire is the only one who can stop the madness.
Voodoo magic and political intrigue, Claire and Jamie are thrust on a voyage to the pits of humanity and must use their love and trust in one another to survive.
I thought the use of voodoo and the islands in the 1700's was unbelievable! It was so fascinating and kept you on your toes! Their journey through the world of magic and greed for life made sense and also explained things to me that I missed in the first novel 'Outlander'. The stones are more in depthly explained along with the travel of time. It was so unbelievable that I was engrossed for hours and hours and found it dark outside before I thought to even eat!
This is probably one of my favorites so far of the three I've read. It moved faster and with more excitement that the last (even though I loved 'Dragonfly') and I was sad to see it end, some 1050 pages later, lol.
The time spent apart made the heart grow fonder and I was happy to see the passion still well alive between them. I love Jamie anyway, and fell in love with him in 'Outlander', but in this, I loved him even more and wished I were Claire, lol. I am anxiously ready to plunge right into the fourth installment, 'Drums of Autumn', in the New World...

1. Outlander 2. Dragonfly in Amber 3. Voyager 4. Drums of Autumn 5. The Fiery Cross

Tracy Talley~@

Rating:
Summary: a good read, but not as good as the first two
Review: I enjoyed reading about the continuing adventures of Claire and Jamie. They managed to find just as many problems and scrapes to get into as they did in the first two books, and it was always interesting to read about how they'd get themselves out of trouble. But it could be shorter if not so many pages were devoted to repeated and detailed descriptions of every little thing. Also, the majority of chapter 61 - the weird fireside voodoo ceremony of the slaves - could have been left out. It really didn't have much to do with the story and wasn't very interesting. All in all though, it was a pretty good book.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite yet!
Review: Perhaps what I loved best was the portrayal of middle-aged passion as Claire and Jamie are reunited again. What a rare romance novel to feature a heroine in her late 40s(?) or early 50s(?). Obviously I need the "Outlandish Companion" since I can't remember these little details.

I was surprised to see that other readers thought this was a little slow paced, took too long to get started, and that the years apart were "too sad." Although I was anxious for Claire and Jamie to reunite, I felt that the bittersweet years apart heightened the joy of their return, and the sense that Claire and Jamie truly are the greatest loves of each other's lives. I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Jamie more, and see things through his eyes for a change, instead of mostly getting Claire's perspective.

The chapters focusing on how Claire's disappearance and return affected her marriage to Frank satisfied questions that remained unsettled after "Dragonfly in Amber." I had found Frank's apparent acceptance of Claire back into his life in "Dragonfly" somewhat unbelievable. (Yes, for some reason, despite a book premised on the ability to time travel, I still expect believability in the other aspects.) Frank's attitude in "Voyager" seemed much more what I would have expected.

I'm notorious for reading ahead, especially if the plot is dragging, but I was rarely tempted in "Voyager." I couldn't put the darn book down. I felt that the plot moved along much faster than "Dragonfly."

Some of the coincidences at the end became a little much for me, hence my decision to give only four stars. I don't want to give away the plot, but I did feel that the likelihood of Claire, Jamie and Fergus & Co. all ending up in the same spot following "challenges" at sea a little unlikely. If I could write like Mark Twain, I would skewer those scenes as savagely as he did James Fenimore Cooper's unbelievable twists. Since I can't, I'll just note that it's hard enough sometimes for me to find my fiance when we get separated in the supermarket, and yet, in all the Carribean, they manage to reconnect pretty quickly. (Just read through it, roll your eyes, and move on.)

On the other hand, the connection that Claire discovers between a friend in her time with someone whom she meets in the past didn't bother me, the more I thought about it. For me, that just seemed part of the "pull" that connects her to the two time periods. At the end of "Voyager," I was left with a sense that her time traveling could be connected with some deeper type of mystery.

If I weren't so broke, I'd be ordering "Drums of Autumn" this second rather than writing this review.

Rating:
Summary: Self-Indulgence Starts to Creep In
Review: I have read all five "Outlander" novels, and must say that I feel they started to go downhill a little with "Voyager". I enjoyed the book, but feel that the "self indulgent" writing which becomes more pronounced in the later novels really starts to rear its head in Voyager. Parts of the novel (especially towards the end) don't appear to "gel" or bear any relevance to the continuing story - particularly the "Scottish serial killer" sub-plot - I was a bit taken aback at the end that it didn't actually seem to have any relevance! I felt that the book could have benefited from some fairly major editing in parts - could have lost a good 200 pages. Another ongoing theme that raises its head in Voyager is the "nastiness for the sake of it" so far as gratuitous violence/disease goes. The first two books were brutal in places, but I think "Voyager" goes a little too far. Some of my ambiguity towards "Voyager" is due to the plot, having known the characters from the first two books I found the description of the 20 years that Claire and Jamie were separated quite sad, and felt that their lives (especially Jamie's) had become a little over-soured and that the changes might be irreversable. I also found the whole "pirate kidnapping" plot a little over-the-top. Still, I did enjoy the book, but not as much as the first two!

Rating:
Summary: The weakest of a brilliant lot of 5 (so far)--t'ain't bad
Review: I have read all 5 Gabaldons from Outlander to Fiery Cross. While others I pass them on to, saying YOU HAVE GOT TO LOVE THIS!, see only the length, they like I quickly find that something is *always* happening to keep you turning the pages. I couldn't believe how quickly I finished "Fiery Cross," which @ 900pp.+ must be the longest of the lot but isn't, in the reading. (Based on the reviews of the "Outlandish Companion," which I didn't feel I needed--haven't I memorized all I've read, after all?--like the others, I am now killing time--too long!--till the next.) Of all these great books, it was "Voyager" that *felt* longest to me, as though it could have been trimmed a bit in the opening few hundred pages. But another Scots friend co-reading (co-dependent!) said, you have to keep going till p.__, you won't BELIEVE what happens there...so I did, and was again richly rewarded. How to say what's BEST, from the opening book to the incredible "Dragonfly" and "Drums/Fiery"? One learns so much history from the day-to-day lives as well as the fictional characters. All I know is that the ONLY book that feels "worst," while still brilliant, because it tried my patience in spots--something the other books never did for a paragraph--is "Voyager." I'm awarding it three stars only to contrast it with the A+++s the other books should get (say, TEN stars)--because it's still rated by all at over 4.5 stars in a group of 5-star books. But once you star with "Outlander," who could stop? One can't miss "Voyager"; I simply think it's the weakest of the lot.