Title: Outlander (Part 1 of the Outlander Series)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publication: 2004 (ebook) 1991 (original Publication)
Medium: Kindle eBook
Grade: A
NOTE: Some minor spoilers for the TV show and a trigger warning for rape.
Many months ago a good friend of mine told me I should read Outlander. It did in fact seem right up my ally as far as books I like to read (History, science fiction, mystery and romance), but I kept pushing it off. But I finally watched the first season of Outlander last month and decided to read the book.
Usually I read the book first, then watch the TV show/Movie based on it. However, this time I did not. It did allow me to appreciate some of the narrative changes the TV writers made. The show is relatively close to the events of the book up till the last few episodes, although they expand on things in some places and leave out others.
I am not a big fan of first person, as Outlander is (from Claire’s POV). There are some exceptions though (such as the Hunger Games) and Outlander has ended up being one of them despite the fact that I wish some of it was in Jamie’s pov. The story is about Claire Beachamp-Randall, a combat nurse from WWII. She’s visiting Scotland with her husband in an effort to reconnect after the war when she is accidentally whisked from her time (1945) to another (1743). She finds it difficult to adjust to live 202 years before what she knew, and it causes a few adventures.
Writing wise, it’s not the best novel I ever read, but it kept me interested. As I said, some of the narrative changes in the early episodes of the show made sense to fill in some of the gaps in the book. It smoothed things out as it were, However, later changes made less sense.
I’m also not sure how historically accurate this book is, but it kept me interested enough that I didn’t really need to know – though I did look some of the outside characters like the Duke of Sandringham (Not a real guy) and Lord Lovat, Jamie’s Grandfather (actually a real guy). A lot of the characters are interesting, even if they are fairly minor. Black Jack Randall is creepy in all his scenes (which makes me feel sorry for his great-great so forth grandson Frank), and Dougal I can’t get a hold on whether he is someone I shouldn’t mind or someone I should place in the enemy column (Both in the TV show and the book. More so the TV series).
I know that the next book takes place in France but I will miss the lovely characters of Castle Leoch and the Scottish Highlands.
My only real issue with the book is that rape is used a bit too often as a cause for drama. Some of it makes sense with the characters used (mainly Black Jack Randall) but other times it just seems repative and even more uncomfortable it is by default.
I am glad my friend convinced me to read this, and I’m looking forward to reviewing Dragonfly in Amber (book 2) soon. I feel this is also a book that once I finish the series I’ll be back to re-read and connect some of the dots I missed the first time around.
As a final note, the book is not nearly as R rated as the TV-show (since it is on STARZ) ended up being. There is a lot more fade to black. Still, it is an adult romance novel, so I would probably not let your younger kids read it yet.
Sokorra Lewis 