Wow. Simply wow. It can be hard to find books like
Outlander. Books that take the time to build up the story and the background that they need, but still in a way that leaves you wanting to continue to read and never put down the book. Books that when the main plot line is revealed, you have no power over the way the book has possessed your mind and consumes your waking thoughts. It is
hard to find books like this.
Outlander has all of it. Even more so, it has a detailed and creative setting with historical accuracy and the some of the best character development that is realistic and true. It is long. VERY long actually, but totally worth all of the time and effort.
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CHARACTERS:
Claire Randall: She is.... amazing. She worked as a nurse in WWII, is still keeping up with her herbs and healing practices, and when she is thrown into a time loop back to the 1700s, she has only a small chance to learn what is happening and save her own neck. Which she does. Even when she is told to marry someone else, someone she barely knows, she holds her own before taking it in stride. And despite being surrounded by mostly men in a time period where men are seen as everything and women as dirt, she doesn't take shit from anyone. Bravo to her- if I ever get sent back in time, I'm going to follow her lead.
James Fraser: JAMIE!!!! I loved Jamie. A part of me wishes that the whole first section of the book that takes place in 1900s wasn't even there, even though I know that it was necessary for the book to have made sense the way that it did. It is hard to describe Jamie without seeming like I'm completely fangirling over him because his character is that good. He is loyal to a fault, handsome, brave, and has incredible morals. He supports Claire, is like a knight in shining armor, and even learns to believe the seemingly impossible. Plus, he's gorgeous.
Jack Randall: As much as I hate the guy, he is really interesting. I would never want to meet him. Ever. But his character is twisted and I'd imagine feeling trapped by his sexuality and desires in a time period that is completely backwards from today's ideals and almost archaic in its views.
There are so many more characters in the story, and all of them are really well put together, but I would be writing a novel myself just to review them all. But know that they are all really well written and original. It may help to take notes though to keep them all straight in your head.
SETTING:
I think it is safe to say that I am officially obsessed with Scotland now because of this book. The descriptions of the highlands and all of the different geographical attributes makes me want to visit there and capture all of the beauty that is there. In the story, the original setting is 1945, which is one of my favorite times in history. But then as Claire gets sent back in time, she goes to 1743, which I know almost nothing about. I know absolutely nothing of what was going on in England at that time, and when references were starting to be made to the historical events of the time, I had no clue what they were talking about. So I did some light research as to the event of the time period and the area and it was so interesting. I then went back to the book and all of the references were much clearer and even more interesting, knowing what was going to happen because of knowing the history. Weird explanation there, but what I'm trying to get across is that Diana Gabaldon did a fantastic job of tying in the history and making sure that was done so in a way that was captivating yet accurate.
WRITING:
Diana Gabaldon's writing isn't necessarily easy to read. It's not that it is grammatically inaccurate, but just harder to read because of Scottish jargon, accents, and a more complex vocabulary and sentence structure. I actually appreciated this because it was nice to read something a little more complicated. I already gushed about how she was able to weave a tale that kept you wondering and thinking about even when you weren't reading, so I won't go over that again.
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This book was great in that it was fun, challenging, and historical. Her writing was near impeccable, and I cannot wait to read the other books in the series to see where Claire and Jamie will go next and what will happen in the plot.
Thanks for reading!
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