Friday, March 11, 2011

Outlander

OutlanderAuthor: Diana Gabaldon
ISBN: 978-0385319959
Publisher: Delta
Source: Pump Up Your Book Blog Tours
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:
Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another...

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Review:

The Outlander Series has been recommended to me on more than one occasion by different friends who all enjoy different genres. This seems to be the series the most readers seem to all agree on! When Outlander became available for me to review for this tour, I couldn't resist! I figured it was time to read it and now I wish I hadn't waited so long.....

Storyline/Plot: I enjoyed the storyline of this novel. It captures your attention and keeps it! Everything starts off normal enough as Claire is on her second honeymoon with her husband Frank. When she decides to go exploring and accidentally stumbles across a way to travel back in time the story takes an interesting turn. She ends up back in Scotland during the 1700s on the brink of a tumultuous historical time. Almost instantly she catches herself in a dangerous situation and is kidnapped by a group of Scottish men who think that she is an English spy. Within the group that takes her is a wounded man and Claire tends to him with her army nurse background. Soon she realizes that she is stuck in the past and basically being held prisoner. She uses her nursing skills to find a niche while all the while searching for a way to travel back to the future. Also, the wounded man that she tended to, Jamie Fraser, has been a presence in her new life and she can’t help but forming an attachment to him. Claire is torn between risking it all to escape back to her husband and life in the future and risking it all to stay behind with her new love and the new life she has become accustomed to.

Setting: Who doesn't love a novel set in Scotland? I don't think I ever tire of reading novels set in Scotland or England. Something about historical romance just screams "set me there"! I enjoyed the setting and couldn't imagine it being elsewhere.

Writing & Characters: Diana Gabaldon definitely did her research before writing this novel. Reading this book really taught me a lot about Scotland’s history and was so detailed and seemed incredibly realistic. The characters and the events are very detailed and all play an important role in the story either in the past, present, or (I've been told) her future novels. (This is the first book of the series to which many of the following books are already released) The time travel aspect to the novel is just one of the characteristics that had me wanting to read more. I also really liked how the author brought in Claire’s nursing background. Claire working as a “healer” back in the 18th century really put things in perspective. It also helps Claire cope with her situation in the past and allows her to keep her mind off of the future (or present) and her husband. It is also just interesting if you enjoy that sort of thing.

Overall: I loved everything about this book! The best part about this novel is the romance between the two main characters Claire and Jamie. This is one of the best love stories I have ever read. I myself have never been attracted to red-haired men in kilts…but after reading Outlander I have to say if I ended up back in the past with Jamie Fraser I think I’d choose to stay! There are steamy scenes to say the least, but it is also about the relationship they must form given their situation. They have to learn to trust each other and love each other. There are many barriers they must overcome and none of it is easy. I can’t wait to read the rest of the novels in the series!

Recommendation: Read this series! (In order... this series is one that is best to be read in order. The novel are all fairly long, though you won't feel like they are!) Start with Outlander and see why the many who have fallen in love with it are raving to their friends!

Giveaway: 1 copy of Outlander is available for US/CAN addresses only. Follow this blog, comment on this review and fill out the form below! 1 extra entry is available by spreading the news about this giveaway. Make sure to leave the link if you share the giveaway.

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About the Author:
Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 NYT-bestselling OUTLANDER novels, described by Salon magazine as “the smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting “Scrooge McDuck” comics.”


The adventure began in 1991 with the classic OUTLANDER (“historical fiction with a Moebius twist”), has continued through six more New York Times-bestselling novels–DRAGONFLY IN AMBER, VOYAGER, DRUMS OF AUTUMN, THE FIERY CROSS, A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES, and AN ECHO IN THE BONE, with nineteen million copies in print worldwide

The series is published in 26 countries and 23 languages, and includes a nonfiction (well, relatively) companion volume, THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, which provides details on the settings, background, characters, research, and writing of the novels. Gabaldon (it’s pronounced “GAA-bull-dohn”—rhymes with “stone”) has also written several books in a sub-series featuring Lord John Grey (a major minor character from the main series): LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER, LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE, and LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF DEVILS. Another Lord John book, LORD JOHN AND THE SCOTTISH PRISONER, will probably be published in 2011).

Returning to her comic-book roots, she has also written a graphic novel titled THE EXILE (set within the OUTLANDER universe and featuring the main characters from OUTLANDER), but told from the viewpoint of Jamie Fraser and his godfather, Murtagh. The graphic novel is illustrated by Hoang Nguyen, published by Del-Rey.

Gabaldon is presently working on the third Lord John novel (LORD JOHN AND THE SCOTTISH PRISONER), and the eighth book in the OUTLANDER series. In addition, she is working on a contemporary mystery series, set in Phoenix, and has written Highly Scholarly Introductions (with masses of footnotes) to recent Modern Library editions of Sir Walter Scott’s IVANHOE and Thomas Paine’s COMMON SENSE.

Dr. Gabaldon holds three degrees in science: Zoology, Marine Biology, and Quantitative Behavioral Ecology, (plus an honorary degree as Doctor of Humane Letters, which entitles her to be “Diana Gabaldon, Ph.D., D.H.L.” She supposes this is better than “Diana Gabaldon, Phd.X,”) and spent a dozen years as a university professor with an expertise in scientific computation before beginning to write fiction. She has written scientific articles and textbooks, worked as a contributing editor on the MacMillan ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMPUTERS, founded the scientific-computation journal SCIENCE SOFTWARE QUARTERLY, and has written numerous comic-book scripts for Walt Disney. None of this has anything whatever to do with her novels, but there it is.

She and her husband, Douglas Watkins, have three adult children and live mostly in Scottsdale, Arizona.

You can visit Diana online at http://www.dianagabaldon.com/

17 comments:

  1. Wow - it does sound like a great read. If I win, I'll review it on my blog too.

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  2. Thanks for the fabulous review to end Diana's virtual book tour. Everyone on the tour and many who commented on her tour stops love this book. I'm surprised I never heard of it until I was asked to promote it. I'm making it my goal to read Outlander before the end of the year.

    Thanks again. I hope your readers check our Diana's work.

    Cheryl

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  3. Jaime was my first fictional love. Great review

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  4. Great review. I read this book several years ago (a library copy) and loved it. I'm ready to read it again, and would love to have my own copy. Thanks for the giveaway.
    lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. OMG,

    The excerpt and blurb was so great. How am I not to want to read this series. I love Scottish books. Lynsay Sands writes wonderful books about Scottland and the Lairds.

    So I'm looking forward to reading the Outlander.

    Teresa K.
    tcwgrlup41(at) yahoo (dot) com

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  6. I love Outlander and all the rest. I waited till the last book was out and then spent my summer reading them all back to back from the Library. Love Jamie. My first Alpha love. lol
    I'm a GFC follower under Lucky47.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  7. This sounds really good...I love historical fiction, thanks.

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  8. I love this series! I'd share this with my mom and sister who haven't read it if I won.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  9. Have them enter and triple the chances!! ( :

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  10. Great review. I love men in kilts!

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

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  11. Great review! I love this series - it gets better with every reread [g]

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  12. I have heard really good reviews over this book. Would love to enjoy it as well.

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  13. I have heard so many great things about this book and have added it to my tbr. Thank you for the review.

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  14. Sounds like a great read!!!

    vidishamun@gmail.com

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  15. Would love to win this book.
    Have heard so many good reviews of this book.
    Sounds like my kind of read.
    cindymacbeth at gmail dot com

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  16. I love books about time travel. Been awhile since I've read one. Would love to read this one. Thanks for having this giveaway.

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

    ReplyDelete

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