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In 1945 a former combat nurse is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon, when she innocently touches a boulder on an ancient stone circle. Suddenly she is a Sassenach, an "outlander," in a Scotland torn by war in the year 1743. She enters a world of lairds and spies that threaten her life during the Jacobite Rebellion.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Groundbreaking Romance submitted by talleygrace on September 8, 2007, 1:52pm With Outlander, Diana Gabaldon changed the face of romance novels. Not only did she make time travel and Scotland THE trends in romance, she created this entire rich world and set her characters loose. If you have come to appreciate the world building in romance - you owe much of that enjoyment to Gabaldon.

In this first opening book, readers meet Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall. Jaime is an 17th century Scot on the run from the English. Claire is a 20th century British Nurse. When Claire falls back in time while wandering through a ring of standing stones, she ends up in the Scottish highlands on the eve of the Jacobite rebellion. While the story is just great - perfect plotting, great pace, and deeply engrossing - the best part of this book is the dialog, the characters, writing, and the world building details. Claire and Jamie do not just fall in love - there is a slow build up while Claire tries to get back home and keep her true identity a secret. Jamie is a character for the ages and he and Claire develop over the entire series (Dragonfly in amber, Voyager, Drums of autumn, Fiery cross, Breath of snow and ashes, and at least two more books are forthcoming). Readers learn a great deal about 17th century medicine, Scottish history, and then in the other books, about life in the French royal court, and the beginnings of the American revolution. Gabaldon's writing is lush and dripping without being slow or over the top. She crafts really great scenes that stay with you (such as Claire's talk with Jenny about potatoes or Jamie riding into Claire's witch trial). While the story is very very violent in places, it is still an amazing set of books - and while some are better than others - as a whole the series is a gift to readers. If you like this, then try Knight Errant or The Religion for other books that are as engrossing, large scale, and have that same sense of hefty but fun epic to them.

Incredibly rich submitted by smariej on August 30, 2012, 10:02am historical romance novel. Gabaldon makes Scotland of the 18th century come to life, and the series just gets more and more complex. I can't imagine the amount of research it must have taken!

Stunning submitted by kgolden65 on June 15, 2014, 8:50pm A book, no, a series like no other! It has everything...history, romance, time travel, mystery, wartime battles. Be careful when you start this book, because you won't want to stop reading until you have read all of the books in the series!

Really? submitted by Kikumatsu97 on August 24, 2014, 8:18pm This was reccomended to me by my mother who swore up and down I would llove it. (I read a TON of historical romance novels) but I HATED where this book took me. And I don't particularly care about the kind of detail that in jammed into the pages. I realize it's popular, but...

One you will read again submitted by kjshaffer on August 9, 2015, 4:02pm This is a great book. It's even good after re-reading it multiple times. Lots of interesting historical information and a strong female heroine. No wonder it's so popular!

I wanted to read before watching the show; glad I did! submitted by bchapman630 on June 28, 2016, 10:57am I just adore this book for so many reasons; it was one of those things where you just want to know what happens next because you get so involved in the characters and their relationships. There are many twists and many dark areas where few authors attempt to go. The dialogue is fantastic and feels real yet poetic at the same time.

Wonderful Book submitted by JoCeAn on July 8, 2016, 4:33pm Enjoyed this book. Especially that it has a strong female character.
Was also interesting to read about the historical events that
Happened in the book.

Historical drama-romance-action submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on August 27, 2016, 3:52pm Ahhhhh... I have read this before, but read it again for book club. I just love it. There is just enough fantasy (the time travel piece) to add a little excitement, but mostly it's a well written historical-drama-romance-action story. (Yeah, this book is hard to categorize.) The characters change and grow, respond to each other and external circumstances, and drive the story forward. The author explores the question of time travel within the book nicely, and she's a master of writing beautiful scenes with funny lines and memorable moments. This book will make you grin and cringe and burn a little for the steamy romance, too, if that's your thing.

Definitely 5 full stars for me.

Historical fiction - Romance submitted by JHermanowski on July 28, 2019, 5:31pm Fun read with a lot of ups and downs. Strong female character, which is refreshing, but she is also very frustrating. It's very difficult to read due many character flaws and traits at times, and difficult subject matters. Much better than the show!

Spellbinding submitted by gwenenelson on August 5, 2019, 3:37pm Be ready to believe in the unbelievable.

Gabaldon creates a rich environment that tricks you into believing in time travel. The characters are intricate and truthful and make you want to keep reading.


Interesting submitted by crp on August 5, 2019, 8:45pm Interesting to see how this differs from the tv series

Loved submitted by autumnmist on August 15, 2019, 4:02am I loved the book but my God it was long.

Entertaining submitted by Bookathoner on August 30, 2019, 11:29pm Very long but worth reading. Nice romance and characters that will leave you wanting more. Future classic.

Fantastic story submitted by dree411 on August 31, 2019, 12:04pm Love this story, have read it multiple times. While the tv interpretation is pretty good, the book is so much better.

Great book, can't put down! submitted by tkuz5 on September 1, 2019, 6:32pm This was an incredible read! I couldn't put it down. Loved the historical fiction with a twist. Highly recommend!

I don’t get it submitted by mfwebb2891 on July 19, 2020, 12:14pm I gave it 150 pages and it just wasn’t that interesting. Not great prose, slow development, big ehhh

But I know lots of people love it?

hate hate hate submitted by kath on August 17, 2021, 12:44am And this is only the beginning. how many books are there. this is a romance novel. time travel and history are only a very small part it is just a terrible romance novel that goes on and on and on. advance the plot?

This one is good, but the series is just kinda run into the ground submitted by amandasaurus on June 17, 2022, 9:30pm It starts out great-hot dude in a kilt, hot guy at home, the whole tension is fabulous, but honestly by the third or fourth book is just gets repetitive and long winded and I exciting. Enjoy the first few, but don’t worry about finishing the series.

Well written fun submitted by ellec on July 13, 2022, 5:38pm This was a fun (and surprisingly well researched) read for someone that had some time on their hands. Nothing stunning, nothing terrible

Not what I expected submitted by amym on July 31, 2022, 12:42pm I was expecting a bodice ripper, but this ended up being a well-researched, interesting book. Sure, there was plenty of steamy sex, but that was just part of the plot. I liked the descriptions of Highland culture and countryside. I found the 2nd book sort of tedious, but this one was a lot of fun.

Cover image for Outlander

SERIES
Outlander novels
1



PUBLISHED
New York : Dell, c1991.
Year Published: 1991
Description: 627 pages ; 25 cm
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
0440212561
9780440212560
0385319959
9780385319959
0553393693
9780553393705

SUBJECTS
Randall, Claire (Fictitious character)
Fraser, Jamie (Fictitious character)
Time travel -- Fiction.
Culloden, Battle of, Scotland, 1746 -- Fiction.
Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746 -- Fiction.
Scotland -- History -- 1701-1800 -- Fiction.