Rating:  Summary: More S&M than romance Review: There once was a laddie named Fraser, who bedded a wife, then beat her. All's well in the end - he's buggered, butt not sinned, For Claire didn't marry nae cheater. Lot's of action that lends little to the plot, and there's even more rough sex that detracts from the drawn-out story line. Don't bother unless you're turned on by stories of child and wife beating and graphic, perhaps, homophobic description of male rape.
Rating:  Summary: One of my absolute favorites Review: This book is wonderful, terrific, fantastic... and more. The story of Claire and Jamie is so special. This series has a place in my heart, that1s for sure. I wouldn1t have even thought that it was a romance. And it was so absolutely funny. I was laughing continuously throughout the books, sometimes even so much that I had to put the book down, because Diana Gabaldon1s characters are hilarious in an almost ironic sort of way. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:  Summary: EXCITEMENT FROM PAGE1 TO THE FINAL PAGE. BRAVO. Review: Claire drew the reader into her inner most thoughts,desires and fears. Jamie was every woman's perfect man. All this on the page and it never occured to me that this was a romance novel.NOW THAT IS GREAT ENTERTAINMENT.
Rating:  Summary: An amazing adventure, the right amount of fiction and fact. Review: Its a clasic. From the first line it holds you.Diana Galbaldon mixes the right amount of fact and fiction into the book to keep you informd and guessing at the same time.The immagry is amazing and the charactures are highly realistic. It is defenetly not something you could put down, I have met no equil to its type.
Rating:  Summary: Never before has history,romance & fantasy blended so well. Review: This book blends romance, history and fantasy like never before. Mesmerizing, poltical historical and romantic intrigue. Makes this a hard book to put down. You experience Clarie's
journey as if it were your own. The characters
truly come alive through the vivid descriptions.
Each character has it's own story as well as a
combined one that is interwoven so masterfully
you would think they truly existed on the pages
of our history books. You come to know and love, or hate each character.Claire's time travel
is something I think we all would like to experience . If only for a day , maybe longer.
The author gives you the impression that she has actually experienced all these trials and
tribulations. Diana's comprehensive knowledge
of medicinal herbs adds a special intrigue that
gives a certain insight into life in the 1700's.
You gain a sympathy for what these clansmen,
highlanders endured, what they struggled for and why. After reading this book I became
spoiled by her particular style of writing. Such clarity. I compare to a fine tapesrty, finely
woven with depth , beauty and richly textured
with human emotion. She truly shows the strength, and range of emotions all women have
no matter what time period. There are certain
things time dosen't alter. The will of man and the power of love.
Rating:  Summary: This is a wonderful time machine on paper. Review: The book Outlander was originally recommended to me by word-of-mouth. I was looking for new material and was hooked from the first chapter. The intriguing story combines several elements, each of which would carry a lesser novel singularly. Woven together here amid the rich history of 18th century Scotland, the story takes on the character of an intricate tapestry. This story definitely leaves the reader begging for more. Thank goodness that there is more from this wonderful author. I think that otherwise there is a large group of readers that would go into Outlandish withdrawal. Kudos to an author with an eye to readers with not only a sense of fun and adventure, but a brain as well.
Rating:  Summary: Absolutely the best Review: I am fortunate to have discovered this series after four of the six books were published. I am savoring each book knowing that once I finish the Drums of Autumn that I, too, will have to wait for the next one. Diana Gabaldon has spoiled me. She has a special writing style that causes me to laugh out loud at times resulting in strange looks from my ignored family. Diana gives Jamie the best dialogue. As I've told my husband, men may not really talk like Jamie, but they should. They'd get a lot farther with women that way. I believe Diana Gabaldon stated that her husband told her she knows nothing about men. Well, that may be true, but she DOES know what many women want men to be like!
Rating:  Summary: Claire slipped through the stones and took me with her. Review: Outlander, the first in the Outlandish series by Diana Gabaldon, is a book I picked out because I liked its dust jacket. It is time-travel si-fi with a romantic twist. No wonder people have a difficult time deciding what to label Ms. Gabaldon's work. Not exactly science-fiction, not a mystery, not all together adventure, not even a romance, but a wonderful meshing of each. Could it be that such a masterpiece deserves its own category? Perhaps. From the beginning I was captured and held prisoner by the tale of Claire Randall, her love for her husband Frank, and their attempt to bolster their flagging relationship after WWII. Our heroine is the type of woman we all want to be: smart, wise and always prepared for what might come our way. An experienced combat nurse and amateur botanist is great preparation for her step through the magical standing stones into 18th Century Scotland. Almost immediately (after a confrontation between she and her husband's evil look-alike ancestor) Claire falls into the arms of her true love and soul-mate, Jamie Fraser. Like any human, his flaws are evident. I think the reason he is such a likable sort is that he is so human, much like the heros in novels by Laura Kinsale (one of Diana Gabaldon's favorite writers, by the way). Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager and Drums of Autumn are each, in their own right, extremely well written with characters so vivid and well defined that the reader begins to feel as if they know them. Scenes are full and rich in historical accuracy. Descriptions and attention to details leave one with a sense of having been there, having touched the fabrics, smelled the scents and tasted the foods of another far away time. Battle scenes are so intense, that you can almost hear the twang and scrape of clashing broadswords, feel the thunder of pounding horse's hooves. Images induced by such talented writing tends to live with the reader long after the last page has been turned. The last in the series published thus far, Drums of Autumn, has set the stage for more action to come. Claire, Jamie, their daughter Brianna and her love, Roger, are tottering on the brink of the American Revolution. The witch Gellis once told Claire that the reason people are allowed to travel from one time to another is to change events. Who knows, the Brittish may win this time. Lead on, Diana, your fans will follow.
Rating:  Summary: The start of a fantastic series by an incredible author Review: Outlander and all the titles that follow in the series are some of the best books I've ever read. I was so impressed, I wrote a fan-email to Diana Gabaldon--something I've never done before! Gabaldon's style reminds me of my other favorite historical romance novelist's, Anya Seton Chase. Please please please continue the story!
Rating:  Summary: OUTLANDER-A GREAT HISTORICAL ROMANCE Review: I am a Romance writer myself. I started about six years ago and now am "on the verge" of being published. It annoys me when people put down Romance, especially Historical. It requires a lot of research to write a good one. OUTLANDER is just an example of some of the great ones that are out there. I looked down my nose at most until I was challenged to write one. It's damn hard to compete with doctors, lawyers, and Ph.D's (like Gabaldon). I was an English teacher and it's taken me 5 years to finally write a truly good one. It concerns a hero whose best friend is Wellington. Believe me these books are well researched. Gabaldon was reluctant at first to have the novel published under the Historical Romance list. But it was those readers who made her books sell. I liked the first two (second, DRAGONFLY IN AMBER). After those two I think the romance went out of the novel and they became repetitious. Also having the hero and heroine grow old in the fourth book dismayed me. There were so many devices she could have used to keep them young ( esp. in SF or Romance genre). I still think OUTLANDER is a well written and memorable work. Grace
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