Outlander

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Summary: If only the 'Purple Rose of Cairo' could happen by book!!!
Review: I was swept back in time. Each turning of the page, mounting my excitement, mixed with fear and anticipation. I felt as though I was Clair (add a few pounds) and wrapped myself in the throws of passion with him. I can barley utter his name, for I wept for him in Dragonfly in Amber (the title possesed me to purchase a chandelier with dragonflys on it) and I felt betrayed by him in Voyager. But my own undying ache for him is so raw, I thought I saw him in my husbands' best friend. He stood there and wiped away a tear that rolled down my cheek, he was turning the page to a new chapter in his life and leaving me behind, yet he looked at me for a brief moment and said, "Who's the sassenach now?" with the lilt of a scottish accent in his voice. I know Jamie exists!!

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Summary: Romance novel meets the Perils of Pauline
Review: I hate to disagree with all those listed here who said that it's not a romance novel, but it is. The two main characters make love when they're happy, when they're sad, when they're angry, when they're in danger, when they escape danger, when they kill someone....and the earth always moves. The harrowing danger-and-escape sequences are well written but become repetitious in time. The sense of place and time in Scotland is well done and reinforced with considerable detail. A fun summer book if you keep your expectations reasonable.

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Summary: For a romance novel, this had a terrific story line.
Review: I don't like romance novels, but I love history. This book is a thrilling account of life in Scotland in the 1700's. But for the danger, I found myself wanting to be transported too

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Summary: I cannot use too many superlatives to describe this novel.
Review: It took me quite while to find this book in "Amazon" as it's called "Cross Stitch" in New Zealand. It was recently voted as the 7th most loved book of all time in NZ in a nationwide survey. I found this one of the most brilliant, original,and captivating books I have ever read. Diana Galbaldon has created a truly masterful novel. As a devotee of historical fiction, and someone who absolutely detests historical inaccuracy(!) I just couldn't fault it (Loch Ness Monster and all!). The characters of Claire, and the 'Divine' Jamie , were quite brilliant,and I very much hope that this book is never made into movie, because the images I have in my head of these characters could never be matched! "Outlander/Cross Stitch" is also the most original, and moving, love story I have ever read (warts and all). On reading the book, I felt myself transported into 18th century Scotland - violence, poverty, dirt and all - I could almost believe that the author has stepped through the standing stones herself, and that she is giving a first hand account! The book also has a refreshing change from typical stereotypes, and plots of many novels. "Lovely" may seem a strange word to describe this book with so much violence,and a TRULY evil villian,but I really think this describes it accurately. Whenever I pick up new book now, I instantly think to myself, it won't be as good as "Cross Stitch". I have read this novel on very numerous occasions, and have voraciously devoured the three sequels, although I consider "Outlander" to be by far the best in this series. I've run out of superlatives for now ... end of review! Sarah Warren, Rotorua, New Zealand

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Summary: Don't start this if you have chores to do
Review: DO NOT start reading Diana Gabaldon's books if you have housework or yardwork or work work to do. Once you start, you will get sucked into each 700-1000 page behemoth to the total exclusion of everything else in your life. I picked up "Voyager" in the Romance section of a bookstore, but it is far more than that. Not only do the main characters get married only a couple hundred pages into the book, but they stay that way, over a period of more than twenty years in the three subsequent books. Also, these books are far more historically accurate than most "romances," meaning you learn the gory details of normal seventeenth century life (think chamberpots). This only makes them more absorbing. READ THESE BOOKS, but only on vacation

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Summary: Magnificent!
Review: Diana Gabaldon has the talent of transforming her words into beautiful glossy pictures of history come to life. By now, Jamie and Claire and all the other characters presented in her books are like real people I long to run into and meet. Gabaldon's style is witty and intelligent, and her ideas are refreshingly new. I can't even imagine how I managed without her books to fall back onto anymore! Through Jamie and Claire, Diana Gabaldon has shown me what true love is all about

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Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Though I enjoy reading about believable, likeable characters (and who doesn't?), rarely do I fall for them the way I did for Claire and Jamie, the protagonists of Outlander. Written from the first-person perspective of the main character, Outlander gives us a glimpse into the lives of extraordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances. As history, this book is compellingly accurate, painting a fascinating picture of Scotland in the age of the Bonnie Prince. Occasional cameo appearances by historical figures lend the story an authenticiry it would otherwise lack, and the story itself slowly becomes as real to the reader as the history. Ms. Gabaldon sets the time-travelling heroine and her 18th century lover in a complete and engrossing world of adventure, intrigue, and romance, with just enough magic thrown in to keep a reader guessing! This book drags a reader in, to the point where the characters are personal friends, and their wants and needs, failures and triumphs, are as familiar to us as our own

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Summary: So well detailed it is hard to believe that it didn't happen
Review: Ms. Gabaldon has a way of giving detailed information about the subject at hand so that you feel a closeness and understanding of the people and the time. There were times when I felt I could actually hear and feel what the characters heard and felt. Just absolutely fantastic

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Summary: AMAZING!
Review: I have always enjoyed any subjects dealing with time travel, paradoxes, and the like. But since Outlander is a romance, I was not sure I would like it at all. But on a whim, I bought it anyway. I was so impressed I have lent it to most of my friends, and my copy is battered from being read so often. I love the way that Ms. Gabaldon skillfully blends humor, historical facts, and romance to create a believable world in which simple choices can be life-threatening...or life-changing. My only complaint lies with the series as a whole, and it isn't enough to lower my 10 rating. I feel that in the books following Outlander (especially Voyager and Drums of Autumn), there are too many conflicts between Jamie and Claire. But as a whole, I would unhesitatingly recommend this series, the first I've read in a long time that deals with love and its consequences in a mature fashion

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Summary: A return to the art of telling a damn good story
Review: This book was not what I expected. I read it because I was going to interview the author; all I knew (at first, and mistakenly) was that DG wrote romance novels. Outlander is no romance novel (sorry, romance fans!). Rather, it is the ultimate adventure story with a strong and admirable heroine and a hero who is her match, as well as sharply drawn secondary characters. The writing is great; Gabaldon's power to evoke a sense of person or place is simply unmatched by most other writers working today. She reminds the rest of us who write that you need character and plot to tell a great story; one or the other alone, ye ken, will not do. Gabaldon is a master