Outlander (Outlander, #1)

by Diana Gabaldon

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Outlander is a book that is near and dear to my heart. It is responsible for kicking off my adult reading life thanks to a suggestion from a co-worker back in 2001 or 2002. It’s the book that made me discover historical fiction books with a twist of science fiction. Jamie Fraser is my first (and only) book boyfriend. Outlander is the first eBook I ever purchased and my first Audible download. I’ve loaned out my copy of Outlander so many times I’ve lost count. It also had not been returned so many times that I’ve lost count. And my current copy, purchased from Half Price Books, will not be loaned out because its cover is unique and I don’t want to give it up. Outlander is responsible for me connecting with lots of my co-workers and other authors. It’s the reason I binge on time travel and historical fiction novels.

Why I Re-Read Outlander

Technically I didn’t re-read Outlander I re-listened to it between Season 1, Part 1 and Season 1, Part 2 of the Starz TV show. This audiobook is over 30 hours long and my commute is a total of 40 minutes. It took a LONG time to listen to the whole thing, but as is usually case with this novel, I loved every minute of it. The plus side to a short commute, Jamie and Claire’s wedding night lasted at least 3 days. Hot! The down side, Jamie’s capture and torture by Black Jack lasted at least 3 days. Heartbreaking! Another plus side now that I’m eight books into the series and engrossed in the television series, I noticed things I hadn’t noticed before.

Things I Noticed This Time

I wanted more Frank. The show has forced me to see Claire’s disappearance through Frank’s eyes. Poor guy. He gets married, gets shipped off to war, reunites with is wife, goes on a honeymoon and she disappears. What the hell is he doing while Claire is galavanting in the Scottish Highlands 200 years in the past? How does he feel since the love of his life vanished? Thanks Starz for raising my awareness of Frank’s plight through…oops…better stop there almost spoiled something.

Did you know that Jenny actually uses phrase “my own heart’s blood” the title for book 8 in the series?

I hated Black Jack more. The show did it. Apparently my imagination isn’t nearly as powerful as I thought. But if I watch something and then read it…whoa, watch out. Black Jack is evil. And since I was listening to this around the same time as the release of Fifty Shades of Grey and while we were watching the latest season of Game of Thrones, I was drawing some not nice parallels between Jack, Christian Grey and Ramsay Bolton.

A lot has happened in my life since I first read and eventually listened to Outlander the first time. Jamie’s description of his emotional state after his torture and sexual assault hit home for me this go around.

“Now it’s like…like my own fortress has been blown up with gunpowder—there’s nothing left of it but ashes and a smoke rooftree, and the little naked thing that lived there once is now out in the open, squeaking and whimpering in fear, tryin’ to hide itself under a blade of grass or a bit o’ leaf, but…but not…makin’ m-much of a job of it.”

The emotion packed into those sentences broke my heart. Jamie has been so strong through so much of the book and to see him broken and afraid…*sniffles*

The Wedding. Seeing the Wedding on the TV show from Jamie’s point of view was twist I didn’t see coming. Going back to the book it was fun to know something Claire didn’t. Everything that Jamie went through to make sure she was getting the proper wedding while she was busy drowning her sorrows made my heart swell.

Ned Gowan is still my favorite tertiary character of the series. Ned doesn’t know Claire’s secret, but he does know she’s a smart woman. He admires that and provides Claire assistance in a time when women didn’t earn respect easily. He’s cagey and witty. He’s a good man and one has got to admire that when everyone else (save Jamie) is out to find out who Claire is.

A Mystery I Missed and Am Not Sure Has Been Resolved

I’m hoping my other Outlander friends can help me out here. There was a conversation between Jamie and Claire shortly after they are married that gave me pause. I can’t recall if this has been settled or not. Perhaps our collective knowledge of the books will solve the mystery.

At least once Jamie mentions that he’ll tell Claire why he married her. One of those points happens shortly after they return to the Castle and Jamie has just come back from his visit with Laoghaire.

“Claire,” he said evenly, “I shall tell ye in my own time why I’ve wed ye—or I won’t.”

I thought I recall at one point Jamie saying there were at least 3 reasons he married Claire. So here’s my question, at any point in any of the 8 books does Jamie explain why he married Claire? If not, it makes that shadowy figure that Frank encounters at the start of Outlander all the more mysterious and haunting.

Outlander holds a dear spot in my heart and on my bookshelf. It is the only series I own many of the books in multiple formats (paperback, eBook and audiobook). The characters come alive for me on the pages each time I pickup one of the books. And while, Voyager, book 3 in the series, is still my absolute favorite, this is the book that started it all. It is a big book, but it is worth every minute of your first read or your fifth read. For me, it’s like coming home again each time I pick it up again.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews