Our book club chose this as a "relief" book after struggling through Faulkner's THE SOUND AND THE FURY, and while I only expected lighthearted entertainment, this was a fascinating, engrossing read. I set aside certain daily obligations (!) to sneak away with this book...I could not put it down until i was finished. HIGHLY recommended escapist reading!

If your looking at this book and you aren't sure what to expect, then your in the same position I was before I picked it up. To clarify, this is historical fiction with romantic and paranormal undertones. Do not pick this up expecting a light read.

Clair is a married woman, a nurse, having cared for men during world war two. She is on a trip with her husband in Scotland. When she touches a magical stone, she finds herself in the 18th century where she quickly becomes immersed in a world of Scottish politics and war. Romance eventually blossoms when she is forced to marry Jamie, a fugitive of English law.

You are never bored, and that's an impressive statement considering how long this book is. Each page is filled with interesting details. The plot has a nice rise and fall of action so it reads like a well-timed adventure tale. I also thought the romance had a smooth, realistic tone to it.

I call this romance very adult because Gabaldon doesn't settle for the classic boy-meets-girl happily ever after fairy tale so common in the romance genre. Instead you get cringe worthy conflict, awkwardness, danger, and in the end only very tentative hope at happiness. In a way I think this is refreshingly realistic

I cant see why some readers may have thematic issues with this book. There's quite a bit of violence. Talk (and demonstration) of wife beating and child beating is casual--because of the time period. There is also rape, murder, flogging,etc. So if you dislike violence, I'd skip this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to purchase a large piece of fiction with a lot of substance.

I can't remember who or what prompted me to pick up this series in the first place, probably the amount of excellent reviews I kept seeing on it and the fact that I love historical fiction. But I do remember starting out this first book in the Outlander series and thinking: "meh..."

Gabaldon does go on and on with her silly little (pointless) tangents which have nothing to do with the actual plot line and only serve to increase her already bursting word count. During the first half of this book I kept putting it down and my boyfriend kept asking me why I was even bothering.

And then I got to the second half, before I knew it I was knee deep in Gabaldon worship just like the rest of the female population. Holy crap, how much do we love Jamie Fraser? Gabaldon has created the most perfectly imperfect, intense, wonderful, rugged, passionate, lovable, beautiful specimen on paper. (Have you ever googled "outlander movie"? Much to the chagrin of every warm blooded woman out there (and possibly some men...) there is not a movie version of this fantastic hero. But that doesn't stop everyone from casting him. Go check out some of the "who's your Jamie" fan sites, suggesting dozens upon dozens of different actors to portray this god among men.)

Anyway, Excellent novel. An intense read with characters you will know intimately once you close the back cover. Very emotional series. I couldn't read just book one. I had to keep buying the next one in the series. And then the next one...

I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in history and who is above reading a bit of fluff. This is a challenging, engrossing read. Definitely on my "to keep" shelf.

I loved historical romances when I was a teen, but as I took more and more literature classes in college, the writing in romances seemed trite in comparison. Also, after reading romances for a few years, the plots became very predictable. Outlander, however, really surprised me. It avoids predictable pairings (virgin meets sexually experienced older man), and the writing itself is very good. A co-worker convinced me to try this, and I'm really glad I did. The world in this book is a world you can lose yourself in.

This is one of the best series I have read. When first recomended the book I didn't think I would like it, but after 1 chapter I couldn't put it down. Constant action-a real page turner. Highly recommend this series.

When I first read the description, I thought I wouldn't like this series. I have never been more wrong. I love that most of it is written in first person. I am in love with the characters and her writing style. I can't put them down...

This is one of the best books I have ever read. The mixture of history, great love story, adventure...I wish I could read it for the first time again.

TREMENDOUS! I didn't think I would like this book but I can't read the following books fast enough. If you like historical fiction at all, give this a chance. The time travel piece doesn't get into science fiction the way I thought it would. Definitely a keeper for me.

This is my all-time favorite book! I have yet to read another book or a series that touches my heart as much. I had this book for a long while without reading it. I have never been that big of a fan of time-travel, and the description on the back cover wasn't enough to entice me, so I kept putting it aside. However, once I picked it up, that was it! Not only is the story in this book (series) amazing and touches your soul, but the writing, dialogue and language usage is absolutely beautiful. Ms. Gabaldon does a wonderful job of letting you see into the hearts of her characters. And on a more earthy level, if Jamie Fraser isn't the most delicious and amazing hero you have ever read about, I will eat this review! He is the epitome of a REAL man, Scottish highlander and all that, complete with faults. However, it is his sensitivity and his love for Claire (and anything he will do because of that love), that makes him so tasty. These books (the whole series) are not written like your typical flowery romance where the hero is your typical alpha, and the heroine either falls at his feet or fights him every step of the way. You feel that Jaime and Claire have a real relationship with real problems and feelings (many that you may relate to from your own relationships) and traverse their difficulties together. All the character interactions in these books are more realistic than in most typical romances and you feel for the secondary characters as well as the main ones. Ms. Gabaldon is a true artist!

I read this entire series, then wanted to start again. However, with so many books on my TBR list, I opted for listening to the audio books of these while in the car. The audio books are just as fantastic as the books as Davina Porter does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life. If you do the audio books, make sure you get the unabridged versions. You don't want to miss anything!

No one does it like Diana Gabaldon. This series ROCKS!!!!

Read All Book Reviews of "Outlander Outlander Bk 1"

This is a well written book and a beautiful love story. I enjoyed the historical view as well. Highly recommend this.

I love this series. I have read the first book three times. All of the books feel so real. This is a great store for those who relize there are down sides to love to.

You have to love history,love romance and love stories with a bit of fantasy thrown in to make it a keeper book. The political drama of what was happening in the 1700's is difficult to follow in real life muchless in a fiction based on real facts. I think the author blends this love story well into that drama and following our main characters Jamie and Claire through this rollercoaster is very facinating for someone who loves Scottish history. I liked the characters and the discriptions of life in that time period. If you like quick stories this may not be your cup of tea, but if you like to follow your characters like friends you keep in touch with for a long time you will probably like this beginning novel and the books that follow in the series.

A very good book to escape with, but holy wow, enough romance to rival the romance section of any bookstore. Quite honestly, I didn't mind the fact that this book was much more of a romance than I expected, but I really could have done away with ALL of the romance scenes -- took a lot away from the overall story. After a while, it got to the point where I found myself saying out loud, "Okay, I get it, they LOVE each other!" Every time it moved past that, I found the story very entertaining and fascinating, and I am interested to read the second book to find out what happens.

Not a huge fan of the events at the end of the book either, those who have read it know what I mean. Not sure if it called for that, but I guess there really wasn't any other way to have the final events take place?

First of a great series!!!

Amazing love story that trancends time!

This is time travel to 18th century Scotland-lots of action, romance and a wonderful story.

A wonderful & powerful yarn - the first in the Jamie & Claire books. Not your normal "time-travel" book!

I love this book! Claire and Jamie are two of the best characters ever in a book, and the story is so much fun to read and reread over and over again!

I know this is an extremely popular series, but I just couldn't get into this book, and stopped reading about halfway through.

Read All Book Reviews of "Outlander Outlander Bk 1"