Review of Outlander

Outlander

 Diana Gabaldon

Dell (paperback) reissue

ISBN 978-0440212560

Some say this is a time-travel story, others say it is a historical romance, and a few grumpy people liken it to a bodice-ripper with a smattering of history thrown in. After several years of being curious about this series (six books so far, the seventh and final book due out in 2012), I finally bought the paperback this summer. It's the twentieth anniversary of Outlander's first publishing, and judging from its rank on Amazon (#3 in Time Travel Romance at amazon.com and #8 at amazon.de), its appeal is still strong no matter how you categorize it.

I whipped through the nearly 900 pages in two days and hurriedly ordered the second book. Yes, there is the time-travel aspect. Brits Claire Beauchamp, a World War II nurse, and her husband, historian Jack Randall, reunited after being separated during the war, take time to rediscover their relationship in Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands. Their holiday is disrupted when Claire takes a trip through some standing stones to eighteenth century Scotland. Once there, Claire adapts remarkably quickly to the unsanitary conditions and rough living characterized by meager diets and lack of knowledge of the benefits of personal hygiene. 

The real trouble starts when Claire is forced by an accumulation of dire circumstances to marry Jamie Fraser, a dashing (this is absolutely the correct word) Scottish Highlander. But before that, we get close to fifty pages of twentieth century Inverness, then another couple of hundred pages of castle life in eighteenth century Scotland. Readers looking for a quick read may be discouraged by the slow start.

On their wedding night, Claire finds out twenty-three-year-old Jamie is a virgin, and despite her desperate longing for her husband, (who isn't yet born!), she willingly rids Jamie of this affliction. Their abundant sexual romps as newlyweds are interrupted only by such things as kidnappings, escaping from the British, and Claire being accused of witchcraft. So, yes, this (and the other books in the series), are definitely of the bodice-ripping variety. Those who do not enjoy explicit sex scenes, be warned.  

The reader is also treated to a well-researched and faultlessly presented historical romance set in the Scottish Highlands in the days before the Jacobite uprising that ended with disaster at Culloden in 1746. Although the graphic violence may offend a few readers, and it can be questioned whether it was actually necessary, it does make for an exciting read. Jamie and Claire's travels take them through the Scottish Highlands in their quest to free Jamie from the price on his head before the English can arrest him.

Despite the slow start, I quite enjoyed this first book in the series and would recommend it to anyone looking for an enthralling read with an unforgettable character, the Scottish laird, James Alexander MacKenzie Fraser. No serious attempts are made in the first book to 'scientify' the time travel itself, so those looking for a science fiction rendition of how the standing stones can transport someone through the centuries will be disappointed. It could be argued that the time travel is more magic than science, but even magic must have rules, and we are not privy to them here.

Even though Outlander is told entirely from the first person point-of-view of Claire Beauchamp, once we reach the eighteenth century there is nary a page without Jamie Fraser in it. And that's a verra good thing. Later books suffer from an omission of this fact – we keep reading to find out what happens to this man and quickly become irritated if he is not on the page. Diana Gabaldon writes well; her detailed and concrete prose holds the story together throughout its length. The secondary characterizations often don't quite ring true, but with two such very strong protagonists, I didn't mind this overmuch in the first book. 

So, grab your bowl of parritch and start reading – if you enjoy historical time-travel romance, this book is just the right thing for long winter nights.