Outlander

I picked up this book at one of my library's book sales. I have never read Gabaldon, but was pretty happy with her work. I was extremely surprised to find a romance novel of this immense size.Gabaldon did an excellant job of developing her characters and plot. I did not feel the book was too long at all. I felt it was exactly the right size.

Claire Randell is thrown back into time by forces she does not understand. She is torn away from her husband Frank, whom she was on a second honeymoon too reaquaint herself with,in Scotland. Claire now finding herself in 1743 instead of 1945 is alone and confused. Her fate is now intertwined with the Clan MacKenzie. Her only chance of surviving is James Fraser, nephew to Dougal MacKenzie. Claire is in the middle of chaos, distrust, and intrigue.Can Claie lose her heart to the dashing James, a strong gallant highlander, or will she stay faithful to a husband she doesn't know very well in a time she cannot go back too?

There are a lot of twists and turns in "Outlander",you can't help but want to read all night.

I tried really hard to get into this book.
I love time travel books. I thought The Time Traveler's Wife was awesome.
I could only get 1/2 way and that was a struggle.
I tried to like this book but...I could not.
I just do not want everyone to feel they "should" like this book.
I can not imagine how people continue to read the many long length books in this series. Half of the first one was enough for me.

I was in a mood for a smart romance (even though it is not my normal genre of reading), and this one makes the top of the lists I researched. I was not disappointed. You have your heroine, hero and lots of bad guys for the hero to rescue her from. The reason I gave it 4 out of 5 stars is the length and the "punishment" scene. I'm not sure where the author was going in this scene that could have had a different outcome....like he could have pretended to punish her for the sake of the audience downstairs.
I do have some thoughts on the genre itself though.
Why do we NOT want Claire to go back to Frank who is more like the men we know now. Why is he boring? He seems like a great guy, smart and a good lover. Why must he be compared to a young man who is constantly fighting for his life and survival. What would Jaime be like in today's society. Maybe a general or a cowboy? What is it about this genre where we need the female to be rescued all the time? Why couldn't she really learn how to fight and defend herself? Yes, she does stab and kill someone in one scene, but then she is upset that Jaime didn't do it for her. She is also able to kill another in order to escape, and in the end she saves him with her psychological skills. But if Jaime wasn't constantly being the strong, brave, alert fighter and rescuer that he is (and remember he is good looking too)...he would be boring. When she finally makes it back to the rocks, the author really wants us to love Jamie too much to leave him. Frank does not have a chance!
When the mood strikes me again, I hope I can find a "romance" where you can fall in love with a man who is more typical. Now that would be a feat!

I really did like the character Jamie, but I had problems with Claire. She seemed to get over the time travel ordeal pretty quickly, which kind of lost me. She also seemed to lack vulnerability and softness which made her seem harsh and negative. I just remembered her yelling at Jamie a lot. And the tone changed too quickly for me towards the end. I suppose it was because there was romance thrown in this novel, so I really didn't expect any thing as heavy as the torture scenes. That just made me confused and I wasn't sure what I was reading anymore. Some parts seemed to drag, and I had a hard time following some of the descriptions, such as the names for the weapons and garments. It was interesting to look them up as I read though, so I learned some things. Despite some funny dialogues and interesting endeavors, I just found myself skimming through a lot of it. I don't think I'll be picking up the sequels.

Interesting book; valid history of Scottish clan people, politics & activities. Large book; needs a good editing job. Excessive focus on sexual activities.