Outlander

Outlander, Book 1

By: Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 32 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

This stunning blend of historical romance and time traveling adventure has captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world and catapulted author Diana Gabaldon to the top of the New York Times best seller list. Outlander introduces an exhilarating world of heroism and breathtaking thrills as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love.

In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall returns from World War II and joins her husband for a second honeymoon. Their blissful reunion is shattered when she touches a boulder in an ancient stone ruin and is instantly transported to 1743 Scotland, a place torn by war and raiding border clans. Will Claire find her way back to her own time, or is her destiny forever linked with Clan MacKenzie and the gallant James Fraser?

©1991 Diana Gabaldon (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC.

Critic reviews

"Davina Porter maintains the distinct voices she creates for each character throughout the lengthy narration. Her delivery of 18th-century language sounds authentic and is easily understandable." (AudioFile)

Enthralling

Its verra, verra good. So good that I dreamt about the characters. If you want an action paced, drama filled, time travel novel that is full of history and features the love story to end all love stories; then you can't go wrong with one.

Be aware though that it is very violent at times, with some brutal torture so if this is a issue for you, then avoid.

But I loved it so much that I'm straight on to book two. I need to see what the future has in store for Claire and Jamie.

And I loved this audio version; the narration is perfect and listening to the accents just heighted my experience with this book.

The best!

I highly recommend this story. I had Outlander on my wishlist for months and never purchased it as the time travel aspect of the book did not appeal to me. When I finally purchased it and began listening, I couldn't stop. The story was riveting and I fell in love with the characters.

very happy listener

really loved this book as i did the whole series divena porter is an excellent narrater i look forward to more in the furture

Still my favorite book of all time!!

I can't find an author out there to match Gabaldon! A few come pretty close, but this is still my fav!!

Scottish Porn...Leaves You Wanting More

Let me start by saying that I have listened to several of the books in this series at this point. There is something mildly addictive about it, and while the middle of each book tends to drag, the author does a great job leaving you wanting more. Having said that, I would rate this book a solid 3-4 out of 5. Claire and Jamie are interesting characters, but there are WAY too many sex scenes. The person who recommended this book to me said that they were necessary for the story, but after a while I just found them to be gratuitous and a waste of time. The narrator does a good job developing voices for the characters.

Hooked

Absolutely loved this book! My friend told me it just went on and on, but I didn't feel that way at all!!!! One of those books you don't want to stop listening to! In fact, I finished Part 1 of "Shantaram" thinking I needed a break from Jamie and Claire, but I can't take it. I've downloaded "Dragonfly in Amber" and am off to see what happened to the two lovers! Can't wait! Maybe I have a secret crush on Jamie! After 30 wonderful years of marriage...I can have a little literary fling!!!! :)

One of the Best

The storyline is intriguing and fascinating, but the clincher is the narration by Davina Porter. Her accents are amazing.

A bit offputting were the so very numerous explicit sexual encounters. Makes one wonder if Diana Gabaldon is in fact a male as it would seem to appeal to the male ego that a woman, forced to marry a stranger, would initiate oral sex as their first married act together. Yup. To also not object to but apparently enjoy his smelly sweaty body makes her very unbelievable or perhaps British. They aren't too fond of showers?

Anyway, sexual encounters aside, the story was great, the literary tension wonderful and the characters very full. Highly recommend, but not to any of my younger relatives. Too much sex.

I can't wait to read the other 7 books.. Awesome!

The storyline takes you to a world of adventure, history, a life before TV, radio, and microwaves. True raw emotion that keeps you wondering what comes next . The best book out there to read!

I'm a Believer

I doubted that I would like this book, but I read it at my wife's recommendation. When she was reading it, I became aware that there were many parts that were intimate. The author was very good at being tasteful and using appropriate language for these parts. The story was very well told and the author did not try to scientifically explain the time travel element. I thought I could not enjoy so fully a romantic historical fiction written by a woman, but I was wrong. She is a good storyteller and I will continue to read her stories, especially since my wife likes some of the others even more.

Nicely done!

Where does Outlander rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Outlander is the first audio book I've listened to. I found it very pleasant to 'hear' the characters of this, my favorite book, as read by Davinia Porter. I've read the book at least a half dozen times in the last 20 years or so and it was wonderful to hear the correct pronunciation of the Gaelic terms used so often!

Who was your favorite character and why?

The obvious choices would be either Jamie or Claire as they are the central characters... but much has been written about them already. I am quite fond of Jenny and Ian Murray as well as Murtaugh though.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Heavens no! I rationed it out an hour or two at a time while on the treadmill. Talk about motivation to exercise!