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diana gabaldon time travel historical fiction well written highly recommend jamie and claire looking forward romance novel ever read claire and jamie dragonfly in amber back in time outlander series story line jamie fraser entire series character development rest of the series fall in love second book
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Terrence WalshTop Contributor: Pets
TOP 500 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story. Vivid characters. Prose that sings. Wow.
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2017
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Let's face it--over 22 THOUSAND people already reviewed this amazing book. It's been a bestseller for years--deservedly so.
Why write ANOTHER review?

First, to give author Diana Gabaldon her due. Not only did she write this long novel (plus seven more, plus some related novellas and such), and keep it endlessly entertaining with vivid characters and fresh plot twists galore. No, that was not enough. She had to write some of the most vivid sweet prose around. Over and over I found gems--dozens of them. They are the kind of verbal jewels that make any author gasp and say "I wish I wrote that." What a feast!

Second, to comment on my fellow readers. While reading OUTLANDER it seemed Gabaldon was everywhere. I recently transitioned six times through airports. EVERY airport had someone reading a Gabaldon paperback. Most readers had no idea what was going on around them because they were clearly a couple centuries back, in Scotland. I wonder how many missed their flights?

Third, to comment on copy editing (as I usually do). This is a long book. I did spot some errors in my Kindle version but, compared to many ebooks, not many errors. Room for improvement but overall pretty good--better than most, for sure.

The odds are slim that anyone will encounter this five-star review in the vast ocean of existing appreciation for this delightful book and its author. If, perchance, a live person actually reads this review, please let me know with a "helpful" vote. I'll know it's a good day to buy a lottery ticket.

Next up:  Dragonfly in Amber: A Novel (Outlander)
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Darby
3.0 out of 5 stars Glorified Romance Novel
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2018
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Several people in my life have recommended the Outlander series to me for years, so despite my not ever feeling a strong pull toward the premise, I finally caved and tried to give it a shot, with the first book. Long story short: I quit at 49%. I'm not really sure what I was expecting of this book except to find it to be a very good read, according to so very many. I was definitely *not* expecting a glorified bodice ripper. I mean, I knew there was going to be "romance" due to the main thrust of the plot being how Claire navigates two great loves in two different times, but I thought there was going to be more to it. (And maybe there is, later on? But I doubt it.) Took me awhile to admit that the "story" is really just various pretexts for putting Claire and her Scottish husband Jamie into a variety of steamy sex scenes.

Now, don't get me wrong: I like a good steamy romance novel, now and again. It's just that I was expecting more substance from this particular series. I love sci-fi, and time travel qualifies, but turns out that's just a cute backdrop for the romance, at least in the first half of the first book. No way am I remotely inclined to slog through 8 books to see if it breaks free of the Harlequin vibe!

The writing is not bad, so I'm giving it three stars. I'm not quite as outraged by the what others are calling misogyny and domestic abuse; I believe Jaime loves Claire and is trying to be a proper, loving husband, but the corrective spanking/beating he doles out is infantilizing, at best. Claire is a fighter and puts some hurt back on him, but the whole situation is designed to do what I mentioned at the beginning: to set up a steamy sex scene. In this case, a sex scene with strong B&D overtones that I don't find appealing at all.

So yeah, that was about halfway through and is the point at which I remembered that life is too short to waste good reading time on anything I'm not thoroughly into. Especially with the prospect of seven more books to go. Ugh. No. Time to find something else.
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Kari
1.0 out of 5 stars If you like abuse & rape, read this
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2018
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A few hundred pages in, I finally got into the story, only to quickly find that I could not finish reading the book. The scene where Jamie beats Claire within an inch of her life could have been used as a turning point for the characters, but instead was a quick moment that was quickly forgotten/forgiven by Claire. Practically just after he has forcibly held her down and whipped her, she is having sex with him. She also finds this to be the perfect time to tell him she loves him? I would not recommend that anyone read this book as it portrays the wrong impression to females. This book promotes domestic violence and abusive mentality. To let Claire believe she deserved the physical punishment (regardless of the time period) sends the wrong message to young girls or women suffering from abuse. The author clearly did not think about the views her writing would portray in relation to social issues. If I could give this 0 stars I would.
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Kaley Quinn
1.0 out of 5 stars Hated this book, it's trash
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2018
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Hated this book. I saw a few episodes of the TV series and it seemed OK, so I thought I would try the book series. I won't be reading any more of her books. She seems to have a creepy obsession with rape and sexual violence. There are WAY too many sex scenes, so many that it got tiresome. These scenes are very graphic, as are the descriptions of rape.

***SPOILERS****

I had to draw the line, though, at the "hero" beating the heroine because she "deserves it", then telling her after that he enjoyed beating her, and she is basically ok with that and falls in love with him. No, this not OK, nor is it at all romantic. It's sick. I was disgusted and disappointed by this book. It also seems homophobic because the only gay characters are creepy rapists. This book belongs in the trash.
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Top reviews from other countries

Sophy's Mum
5.0 out of 5 stars For lovers of Romantic ficition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2018
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Loathe as I am to review a book on Amazon due to my review of the Twilight books being viciously slated by another Amazon customer - the teen interest books were simply not meant for him (a man in his 40s!). That aside, here is my review, and if you aren't interested in romantic fiction then don't bother reading them.

I saw the TV series of this last year and thought that, like most book adaptations, they would have missed a lot of interesting information out for dramatic purposes. Thus I bought the book (along with 2 and 3). I love Scotland, but was fairly ignorant of the Rising and subsequent Highland Clearances, so this book brought the history to life, without being like the boring history text books of my youth. There are a lot of elements to interest you, time travel, romance (both hetero and gay) and adventure. There is a reason that this series of books are best sellers, they are well written and keep you turning the pages. Personally speaking, I love them, and have just ordered 4,5 and 6.
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Emily
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2018
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This was a great read. I didn't see the Outlander series before I read this book, and I'm glad that I didn't. I've now watched the series and although it sticks to the books most of the time, some of the deviations are fairly critical to understanding the character developments and I now see why some of the more controversial scenes in the series garnished so much attention. The book explains situations/events in much more detail, allowing the reader to understand actions & consequences from all points of view, within the context of the time period and the roles of husbands and wives. I have realy enjoyed this book as Gabaldon gives her characters great depth, her plots, great scope, and has a few twists and turns I really didn't see coming which I like in a book. This book juxtaposes the 18th Century with the end of WW2 and in my opinion, strives to be as historically acurate to those particular time periods as it can. Judge the book on the quality of it's writing and I think you will thoroughly enjoy it as I did.
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Jana
5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2015
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I started reading this book after I saw trailer to the TV series. The book has a great pace -just right, not too fast however not too slow. It is exciting, very clever (I have to take my hat off to Ms Gabaldon! She's done her research well).
The story is realistic, doesn't shy away from brutalities and everyday realities of a life in 18th century Scotland. I like the fact that the writer isn't writing vaguely about any situation, i.e. Jack Randall's twisted mind and torture of Jamie (there's quite a few surprises!), Claire & Jamie's marital life which is described just right not to be a paperback romance, etc.
Claire as a narrator is funny, amusing, intelligent and has a great overview of life.
When the book was published in 1991, it was an instant best-seller and I cannot believe I haven't stumble across it earlier.
I highly recommend this fiction not only for those who love to read about historical Scotland but for those who just simply love a good story and a good book.
Having seen the series just after I finished the book I have to say I haven't seen such a great adaptation of a book into a TV story yet. Thanks to the lenght of the series, the film makers went into a great detail of the story. Still, the book is always much better than its cinematic counterpart.
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rvan
1.0 out of 5 stars Too much violence against woman for me.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2018
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I thought the book was alright until the romantic hero turned into wife beater. I don’t care what era it’s set in I cannot like or respect a man who beats his wife and I think a wife who accepts that behaviour is hugely problematic for me. I stopped reading at that point and will not be reading anything else by this author.
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MRS TA YELLAND
5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the television series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2018
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I absolutely love outlander and watched every single episode in awe and since my binge watching I have been bereft without Claire and Jamie to entertain me, so it was natural for me to read this book. I was so happy that the t.v. series did adhere so closely to the written word. Some might say it was pointless reading the book when I already knew what was going to happen next but it was so wonderful that it transported me into Claire and Jamie's world and I could not stop reading and loving every minute. Bring on the next instalment.
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