Outlander: International Edition

Outlander, Book 1

By: Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 32 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Outlander, Diana Gabaldon's landmark novel of Scottish lore, has captured the hearts of millions of listeners around the world and catapulted her to the top of the New York Times best seller list.

Intrigue, danger, and desire merge in this lush novel of loyalty and time travel.

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon. Their blissful reunion is shattered when she touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone ruins and is instantly transported to a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans - in 1743. 

Will Claire find her way back to her own time, or is her destiny forever linked with Clan MacKenzie and the gallant James Fraser? Davina Porter's lyrical narration will launch listeners into an exhilarating world of heroism, pulse-pounding adventure, and breathtaking romance as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love.

©2004 Diana Gabaldon (P)2020 Recorded Books, Inc.

I may be the only woman alive who didn't like this

I am almost an hour in and have yet to become invested in any of the characters. This book just doesn't work for me. It seems to drag and I find my mind wandering. I had high hopes but perhaps I am just not the kind of girl to get swept up in verbose historical romances.

Great narrator but terrible story

As a guy it takes a good deal to disturb me. But the amount of glorified violence and erotic rape going on in this book, I found not only deeply disturbing, but also made me very uncomfortable. The fact, that this loose story of strung together scenes of rape and abuse is rated so well astonishes me to no end.

Don't get me wrong. There is not much death in this book, not compared to game of thrones, but a lot of really wierd erotically described rape, that gets to you on a much more personal level, making me think that the author has some very deepseated issues. Can't recommend.

Interesting story with a little too much romance

A very interesting story but spends too much time on the romance and sex than the actual storyline with long stretches between the interesting action parts

too long & unsatisfying

The writing is beautifully detailed but the story is too drawn out, the book too long as and the ending unsatisfying. Too bad. I forced myself to finish it but feel quite disappointed.

Meh

The story is okay, though I can leave it running for long stretches without really listening and not feel like I've missed anything important in the story. My main complaint is the narration. I have enjoyed this narrator previously, but she is not convincing as a 20-ish woman. She sounds too old for the part and I would prefer a softer voice that doesn't have that upward screech inflection like my granny is telling me a story. It doesn't feel "romantic" at all.

worst book I have ever bought.

This is a rambling, go nowhere story. I wasn't even able to get through half of it. the author repeats herself over and over.

More pornographic than literature, sexual violence triggers

Attn abuse and assault survivors - be aware there are triggers. I’m not fond. There’s a bit here and there where the story is good, but most of it reads like porn. So much sex, so much attempted rape, and sickening bits where marital rape happens but oh then she’s aroused so her “no stop you’re hurting me” and his ignoring it makes it “rough sex”. Not to mention the abuse. I honestly don’t know what the author is thinking. This is the kind of writing that supports rape culture. It’s disturbing.

18th century Harlequin romance.

This story has more gratuitous sex and violence (spoiler, it's horrific) than any book can have without any actual plot to go along. While the performance was spectacular and Gabaldon can string words together well, I COULD NOT WAIT for it to be over. How this ever became a tv series escapes me as my intellect was not tickled once.

Not what I expected

This book was more of a romance than a fantasy novel. Fine if that's what you are looking for.

Not for me.

I didn't enjoy this book. Wish I wouldn't have used a valuable credit on it.

First book of a series

This series is a mixture of science fiction, history, medicine and romance. Forget historical or geographic accuracy. This is escape and should be taken as fiction based on fact. Diana Gabaldon wrote this as an exercise and did it extremely well, even though she had never visited Scotland before writing Outlander. It is thought provoking, funny, sad, erotic and dramatic.
There are, to date, six books in the series following the Frasers from Culloden (and the lead up to it) to the beginning of the War of Independence in America. There is one or possibly two more books to come.
Ever wondered where certain ideas came from? Who thought of putting phosphate on bits of wood with an air proof covering? Could have been someone who had already seen the idea in action.
I thoroughly enjoyed the books and Davina Porter is an excellent narrator. She manages to capture a 1940's English female accent but still does a very good Scottish male voice. Quite an achievement and well worth listening to.

Lose yourself in a gripping story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Being a bloke I was looking for a nice time travel adventure but I soon got caught up in the thrills and spills of highland life without missing the real reason for choosing the book. The first couple of chapters drag a bit but keep close attention as they make historic references picked up later on. I was fascinated and enthralled!

Get out of bed and get on with the story!

What would have made Outlander better?

The story gets the narration it deserves. Both are tedious and more Mills and Boon (I imagine as I haven't read any) than serious historical novel. A possibly good idea is interrupted by so much sex and "oooohhhhh Jaaaammmmieeee" that it never really gets a chance. I did listen right through to the end, even though I wanted to stop half way, and have masochistically even gone part way through the second book, thinking it may improve, which it didn't. If anything it got worse. Unfortunately I bought three of this series at the same time on the basis of other reviews, but just couldn't face any more of this tedious drivel.

Would you ever listen to anything by Diana Gabaldon again?

Emphatically not!

Would you be willing to try another one of Davina Porter’s performances?

Highly unlikely.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Outlander?

About 60% of it.

Any additional comments?

I can honestly say that nothing I have read has annoyed me more than this series.

Mind-numbingly dull

I found this painful to listen to. Firstly the reader speaks as though she is the Queen, which I found really off-putting at times. Secondly, the chapters before the time travel drag on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.... and they go into so much boring detail about things that no-one could possibly be interested in. It also included some of the most excrutiatingly embarrassing and unsexy sex scenes.
I thought once the time travel happened, I would be embarking on a thrilling historical romp. I was sorely disappointed. It was more of the interminable detailed descriptions of the most boring events and more of the awful sex scenes.
Dreadful!

Clichéd chick-lit

I actually fell for the 5* reviews on this book and feel like a bit of a fool for doing so. This really is "chick lit" and quite poor at that. The story is historically very weak indeed and is really aimed at female titillation because every other scene revolves around sex and, to be honest, it's so damned boring! What's more it has the clichéd goody v baddy storyline that has been done to death since time immemorial.



It took so long to get going that I almost gave up on it on three or four occasions. It's a shame really because when it did get going it was actually quite good but for 70% of the time it wasn't. If it wasn't for Davina Porter's amazing narration I don't think I'd have stuck it out til the end. Without her wonderful voice the whole thing would've ground to a halt rapidly.



To put it in the sci-fi/fantasy section is a bit misleading because the only thing that is faintly related to this genre is the initial time slip. With a bit of imagination from the author we could've really been put into the excitement and terror of a 20th century woman suddenly finding herself in the 18th century but instead we have a main character that knew exactly how to behave and speak from the start and was all too accepting of her situation.



Because the times where the story got moving were quite good I give it 3*s but for the most part it was a load of tosh and I certainly shall not be listening to any more of the series!

Entertaining romp

A page turning bodice ripper with added pornography. The book started off ok but I found the increasing dominance of the sex scenes became boring. Definitely written to appeal to women rather than men - my husband couldn't stand it and gave up on the first book.

Excruciating!

I acquired this as the free title in a 3 for 2 offer. Thank goodness I didn't pay for it!
Be very careful, the sample is taken from the sensible start of the book.
I only managed half of it - 16 hours of sex and violence fantasies are more than enough for me.
If your idea of fun is a huge 18th century be-kilted Scotsman being beaten and having sex incessantly, this may be for you.

Outlander (Cross Stitch)

Having read the books many years ago as they were written, I thought it would be interesting to listen to the first one being told. It was very quickly addictive and many things went by the wayside until I finished listening to the story. Davina Porter was very good, however, I agree with the reviewer who commented on her Scottish voices. I am Scottish, and the accents did grate slightly. However I appreciate the difficulties in being female and trying to narrate in an 18th century male Highlander voice. Overall, very entertaining, and very enjoyable. I look forward to listening to the others.

Eat your heart out Barbara Cartland!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Some degree of historical reality/accuracy is useful in a historical novel,.

What was most disappointing about Diana Gabaldon’s story?

Lacked any depth, just a bodice ripper using a historic setting - the Scottish highlands. No conception or the era or realistic characterization.

Did Davina Porter do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

No. Heroine, "oh gosh, I've time travelled, never mind."

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No redeeming features for me. A big error. Thought it may be interesting and a little different. It was certainly different to anything I would spend time listening to.

Any additional comments?

My mistake, but perhaps it should have been made clearer in the blurp that this was a shallow bodice ripper in Mills and Boon gendre and should be avoided by all but those of a certain gender and age.

Unexpectedly Brilliant

Any additional comments?

I loved this book!!! I downloaded it expecting to be a bit disappointed........time travel/scotland in the 1770's....really!! However, the storyline is thoroughly enjoyable and won't let you turn it off! The narration is extraordinary, you can instantly recognise the vast array of characters!. A word of warning - there are some quite saucy parts, and there are also some quite distressing parts.........I do not recommend having your nan in the car while you're listening to it at certain points, can be a little awkward.