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I am not a "romance" reader but am completely hooked on this series. The Outlander Series was recommended to me 10 years ago and when I read the discription of the story, I thought, "noooo, not for me". Then it was recommended by another person who just raved about the book. So I picked up a copy of Outlander almost a month ago, then Dragonfly in Amber, now Voyager and haven't put the series down. I absolutely loved reading the historical detail, the growth of respect and love between Claire and Jamie, and the fascinating characters introduced in each book in the series. Who couldn't fall in love with Jamie afterall?

It is seldom when an author can make me unconsiously smile and then a few pages later tear. I liked this book more than I did Dragonfly because the intimatcy between Claire and Jamie was left more to the imagination of the reader. This made the story flow more smoothly in my opinion. In addition, this book answered a number of questions left from Dragonfly.

This is more than a story of Claire returning to Jamie. It explains what happened to the clansmen during and following the Battle at Culloden. In addition, we find out what happened to Claire and Jamie during the twenty year separation. I felt sad to think that Jamie had not survived after Claire stepped through the stones, even though I knew better because he appears in the next book. Now that's good writing!

There is only one issue, just how many more whippings, stabbings, hits over the head, rapes, and shootings is Jamie going to be able to take?


A Terrible Disappointment. . .   July 8, 2002
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful

I devoured the first two novels in the series, Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, so I was thrilled when I began this third volume in the series. I felt the first two novels were beautifully crafted, deeply imaginative, and devastatingly romantic. I especially liked Gabaldon's characters--they were authentic, admirable, and all too human.

My excitement turned to great disappointment, however, by the time I'd read to the middle of this entry in the series. I had suffered through too many plot devices and character revelations that were just not up to the high standards of the first two books.

I really disliked how Gabaldon portrayed the character of Frank, Claire's first husband, in this book by branding him a racist and then killing him off. I also found Claire's willingness to leave her 18 year old daughter forever, so she can return through time to Jamie, unbelievable (at least the way Gabaldon describes it.) The circumstances of Jamie's marriage during his 20 year separation from Claire, and his sister's part in it, also was jarring to me--given the way the characters had been portrayed in the first two novels.

There is one scene that was up to Gabaldon's best writing, however: when Jamie takes leave of his young son. I had tears in my eyes (something that had never happened to me when I'd read the first two books.)

The phrase I would use to describe this work--in comparison to the first two--is that it lacks the integrity of the earlier works. The characters behave in ways that don't seem consistent with what we'd come to expect of them. Also, Gabaldon shows some distasteful prejudices about short men and fat people that I found disturbing (one of Claire's last exhortations to her daughter in her farewell letter to her is "try not to get fat!" Thanks for the deep advice, Mom.)

What a sad ending for me to what had been a great reading adventure! I've lost my taste for Gabaldon's work.


Everlasting Love Found, Windswept Seas & Adventure Abound!   June 7, 2002
The third in the 'Outlander' series and still kept me riveted. In this enstallment, Claire is in her own time and its twenty years later from the time she first went back (1945)and she has a daughter from Jamie, Brianna who is 20 years old.
Claire is now a succesful doctor living in Boston and still longs for her lost love, a Scottish warrior from the 18th century named Jamie Fraser. Her twentieth century husband Frank having passed away two years ago, Claire is feeling that heartwrenching pull to return to her love.
But how does a mother leave her only child to find a man she once knew and loved almost two hundred years ago? How does she explain this to the man's daughter who looks just like him? Just seeing Brianna makes her heart ache for Jamie.
With the help of Brianna and a friend who studies genealogy charts, Claire finds out that Jamie somehow survived the bloody Battle of Culloden! Dare she risk another trip through the stones to find him?
With understanding and the love from her daughter, Claire finds the support and courage she needs to take the plunge into the unknown with the knowledge that she may never again be able to return to the future and Brianna.
Seeing Jamie again nearly knocks the breath from her. Their love is still intact, even 20 years later. Trouble is still in the air, this time they are uprooted from the battlefields of Scotland to the exotic and mysterious West Indies. Coming face-to-face with an 18th century serial killer, Claire is the only one who can stop the madness.
Voodoo magic and political intrigue, Claire and Jamie are thrust on a voyage to the pits of humanity and must use their love and trust in one another to survive.
I thought the use of voodoo and the islands in the 1700's was unbelievable! It was so fascinating and kept you on your toes! Their journey through the world of magic and greed for life made sense and also explained things to me that I missed in the first novel 'Outlander'. The stones are more in depthly explained along with the travel of time. It was so unbelievable that I was engrossed for hours and hours and found it dark outside before I thought to even eat!
This is probably one of my favorites so far of the three I've read. It moved faster and with more excitement that the last (even though I loved 'Dragonfly') and I was sad to see it end, some 1050 pages later, lol.
The time spent apart made the heart grow fonder and I was happy to see the passion still well alive between them. I love Jamie anyway, and fell in love with him in 'Outlander', but in this, I loved him even more and wished I were Claire, lol. I am anxiously ready to plunge right into the fourth installment, 'Drums of Autumn', in the New World...

1. Outlander 2. Dragonfly in Amber 3. Voyager 4. Drums of Autumn 5. The Fiery Cross

Tracy Talley~@


a good read, but not as good as the first two   May 24, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I enjoyed reading about the continuing adventures of Claire and Jamie. They managed to find just as many problems and scrapes to get into as they did in the first two books, and it was always interesting to read about how they'd get themselves out of trouble. But it could be shorter if not so many pages were devoted to repeated and detailed descriptions of every little thing. Also, the majority of chapter 61 - the weird fireside voodoo ceremony of the slaves - could have been left out. It really didn't have much to do with the story and wasn't very interesting. All in all though, it was a pretty good book.


My favorite yet!   April 9, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Perhaps what I loved best was the portrayal of middle-aged passion as Claire and Jamie are reunited again. What a rare romance novel to feature a heroine in her late 40s(?) or early 50s(?). Obviously I need the "Outlandish Companion" since I can't remember these little details.

I was surprised to see that other readers thought this was a little slow paced, took too long to get started, and that the years apart were "too sad." Although I was anxious for Claire and Jamie to reunite, I felt that the bittersweet years apart heightened the joy of their return, and the sense that Claire and Jamie truly are the greatest loves of each other's lives. I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Jamie more, and see things through his eyes for a change, instead of mostly getting Claire's perspective.

The chapters focusing on how Claire's disappearance and return affected her marriage to Frank satisfied questions that remained unsettled after "Dragonfly in Amber." I had found Frank's apparent acceptance of Claire back into his life in "Dragonfly" somewhat unbelievable. (Yes, for some reason, despite a book premised on the ability to time travel, I still expect believability in the other aspects.) Frank's attitude in "Voyager" seemed much more what I would have expected.

I'm notorious for reading ahead, especially if the plot is dragging, but I was rarely tempted in "Voyager." I couldn't put the darn book down. I felt that the plot moved along much faster than "Dragonfly."

Some of the coincidences at the end became a little much for me, hence my decision to give only four stars. I don't want to give away the plot, but I did feel that the likelihood of Claire, Jamie and Fergus & Co. all ending up in the same spot following "challenges" at sea a little unlikely. If I could write like Mark Twain, I would skewer those scenes as savagely as he did James Fenimore Cooper's unbelievable twists. Since I can't, I'll just note that it's hard enough sometimes for me to find my fiance when we get separated in the supermarket, and yet, in all the Carribean, they manage to reconnect pretty quickly. (Just read through it, roll your eyes, and move on.)

On the other hand, the connection that Claire discovers between a friend in her time with someone whom she meets in the past didn't bother me, the more I thought about it. For me, that just seemed part of the "pull" that connects her to the two time periods. At the end of "Voyager," I was left with a sense that her time traveling could be connected with some deeper type of mystery.

If I weren't so broke, I'd be ordering "Drums of Autumn" this second rather than writing this review.