| Outlander | 
 enlarge | Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publisher: Delta
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $5.95
You Save: $9.05 (60%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1336 reviews
Sales Rank: 1527
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.6
ISBN: 0385319959
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385319959
ASIN: 0385319959
Publication Date: August 10, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: may have no dust jacket or x-library or markings
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Amazon.com
In Outlander, a 600-page time-travel romance, strong-willed and sensual Claire Randall leads a double life with a husband in one century, and a lover in another. Torn between fidelity and desire, she struggles to understand the pure intent of her heart. But don't let the number of pages and the Scottish dialect scare you. It's one of the fastest reads you'll have in your library. While on her second honeymoon in the British Isles, Claire touches a boulder that hurls her back in time to the forbidden Castle Leoch with the MacKenzie clan. Not understanding the forces that brought her there, she becomes ensnared in life-threatening situations with a Scots warrior named James Fraser. But it isn't all spies and drudgery that she must endure. For amid her new surroundings and the terrors she faces, she is lured into love and passion like she's never known before. I was lame and sore in every muscle when I woke next morning. I shuffled to the privy closet, then to the wash basin. My innards felt like churned butter. It felt as though I had been beaten with a blunt object, I reflected, then thought that that was very near the truth. The blunt object in question was visible as I came back to bed, looking now relatively harmless. Its possessor [Jamie] woke as I sat next to him, and examined me with something that looked very much like male smugness." Gabaldon creates characters that you'll remember, laugh with, cry with, and cheer for long after you've finished the book. --Candy Paape
Product Description
Unrivaled storytelling ... unforgettable characters ... rich historical detail ... these are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon's work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured millions of readers.
Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and history that combines exhilarating adventure with a love story for the ages....
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon — when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach — an "outlander" — in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord ... 1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life ... and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire ... and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Download Description
Diana Gabaldon holds a master's degree in marine biology and a Ph.D. in ecology, and spent a dozen years as a university professor before turning to write fiction full-time. Her previous publishing history includes scholarly articles and comic book stories for Walt Disney, as well as the award-winning novels Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband, three children, and a large number of animals.
From the Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1331 more reviews...
 Loved every minute August 7, 2008
I first read this book when I was about sixteen and have been hooked ever since. I love the entire series. It's such a fresh idea that you can actually get SOME knowledge from a fiction book. Certrainly this a romance but it's SO much more. I read the entire series about once a year. For those of you who have criticims for this book, please head to your local bookstore and pick up something by Johanna Lindsey if you are looking for a boring romance.
Och, aye, I wasna expectin' it August 6, 2008
I had no idea what to expect when I was given this book as a gift. I could hardly set it down once I started. Set in a romantic, historical environment, Claire's adventures are spell-binding as written by Diana Gabaldon, who has proven herself a master story-teller.
The story is always moving, and develops deliciously. There are some edge-of-your-seat nail-biting scenes where you absolutely will be glued to your reading chair (the witch hunt comes to mind). You'll find you can't wait to turn the next page. This is not chick-lit! It's not your corner drug store's corny paperback novel, either. Full of suspense and raw passion, these pages will transport you back to a time when men were men and life was dangerous.
This is historical fiction on an on an epic scale, as we follow the adventures of Claire and Jamie across the sweeping landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Claire is likable right away. As we're first introduced to Jamie, he has just enough brawny good looks for you to want him to take you in his arms, enough mystery to die to know his story, and enough scoundrel to make you wonder what he'll do next. All of the secondary characters have rich, full stories as well. From the majestic Colum MacKenzie to the unique MacRannoch, all of these characters are well developed, and you will find yourself very attached to them.
Why did Geillie, in the mid-eighteenth century, bear the scar of a smallpox vaccination? Did Colum set Claire up to be tried as a witch because of what she knew? When finally given the chance to return to her own time, what will Claire do? Such are the many questions that come to mind throughout this finely woven tale. Best of all, the ending is ripe with possibilities for a sequel. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
Summary: almost every page reveals a fresh new adventure.
Very romantic August 3, 2008
At first I was skeptical. The premise seemed.. odd, but I got into it quickly. The book is incredibly romantic and the author obviously did a lot of research.
The book is long, but I didn't even notice. The characters are well-developed and so.. alive.
Highly recommended!!
 Belting is Abuse July 31, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I know everyone keeps leaving all these reviews justifying the beating he gives her as historically accurate, blah, blah, blah. If that's your thing then, fine, buy the book, read it, enjoy. There are still those of us out there who don't want to read about a woman who gets hit by a man and thinks she had it coming. I'm one of those people and, if you are too, DON'T read this book. I wish I had been given some sort of warning so I would have known not to buy this.
If Claire was a woman I knew, I'd tell her to get out of there and I hope the majority of the people leaving this weak little excuse for a hero 5 stars would do the same.
As to the historical argument, I'll just say that beating slaves was also all the rage a few hundred years ago and "everybody did it" but you don't find many books depicting the good guy who beat his slaves bloody and bruised. It's generally agreed upon that if the guy had the heart to be so vicious towards another human being, he's not a hero. He's not even an anti-hero, he's the bad guy.
If a movie company were to make a movie today about the really great slave holder who was a super guy (which Jamie is depicted as) who beat his slaves and they all said "well, we guess we did have it coming," EVERYONE would be up in arms. It would be considered racism, the NAACP would be going ballistic. So what does it say about society, and women ourselves, that we're the ones giving this book rave reviews?
Great book in a great series July 27, 2008
I began to read this book last summer and went on to the third book in the series before school started in the fall. After just one semester being though I was done with the fourth book, no small order with the size of these brilliant novels having to be interspersed between long study hours and cram sessions before exams. But this book and the books that come after it in the series are all worth the read.
As for my first experience of this book, it was a great surprise. I was at my local book store and in my aimless wonderings I came across this book. I have never been a romance book reader, but this book was good from the first page. It has elements in it which can bring in many people. It has the obvious romance, but also brings in the element of time travel. It also includes the great adventure tales in it, which keeps a person turning the page while all the time putting a artful amount of historical fiction within the book to make everything believable.
I would recommend that anyone give this book a try, although the length and style of the book isn't for everyone, but it is for a great many, and I can happily say that I am one person who has enjoyed this book!
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