| Outlander | 
 enlarge | Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publisher: Delta
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $0.97
You Save: $14.03 (94%)
New (38) Used (84) Collectible (6) from $0.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  1367 reviews
Sales Rank: 9137
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: Softcover. Some wear to the cover and pages. Some page corners are folded. Has some writing. Slight water damage. Ships the next business day, with tracking and delivery confirmation sent to your email.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Just the beginning of the adventure.... September 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Not many books can make time travel plausible to a non "sci-fi," reader let alone, relevant in interest. So when I heard the premise of the book -I admit I was skeptical. But as other fans have found, this story was very interesting, intriguing and had me completley hooked chapter to chapter.
Following the past and present of the Scottish and British characters in this book is a real treat, delving into the cultures, language and raw description of their way of life. There is a bit of historical fiction blurring, action, adventure, mystery, romance... in fact, it's a little bit of everything!!
As I'm sure others have stated - this book makes you want to read the rest of the series (no matter HOW thick the books are) and believe me, although an arduous task, it is worth while once you are invested in these characters. Beware of the 4th book though.... things tend to slow down and wander - but pick back up again in book 5. I can only wish that someone would make a movie out of at least this book, Outlander, for it is by far the BEST of the lot!!
 Violence is hot? September 20, 2008
3 out of 9 found this review helpful
So many people have raved about this book, I had to give it a try. There are a lot of feelings for and against certain plot angles in this book. I'm not going to recap the whole thing, just what I see as the Big Four.
1) Frank. Wow, Claire really did forget about him easily, didn't she? She gave token resistance to the memory of the man she was legally wed to, but then, okay, Jamie's hot. I guess she's more of a "love the one you're with" kind of person.
2) Wife Beating 101. I had heard about this scene, and thought it couldn't actually be that bad. Right. It was worse. I know couples have erotic spanking and get aroused by it, that's one thing. This was a severe beating, with an impliment, causing extensive bruising and pain. And he got aroused by it. And the final capper, Claire was okay with it rather quickly. Just a funny little bonding moment between them, I guess. That's when I began to really hate Jamie, and lose all respect for the dishrag everyone calls Claire.
3) The overall tone of violence in the book is intense. Jamie is constantly being beaten, remembering being beaten, looking forward to being beaten ... there was something seriously askew there.
4) Jamie's rape. This scene was, after the rest of the book, not that over-the-top. While I disagree with the whole gay-men-are-evil-rapists thing she had going in this book, eroticism and violence was very much tied together. When Randall beat him the first time, it was practically rape. Later it happened for real. It didn't surprise me because I was pretty numb by that point. Also I didn't like Jamie very much. It was lovingly described, like the rest of the whipping in the book, and Jamie suffered. Like I said, I was so numb by this point that I truly don't care.
I can't really understand the great love people have for this book, or these characters, and trying to decipher what's going on between the florid prose is very difficult. People have said you either love this book or you hate it.
Each to their own.
A Keeper! September 18, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book when it first came out in hardcover in 1991. I still have that first edition, autographed by the author. I also have two lending copies in paperback, and am about to buy the Kindle version, just so I can have it with me all the time. I also have the UK version, titled CROSS-STITCH. If you haven't read this book, I envy you being able to read it for the first time! Jamie and Claire will make you laugh and cry. This is a great romance and a great adventure. And you'll learn some Scottish history while you're at it.
Suspenseful! September 17, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Outlander series was recommended to me by a friend at work who said they were really good and she was hooked on them and that I would like them. Well, before I read any book series I HAVE to get most of them before I start to read any of them and I hate to read novels out of sequence.
Outlander was a delight! My friend was RIGHT! It WAS good and I did like it! I too fell in love with Jamie. In fact I felt sorry for the bloke! What he went through!! I cried for him, hurt for him, was enraged with everything he went through, right along with the heroine. I wanted to pummel Captain Randell so many times, even wanted to smack Jamie a couple of times for being so stubborn!
Gabaldon not only brought the characters to life but the time period as well. I really felt I was in Jacobite Scotland. She is an extraordinary storyteller. The book was suspenseful and filled with intrique as well as with romance. I'd still like to know who hit Jamie on the back of the head. She never really explained that. Several characters where suspected, but none admitted to it.
While slow in places, especially when the heroine was talking about the historical aspects of the time period or something that had to do with healing, the book had a nice pace and did keep me interested until the end. In fact when I reached the end I wanted MORE! Thank goodness there IS a second book! I have begun Dragonfly in Amber and already it has me intrigued and in tears!
Outlander September 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read Outlander and got so involved with the amazing, well writen story that I got the next five books in CDs so I could do chores and driving. I am finishing book # 5 and looking forward to # 6 An Echo in the Bone. How can anybody write almost 6000 pages and keep track of everybody. I think Diana Gabaldon is a phenomenal writer a phenomenon in her own kind. Listening to Devina Porter reading it, you feel transported to the 18th century. You learn some of the Gaelic words, Scottish customs, you feel the joys and pains of each one of the characters. You get involved with Claire's surgeries. You feel the need to meet Jamie Fraser, Roger, Briana, Claire, Fergus, Ian and everybody else. It is really an amazing book and an amazing series.
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