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Outlander

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Outlander

Postby Misplaced » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:42 am

So, I saw there was a new show coming in August on Starz: Outlander. It looked intriguing, and then I learned that it's based on a series of novels I have never heard of. (Granted, I don't read a lot of romance outside of fanfic, so it's unsurprising that I've never come across this series.)

I decided to give it a go, and holy cow! I am hooked. I'm in the second book in the series now, but that first novel swept me away.

Anyone else read this series? I'd love to commiserate.
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Re: Outlander

Postby Honeybee » Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:20 pm

I loved the first book, and I liked the second and third. By the fourth, I think she starts stretching for storylines. The first book really was designed as a stand-alone and she had to do some retconning to continue the adventures.

She also creates some great characters later, which is good. Lord John is fantastic (and kind of mitigates some of the gay panic from the first book). And I believe she's written a series about him solving mysteries (which I might pick up).

I hope Ron Moore does right by the series. The books are different but just as good (and bad) as Game of Thrones, but often female=oriented books don't get the same quality treatment. Hopefully, Outlander will change that because I think it was greenlit precisely because of the success of GoT.

Starz did a terrible adaptation of some Phillipa Gregory books, but I actually don't like her writing (she's worse than most fanfic writers with canon, and her canon is history!)
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Re: Outlander

Postby Misplaced » Sun Jun 22, 2014 8:47 pm

Well, I'm totally loving the casting so far for the series. I'll withhold judgment until I've seen a few episodes.

I'm in part two of the second book. According to my Kindle it's significantly shorter than the first book. (148 pages versus 550.) Is this true of the other books as well? It took a bit to get past the first part. Because I really only want to read about Jamie and Claire together, lol. (And the historical stuff, too. I love that.)

I will keep what you said in mind about the later books. No matter how the rest of the series turns out, I still think the first novel is phenomenal. Honestly, I didn't know romance novels could have this kind of depth. Admittedly, I've only read a couple before--but they were kind of the standard novels with not a whole lot of...meat to them (for lack of a better word to avoid that horrible pun). Makes me want to expand my horizons if there are romance novels like Outlander out there. Suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks for commiserating with me!
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Re: Outlander

Postby Honeybee » Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:49 pm

I think a significant problem with the later books is finding plotlines for Claire and Jamie while building up other characters and stories. Lord John, as I said, is a pretty good character and there are some others, but all roads lead back to Claire and Jaimie being the center because I think she knows what readers want.

It's been years since I have read them, so I think some of the later books elide in my head. I don't remember a whit about the length, except they were all pretty long.

Also, I don't want to spoil too much about what's ahead!
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