Outlander

Reader reviewed by Wayne H.

I am a male, upper 30's and I enjoyed the whole outlander series, start to finish.  I read fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, thriller, horror and specifically NOT-romance :-).  I found this series by accident, because it fits in a plethora of genres.  Diana Gabaldon's background prepared her to create a very believable, multi-plot & character rich world.  When finished with the series, and it is not completed as of yet, the reader is literally dropped off in a world where they quickly become ensconced in various aspects of: Western European and early American History; romance with some graphic, but non-gratititous "relations" (I think that if a movie was made, 16 would be a better age than 14 for the younger reader).  There is plenty enough science, warfare  & other violence, seafare and general husbandry of the time period to hold the attention of any man.  Women fawn in the path of the leading male character; he is in general a peaceful man with natural leadership ability, but he seems to be born in a time that his appearance, compassion, and natural talents are EXACTLY who women want to read about, as well as a man, of whom, men want to emulate. 
The plot is so multi-dimensional, that there are things in the first book that are obscure and seem like they are just thrown in, that you won't see "played" out until 2-4 books later.  How she kept things that organized, I would like to know... 
From book to book, character developement appears to be explored and so changes the tempo and emotional attachement with the characters.  In my opinion, there are some books that have lots of irrevelant information, where women may enjoy it better at times, but I read all off them so far, and can say that she is at the top of my list for anything new that comes out.  I will say that I havent read her other books that stemmed from, and are not a part of, the Outlander series; they seem a litte more flowerly and emotional draining than I can take.
I challenge you do a search and look at the groups online about this series and you will find as many men as women who keep up with Diana Gabaldon.

Reader reviewed by Marsha Bryner

Seldom are books so well written that the reader is compelled to reread them to prolong the experience of being the proverbial fly on the wall.  I've read this entire series four times and am half way through the fifth reading.  Diana Gabaldon's work is the absolute best I've come across.  She's easy to follow and entertaining as well as educational.  I become so involved with the stories that when a particularly scary scene unfolds I've had to put the book down for a day and sometimes two before daring to continue reading.  Ms Gabaldon brings the characters and descriptiions of events and scenes vivid beyond words.  My dictionary, Latin to English, Spanish to English, French to English references are always at my side when I read any of the Outlander series books.  She's made learning and retaining historical information easy as pie.  I will purchase every book she writes in this series and recommend them to all my friends and acquaintances. 

Reader reviewed by Mairi

Claire and Frank Randall are Sassenachs, outlanders, to the Scottish people they stay on a short vacation with while getting to know eachother again now that Claire has returned from six years spent as an World War II army nurse. Despite the tensions this causes in their marriage they are not above a bit of touring, and Claire steps into an ancient stone circle. When she awakens she finds herself transported back in time more than two hundred years, to a time when hostile English soldiers scour the Scottish Highlands in search of suspisious activity.

I read one of the later books in this series, Drums of Autumn, over the summer, and though I thought it was a good book I was very confused because I did not know Claire's backstory. Now, months later, I have finally finished the first book and know how it was that a woman from 1945 came to be in eighteenth century Scotland. It was everything I expected, and more.

I have to say that this is probably a girl book- it has a distinct romancey flavor to it that I find it hard to imagine a guy enjoying- but, at six hundred pages, it's not for wimps either.