Read my full review here:https://tessasworldofthings.blogspot.de/2017/01/outlander-by-diana-gabaldon.htmlClaire Randall and her husband are on vacation in Scotland. It's 1945 and they both have served during the war, barely being able to see each other. This trip is supposed to bring them closer together. Scratch that. It's supposed to bring them together. Basically they are two strangers in this marriage. One night, they observe a fascinating ritual by the town folks including a strange stone circle. The following day, Claire decides to make a trip there again, on her own, taking a look at the local plants. Drawn to the biggest stone of the circle, Claire puts her hands on it and all of a sudden finds herself in a different place. No, wrong. It's the same circle. It's a different time.Waking up in 18th century Scotland, Claire, as an English woman, is regarded a spy and foe. Struggling to gain the Scots' trust, she offers her knowledge as a healer and soon finds a friend in Jamie. Unfortunately, not only the Highlanders have mixed feelings about her. Jack Randall, an ancestor of her husband Frank, is investigating her. Not even closely resembling the loving man she misses dearly (except from looking like his twin) Jack Randall is proving to be a vicious man. In order to protect her from his grip, Jamie, having his own unpleasant memories of Randall, agrees to marry Claire. Torn between two worlds, her wish to go back to her own time and missing her husband, Claire finds herself falling in love with the Highlander she so reluctantly married and together they have to find a way to survive.It's one of these rare novels that'll make you cry, while you laugh, that'll make you cry while you're sad, that'll leave you devastated and happy. I have favorite books. I've got quite a few of them. I've written about them here, I've re-read them a hundred times, but I've never read a book, that made me move. I mean that quite literally. I actually moved. I noticed about halfway through the novel, how I was clutching the book, bringing it closer and closer still towards my face, then abruptly moved back to see better and everything went on repeat. I've noticed, how I moved my face and body along the lines of the novel. How I hunched my shoulders, my eyes opened in surprise, I started to smile, my nose wrinkled to some unreal smell... I noticed how I became each of these characters while they talked and my face and shoulders responded to what they were saying. It moved me. The first book I can remember, that really made me move.I'm glad that I didn't read this book sooner. When I was younger I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it the way I should. I would've focused on the love story between Claire and Jamie, not on Claire herself. OK, I did focus on the love story, but not as much as I used to. How incredibly lucky is Claire anyway? She has two men who love her unconditionally, who accept and support her, who will forgive her anything and everything and stay with her no matter what. Where exactly are these kind of men? And why do they only exist in fiction... So, when I was younger I would've focused much more on this part. Admittedly, I read and re-read many pages of Claire and Jamie and of how they treat each other with love, respect and show their commitment. It's probably why it took me so long to finish this book, because I constantly went back and forth to re-read paragraphs... But Claire herself is an important character and one of these fictitious characters that will become part of my top role-models who I'd love to live up to. So, naturally I want more of the love story, but I also want more of Claire. I did hate her guts now and again, thinking about how unbelievably annoying she is, but giving it some more thought I noticed just how annoying I am myself. I found myself in her, saw some of my character traits, which made me love this character even more. She's strong, fierce, stubborn, caring, she's just a good person and I appreciate her existence in this world.It's the sort of book that I was unable to put down. I read in the morning, in the evening, I hated putting in down for meals or sleep (much overrated anyway), so I just never sat it down. You can feel the Scottish accent while you read. Basically there's a little Scot sitting in your head slurping whisky, grinning, with wild hair and a huge beard, saying cheers and reciting whatever you read currently. I've been to Scotland this year, so I know what Loch Ness looks like. But I've not seen all of Scotland, so now and again I had no idea where she was at the moment, but Diana Gabaldon is painting incredible pictures. You can see the mountains, the lochs, the castles. You feel the wind and the rain and the cold while reading. Hell, I probably caught a cold while reading. It's that good...

I made it! Meine Güte, das hat gedauert. Die Idee ist super, die Charaktere gut, alles gut. Aber das zieht sich ja wie Kaugummi. Es muss nicht immer alles innerhalb von zwei Seiten gelöst sein, aber das war mir schon deutlich zu viel. Wie ein Marathon, bei dem man nie ans Ziel kommt. In dem Fall muss ich auch sagen, die Serie war mir sympathischer.

50 Shades of Hay! This book had way too many steamy scenes, a tad too disturbing rape and a somewhat thin plot. Our heroine Claire, which makes a badass female heroine for a soppy romance, wanders accidentally through time and lands in Scotland 1743. As things are destined to go south for a woman on her own in the backwardness of the poor, rural Highlands, she gets sexually assaulted, kidnapped, slapped, threatened and dragged through the landscape. It is not as bad as all that, because she meets the perfect man walking the globe: James Alexander Malcom MacKenzie Fraser. I would've loved it if Gabaldon would worshipped Claire half as obsessive as she worships Jamie. It's beautifully written nonetheless. The pacing is slow and 10% of the scenes could be replaced with something more usefull, to deepen the plot. The is a war on the doorstep! What really didn't work for me is that violence is the driving force behind everything. Claire is almost raped or assaulted in every third scene. If it's not some evil character, it's the godlike Jamie, who forces her into bed or abuses her for some imaginative wrong-doing. Then he is kidnapped, abused and raped. They play the mary sue in turns. It's not how you keep a believable story going. Pillars of the Earth is a way more decent historical fiction.

I keep reading the blurb on the back and wondering why I hadn't picked it up before. I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction and certainly not if there is a lot of mush and sex in it, but for some reason I really liked this. I don't know if it's the whole description and detail of the author or the fact I think it's actually well written but yeah I really liked the whole thing. By now anyone who has read Outlander has a crush on Jamie Fraser. More so if you have watched the series on Outlander (I did) and managed to acquire a crush on Sam Heughan. To be honest I loved the fact that when Scots were speaking it was written as they would have sounded, I loved the twists and turns of the story, well basically the whole thing. I discovered there are 8 books in total so far so hopefully will get through them soon. Yay!!

Had fun reading it again and was shocked again at times. Even though English isn't my native language, I had no problem getting into the story. Loved the Gaelic parts and that it wasn't translated at times to make you feel like Claire, who also couldn't understand anything. Jamie ❤️ Claire. Loved the whole series until now. Can't wait for the next one 🥰

Actual rating 4 ★ 0.5. Virgins: 4 ★ 1. Outlander: 4 ★ 2. Dragonfly in Amber 2.5. A Fugitive Green 3. Voyager 3.0.5 LJ & the Hellfire Club 3.1 LJ & the Private Matter 3.1.5 LJ & the Succubus 3.2 LJ & the Brotherhood of the Blade 3.2.5 LJ & the Haunted Soldier 3.2.6 The Custom of Army 3.3 The Scottish Prisoner 3.3.5 A Plague of Zombies 4. Drums of Autumn 5. The Fiery Cross 6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes 7. An Echo in the Bone 7.5 The Space Between 8. Written in my Own Heart’s Blood 8.5 A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows 8.6 Besieged 9. Tell the Bee’s that I am Gone As many before me I am not a fan of the beating scene. I can accept that it's there and I can partly understand the thinking behind it, yet in my opinion it is unnecessary

Anfangs etwas schwer reinzukommen, auch weil ich es in Englisch gelesen habe. Aber ganz schnell war es mir möglich in die Welt von Outlander einzutauchen. Ich habe zuerst die Serie geschaut und dann das Buch gelesen, was mich überhaupt nicht stört, weil ich so schon die Bilder dazu im Kopf habe. Das erste Buch hat mir sehr gut gefallen und es war trotzdem spannend, obwohl ich schon wusste was passieren wird, nur nicht, wie weit es in diesem Buch geht. Ich kann es jedem outlander Fan nur empfehlen die Bücher auch zu lesen 😊

"Outlander" von Diana Gabaldon ist ein fesselndes Buch, das gleichzeitig eine historisch akkurate Darstellung des damaligen Schottlands bietet. Die Autorin hat es meisterhaft geschafft, die Atmosphäre und die Details dieser Zeit einzufangen, was das Buch besonders reizvoll macht. Die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Claire und Jamie ist zweifellos einer der zentralen Aspekte des Buches und fesselt die Leser von Anfang bis Ende. Ihre Beziehung entwickelt sich auf eine sehr authentische und tiefgreifende Weise. Die Idee der Zeitreise, obwohl etwas "wischi waschi", verleiht der Geschichte eine einzigartige Note und öffnet Tür und Tor für eine Vielzahl von faszinierenden Handlungselementen. Während "Outlander" sicherlich von vielen weiblichen Lesern geschätzt wird, ist es keinesfalls nur für sie geeignet. Die Kombination aus Historie, Liebe, Abenteuer und einer Prise Mystik macht das Buch zu einem lesenswerten Werk für ein breites Publikum. Insgesamt bietet "Outlander" eine packende Reise durch Zeit und Raum, die sowohl historisch interessierte Leser als auch Liebhaber von Liebesgeschichten ansprechen wird.

As always when I read Outlander it sweeps me away! I love Jamie, his character, his strength, his believes, his honour. I find Claire at times a little too harsh, but I guess having spent years in WW2 as a nurse you have to get a little rough around the edges. Most importantly though, she loves Jamie. Reading this books always feels like seeing old friends again. I love the historical part in the book, the mystery and the love that is displayed between the two. Having read the anniversary edition gives you just that little bit of extra information about the book(s), which makes it to me with getting this book as well. I highly recommend!

Nunja... Ich kann den Hype nicht wirklich verstehen. Einzelne Punkte an der Story finde ich sehr interessant - allerdings kommen mir die leider zu kurz. Insgesamt hab ich mich oft ein bisschen gelangweilt. Vielleicht weil ich eher ein Fan des 20.+21. Jahrhunderts bin und ältere historische Geschichten nicht so sehr mag. Mich hätte der Zeitreiseaspekt interessiert - aber das war ja eher Randthema. Nachdem Claire beschlossen hatte bei dem Highlander zu bleiben, war es nicht viel anderes als ein historischer Roman. Ich mochte einiges an dem Roman, aber letztendlich war ich froh, als ich durch war. Ich vergebe mal 2-3 Sterne (also ca. 5/10). Ich denke, ich werde es damit gut sein lassen und muss jetzt nicht dringend mit der Reihe weiter machen.

Scrolling through all those hundreds of reviews on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, it's not difficult to determine that it's a series loved and hated by readers for its profound depicture of deep love and its image of abusive relationships alike. I guess I liked it overall, hence the four stars, but it was not until two-thirds of the story that I finally began to warm up to the characters of Claire and Jaime. Not because I did not realize how deep their connection is through all those meaning-full chapters, but because of several bewildering plot holes Diana Gabaldon threw into the story. So, everyone loved this book, it has five-star-ratings everywhere you look ... and finally reading the story, I was like - Hm. Okay. Fine. Great. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, I really did, but I wouldn't call it great literature, like a lot of other people did. Ursula Scheer called the TV show escapism TV, and that's what the book essentially is. (But I enjoy books which allow me to escape in different worlds, so that's not a bad thing). Diana Gabaldon explored the relationship of Claire and Jaime with a convincing depth, but not the consequences of important issues like time-travel and rape, both of them being major plot elements. So, Claire jumped through time and arrived two hundred years earlier, finding the love of her life and not even once reflecting on why or if she misses her husband from the 20th century and what he might be thinking or going through back in 1946 until a long time later. I can't remember exactly (and don't want to skim the entire book again for it) when Claire actually began to question Frank's situation, but it was months until the first thought on her first husband arrived in the narrative. She needed some time to decide for one husband or the other, so I guess she must have loved Frank to a certain degree, but Diana Gabaldon wasn't really able to transport this dilemma. In addition, the time travel aspect was explored only in a minor way fifty pages or so before the novel finally ended. The consequences of altering history and even killing or rescuing people who might otherwise have died during the ordinary course of history, but are now because of Claire's actions as a nurse able to commit deeds good or bad have been brought up sporadically, but were never fully explored. I know there are seven (or even more?) novels in the Outlander series coming up which also need some plot elements to be investigated, and this one is likely to appear again later on, but it would have been a nice additional aspect which might have added positively to the story. Whether you believe it or not, I liked the story despite its flaws, despite all those rape and abuse scenes which actually caused huge upheaval amongst fans, and I enjoyed reading about Claire and Jaime's adventures. I will read the second volume in the Outlander series at some later point, but will probably wait some time before returning to the series.

3,5 Stars I did it! After 1,5 years I finally finished this book! It was a hard fight for me at sometimes,but I finally found the right time to read it. In the end Jamie and Claire were growing on me. I mean how can you not love the stubborn yet so soft Jamie? It's only a 3,5 Star rating, because I found it really difficult to get into the story. I mean, I have started this book 18 months ago!

Ok so the thing about this book is that it took me three times before I actually got hooked enough to read past a certain point. And even then I still worried I would become uninterested by it somehow; thankfully that DIDN'T happen, and I am so so glad. I love Claire and Jamie so much, and I'm also so intrigued by what's going to happen to them in the future. I want to know if Frank is ever mentioned again. I want to meet all the characters I've heard others mention and love, and I want to meet their children (??? I'm assuming they have some, anyway.) I just have a lot of questions that need answered, I guess, and I can't wait to see where the next book takes them.