Status
Available
Collection
Series
Publication
Dell (1994), Edition: Revised, 1059 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. Diana Gabaldon's magnificent historical saga, begun with Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, continues with this New York Times bestseller. Set in the intriguing Scotland of 200 years ago, the third installment in the romantic adventures of Jamie and Claire is as compelling as the first. Now that Claire knows Jamie survived the slaughter at Culloden, she is faced with the most difficult decision of her life. She aches to travel back through time again to find the love of her life, but, in order to do that, she must leave their daughter behind. It has been 20 years since she and Jamie were forced to separate. Can she risk everything, maybe even her life, on a gamble that their love has withstood the long, rigorous test of time? Diana Gabaldon's powerful, witty, and heroic characters lend themselves well to the rich, melodic narration accorded them by Davina Porter. Under her spell, listeners find themselves transported back through time to exciting faraway places alive with people they would enjoy knowing.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member atheist_goat
The good: Gabaldon has dispensed with the gay = evil motif of the first two books. In fact, one of the most sympathetic and well-developed characters is a gay man.
Also good: the first third of this was quite fun, because our heroine is a very, very minor character in that third, and the characters
The bad: Gabaldon has replaced the homophobia with breathtaking racism. From the heroine's "one of my best friends is black but my daughter had better never date one" to the portrayal of the "Chinaman" that had me repeatedly turning to the copyright information all, "I didn't misread that date; this was written in 1994, right? As in, the late twentieth century? WTF, Gabaldon?", there were large chunks of this I could barely read for cringing.
Also bad: when the heroine does re-enter the story, she does so with a vengeance, beginning with her appraisal of her forty-nine-year-old body as perfectly slim and muscled, with no fat whatsover, "no jiggle" in the arms and a stomach the flatness of which "borders on concavity". This woman is not written as the type of person who would ever, ever work out. But at forty-nine and after having a child she is still effortlessly hotter than you, reader, will ever be. Got that? And we go downhill from there, with men stopping in the street overcome with desire for her, and the hero ranting again about her amazingness and her "core of strength" under all the beautiful delicacy BLAH BLAH BLAH. We get it: she's the most beautiful wonderful perfect human being EVER.
Except for the racism, of course. And the fact that her parting words to her daughter when leaving forever are, "Try not to get fat." (The hero's response to this is to tell her she's the world's most perfect mother. What, you thought there was another possible response to that? Not in this book, there isn't!)
Also good: the first third of this was quite fun, because our heroine is a very, very minor character in that third, and the characters
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who are featured are much more interesting.The bad: Gabaldon has replaced the homophobia with breathtaking racism. From the heroine's "one of my best friends is black but my daughter had better never date one" to the portrayal of the "Chinaman" that had me repeatedly turning to the copyright information all, "I didn't misread that date; this was written in 1994, right? As in, the late twentieth century? WTF, Gabaldon?", there were large chunks of this I could barely read for cringing.
Also bad: when the heroine does re-enter the story, she does so with a vengeance, beginning with her appraisal of her forty-nine-year-old body as perfectly slim and muscled, with no fat whatsover, "no jiggle" in the arms and a stomach the flatness of which "borders on concavity". This woman is not written as the type of person who would ever, ever work out. But at forty-nine and after having a child she is still effortlessly hotter than you, reader, will ever be. Got that? And we go downhill from there, with men stopping in the street overcome with desire for her, and the hero ranting again about her amazingness and her "core of strength" under all the beautiful delicacy BLAH BLAH BLAH. We get it: she's the most beautiful wonderful perfect human being EVER.
Except for the racism, of course. And the fact that her parting words to her daughter when leaving forever are, "Try not to get fat." (The hero's response to this is to tell her she's the world's most perfect mother. What, you thought there was another possible response to that? Not in this book, there isn't!)
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LibraryThing member Winterrain
I don't know why I like this series as much as I do- I don't like romance, I don't like melodrama, and my love of Scottish history isn't nearly great enough to make up for all that. It must be the details- about the characters and about the time period- because I can't think of any other
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explanation. And Diana Gabaldon's books are nothing if not detailed- though Voyager is well over eight hundred pages, and plenty happens, most of the events do little to advance the plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member alana_leigh
Voyager is the third installment in Diana Gabaldon's epic series about the Scottish Highlands, love, and time travel. If you've made it so far that you're contemplating the third book, I'll stop making jokes and excuses about how that all sounds to summarize. Clearly, you're as taken with them as I
Years may have passed between the close of Outlander and the open of Dragonfly in Amber, but there's no such gap here (well, aside from that approximately two hundred year gap that separates the "modern" storyline and the historical one). We pick up both stories right where we left them -- that is, in 1968 and 1746, respectively. In 1746, Jamie Fraser had just killed his uncle and knew that between having to answer for such an act and the approaching battle of Culloden, there was no way he would survive to protect his wife and their unborn child. So he pushed Claire though the stones at Craigh na Dun so she might find safety in her own time (which is to say, 1948), and she believed that he met his death shortly thereafter. She returned, gave birth to a daughter named Brianna, and remained married to Frank Randall, despite some obvious issues on both sides. He refused to leave a woman in her condition and ultimately stayed because he loved Bree. When Claire returned to Scotland in 1968, she was intent on telling Brianna about her real father, which all came tumbling out to both Bree and their friend, Roger Wakefield. Roger then found evidence to suggest that Jamie survived. Thus ended book two. Book three opens with Jamie, alive despite all the odds, and Claire shocked to the core by Roger's news. She had been in her own time for twenty years. If Jamie also survived twenty years beyond Culloden, then there's the possibility that Claire might be able to go back through the stones to continue her life with him, albeit with twenty years of time passing. But really, when you're talking about your lover who exists 198 years in the past, what's two decades?
So Claire must decide if she can leave the modern world and her daughter to return to eighteenth century Scotland and the greatest love she's ever known. With Bree's blessing, no one should be surprised that Claire takes the chance and does go back to find Jamie. Of course, twenty years is a considerable amount of time to have passed, with both living their lives as though they'd never see the other again. Claire has time to prepare for their reunion, but Jamie is shocked when she suddenly appears. He's desperately in love with her still, of course (it is a romance, after all), but much has changed in Jamie's life, too. It won't be easy for Claire to simply come back from the dead and it will be a heck of a thing to explain to everyone else in Jamie's family.
I won't go into too much detail on that, but suffice to say that there are an abundant amount of complications as Claire learns more about Jamie's life since Culloden. (It's kind of a shame, I think, that Claire's advanced to become a real doctor in her modern time, raised a child, and done any number of things, but naturally it's not quite so adventurous and story-worthy as Jamie's existence. Is it because we don't see the modern age as being dramatic? Because we're more aligned with Claire and therefore more concerned about Jamie's existence? Or because it's historical fiction and the readers and author are more concerned with time as it was as opposed to time now?) The book does go beyond the implications of her return (though they are substantial) and believe it or not, Claire & Jamie eventually strike out for the New World, chasing young Ian (son of Jenny and Ian Murray) after he's kidnapped by pirates. (The clue that this was coming rested in Claire's modern life and a scene featuring a bodice-ripping romance novel with a pirate theme.) Of course, Claire's seen Jamie's gravestone in Scotland, so she believes that they must eventually make it back, but for now it's high seas adventure and discovery of Caribbean islands.
A few points, now that I've read about three thousand pages worth of this Claire/Jamie romance. I feel like I can make bigger comments about the series as opposed to just the books on their own. During the first book, Jamie joked with Claire that he was tired of men trying to rape her and make him watch. During this book, I kind of got tired of every homosexual man trying to have sex with Jamie. I mean seriously, every single one?? The man might be handsome, sure, but enough is enough. At least in this one we get a fellow who isn't depraved like Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall. Speaking of Jonathan, I was a little surprised how he gets so easily dismissed at the beginning, a victim of Culloden and that's that? He was positively evil in the first book and then in the second, Jamie somehow manages to refrain from killing him... and even seems to be sympathetic when Alexander Randall dies and Jonathan goes to pieces. Perhaps this is more an issue that I have with the second book, but I at least hoped for some comeuppance in this one. There's also this issue I have with Claire and Jamie always being able to find each other to the point where even Gabaldon seemed to move quickly through a reunion after Claire is kidnapped and then escapes and finds her way across Caribbean islands to pop up at Jamie's back. Ah well. It's things like this that make me realize there's a charm some writers can cast once they've made it through a significant number of books about characters -- their fans are already sold on everything and as long as you still maintain a decent degree of quality, they'll probably keep reading. Still, I hope we don't see a decline in future books to where she takes this for granted. It doesn't feel as through she would, but even so.
An amusing (albeit easy) thing that Gabaldon does in this book that I haven't much seen before is her having a sense of humor and making a few self-referential jokes. Both Claire and Jamie read some romance novels with some steamy scenes that go far beyond anything Gabaldon does (which is why her books can still claim space in fiction as opposed to romance). There's also a joke about epic novels and how one can manage to read all those pages, and then a further joke about how life holds adventures enough to fill the pages of a novel (or in this case, the pages of seven novels and counting). It's nice to know that Gabaldon clearly has a sense of humor about her enormous novels -- and her fans will probably be delighted to feel in on the joke.
I must confess a sense of dismay at leaving Scotland and striking out for the New World. Even if we do make it back, I'll miss it as the primary setting for the story. I suppose she needs new locations to keep something fresh, though -- it's enough that we know all books will deal with Claire and Jamie, but it must be difficult to come up with continued storylines to keep everyone interested... particularly when we tossed aside twenty years in book two. Clearly, I'm in it for good, now, and I continue to recommend Gabaldon as a writer for those looking to really toss themselves into an epic storyline with quite enjoyable characters who, no matter how ridiculous the adventure might seem, you're always pleased to see them weather any storm.
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am as a means of fun escapist literature with some great historical detail tossed in. Warning: I certainly won't spoil the ending of this book in this review, but I will for its predecessor, Dragonfly in Amber, so be careful there.Years may have passed between the close of Outlander and the open of Dragonfly in Amber, but there's no such gap here (well, aside from that approximately two hundred year gap that separates the "modern" storyline and the historical one). We pick up both stories right where we left them -- that is, in 1968 and 1746, respectively. In 1746, Jamie Fraser had just killed his uncle and knew that between having to answer for such an act and the approaching battle of Culloden, there was no way he would survive to protect his wife and their unborn child. So he pushed Claire though the stones at Craigh na Dun so she might find safety in her own time (which is to say, 1948), and she believed that he met his death shortly thereafter. She returned, gave birth to a daughter named Brianna, and remained married to Frank Randall, despite some obvious issues on both sides. He refused to leave a woman in her condition and ultimately stayed because he loved Bree. When Claire returned to Scotland in 1968, she was intent on telling Brianna about her real father, which all came tumbling out to both Bree and their friend, Roger Wakefield. Roger then found evidence to suggest that Jamie survived. Thus ended book two. Book three opens with Jamie, alive despite all the odds, and Claire shocked to the core by Roger's news. She had been in her own time for twenty years. If Jamie also survived twenty years beyond Culloden, then there's the possibility that Claire might be able to go back through the stones to continue her life with him, albeit with twenty years of time passing. But really, when you're talking about your lover who exists 198 years in the past, what's two decades?
So Claire must decide if she can leave the modern world and her daughter to return to eighteenth century Scotland and the greatest love she's ever known. With Bree's blessing, no one should be surprised that Claire takes the chance and does go back to find Jamie. Of course, twenty years is a considerable amount of time to have passed, with both living their lives as though they'd never see the other again. Claire has time to prepare for their reunion, but Jamie is shocked when she suddenly appears. He's desperately in love with her still, of course (it is a romance, after all), but much has changed in Jamie's life, too. It won't be easy for Claire to simply come back from the dead and it will be a heck of a thing to explain to everyone else in Jamie's family.
I won't go into too much detail on that, but suffice to say that there are an abundant amount of complications as Claire learns more about Jamie's life since Culloden. (It's kind of a shame, I think, that Claire's advanced to become a real doctor in her modern time, raised a child, and done any number of things, but naturally it's not quite so adventurous and story-worthy as Jamie's existence. Is it because we don't see the modern age as being dramatic? Because we're more aligned with Claire and therefore more concerned about Jamie's existence? Or because it's historical fiction and the readers and author are more concerned with time as it was as opposed to time now?) The book does go beyond the implications of her return (though they are substantial) and believe it or not, Claire & Jamie eventually strike out for the New World, chasing young Ian (son of Jenny and Ian Murray) after he's kidnapped by pirates. (The clue that this was coming rested in Claire's modern life and a scene featuring a bodice-ripping romance novel with a pirate theme.) Of course, Claire's seen Jamie's gravestone in Scotland, so she believes that they must eventually make it back, but for now it's high seas adventure and discovery of Caribbean islands.
A few points, now that I've read about three thousand pages worth of this Claire/Jamie romance. I feel like I can make bigger comments about the series as opposed to just the books on their own. During the first book, Jamie joked with Claire that he was tired of men trying to rape her and make him watch. During this book, I kind of got tired of every homosexual man trying to have sex with Jamie. I mean seriously, every single one?? The man might be handsome, sure, but enough is enough. At least in this one we get a fellow who isn't depraved like Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall. Speaking of Jonathan, I was a little surprised how he gets so easily dismissed at the beginning, a victim of Culloden and that's that? He was positively evil in the first book and then in the second, Jamie somehow manages to refrain from killing him... and even seems to be sympathetic when Alexander Randall dies and Jonathan goes to pieces. Perhaps this is more an issue that I have with the second book, but I at least hoped for some comeuppance in this one. There's also this issue I have with Claire and Jamie always being able to find each other to the point where even Gabaldon seemed to move quickly through a reunion after Claire is kidnapped and then escapes and finds her way across Caribbean islands to pop up at Jamie's back. Ah well. It's things like this that make me realize there's a charm some writers can cast once they've made it through a significant number of books about characters -- their fans are already sold on everything and as long as you still maintain a decent degree of quality, they'll probably keep reading. Still, I hope we don't see a decline in future books to where she takes this for granted. It doesn't feel as through she would, but even so.
An amusing (albeit easy) thing that Gabaldon does in this book that I haven't much seen before is her having a sense of humor and making a few self-referential jokes. Both Claire and Jamie read some romance novels with some steamy scenes that go far beyond anything Gabaldon does (which is why her books can still claim space in fiction as opposed to romance). There's also a joke about epic novels and how one can manage to read all those pages, and then a further joke about how life holds adventures enough to fill the pages of a novel (or in this case, the pages of seven novels and counting). It's nice to know that Gabaldon clearly has a sense of humor about her enormous novels -- and her fans will probably be delighted to feel in on the joke.
I must confess a sense of dismay at leaving Scotland and striking out for the New World. Even if we do make it back, I'll miss it as the primary setting for the story. I suppose she needs new locations to keep something fresh, though -- it's enough that we know all books will deal with Claire and Jamie, but it must be difficult to come up with continued storylines to keep everyone interested... particularly when we tossed aside twenty years in book two. Clearly, I'm in it for good, now, and I continue to recommend Gabaldon as a writer for those looking to really toss themselves into an epic storyline with quite enjoyable characters who, no matter how ridiculous the adventure might seem, you're always pleased to see them weather any storm.
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LibraryThing member The_Book_Queen
Okay, if you are not already an obsessed Outlander fan, I don't know what I can say to change your opinion. But no worries-- everyone has their own thing, so I won't push it. I will, however, say that even though the whole series was started with Outlander, and it is definitely one of the top books
I loved reading Voyager because Diana did a great job of writing Jamie and Claire's reunion. I was almost close to tears a few times! I think that with every book, I fall deeper and deeper in love with Jamie-- who wouldn't? I think that Voyager proved that they can withstand anything-- 20 years of being apart, the whole 200 year difference in time periods, all the problems and trials they've been through. In a way, being apart like they did made them even stronger, as much as I hate to say it, because I wish they had never parted just as much as the next fan. But if they hadn't, nothing would have been as it was.
Besides the heartwarming love connection between Claire and Jamie, you also have the budding romance between Brianna and Roger (Which, okay, was mostly in the previous book, Dragonfly in Amber, as well as the next book, Drums of Autumn, but still.) and that of Fergus and Marsali (The latter of which I found to be kind of annoying at times, but I put up with it because she seemed to make Fergus happy, and he did the same for her, which I found kind of cute. Hey, I liked Fergus and I was happy that he came back in the story!).
I could not find any real flaws in Voyager either, but I guess that's a 'duh' for a true fan. The only thing that I didn't particularly like, but I won't hold it against him for ever either, is the fact that Jamie fathered a child on that annoying, spoiled, immature twit, along with his other moments of infidelity, shall we call it? Yes, I know that Claire was gone, that he wasn't even sure if they *Claire and Brianna* were alive, etc, and he never thought he see her again, but I still think he could have done without the occasional woman to warm his bed at night. He mentions that he didn't love any of them, had no feelings for any of them, and that he felt like sometimes that was the only way to remind him that he was really alive, that he wasn't completely alone... Well, I can sympathize there, but that doesn't mean that I am allowing him to use that as an excuse. I forgave him, before the end of the book, but I still found that it kind of upset me, that he could do that to Claire, even if she was gone (After all, she only had her husband, Frank, while she was gone.. and even that wasn't love like she had thought if 23 plus years ago!). And yet, I understand that this contributed to the story's plot and the way that the characters turned out.
5/5 STARS! Yet again, Diana has done it-- no surprise there! Perfectly written, a wonderful mixture of secrets and mysteries, romance and love, adventure and death, Voyager goes above and beyond most other books, and proves, yet again, that Outlander cannot be beat!
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in the series (Though this is hard to say for sure, since rating one perfect 5 star book over another is veeeeeerrrrry hard, at least for me!), the story that Diana tells us does not, can not, simply end there. I loved reading Voyager because Diana did a great job of writing Jamie and Claire's reunion. I was almost close to tears a few times! I think that with every book, I fall deeper and deeper in love with Jamie-- who wouldn't? I think that Voyager proved that they can withstand anything-- 20 years of being apart, the whole 200 year difference in time periods, all the problems and trials they've been through. In a way, being apart like they did made them even stronger, as much as I hate to say it, because I wish they had never parted just as much as the next fan. But if they hadn't, nothing would have been as it was.
Besides the heartwarming love connection between Claire and Jamie, you also have the budding romance between Brianna and Roger (Which, okay, was mostly in the previous book, Dragonfly in Amber, as well as the next book, Drums of Autumn, but still.) and that of Fergus and Marsali (The latter of which I found to be kind of annoying at times, but I put up with it because she seemed to make Fergus happy, and he did the same for her, which I found kind of cute. Hey, I liked Fergus and I was happy that he came back in the story!).
I could not find any real flaws in Voyager either, but I guess that's a 'duh' for a true fan. The only thing that I didn't particularly like, but I won't hold it against him for ever either, is the fact that Jamie fathered a child on that annoying, spoiled, immature twit, along with his other moments of infidelity, shall we call it? Yes, I know that Claire was gone, that he wasn't even sure if they *Claire and Brianna* were alive, etc, and he never thought he see her again, but I still think he could have done without the occasional woman to warm his bed at night. He mentions that he didn't love any of them, had no feelings for any of them, and that he felt like sometimes that was the only way to remind him that he was really alive, that he wasn't completely alone... Well, I can sympathize there, but that doesn't mean that I am allowing him to use that as an excuse. I forgave him, before the end of the book, but I still found that it kind of upset me, that he could do that to Claire, even if she was gone (After all, she only had her husband, Frank, while she was gone.. and even that wasn't love like she had thought if 23 plus years ago!). And yet, I understand that this contributed to the story's plot and the way that the characters turned out.
5/5 STARS! Yet again, Diana has done it-- no surprise there! Perfectly written, a wonderful mixture of secrets and mysteries, romance and love, adventure and death, Voyager goes above and beyond most other books, and proves, yet again, that Outlander cannot be beat!
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LibraryThing member LiterateHousewife
Voyager is the third installment in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. It begins with Claire in the 1960s. She has raised Brienna and is now a true medical doctor. Frank, the man to whom she returned when Jamie sent her back through the singing stones before he meant to die on the battlefield of
As I found with Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager was not what Outlander was. That does not mean that I didn’t like it. I did. Very much. It was during my reading of Voyager that I realized exactly what the Outlander series was for me – a soap opera featuring a wonderful super couple. Jamie and Claire have the same chemistry as any of my favorite television super couples like Luke and Laura, Frisco and Felicia, or Josh and Reva. Luke, Frisco, and Josh are strong men who want to take care of the women they love. Laura, Felicia, and Reva love their men, but are not afraid to act on their own whether the men like it or not. Jamie and Claire are no different. I suppose the main difference is that you get a little more details about the vo-de-o-do-do with Jamie and Claire because it’s in print.
I love my super couples and there is nothing I like more than when there is a great villian threatening them. Just because Black Jack Randall is dead doesn’t mean that Jamie and Claire are able to live their lives in care-free bliss. Far from it. There is always a villian or a tight situation making things dramatic and difficult. Jamie’s reputation over the past 20 years causes a good deal of havoc. And, as often happens in soap operas, death does not always mean gone forever…
As relationships between super couples grow, there comes a time when their adventures do not hold my interest as much as others. That happened for me in Dragonfly in Amber and it was also true of Voyager. Not every aspect of Jamie and Claire’s voyage was intriguing to me. Jamie is very prone to sea sickness, something established in Outlander. When I learned that the couple were headed on a long journey at sea, I was not looking forward to dealing with that again (chalk it up to empathy I suppose). While it didn’t make me stop altogether like the Asian Quarter storyline with Frisco and Felicia made me turn the channel (where Reva happened to be preparing to commit suicide that very same afternoon – I was hooked on Guiding Light ever since), I thought about it. I never did, because I knew I would just go back. I think there will be a longer gap between Voyager and Drums of Autumn than between the first three, though. My only other real complaint was the repetitive use of Jesus Christ as an expletive. I know this may come as a shock, but some bad language can even be overdone for my tastes. LOL!
I was a fan of Guiding Light for 20 years when it was finally cancelled last year. As my professional life took off, I started taping the show and then watching it while I ate super. When my daughters came along, I gave up the ghost and satisfied my soap opera needs by reading the daily recaps. Coming to the realization that the Outlander series is so much like soap operas with the added appeal of historical fiction made my heart happy. I’m glad to have a new outlet. I’m glad that I am able to add Jamie and Claire to my own personal list of super couples. You just can’t help but root for them. Voyager is a lot of fun. I have to suggest you give any of the Outlander novels a try in audio. As with the first two installments, Davinia Porter’s narration is outstanding.
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Culloden. Claire and Frank stayed together to raise Brienna and he has recently died in a car accident. Although she and her daughter are in Scotland to investigate what happened to Jamie’s men at Culloden, it never occurs to Claire that Jamie might have survived because he never planned on leaving the battlefield. Roger Wakefield does a little further investigation and learns that Jamie didn’t die after all. Hoping that there is a pattern and a purpose to traveling through the stones, Claire decides to take a risk and return to 17th Century Scotland in hopes of reuniting with husband 20 years after they last saw each other.As I found with Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager was not what Outlander was. That does not mean that I didn’t like it. I did. Very much. It was during my reading of Voyager that I realized exactly what the Outlander series was for me – a soap opera featuring a wonderful super couple. Jamie and Claire have the same chemistry as any of my favorite television super couples like Luke and Laura, Frisco and Felicia, or Josh and Reva. Luke, Frisco, and Josh are strong men who want to take care of the women they love. Laura, Felicia, and Reva love their men, but are not afraid to act on their own whether the men like it or not. Jamie and Claire are no different. I suppose the main difference is that you get a little more details about the vo-de-o-do-do with Jamie and Claire because it’s in print.
I love my super couples and there is nothing I like more than when there is a great villian threatening them. Just because Black Jack Randall is dead doesn’t mean that Jamie and Claire are able to live their lives in care-free bliss. Far from it. There is always a villian or a tight situation making things dramatic and difficult. Jamie’s reputation over the past 20 years causes a good deal of havoc. And, as often happens in soap operas, death does not always mean gone forever…
As relationships between super couples grow, there comes a time when their adventures do not hold my interest as much as others. That happened for me in Dragonfly in Amber and it was also true of Voyager. Not every aspect of Jamie and Claire’s voyage was intriguing to me. Jamie is very prone to sea sickness, something established in Outlander. When I learned that the couple were headed on a long journey at sea, I was not looking forward to dealing with that again (chalk it up to empathy I suppose). While it didn’t make me stop altogether like the Asian Quarter storyline with Frisco and Felicia made me turn the channel (where Reva happened to be preparing to commit suicide that very same afternoon – I was hooked on Guiding Light ever since), I thought about it. I never did, because I knew I would just go back. I think there will be a longer gap between Voyager and Drums of Autumn than between the first three, though. My only other real complaint was the repetitive use of Jesus Christ as an expletive. I know this may come as a shock, but some bad language can even be overdone for my tastes. LOL!
I was a fan of Guiding Light for 20 years when it was finally cancelled last year. As my professional life took off, I started taping the show and then watching it while I ate super. When my daughters came along, I gave up the ghost and satisfied my soap opera needs by reading the daily recaps. Coming to the realization that the Outlander series is so much like soap operas with the added appeal of historical fiction made my heart happy. I’m glad to have a new outlet. I’m glad that I am able to add Jamie and Claire to my own personal list of super couples. You just can’t help but root for them. Voyager is a lot of fun. I have to suggest you give any of the Outlander novels a try in audio. As with the first two installments, Davinia Porter’s narration is outstanding.
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LibraryThing member JBarringer
Finally! It took me forever to finish this book. I hate Jamie Fraser just a bit more every novel, so since I didn't really like him in book #1, I really don't like him by the end of book #3. Then again I am not particularly fond of Claire either, so maybe they really are perfect for each other.
At least the first part of this book has Claire safely stuck in the modern world 200 years away from Jamie Fraser, so sex scenes are fewer and the story is more concisely told. Then, though, the first part of the story has to be told a second time as Claire and Jamie tell each other about what we already read in the first part of the book. Neither Claire nor Jamie seems to be able to keep in perspective the fact that they both lived for 20 years apart, thinking they would never see each other again, at least not when discussing sex or offspring. I'm sure I'll read the 4th book (and the rest of the series), but there are quite a few other books I am looking forward to reading first.
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Gabaldon seems to have done some decent research for the historical aspects of her books, and I like how much history she works into her novels, but they tend to be too wordy and thus too long. Scenes that should be 2 sentences tops end up taking a whole chapter or more, and conversations that don't move the story along at all take many pages to resolve themselves, when they could be skipped altogether. The 'sex scenes' (yes, this is a book in the romance genre) are so interwoven with conversations that present important information or unskippable dialogue that one cannot really skip them if they get too sappy or annoying. Why am I reading this series again? (Because Mom wants to discuss them with me, I guess. They could be worse, but I definitely recommend reading quickly and skimming whenever the storytelling gets too tedious.) At least the first part of this book has Claire safely stuck in the modern world 200 years away from Jamie Fraser, so sex scenes are fewer and the story is more concisely told. Then, though, the first part of the story has to be told a second time as Claire and Jamie tell each other about what we already read in the first part of the book. Neither Claire nor Jamie seems to be able to keep in perspective the fact that they both lived for 20 years apart, thinking they would never see each other again, at least not when discussing sex or offspring. I'm sure I'll read the 4th book (and the rest of the series), but there are quite a few other books I am looking forward to reading first.
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LibraryThing member Tanya-dogearedcopy
The magic is gone, leaving only pedestrian and even careless writing.
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
3.75 stars
This is the 3rd book in the series. I'm not sure I want to give too much away of the plot, as I don't want to ruin earlier books for anyone who hasn't yet read them. But... we start in the 1960s, then move to the 18th century after a bit, where Claire and Jamie are reunited after many
It was another enjoyable book in the series. They are so long (over 1000 pages), though, so what I found happened a few times for me, anyway, is when there was a character at the start of the book who returned later, I often didn't realize it just from the name, but needed more background info before the light came on! Despite the length, though, it was a “quick” read (for the length!), I thought, and certainly captivating.
This is the 3rd book in the series. I'm not sure I want to give too much away of the plot, as I don't want to ruin earlier books for anyone who hasn't yet read them. But... we start in the 1960s, then move to the 18th century after a bit, where Claire and Jamie are reunited after many
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years (I'm not considering this a spoiler because why would the series continue if they didn't manage to reunite!). From there, they have to relearn about each other in the midst of all kinds of other adventure and travel. It was another enjoyable book in the series. They are so long (over 1000 pages), though, so what I found happened a few times for me, anyway, is when there was a character at the start of the book who returned later, I often didn't realize it just from the name, but needed more background info before the light came on! Despite the length, though, it was a “quick” read (for the length!), I thought, and certainly captivating.
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LibraryThing member mchrzanowski
I started to listen to this book on audio from the library. I only got part one (which was 18 disks) and it was really good. It stopped at such a horrible part (by that I mean a really good part), that I had to go and get the book to finish it. It was well worth it. I thought this was a really
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great adult story. Showing how years apart can change people and yet they somehow remain the same. I thought it was a great story about how grown-ups relate to each other and how much men and women really don't know how to be with each other. This was one of my favorites of the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member sageness
More John Grey research for Yuletide. He's a supporting character in this and interests me far, far more than Jamie, Claire, or the daughter. Gabaldon does good action-adventure and compelling m/m relationships, but her women are really annoying.
LibraryThing member mikitchenlady
Oh my. I could not put this one down, especially once I began the second half of the book. The story begins showing the parallel lives of Claire and Jamie, with the former having traveled back to the 20th century and now researching history with her daughter and the latter recovering from the
She chooses to return to him, and after their joyful reuinion, she becomes part of his life. This is the weakest part of the book, the middle, although I suppose necessary because how does one go from being one to being a couple without some adjustment. It becomes clear to Claire that Jamie has had to make many modifications and arrangments in order to keep himself alive and support his family at Lallybrook.
Without giving too much of the plot away, Jamie and Claire find themselves traveling to the West Indies in order to rescue Jamie's nephew, the young Ian. Here Gabaldon does an excellent job challenging her readers to remember many characters, not only earlier pages in this book but from other books in the series as well.
I love this series, and liked this book much more than its predecessor, Dragonfly in Amber. I can only read one of these per summer -- as I tell my friends, once I start, I really can't stop, and 800+ pages are a big commitment to make. I look forward to the next one.
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battle of Culloden and its aftermath. Claire is now a surgeon, a widow, and a mother of a 20 year old daughter, and due to circumstances (which we discover later in the book) has now returned to Scotland and is trying to determine what happened to Jamie after she left him 20 years ago. Through much research she discovers what we readers already know -- he survived and is alive and well in Edinburgh, running a print shop.She chooses to return to him, and after their joyful reuinion, she becomes part of his life. This is the weakest part of the book, the middle, although I suppose necessary because how does one go from being one to being a couple without some adjustment. It becomes clear to Claire that Jamie has had to make many modifications and arrangments in order to keep himself alive and support his family at Lallybrook.
Without giving too much of the plot away, Jamie and Claire find themselves traveling to the West Indies in order to rescue Jamie's nephew, the young Ian. Here Gabaldon does an excellent job challenging her readers to remember many characters, not only earlier pages in this book but from other books in the series as well.
I love this series, and liked this book much more than its predecessor, Dragonfly in Amber. I can only read one of these per summer -- as I tell my friends, once I start, I really can't stop, and 800+ pages are a big commitment to make. I look forward to the next one.
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LibraryThing member raptorrunner
WW II nurse "falls" into 18th century Scotland. Her herbal skills are both helpful and a hazard in the cultural climate there. She gets into more trouble and turmoil as events unfold.
LibraryThing member labelleaurore
Voyager is very well written, a page turning book in the serie of the Outlander
LibraryThing member Clueless
I've worked my way through the Outlander series of books. I turned down the corner of the pages where passages spoke to me. Here are my comments:
On big fat books:
“What is it—twelve hundred pages? Aye, I think so, After all, it is difficult to sum up the complications of a life in a short space
“True. I have heard the point made, though, that the novelist’s skill lies in the artful selection of detail. Do you not suppose that a volume of such length may indicate a lack of discipline in such selection, and hence a lack of skill?”
“I have seen books where this is the case, to be sure,...an author seeks by sheer inundation of detail to overwhelm the reader into belief. In this case, however, I think it isna so. Each character is most carefully considered, and all the incidents chose seem necessary to the story. No, I think it is true that some stories simply require a greater space in which to be told.”
“Of course, I admit to some prejudice in that regard,…I should have been delighted had the book been twice as long as it was.”
Since Gabaldon’s novels run to 1000 pages + and nothing is superfluous I’m wondering if she shares my high opinion (and love) of big fat books.
We often look at the past as some kind of idyllic Eden but would you really like to go back in time to pit toilets and no antibiotics?
I had been taking careful note of the machines—all the contrivances of modern daily life—and more important, of my response to them. The train to Edinburgh, the plane to Boston, the taxicab from the airport, and all the dozens of tiny mechanical flourishes attending—vending machines, streetlights, the plane’s mile-high lavatory, with its swirl of nasty blue-green disinfectant, whisking waste and germs away with the push of a button. Restaurants, with their tidy certificates from the Department of Health, guaranteeing at least a better than even chance of escaping food poisoning when eating therein. Inside my own house, the omnipresent buttons that supplied light and heat and water and cooked food.
On stubbornness:
“And it’s no use to shout at a stubborn man, or beat him either; it only makes him more set on having his way.”
Gee, whatever could she be talking about?
On living somewhere foreign:
“You’ll not know how it is, to live among strangers for so long.”
“Won’t I?”…
“”Aye, maybe you will”. He said. ”You change, no? Much as ye want to keep the memories of home, and who ye are—you’ve changed. Not one of the strangers; ye could never be that, even if ye wanted to. But different from who ye were, too.”
After about five years living abroad, for me anyway the guest culture becomes what feels like ‘home’ and home starts feeling and sounding foreign.
On the sudden joy found in being present:
“It had happened many times before, but it always took me by surprise. Always in the midst of great stress, wading waist-deep in trouble and sorrow, as doctors do, I would glance out a window, open a door, look into a face, and there it would be, unexpected and unmistakable, a moment of peace.”
We don’t know everything yet:
“”Well, I say it is the place of science only to observe,” he said. ”To seek cause where it may be found, but not to realize that there are many things in the world for which no cause shall be found; not because it does not exist, but because we know too little to find it. It is not the place of science to insist on explanation—but only to observe, in hopes that the explanation will manifest itself.””
On big fat books:
“What is it—twelve hundred pages? Aye, I think so, After all, it is difficult to sum up the complications of a life in a short space
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with any hope of constructing an accurate account.”“True. I have heard the point made, though, that the novelist’s skill lies in the artful selection of detail. Do you not suppose that a volume of such length may indicate a lack of discipline in such selection, and hence a lack of skill?”
“I have seen books where this is the case, to be sure,...an author seeks by sheer inundation of detail to overwhelm the reader into belief. In this case, however, I think it isna so. Each character is most carefully considered, and all the incidents chose seem necessary to the story. No, I think it is true that some stories simply require a greater space in which to be told.”
“Of course, I admit to some prejudice in that regard,…I should have been delighted had the book been twice as long as it was.”
Since Gabaldon’s novels run to 1000 pages + and nothing is superfluous I’m wondering if she shares my high opinion (and love) of big fat books.
We often look at the past as some kind of idyllic Eden but would you really like to go back in time to pit toilets and no antibiotics?
I had been taking careful note of the machines—all the contrivances of modern daily life—and more important, of my response to them. The train to Edinburgh, the plane to Boston, the taxicab from the airport, and all the dozens of tiny mechanical flourishes attending—vending machines, streetlights, the plane’s mile-high lavatory, with its swirl of nasty blue-green disinfectant, whisking waste and germs away with the push of a button. Restaurants, with their tidy certificates from the Department of Health, guaranteeing at least a better than even chance of escaping food poisoning when eating therein. Inside my own house, the omnipresent buttons that supplied light and heat and water and cooked food.
On stubbornness:
“And it’s no use to shout at a stubborn man, or beat him either; it only makes him more set on having his way.”
Gee, whatever could she be talking about?
On living somewhere foreign:
“You’ll not know how it is, to live among strangers for so long.”
“Won’t I?”…
“”Aye, maybe you will”. He said. ”You change, no? Much as ye want to keep the memories of home, and who ye are—you’ve changed. Not one of the strangers; ye could never be that, even if ye wanted to. But different from who ye were, too.”
After about five years living abroad, for me anyway the guest culture becomes what feels like ‘home’ and home starts feeling and sounding foreign.
On the sudden joy found in being present:
“It had happened many times before, but it always took me by surprise. Always in the midst of great stress, wading waist-deep in trouble and sorrow, as doctors do, I would glance out a window, open a door, look into a face, and there it would be, unexpected and unmistakable, a moment of peace.”
We don’t know everything yet:
“”Well, I say it is the place of science only to observe,” he said. ”To seek cause where it may be found, but not to realize that there are many things in the world for which no cause shall be found; not because it does not exist, but because we know too little to find it. It is not the place of science to insist on explanation—but only to observe, in hopes that the explanation will manifest itself.””
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LibraryThing member Nancy-Jean
Second of Diana's novels, as good as the first--hope she keeps churning them out
LibraryThing member april241
The best of the series
LibraryThing member justine
Series review: Fascinating and mostly very readable series even if it gets a little bit soap opera like at times. Rich with historical detail and description.
LibraryThing member FieryNight
Now we understand Claire and Jaime better, and begin to worry over and love them.
LibraryThing member scarlett78
After Outlander, this is my second favorite book in the series. Once Claire finds Jaime again the action really heats up. I love the whole adventure to the new world and what they encounter there. Also not so much Brianna which is a huge plus.
LibraryThing member rachelellen
Much of the time this is my favorite from this series, even though there's a bit of smuggling intrigue sort of whodunit kind of stuff that I always want to skip, and there's a character who's quite obviously only there because the author needed someone in the book to perfomr a service he performs
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(and yes, the author admits in interviews etc. that this is the case). The emotion is really good in this one. Again, though, I'm not as enthralled with the series as I once was. I think Sara Donati kind of ruined me for Diana Gabaldon, truth be told. Better research, better writing, less like a 900-page Harlequin (not that DG's books ARE 900-page Harlequins, but they're closer than Donati's, especially on the fourth or fifth re-read). Show Less
LibraryThing member miyurose
I have to continue giving this series an A . This installment wasn't quite so heartwrenching, though it did have its moments! I think this may be my favorite in the series.
LibraryThing member Joles
A continuation of the Outlander Series it is impossible to put down!
LibraryThing member sdbookhound
I loved this book. The build-up to Jamie and Claire reuniting was excellent. The story continues and is as exciting as ever. I can't wait to read the next.
LibraryThing member MissTeacher
Another masterpiece. Heart-stopping moments of aching, years of untouched passion, mysticism and malevolence--it's all here. We travel from Edinburgh to Lallybroch to Le Havre to Jamaica to Haiti and are finally swept upon the shore in Georgia. Just sit back, relax, and let yourself be carried
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away... Show Less
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
The series of books of which this is the third instalment is like a massive juggernaut fuelled almost entirely by sex. I loved the first book, hated the second, and would tend to place this one somewhere in the middle.
There is a lot to admire here – the extent of the author’s research, and the
Events move overseas with a seemingly interminable journey to the Caribbean, and when we finally got there I appreciated the way the author resisted the urge to provide a sanitised depiction of slavery.
There were some elements of the plot I struggled to accept. For example how many languages does Jamie speak? It’s a while since I read the first two novels in the series so can’t remember how he came by his Renaissance Man credentials, but to have a guy from 18th century Scotland fluent in colloqual Mandarin seemed a trifle far fetched. What next? Swahili? He is too perfect. Everyone fancies him, even the men.
I guess what drives this is the romance and the attraction between the two protagnists. In a book where there is sometimes a tendency to be long-winded about small details, I thought the scene where they were reunited after twenty years was done with impressive simplicity. And, for me, it is the risk the author took – in having them separated all that time....foregoing all that shagging potential!....that lifted this book out of the ranks of Mills & Boon. Here they are, practically old in 18th century terms! Will there be enough fuel left? A courageous move, and I appreciated it.
There is a lot to admire here – the extent of the author’s research, and the
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feeling that she is at home with the setting. And though the reader appears to be supplied with all the facts about the characters, the author keeps a trick or three up her sleeve. There were some genuine surprises. And the farcical wedding chapter was hilarious.Events move overseas with a seemingly interminable journey to the Caribbean, and when we finally got there I appreciated the way the author resisted the urge to provide a sanitised depiction of slavery.
There were some elements of the plot I struggled to accept. For example how many languages does Jamie speak? It’s a while since I read the first two novels in the series so can’t remember how he came by his Renaissance Man credentials, but to have a guy from 18th century Scotland fluent in colloqual Mandarin seemed a trifle far fetched. What next? Swahili? He is too perfect. Everyone fancies him, even the men.
I guess what drives this is the romance and the attraction between the two protagnists. In a book where there is sometimes a tendency to be long-winded about small details, I thought the scene where they were reunited after twenty years was done with impressive simplicity. And, for me, it is the risk the author took – in having them separated all that time....foregoing all that shagging potential!....that lifted this book out of the ranks of Mills & Boon. Here they are, practically old in 18th century terms! Will there be enough fuel left? A courageous move, and I appreciated it.
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Subjects
Awards
AAR Top 100 Romances (79 — [Previously 1998-56 / 2000-43] Most Recent Rank - 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1993-12-01
Physical description
6.85 inches
ISBN
9780440217565