Continuing my series of book reviews for historical fiction, Im jumping back in time tot he House of Hanover, to George III and the Jacobite risings. Its a bit of an odd book as it starts as historical fiction set just after WW2 but then jumps back to the 18th Century.
Right from the start Outlander promised to be a very
enjoyable read with the right mix of intrigue and character building. But there
is no mistaking its length which in this instance maybe fells like there are
200 too many pages.
The story itself is very enjoyable and set in the highlands
it has a really atmospheric backdrop and an interesting story. I am a fan of Historical fiction but most of
it I’ve read has been focused on battles and war rather than love and romance,
so for me it was a different read but one that held up to its own standards.
As a first book, its absolutely amazing and perhaps because
it was never intended to be published that Diana Gabaldon was freed from many constraints of
tradition. The book doesn’t follow a stereotypical
historical fiction plot and it doesn’t rest heavily on the time travel
complexities, instead it kind of meanders from one scene to the next. Almost as
if the story is evolving with each page, and that the author too didn’t quite
know where it was going to end up.
The book is full of colourful and intriguing characters that
we come across in various situations, and they are each built up for a given scenario, but then quite often they are left unceremoniously as we move to a new situation.
Coming back to the Length
which on its own wouldn’t be an issue if it turned into an epic read. The
problem is that the there is a key premise to the book, that once you
understand needs no further explanation. This leaves the middle of the book feeling
quite repetitive with very little added to the actual plot most of this section
is taken up with wishy washy romance, which a book of this length would lose
nothing if it wasn’t there.
The ending too, seemed to drag on for more pages than it
needed to. There is a conclusion to the book and it’s a bold one with lots of
excitement and a fitting end, the thing is by the time you get there your
desperate to know what the ending is so it feels like it’s a long time coming.
Yet despite its length there remains a number of loose ends
and unknowns, so I look forward to picking up the rest of the series which hopefully
comes back to these left threads.
I would definitely recommend it, but give yourself a lot of
time and don’t think too deeply.
