OUTLANDER FANFICTION?It’s impossible not to compare Donati’s series to Diana Gabaldon’s epic ‘Outlander’. Both series are historical romance, on a grand serial scale, and the marketing of Donati’s series is largely reliant on Diana Gabaldon. Not only does a Gabaldon quote appear on the front-cover of ‘Into the Wilderness’, but Donati thanks Gabaldon in her acknowledgements. And the most obvious comparison is the fact that Donati’s books are a sort of fanfiction crossover to Diana Gabaldon’s famous series. In ‘Into the Wilderness’ characters make brief mention of a Scot turned Indian called Ian, and his ‘white witch’ aunt Claire, and her big red-haired husband. This thin relation to ‘Outlander’ would have guaranteed Gabaldon readers would make the trek to Donati’s series, which is the reason I picked up ‘Into the Wilderness’.I am a HUGE Diana Gabaldon fan. ‘Outlander’ is one of my all-time favourite novels, and like so many of her fans I find myself needing a reading supplement to tide me over between Gabaldon’s four year long writing lapses.‘Into the Wilderness’ is perfect for those ‘Outlander’ fans who really got into the series when Jamie and Claire went to live in the American wilderness. When the series took that trajectory Gabaldon introduced Native American’s to the storyline, and if you’re like me you especially loved the character arc of Young Ian who went on to become an Indian warrior. But more than that, the storyline becomes about the frontier life – small, new communities dealing with prejudice, hardships and their own brand of claustrophobia out in the American wilds.THE LAST OF THE MOHICANSDonati’s series is a continuation of ‘Last of the Mohicans’, the 1826 story by James Fenimore Cooper. Her series features Nathaniel Bonner, who is Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis for those only familiar with the movie adaptation) and Cora’s son. Nathaniel Bonner is the story’s hero... and he’s a fair bit swoon-worthy.Nathaniel’s hands tightened on her upper arms until she gave in and looked up, and then he held on to her gaze and refused to let her look away.“Listen, now. Richard wants the mountain and he’ll take you to get it.”Elizabeth tried to drop her head but he put a finger under her chin to lift it and looked her directly in the eye. “I want you,” he said.A warm rush of breath left Elizabeth. She could smell him, the oil on his skin. Leather and sweat and blood.“I wake up wanting you and go to sleep wanting you,” Nathaniel murmured, pulling her shoulders up to him so that her head fell back and the arch of her neck rose to meet him. “Elizabeth. I want you as much as I want to breathe, but I need the mountain.”Nathaniel’s heroine is Elizabeth Middleton – a 29 year old spinster who never thought she would find love in the wilderness, let alone with an adopted Mohawk. Elizabeth was a wonderful protagonist; she is hot-headed, stubborn and entranced by the Mohawk way of life.NATHANIEL BONNER / JAMIE FRASERELIZABETH MIDDLETON / CLAIRE RANDALL FRASERNathaniel Bonner is no Jamie Fraser (that would be a tall order) but he is an exciting hero for our heroine. His being Mohawk makes him thrillingly exotic, and the little bit of savage in him makes their romance titillating and scorching.Elizabeth is likewise no Claire Fraser – but a lot of Claire’s appeal lies in her delivering 19th century humour to the 17th century. Then there’s the fact that Claire is a doctor, and Elizabeth a schoolteacher - so in general Claire has more thrilling storylines from her occupation.Diana Gabaldon writes more explicit, steamy sex scenes than Donati. But Donati’s sex scenes are sweet and plentiful, and easily communicate Nathaniel and Elizabeth’s love for one another.ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTSI think Nathaniel and Elizabeth’s hasty romance is one of the big pro’s of ‘Into the Wilderness’. If you are one of those readers who attempted ‘Outlander’ but weren’t patient enough to trudge through the slow start, then ‘Into the Wilderness’ is probably more your pace. The romance kicks off from the get-go, with Nathaniel and Elizabeth meeting within the first 10 pages and an obvious attraction kindling. From there the central focus of the book is on the Romeo and Juliet romance between Nathaniel and Elizabeth – a white woman and an adopted Indian. ‘Outlander’ dealt with Claire’s time-travelling mishap and determination to get back to 1940’s England, as well as Scottish clan politics, and the lead up to Culloden. But ‘Into the Wilderness’ has a much more basic focus. It is a romance, first and foremost. This is about Nathaniel and Elizabeth – everything else is backdrop and obstacles to their happiness.DIANA GABALDON / SARA DONATIDonati’s series has a few major differences with ‘Outlander’; the main one being an absence of fantasy, because there is no ‘time travel’ plot.It’s tough to fairly compare ‘Outlander’ and ‘Into the Wilderness’. I think Diana Gabaldon has more writing finesse; her series is more grand-scale epic and she revels in a slow-as-molasses storytelling that lets layers unfold, cliff-hangers erupt and characters arcs naturally progress. Gabaldon also has a very distinct and wonderful voice – even the dullest passages (like Claire’s medicinal descriptions) are riveting when written in her succulent, lyrical prose.Donati also has a beautiful writing style – not as consistently breathtaking as Gabaldon’s, but quite a few lines and paragraphs of Donati’s really struck me. Some of her scenes read like snapshots of a moment, so vivid and colourful that they bear re-reading;They stood leaning toward each other across the awkward expanse of their snowshoes, joined like a wishbone by the soft suckling of mouths.Reading ‘Into the Wilderness’ I started to think that Diana Gabaldon and Sara Donati have very different strengths and weaknesses – and it often occurred to me that one’s faults was the other’s forte.DIALOGUEI think Diana Gabaldon is much more adept at writing dialogue than Sara Donati. Gabaldon’s characters speak into your ear, so believable are their speeches – especially when she is putting weasel words and round-about talk into their mouths. Jamie Fraser is the perfect example of her cleverness with dialect – the way Jamie’s words change depending on his audience, or his cloak and dagger speeches.In ‘Into the Wilderness’ I often thought that characters weren’t very convincing in their diatribes. It was a case of people talking too directly and succinctly, getting their complicated messages across with little misunderstanding. Like when Nathaniel Bonner talks to Elizabeth about his deceased wife, Sarah. Much was made of the fact that Nathaniel felt uncomfortable talking about Sarah, but when the time came I found his words flowed so easily and revealed his hidden depth of feeling. It was at those times when I think Chekhov’s idiom of ‘leave them cold’ could have worked better, if Donati had left some motivations unsaid.HOME LIFEI think Sara Donati is better at writing home life scenes. A lot of the story takes place on ‘Lake in the Clouds’ and ‘Hidden Wolf’ mountain – there was a very good chance that Donati writing many domestic scenes of wedded bliss could have been repetitive and dull. But she writes so thoroughly and fascinatingly about Mohawk life and Elizabeth’s observations of it that I was happy to meander along with the more sedate scenes of domestication.In contrast; in Diana Gabaldon’s books I am never totally easy with domestic scenes – whether they be on the mountain or Lallybroch. I think it’s because Gabaldon is so adept at writing action and heart-palpitating plot that anything slower is sometimes frustrating to trudge through. Then there is the fact that I know any slow scenes of domesticated bliss will be short-lived for Jamie and Claire, and when they are idle at Lallybroch I am constantly on-edge for the next disaster.RUTHLESS WRITERDiana Gabaldon is, overall, more ruthless when it comes to storyline. I found in ‘Into the Wilderness’ that the overall plot was a little hazy. The first-half of the book sets Dr. Richard Todd up as Nathaniel and Elizabeth’s adversary. But Todd isn’t much of a ‘villain’, if he’s one at all. He’s all shades of grey and actually fairly easy to empathize with. Whereas in ‘Outlander’ Black Jack Randall is a truly masochistic villain – he is a very clear bad guy to Jamie Fraser’s good guy. And the British Dragoons against Scottish clans act as another black/white tale.At the end of ‘Into the Wilderness’ I really couldn’t decide if there was any particular storyline – or if it was just a matter of character’s reacting to situations instead of acting. Even when the second-half of the book turns more inward and sets up the racist townsfolk as the new threat to the Bonner clan, I never really found that to be a substantial plot. Mostly because the stakes were never very high – I never once doubted that all would finish in a happy ending for Nathaniel and Elizabeth. In contrast Diana Gabaldon had a very helter-skelter plot, clear good guys and bad guys and high stakes to get caught up in.Diana Gabaldon is especially ruthless when it comes to story because she isn’t afraid to put character’s in terrible situations, let the good guys lose once in a while and let the bad guys triumph occasionally. But Donati seems more inclined to take the easy way. I don’t want to give anything away, but events turn to Nathaniel and Elizabeth’s favour quite easily and neatly.CONCLUSIONI have fallen in love with Donati’s world, and Nathaniel and Elizabeth’s saga. I especially loved the book because I can see that Donati has quite a story arc in store – currently there are 6 books in the series, all of them 800+ pages long. For an Outlander lover like me, the prospect of discovering a new saga to sink my teeth into is enough to give me goosebumps. Especially when I consider how long it takes Ms. Gabaldon to pump out a new ‘Outlander’ instalment (4-5 years!) – I now have Donati to tide me over in the meantime, and fill my epic historical romance craving. Hoorah! I am especially thrilled at the prospect of reading more little mentions and side-notes about Gabaldon’s characters who cross-over into Donati’s world.If you’re an Outlander/Diana Gabaldon fan, you should definitely give Sara Donati a read. Diana Gabaldon is still my favourite, and nothing can rival ‘Outlander’ (Nathaniel Bonner is no Jamie Fraser, though a good contender) but ‘Into the Wilderness’ is in the same Outlandish vain and just as wonderfully grand-scale to get swept away by.
After hearing all the Outlander fans raving about this book, I knew I needed to pick it up because I count myself among their ranks! The story was very engrossing and I raced through the first third of the book because I could not put it down. The middle part of the book was also enjoyable, but I felt myself losing some interest towards the end. Aaaand…maybe “losing interest” is too harsh because that doesn’t sound right to me, but it certainly lost that magic that happens when you can’t put a particular book down. I will definitely read the rest of this series because I adore historical fiction and my ears always perk up whenever I come across one that includes both romance and character development that’s too deep for Harlequin. However, I sincerely doubt I’ll read them all in a row the way I did with Gabaldon’s Outlander series (which I read the first six of in less than six weeks). I immediately felt an affinity to the main character because she is 29 and her name is Elizabeth. Coincidentally, my birth certificate confirms that my name is also Elizabeth and as of this precise moment of reading/reviewing this book, I also am 29-years-old. From almost the first moment she and Nathaniel Bonner met, the sparks were flying. At first that annoyed me because I felt like it all happened too quickly but Donati is a very skillful writer and before too long, I felt Elizabeth’s butterflies whenever she caught a glimpse of Nathaniel and I’m pretty sure I said, “awww!” the first time they kissed (my fiance laughed at me once I explained why I was talking to a book). All-in-all, I’m giving the book 4 stars. I was wowed by the first half of the book but felt like the second half fell short so my final review is the average of 5 stars for the beginning and 3 for the end. I look forward to seeing where the rest of this series goes.
What do You think about Into The Wilderness (1999)?
Something must be very wrong with me since I did not LOVE this novel despite all its 5 star reviews. I am a huge fan of the Outlander series and pretty much anything Diana Gabaldon decides to write so I read Into the Wilderness because of her praise and her fans' praise for this novel. And I have to say that it was just OKAY; it was not bad. The author definitely put a good amount of research into the story but it failed complexity. The characters were not as developed as they could have been and neither was the flow of the plot. Her writing style was mediocre to good. I don't know if my attitude was wrong coming into this novel, I was expecting maybe too much but Elizabeth Middleton's character was too routine. She was too much of a goody-two-shoes who did everything right without thinking twice about her actions. And everyone (except Richard Todd and Julian) and their mother just kept praising her and saying how she was such a "strong woman." Again, I might be overreacting, but it was all just too SQUARE for my liking. I guess I found her character as naive despite all she experienced.I thought that the "hero" Bonner's character was introduced into the story MUCH too soon and much too abruptly. Everything was just obvious to be enticing. But there was excitement to it after all. I read it relatively quickly but I am hesitant to read book 2 of this series. I suppose if I grow tired of waiting for Gabaldon's next novel, and run out of other books to read I will give the sequel to Into the Wilderness a go. But do give it a read, it is worth that at least.
—Maliha
To call this series historical romance, I think, only scratches the surface of what makes these books so compelling for me. It's the richness of characters and the family saga against the landscape of a newly formed nation that kept me engaged through all 6 books. I haven't read the Highlander series, so can't speak to that comparison. These novels remind me of the sweeping family sagas of John Jakes and James Michener, for those who can remember that far back. In fact this series begs for a screen adaptation if the right casting can be found. (Daniel Day Lewis is just about the right age to reprise his role as the family patriarch.) Last of the Mohicans was the inspiration for this continuing story of Hawkeye's family chronicle in upstate New York. This novel picks up with the unlikely pairing between his son, Nathaniel, and the refined, free spirited, Elizabeth Middleton. On the surface, it sounds a bit Harlequin-esque-- the American frontiersman and the English lady. But these are characters whose dynamic was powerful enough to propel me through 6 novels, tracing their family against the backdrop of a growing America in the late 1700s, through the 1820s. For those looking for a good read with memorable characters and enough history to keep it honest, grab a blanket, curl up with a hot cup of tea, and enjoy the leisurely, richly paced texture of this Bonner family chronicle.
—Amy Holloway
I'm so surprised that the majority of the reviews for Into the Wilderness are most concerned about explaining why it has nothing to do with the Outlander series or why, on the contrary, its author, Sara Donati, is Ms. Gabaldon's perfect little disciple, just because she's friends with her and writes HR.Guys, get over Outlander! Not even Ms. Gabaldon wrote the same book twice, why would another person - another author - with her own writing style and brain, and voice and ideas, want to replicate that? Sometimes I swear, people just don't make sense to me. I'd hate to read the same thing over and over again, what makes a book special is that it is unique and cannot be duplicated.Now, I adored Into the Wilderness. It was beautifully written and the fact that half the characters were Native Americans, only made the experience more exciting and interesting. I'll never repeat it enough, we don't study much about America's history, back in the Old World.I'm about to order the next books online, because this story felt like magic to me, and I can't break the spell now. Not before I read everything Ms. Donati wrote for us. You should really just forget about Outlander, Jamie and Claire, Scotland, and relax. This is another story, as well as another world. At least for now.
—CamAlive
