When we last saw Claire and Jaime and the gang, Claire had just finished telling her story about Jaime and Scotland to her daughter, Brianna, and a researcher, Roger. They decide to find out what happened to Jaime. Apparently, he did NOT die in the Battle of Culloden...but is he still alive in the 1760's? And does Claire want to leave behind her life in the 1960's--including her beloved daughter--to return to a man who may not love her anymore?The Outlander series has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me. I wasn't a big fan of Outlander, but I figured I'd give Dragonfly in Amber a chance. WOW, that book was amazing, and it ended on one helluva cliffhanger. Pretty much since then, I have been ITCHING to start reading "Voyager"--the biggest drawback has been (besides nabbing an audiobook version from the library) the length.Well, I finally had a chance (between all the Book Club books I've been reading) so I jumped upon the chance to listen to Davina Porter transport me back to Claire and Scotland and Jaime...only what I ended up getting was certainly not what I was expecting.I see it this way: if you go into this expecting just about anything to happen, you will do fine. If you don't mind voodoo magic, racist portrayals of all races, lots of lying between a couple that supposedly loves and trusts one another, and a 15 year old boy kidnapped and raped by a much older woman, then you will probably find this book up your alley. Unfortunately, that was not what I was expecting.Part of what bothered me were the characters themselves. You would think when a person ages, that person would become more confident in themselves, more stubborn and less likely to take crap from people. But I didn't find Claire to be that way at all. Instead, she puts up with things I wouldn't have even bothered with (more in a bit). And Claire sure makes her decision to time hop back to the 18th century easily. Isn't there a conflict about the way women are treating back then in comparison to how she is treated in the 1960's? Isn't she afraid or worried about losing her life or identity? By the way it doesn't even cross her mind, I guess not, it's all about a man and being back with him. Jaime has always been a protective husband, but here he blatantly lies or withholds the truth from Claire. He comes across as domineering, jealous, and hypocritical. Oh, yeah, and everyone wants him, INCLUDING MEN. Brianna is such a Mary Sue. Beautiful hair, long legs, spitfire, "smart", can charm people without even having to work at it, bland personality. Practically every male gets a hard-on just looking for her. Frank turns into Cheater McAdulterer@$$. Not that I exactly blame him; he and Claire had a very rocky relationship, one that she didn't exactly help along. There is a Mr. Willoughby, a Chinese male who is hideously stereotyped. And I'm not saying that the characters say stereotypical or racist things about him; no, his entire CHARACTER is one racial stereotype after another. EMBARRASSING. There were loads and loads of other characters, but honestly, I can barely remember them (or their character seemed pointless).Now, I will say I do like how Claire and Jaime are having these adventures and they aren't some young teenaged punks. They are mature adults, in their forties/fifties. That's awesome and I highly applaud this move. However, I doubt that a 50-year-old Claire would be THAT highly desired by nearly every male she comes across.One of the things that drove me most nuts was the Jaime/Claire relationship. The problem I had with it was this: Jaime and Claire have been apart for 20 years, and yet they barely spend any time getting to know each other again or having ANY problems getting back together. They have an awkward night together, have amazing sex, and POW! They are an item. I would think that after 20 years, they would have changed drastically--maybe they were more or less serious, or had different interests, or had grown more mature. But it doesn't seem that either Jaime or Claire had to struggle much to "get" the other.And this leads into the next part: Jaime lies or withholds the truth on at least TWO occasions and both times Claire swallows the apology and moves on with barely a blip. The first time this happens, Jaime doesn't tell Claire that he has a wife. This isn't a mere oversight; he spends quite a few days with her, and she has to find out when his second wife bursts into his home at Lallybroch. They have a brief spat, she leaves, he gets shot, she runs back, they kiss and make up, happily ever after. NO! This is UNACCEPTABLE. He should NOT LIE ABOUT A SECOND WIFE. No matter how much he didn't "LOVE" her or some bull.The second incident is about Jaime's son, Willy. That is yet another blowout that Claire learns AGAIN from someone else. And yet AGAIN, barely a blip, and then Claire and Jaime are back to clawing at each other's clothes.And lastly, you mean to tell me these two people, who spent TWENTY YEARS apart, didn't find ONE SINGLE PERSON in those twenty years to FALL IN LOVE with and marry? I know that Gabaldon was trying to make it seem like the love Jaime and Claire had for each other was eternal and blah blah blah, but geesh, I just don't buy it. I can't imagine that Claire would have remained chaste for twenty years (what was up with the Frank/Claire intimate scene after Brianna's birth? Did they reconcile or no?). Same for Jaime.Plotwise, be open for anything to happen. And I mean ANYTHING. I'm talking shipwrecks (at least two), ocean-crossings, seasickness, VOODOO CEREMONIES AND TALKING TO BRIANNA FROM BEYOND TIME, child rape, a child being kidnapped, imprisonment, smuggling, piracy, a slave trade market (including a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE scene proving the "breeding qualities" of a black man--absolutely DREADFUL), drunken and high priests, everyone and his mother knowing Jaime or being from Scotland, plucky prostitutes, and more. Honestly, I had no idea what would happen at any time, because Gabaldon would just pick something out of the Plot Ideas Hat and toss it into the mix.And final pet peeve, I swear. A good portion of this novel involves Jaime and Claire racing to the Caribbean to find the missing Ian, their nephew. Only, they have plenty of time to bumble around, getting Fergus and his wife married, cavorting with drunken priests and more WHILE A CHILD IS BEING MOLESTED. And the worst part is, Jaime and Claire rarely seem to be that affected by this. They don't worry about what is happening to Ian. They don't stay up late at night, wondering where he is and what to do. No, instead, it's business as usual--hijinks and adventure and plenty of hot, hot, hot sex to boot.I know this has been harsh review, and I really hate to be this way, particularly about a book that I was so anticipating. But I can't help but be honest about how the book affected me. I really did want to like--no, love--this book. I was excited to go back to Scotland. I was chomping at the bit to have Claire and Jaime reunite. And if I hadn't cared about the story, about the characters, I don't think I would have bothered so much with this review.This book (series) has loads of fans; if you've already read the first two books, then I do recommend reading this, just so you can see Jaime and Claire reunite. And hey, you may end up liking this more than I did. And even though I didn't much care for this book, I'm still gonna give Drums of Autumn a chance--eventually.
"Only you," he said, so softly I could barely hear him. "To worship ye with my body, give ye all the service of my hands. To give ye my name, and all my heart and soul with it. Only you. Because ye will not let me lie - yet ye love me." I don't know what I expected going into this book, but I didn't expect this. It was so good, so different yet so much the same. This couple goes through so much together and comes out stronger for it, every time. Loving you has put me through hell more than once, Sassenach; I'll risk it again, if need be. I can see why this became (will become) a tv show. It's like Jamie and Claire are on a true adventure. Voyager didn't have any dull moment for me, whereas the previous two books did. I was bored to death in the first book for the first 30% and the sequel was boring till about 10%. Not to mention the scenes with Roger. Those definitely didn't keep me glued to the story. But I couldn't let Voyager go. I kept trying to do something productive, but my mind kept drifting back to the story. I had to finish it so I could move on with my life. Sassenach, will ye take me - and risk the man that I am, for the sake of the man ye knew? So those of you who have read the previous books, know that it had been 20 years since Claire had gone back through the stones. In this book, you get Jamie's point of view too. You'll find out what happened to him after Claire left and there are a few flashbacks into Claire's life as well. When Claire finds out Jamie didn't die at Culloden, she decides to go back through the stones. Twenty years is an awful lot of time in a person's life and a lot of things have happened in both of their lives. Especially Jamie's life has not been quiet or easy. When they finally reunite, it's like no time has passed at all, but at the same time it feels like they are strangers just as they were on the first day of their marriage. If you've read my previous Outlander reviews, you'll know that I don't like Claire. But I liked her in this book. I felt like she had really matured and for the first time appreciated Jamie's efforts and sacrifices. She tried to lift a bit of the weight he had on his shoulders, instead of adding to it. Jamie, however, had been an empty shell without Claire and I feel like that did his soul some damage. Having Claire back is slowly mending it, but his unrestricted passion and faith have dimmed over the years.This book was full of emotion, adventure, plot twists and surprises. I actually can't wait to get back to the series in the future and I hope the next books will be as good. I wish that there was more of Jamie's point of view though. I liked how Diana did a third person point of view for Jamie. It was so good. I Liked it better than Claire's first person point of view. It has always been forever, for me, Sassenach.
What do You think about Voyager (2001)?
The third book in the Outlander series finds time traveler Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser in the twentieth century, making preparations to travel back in time to the eighteenth century to find the love of her life, Highlander James Fraser. Claire has learned from historian Roger Wakefield that Jamie did not die at Culloden, as she has thought for twenty years. Claire is anxious to return to Jamie, though reluctant to leave Brianna, her daughter. Brianna, however, senses her mother’s need to be
—Christy
First of all, yes, this is essentially a five star review, but please note, it’s five stars with reservations. The five stars is almost entirely due to the first 1/3 or so of the book (and maybe a little past that) and how it absolutely took over my life. If I could, I’d probably rate the first 1/3 six or seven stars, and the rest four, but that’s obviously not possible, so here we are. The rest of the reason that I settled on five stars is due to the fact that I just really super enjoyed myself while reading, as weird and disjointed as it got towards the end, and even if the end didn’t match the absolute emotional perfection that was the beginning.I mean, the first half, just . . . absolutely delicious agony. That’s the best way I can think to describe it. After that cliffhanger ending that was Dragonfly in Amber (wherein Claire learns that Jamie in fact did not die in the battle of Culloden like she thought he did). This section of the book switches back and forth from three different POVs: Claire, Roger, and Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna searching throughout the historical record for any trace of what happened to Jamie and where Claire can find him were she to go back; flashbacks to the past twenty years for Claire, Bree, and Frank; and flashbacks to the past twenty years for Jamie. I found Jamie’s sections particularly fascinating (how he survived, yes, but a bunch more stuff that I really shouldn’t spoil in this review). This whole section builds and builds, culminating in Claire traveling back through the stones to find Jamie. And this is when I nearly lost my damn mind. It just builds up the tension of EVERYTHING until you’re ready to absolutely die, and then they finally meet again for the first time in twenty years, and you DO die, and it’s so perfect. I will admit: it was pretty much impossible for things not to be a bit disappointing after that.The second half slash 2/3 (or whatever) was good, but it got Gabaldon Weird and didn’t have the structural integrity of the first half. The second 1/3 of the book mainly features Claire and Jamie re-learning to be in love, and Claire attempting to fit herself back into Jamie’s life (which is very different than it was twenty years previously, mainly as a result of what happened at Culloden). They also have twenty year blanks to fill in with each other, including the births of multiple children. (The scene where Jamie sees pictures of his daughter for the first time made my soul hurt.) There’s stuff with Leg-whore (Malin informs me this is the fandom’s name for Laoghire), Jenny, hidden treasure, a kidnapped nephew, and smugglers. Also, kilts are banned! There are no more kilts! I can’t believe I didn’t know the English did that. The last 1/3 of the book got all rescuey and adventurey. There was a thing with a ship to Jamaica, shipwrecks and pirates and voodoo and witches and drunken priests. Oh, and Jamie’s adopted son Fergus* and a wedding. And a pretty racist depiction of a Chinese character Jamie calls Mr. Willoughby (I’m pretty sure Gabaldon intended to portray the racism of the time period here, but as always she seems to have trouble delineating between that and actually being sort of racist herself). And a Very Special Person shows up just when you least expect it. By the end, Jamie and Claire have basically spanned half the globe, and some crazy shit has gone down, but it basically all hangs together, and everybody is happy. *I forgot to mention how much I love Fergus in my review of Dragonfly in Amber. I love Fergus. That’s all, really.After finishing this book, I officially count myself a fan of this series, although the end of this book was the perfect place to stop, as it’s clear from the ending that the series is going somewhere super new after this. Hint: the year 1776 is coming up real quick like. Also: I can’t wait for Jamie to meet Bree, and I think partly my taking a break from the series was a way to extend that delicious agony just a bit longer. I wonder who the show will cast in that part? She’s got to be tall, have red hair and be able to have a passable American accent. Google has been very unhelpful in this matter, as has the fancasting I’ve seen (although I very much support the idea of Henry Cavill as Roger). None of the girls I’ve seen as potential options seem likely candidates to me. Thoughts, fellow Outlander fans?
—Ashley
I'M ABSOLUTELY SPEECHLESS!!!!!!!!! I don't even know where to begin with my review. I suppose I'll have to think on it a bit... JUST KNOW... there are not enough stars in the sky. As I work my way through this series.... I am just dumbfounded at the awesomeness before me. And this book, by far my favorite so far in the series... words cannot express my love for these characters, and this story. But again, it's one of those stories that enraptures those ONLY that it's meant to. And I am definitely on that list!!!!!!
—Karen
