Book Review: Outlander

Alright, I'm totally wacko over this story! I read a lot of books, and some are hard to put down. But THIS book has positively captured me.

Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon, is the first in a series of tales about former combat nurse Claire, and Scotsman Jamie Fraser. The twist? Claire is from 1945 and meets Jamie in 1743 by way of falling through a rock formation in Scotland. I know some people think time travel is hokey, but this book (as well as Audrey Niffeneggar's Time Traveler's Wife) tells it so well that it just works.

I'm always hesitant to give away too much in my book reviews, even though if you go look over at Amazon or Barnes and Noble you can learn a lot about the story line. Personally, I like to be surprised and see how the story unfolds without looking for it. So, you won't get any spoilers from me.

This book has history, intrigue, great adventure and danger, moral dilemmas, and a powerful passionate romance! I think it took me 3 days to read, and during that time I basically couldn't part with the book. I stayed up til 2am reading it every night. I dreamt about it while I slept, and woke to start reading before I even got out of bed. I had to force myself to put it down so that I could get a few things done around the house, but mostly I let stuff slide and just absorbed this story for the time it took to read it. Now I'm in deep doo-doo since there are 5 more books in the series. I have to get a bunch of house stuff done before I go getting sucked into more of Claire and Jamie's story, although you can bet I'm still breathlessly plotting how I can make the time for it!

If you're looking for a great escape book that will grab ahold of you and not let you go, Outlander is for you.