A review by iranian_yogurt
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Yo, this book has grisly and vivid depictions of sexual and physical violence. If you think, even for a moment, that you would not be able to tolerate such content, do not read this book.

That being said, I'll take the narrative work at face value. Some readers abhor "period typical behavior". For me, the presence of SA is not necessarily a mark against the quality of the book. When the SA is unnecessary/superfluous to the plot, or the consequences of attempt and fulfillment are completely swept under the rug, when it is glamorized, that's when I start having problems with it as something that happens in real life and thus would reasonably happen in a work of fiction under certain circumstances.

Some marks in favor of this book:
  • I read it in a single day
  • I've already requested the second from the library

Some marks against this book:
  • I won't read it a second time (keeping it firmly out of 5 star territory)
  • It was easily 100 pages too long*

Something was in the water in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Fantasy authors today just aren't doing it like they used to and this book feels very of it's time (see, Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series (1990) and George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire (1991)). 

I will say that I was entertained by the story, only noticing about halfway through that there really was no plot to be had--just a series of events strung together. I didn't mind the prose at all, having never been to the Scottish Highlands, I was grateful for the description of scenery. I appreciated that the fantasy authors of the '90's were unafraid to linger in courts to display politics of the time and location. It's hard reading, it's boring reading to be completely honest, and it comes with a few pieces of pay off here and there: you, the reader, grow to personally distrust those in power alongside your character and the setting feels so much more vivid and fraught.
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