Hooray! It’s time for a game of Name That Genre! Diana Gabaldon‘s book Outlander is:
- A fantasy novel
- A science fiction novel
- An adventure novel
- A historical novel
- A romance novel
- A romance novel that even men will read
Answer: all of the above!
First published in 1991, this is the debut novel of the Outlander series, now up to seven novels, a spinoff series, some short stories and novellas, and a few companion volumes. The popularity is due in part to the widespread appeal of the stories: there really is a little something for everyone. The fantasy and science fiction elements are just important enough to keep fans of speculative fiction hungering for more, but subtle enough to not overwhelm readers who normally avoid the fantastic. The romance elements are spicy enough to satisfy romance readers, but unconventional enough to be fresh and unexpected.
And if you just don’t like science fiction or fantasy or romance? Give it a try anyway. Just a few chapters, that’s all I’m asking. Gabaldon’s storytelling skills are so good that even skeptics might be snared by her tale of high adventure in eighteenth-century Scotland.*
That’s what happened to me, at any rate. I avoided the Outlander series for a long time, because 1.) Dang, those books are long and 2.) I’d basically rather die than read a romance novel. But Gabaldon has the Stephenie Meyer effect: you try to resist, you swear you’re not going to like it, but then somehow you start reading and suddenly you’ve raced to the bookstore to lay down cash for the next book in the series because you just can’t wait for the library copy to come back.
At the start of the story, our heroine Claire and her husband Frank are celebrating their reunion in Scotland, having just finished serving separately in World War II. But one day, while Frank is busy with his work as a history scholar, Claire decides to look at the flowers at a nearby landmark, an ancient cluster of standing stones, sort of a miniature Stonehenge. Once there, she hears an eerie buzzing noise, experiences a nauseating and unfamiliar full-body sensation, and blacks out…
…to wake up in exactly the same spot, but a few hundred years displaced. It takes a while for Claire to grasp that she’s been transported to the year 1743, but soon she realizes that the group of soldiers who stumble upon her are not super-convincing period re-enactors. They’re the real thing.
One of those soldiers is a young man named Jamie. And Claire, despite her enduring love for her twentieth-century husband Frank, begins to fall for him. Which is not exactly smart: Jamie is not a safe person to love. He is an outlaw, and his worst enemy is a sadistic madman, and anyway he’s probably going to die in a few years at the Battle of Culloden, a bit of knowledge that Claire cannot reveal without betraying her origins. She’s odd enough that people already think she’s a witch.
Jamie and Claire are wonderfully enjoyable protagonists. Their unlikely romance and their dangerous exploits make for a thrilling tale, while Claire’s torn loyalties add layers of emotional depth to the story: will she abandon Frank forever? Is it even possible for her to travel back to her own time? And, ah, what about the baby she’s carrying?
One final word: the violence, including sexual violence, can be graphic. Proceed with caution.
*If you don’t like historical fiction or adventure, I concede that you might not like this book.
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We were just talking about this is my genre class in Library School, no one could figure it out. My prof suggested it should fit into either time-travel romance or time-travel historical fiction subgenres…regardless…great book. : )
“Outlander,” sounds like a very interesting read. It has all the elements I love (history, romance, science fiction, ect.).
Another great book that I would like to suggest is “Bedlam South,” written by Mark Grisham. The story is about the Civil War and also has several dramatic elements going on like romance and thrilling action, but at the same time the story is very moving and keeps you involved with the characters. There’s also a surprise ending to it, which makes it a very engaging read.
Oh I agree with you Audrey… love historical fiction novels, romance, science fiction… but especially historical fiction- “Her Mother’s Hope” by Francine Rivers is another great example of a great historical fiction. I just love the fact that it is based around the author’s own family heritage
(4 generations of mothers/daughters). I am always looking for books of this genre. I know I will absolutely love “Outlander”- thank you for suggesting it!
That’s a great post, and very timely for me.
I have an agent interested in the book I’ve just finished, called Under the Same Sky. It involves a Highlander who has just survived Culloden, and a girl in South Carolina who has to deal with horrific violence in her own place. But the two have dreamed of each other since childhood, “seen” each other in times of peace and violence. They can help each other out by sharing their energy.
So it’s historical, it’s adventure, it’s romance and it includes the Sight.
Where would one find something like that in a bookstore??
Genevieve: if a bookstore has a Paranormal Romance section, your book would probably be shelved there. If not, it would most likely go in Fantasy, but maybe in Romance, but probably not in Historical Fiction, which is usually reserved for books without elements of speculative fiction.
I just recently posted Outlander on my blog. :) It is an excellent book. I, too thought it was long, but why not? It’s summer and I have plenty of time to read it. I loved it! Couldn’t wait to read more of the book series. You are welcome to read more of my recommendations about other books. :) And I stumbled across this blog by chance and I love the blog! So many books to read about! Good Job!
Now’s about a good time to re-read the Outlander series (or to read it through for the first time) in anticipation of the eighth volume, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood. hopefully to be published in 2013. Diana Gabaldon “hope[s] to finish it by the end of 2012” (http://www.dianagabaldon.com/writing/the-outlander/written_in_my_own_hearts_blood/). I can’t get enough of the main characters, Jamie and Claire.
The historical aspects of this book were interesting as well as Claire facing the differences between her own time and the one to which she was transported.