Books: Diana Gabaldon

[winter]

One of the things that helped me last through the week in bed I had to undergo recently was the fact I had just received a stack of books. To wit, almost the entire Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, plus the two Lord John spinoffs.

I first read Outlander/Cross-stitch (depending on the US versus UK edition) when I got it from he library, in Polish. I do read silly romance novels on occasion, but the plot - a time-travelling woman from the 20th century ending up in the 18th century and marrying a Scottish rebel - sounded far-fetched even for those standards. If not a recipe for Mary Sue disaster flavoured with faux-Scots. It was only because I'd already read and adored Lord John and the Private Matter that I decided to give it a try.

Not only are the books readable, they're addictive. The mix of romance and adventure tilts heavily towards the latter, with political plotting added in Dragonfly in Amber. Then just as that formula threatens to tire, the series becomes a Caribbean adventure, then one of the American frontier. I'm missing The Fiery Cross, and I can't wait to read it and the last book. And then wait impatiently for the next volume in the series.

The one thing I appreciate about Outlander is that the usual romance tropes are either ignored or subverted. Rape is one (non-graphic, though chilling); LGBT themes are another. At first I was rather miffed by a certain gay villain, but the way he was developed was so non-stereotypical that I have to applaud. And then there is Lord John Grey.

Lord John, I gather, was supposed to be a brief cameo in Dragonfly in Amber that reappears in Voyager to explain Jamie's survival. The plot device turned out to be a lovely, sarcastic and elegant blade who incidentally is also gay (and this fact is a facet, not the entire definition of his character). As a slash writer, it's amusing to see the signs: "Look, I've got a nice plot device." "Look, there he is again." "You know, I should add him here, too." "I know, I should write a short story where he solves a mystery." "That was fun. I'll write another." "And it's 400 pages long.... ooops?" "And he wants another one. With smut. Quick, who can beta-read a gay sex scene for me????"

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, in particular, is a delightful tapestry of emotions and adventure. It catches on so many themes, and manages to define the emotional web that supports high-class eighteenth-century males, from family to love to duty. It's a book I will read and re-read, and not only because the dachshund is perfectly characterised. It's a jewel.

(And for the record, I ship Lord John/Stephan von Namtzen. I really, really want to write a story where they're beautifully broken together, but it'd kill me.)

If you're interested in more:

Diana Gabaldon site

Excerpts from the Lord John series

Comments

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

Is it possible to read only the Lord John novels?

[winter]

It'd work best if you read the historical-bits beginning of Voyager as well (which is the part that doesn't have romance in it, with Jamie Fraser, the in-period hero, in prison and John as his warden), but as I said, I read the first Lord John novel first, and the only references I missed were in passing Brotherhood of the Blade has a cameo from Jamie, so that'd be the part you'd miss if you don't know Jamie and John's backstory up til then, but that can really be summed up in a few sentences. I'd say start with Lord John and the Private Matter (utterly self-contained) and see if you like the style enough to bite all of it ;)

[amelia-petkova.livejournal.com]

My friend and I got addicted to the Outlander series in high school, though I lost track after the third or so book. Note to self: re-read.

[winter]

The fourth is where things go to the American Frontier, and I have to admit it's damn interesting :) Plus the Lord John books are simply gorgeous.

[amelia-petkova.livejournal.com]

That's right! I forgot that they ended up on a ship to the New World. (That must be when I stopped reading.) One of my favorite parts earlier in the series is when the heroine has gone back to her original time and is talking about her daughter with the black (?) co-worker. He says something like "Her daddy must have been a tall son of a bitch," and I imagine the heroine saying, "You have no idea."

[cairea.livejournal.com]

I read Outlander about ten years ago on the recommendation of my then-manager and thought it was very well-written and the characters well done. My manager, however, had done it as a way to trick me into reading a romance novel and at the time it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much about what she thought was hot than I ever needed to know. >>

I've always been kind of sad that I couldn't look at the series without thinking about my little bantam hen of a manager, but I've been seeing other people praising them recently so I might give them another shot.

... after I finish reading silly young adult titles I find while shelving. Because, honestly, who can pass up a book titled Skullduggery Pleasant?

[winter]

Now you have me tempted ;) And I have to say that some of the romance in the first novel threw me - especially the very in-period way Jamie treats Claire and demands her obedience. I find them much more interesting once they've worked it all out and I no longer have an urge to dismember him.

[cairea.livejournal.com]

It actually turned out to be a really fun book to read. It's a bit on the silly side, but how could it not be, with characters named Skullduggery Pleasant and China Sorrows and Ghastly Bespoke and such? XD. I spent a lot of time worrying that the twelve year-old protagonist would turn into your typical Strong Teenage Girl Lead, but she skirted the line pretty nicely.

I wasn't hit with "oh god, this book is MADE OF GENIUS" the way I was with Garth Nix's stuff, but I'm still really looking forward to the sequel that's coming out later this year. It's written by a British writer which . . . might make it more accessible to you? I don't know enough about book distribution outside of my own particular venue to know if that's even a factor anymore. >>

... and back to the original topic! The way Jamie treated Claire didn't actually bother me at the time, but I was way more into 'ooooh, this lady did some RESEARCH omg cool!' than anything else. ... the books come into the store an awful lot. If I can get over the idea of the amount of teasing from my coworkers I'll get, I'll snag them.

(Though I imagine that after the Lord Byron As A Vampire Written By The Biggest Byron Fanboy EVAR book they all saw me snorting and giggling my way through a few years back, that might not faze them.)

[winter]

Lord Byron As A Vampire Written By The Biggest Byron Fanboy EVAR

...was that Polidori's Vampyre, or are there two of them?

[cairea.livejournal.com]

... no, this was titled Lord Byron: A Private History and was written by a guy who absolutely could not stand the idea that Byron might not have been totally straight. It's basically three hundred pages of him making excuses for the fact that Byron was kind of a dick by blaming it all on the fact that he's a VAMPIRE and this causes ANGST and therefore it's okay.

Also, all those affairs with his female relatives were because he could not resist the draw of blood like his or . . . something.

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

I really, really enjoy her work. She's an amazing writer:)

[winter]

*nods* I'm most frustrated I forgot to order the next-to-last book in the series. The last one is lying there and taunting me.