It's Not So Much a Book as a Way of Life

(Caution!!  There is at least one link in this post that is NSFW!  or small children, or the faint of heart.)

So, here we are, 18 or 19 posts and three months into this blogging experiment.  And it seems to be going pretty well.  Only, we've over looked one teeny tiny little thing.  Well, maybe not that little.  More like big.  That big thing is a novel called Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon.  Outlander is a historical, science fiction, romance, action adventure novel that weighs in at a hefty 688 pages, and 2 1/2 pounds in the hardback version.  Oh, did I mention it has (so far) six sequels?  And they're all longer than the original?  And there are three (soon to be four) shorter auxiliary novels that focus on one of the supporting characters?  And two complementary short stories?  And two novellas? And one (soon to be two) guides to help you keep straight all the who's, what's, where's, and when's?  And a graphic novel?  So, it's not so much a novel as a way of life. 

Okay, so we haven't really told you anything that makes you want to actually read this epic?  Allow me to give you a VERY brief synopsis of the story line.  Essentially what we have is a WWII British battlefield nurse who gets transported back to the 18th century thanks to a circle of standing stones in Scotland.  There is some confusion about where she is and how she got there, but basically she ends up married to a 22 year old Scottish virgin who cuts quite the handsome figure in his kilt.  This all takes place in the run up to the Battle of Culloden, which destroyed the Scottish Highland way of life, and the clan system that sustained it.  There is a little bit of back and forth to the twentieth century, but the focus of the last several sequels is basically the ever expanding circle of family that Jamie (the Scottish virgin) and Claire (the nurse) gather around themselves as their lives progress over the next thirty years.  There is quite a bit of swashbuckling, a pleasing amount of history (including cameos by actual historical figures), lots of really well done character development, some laugh out loud twists and turns, and just enough steamy. . . . mmphmm to keep you turning page after page.

(There may or may not also exist a small homemade movie in which we spent many hours casting just the right celebrity to play each character of this beloved masterpiece, but you won't be seeing that here.)

One of us was introduced to the masterpiece by her mother, who was an avid consumer of audio books, and liked really loooonnnnnnggg audio books.  This one of us regrets that it took us a couple of years to recommend it to the other half of the brain, but believe me when I tell you that it was a meeting of the minds (well, mind in our case).

This might qualify as the best book I've ever read (apologies to Pride and Prejudice), and I heartily recommend it to anyone I think might love it as much as I do, but I have to confess, I don't recommend it to everyone I know.  I think I might actually be a little heartbroken if someone I recommended it to didn't like it.  This is not a "beach read", it's not chick lit, or fluff.  It's hard core.  It's a commitment, and like most good commitments, it will repay you a thousand fold if you have the tenacity to see it through.

In case you have several weeks alone in a small igloo booked for this winter, or are planning a round the world plane trip and don't yet own an iPod, or if you're okay with basically ignoring your husband while you make your way through everything, here are the books, in order that they should be read.  But please don't blame us if you open Outlander in November, and close An Echo in the Bone in March, and don't remember how you got there.

Original Canon:

• Outlander
• Dragonfly in Amber
• Voyager
• Drums of Autumn
• The Fiery Cross
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes
• An Echo in the Bone
• also the tentatively titled Written with my Own Heart's Blood, slated for publication sometime in late 2012 (toooo long, toooo long!)

• The Exile, which is the graphic novel, and is basically a retelling of the events at the beginning of Outlander, from a different point of view.  A point of view that includes several buff, naked Scottish behinds.

Auxillary Canon:

These books are ancillary to the main body of work, but as the later sequels progress, they really do add some fascinating insight and backstory to several of the more important minor characters.

• Lord John and the Private Matter
• Lord John and the Hand of Devils
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
• Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner, to be released November 29th, that's roughly 80 days from now, but who's counting.  Oh, wait, I am.

• "Lord John and the Custom of the Army", published as part of an anthology called Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
• "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies", part of different Martin/Dozois compilation called Down These Strange Streets

• "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows", also part of a Martin/Dozois collection, Songs of Love and Death, this one does not deal with Lord John, but rather with the parents of one of the four main characters in Outlander, and helps solves some mysteries, although it leaves new ones wide open.

• "The Space Between", to be published (at an as yet unknown date) in an anthology called The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination edited by John Joseph Adams.  This one involves the offspring of the primary family group in Outlander. 

• The Outlandish Companion - a helpful guide to characters, the impenetrable Gaelic language, DG's writing process, and fascinating trivia about the books
• The Outlandish Companion, Vol. II - same as above but covering the more recent publications.  This one does not have a publication date yet.

• And a Prequel, which doesn't have a title, or any other information other than that it exists in the authors mind, and is apparently part of her current book contract, so eventually (!!) we will get some insight into where our favorite characters came from.  

That's 20 books, and I would guess we're verging on 15,000 pages of writing (okay, I know, because I looked it up on Amazon, and that doesn't include unpublished works for which there is not yet a page count.).  And every one of them worth it.  This might take you a year, it might take you five years, you might race through it in 6 months, but you won't regret it.  And believe me, and the millions of other readers who have made this series such a success, you will reread these again and again.

A.H. and A.V.