First, it is NOT a "glorified bodice ripper" at all! (As a review I glimpsed stated, though they still gave it like 4 stars!) so wth?) Yes, there is romance, love & lots of sex, but that is the least of the story, really. Well, it's the root of the story, but it's NOT danielle steele or barbara cartland, thank God!! I couldn't stomach that, let alone pick it up. There is so much history in these books (yes, i've read the entire series) & at 800 or so pages a pop (a book), u really think she is or could spending 800 ish pages bodice ripping? c'mon. Gabaldon is an intricate & detailed storyteller, but she keeps you interested & intrigued. you don't have to be an avaricious book lover like myself to get into the Outlander books. the friends i've recommend it to, some who aren't even readers at all, have told me things like "thanks so much for telling me about this/these, which one do i buy next, i need to get it FAST, before i end this" & "thanks for keeping me up all night, i couldn't put it down", on & on. that should go to show you how in depth you fall into these books. let me back up a bit, "Outlander" being the first book in the series is 1 of the best, the origin story, after all & granted I DID start reading them in my teens or 20's, a much more naive, innocent time for me, but I've re-read it at older ages & it holds up. Some of the others can drag a bit here & there, but many people just browse thru those parts they find boring, i.e. endless descriptions of battle scenes (the book before last comes to mind, the Revolutionary War, that went on & on & on & on), then the NEW book comes out & it's been so many yrs since the last (& her show got purchased in the meantime & she's been busy w/that i presume), that i forgot what the hell was even going on the in the last book & i've read 60 books since then. She starts in on Lord John shortly after the auspicious beginning, in the new book & i have almost zero interest in the topic & also what was even going on w/him in the prior book. so yes, that can be irritating & patience testing, for me anyway. i digress, I'm not reviewing the series or book #7, #8, whatever we're at now. So, I will restate: "Outlander", book 1, is a GREAT, entertaining book. I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to love, but oh I so believe in the love in this book & aspire to it as well. As we all do. Cheers :)
ps. as i said, just a semi review, i have so much more to say re outlander, big surprise huh? moi, having more to say? NEVER! haha. so yeah, just happened to glimpse some reviews of it whilst on Amazon & was like oh damn, i have to respond to that person who said it was a bodice ripper. glorified bodice ripper, though she STILL gave it like 4.5 outta 5 stars!? really? i think she doth protest too much. who rates something that high after dissing it? even i don't do that & i diss a lot of stuff. i can't help it. i'm very observant & picky & visual & like quality & we live in a crazy, violent, fucked up world! so sue me. well, don't sue me, but u know.......ciao :)
