Fate and inevitability play a large role in Diana Gabaldon's book Dragonfly in Amber.  The second in a series about Claire Randall Fraser, a mid-20th century woman transported back to 18th century Scotland, Dragonfly in Amber picks up the story of Claire and her Sottish husband Jamie.  Claire knows that Jamie and thousands of other Highland Scots are to be slaughtered in the Battle of Culloden, fought on behalf of Bonnie Prince Charlie in a failed attempt to restore the Stuarts to the throne of England and Scotland.  She and Jamie race to try and stop the coming war, first in Paris where Prince Charles is waiting to return to Scotland, and again in Edinburgh.  But nothing, not even the foreknowledge of what will happen, can turn the tide of history in the Scots' favor.

Like her first novel, Outlander, this book is rich in historical detail, and intricate in plot.  In a previous post, I complained of how long it took me to read it, because that level of detail requires the reader to really slow down and take it all in.  It is full of political machinations, betrayals, unkept promises, and the hubris of the nobility.  Add to the complex plot the many details about life in 18th century France and Scotland, and the descriptions of the medical care that Claire gives in her role as a healer, and you have a fully formed world that draws you in.  The romance between Claire and Jamie is besides the point to me, other than as a catalyst for some of Claire's decisions regarding staying in Scotland or trying to stop duels...Claire herself is the reason that I kept reading.  And I am so grateful to Ms. Gabaldon that she set this series in a time period I know very little about.  While I love my Tudor and Elizabethan period pieces, I am happy to have knowledge of another era of UK history.

No, I didn't fall off the planet...

...it just took me forever to read the first book in Diana Gabaldon's epic Scottish time-travel series, Outlander.  While this is at least partly due to the fact that I have homework again for the first time since 2004, it may also have something to do with the breadth of the novel.  Outlander is nearly 700 pages of rather genre-defying goodness.

Outlander is part fantasy novel, part sci fi, part historical fiction, and all romance.  The story revolves around Claire Randall, an strong and independent spirit living with her husband in post-war England.  While on a second honeymoon in Scotland, she touches a singing boulder in a ring of standing stones and finds herself 200 years in the past.  There she is swept up into clan politics, a dangerous encounter with an English captain, and a love affair that leaves her breathless.

I love it when friends recommend books to me-especially when I enjoy them.  A very dear friend told me about this book, and I am happy to report to her that the story is everything she said it would be.  First of all, the real main character of this book is the Scottish countryside.  Amazingly, Gabaldon had never been to Scotland when she wrote the first book in the series.  Her research skills must rock, because I would never have guessed that she was not a frequent visitor.  She also does an excellent job describing the frustration and ambivalence that characterizes Claire's arrival and subsequent decision to fall in love with Jamie, a charming outlaw who also happens to be a laird with his own lands.

It is hard to describe this book without making it sound like a glorified Gothic romance novel.  But as mentioned above, this book seriously defies definition.  So instead of trying to do it's multi-faceted, 600+ page story justice here, I'm going to tell you to just read it, already!  There's history enough for lovers of historical fiction, there's the whole time-travel thing for the fantasy/sci fi geeks out there, and there is a good old fashioned love story with a new-fangled twist for the romantics out there.  But be prepared-Outlander is but the first in a series of epic novels about Claire and Jamie-none less than 600 pages that I can see.  You're gonna want them all.