Book Review: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

Book reviews

24 July

Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana GabaldonPaperbackTBR pileArrow Books, 1995 Synopsis- From the author of the breathtaking bestsellers Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber , the extraordinary saga continues. Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite—or forever doom—her timeless love. Review- Well I couldn’t go to the Scottish Highlands without reading an Outlander book!I read the first book in this series about 5 years ago, the second book about 2 years ago and I finally managed to buy a copy of the 1000+ page third book in the series Voyager, at a bookstore in Edinburgh last month. Not only are they mammoth books to read, but I found particularly in the first two, they were both quite emotionally heavy. There's a lot of violence (including sexual), death, grief and a probably every emotion possible is experienced while reading these books. Thankfully, while Voyager was packed with plot twists, character development and laden with emotion; I didn't experience that same heaviness (as in book one) when I finished this novel.I couldn't even begin to provide a succinct summary of the plot... so I won't because there's no point- this series needs to be read at the beginning... so I suggest you start there if you're interested in this story. I will say I felt quite emotional when Claire and Jamie, and wow, the chemistry is still there.I was hooked into the story immediately and managed to read half the book in just a couple of days with thanks to train rides and flights... it was the perfect way to kill the time. My attention did start to wane by the last 300 pages as the ending was slowly drawn out and I wasn’t sure whether they would actually tie up the threads that had been woven throughout this hefty novel. Thankfully they did, mostly.Well, I think there's three more books in this series to go… it may be a while before I pick up another, but I know once I do delve into Gabaldon’s world it’s hard to get back out until you’ve turned that last page. A time-travelling romantic saga that will completely consume you from beginning to end.