I am really loving the Outlander series, though I enjoyed the second book more than the first. I had decided I was OK with just reading the first one, but then... well, I just got back from Barnes and Noble, darn it, and am off to bed to read the third book.
[ December 02, 2007, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Well, a friend of mine broke up with her fiance because of Jamie Frasier...
(She'd been reading the Outlander books, and thinking about how un-Jamie-like her fiance was, and how that was a VERY bad thing, because she wanted a partner who DID have those wonderful Jamie-like qualities. So that led to her reconsider her hasty decision to get married. So, yay for Jamie!!)
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Ahhh, Jamie.
I'm ruined for any other man.
Which could get rather lonely, y'know . . . *grin*
You'll have fun with "Voyager", Elizabeth.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Jamie.... *drool*....
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
Yes.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
The first few books are okay, but they start going way downhill. I think I actually started one of them and never finished because it was so boring. The author went to the well once too often.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
Yes, Jamie IS all that and a bag o' chips. The series lost momentum for me, though.
I started skimming part way through one of them, because so much of it was about characters I didn't care for much. Sort of skipped through to the end and realized I'd missed a hanging. I'm sure it was very dramatic, but I didn't go back for it. I enjoyed Claire and Jamie, but the next generation not so much. *shrug*
I AM going to the library today to see if I can snipe the next Lord John book, though. I loves me some Lord John. We have the same taste in men...
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, rats. I was afraid I would have to read more about the next generation.
Glad I am not alone.
How sad and pathetic is it that when I was watching my husband's squash mathch the other day, the rackets became swords and the shorts became kilts?
How disturbing is it that I look at men in the grocery store and say to myself, "Yes" or "No" based on if they are kiltworthy or not.
It is interesting who is and who isn't. it isn;t about brawn or good looks, really, it is more about a leg-torso combination.
I am sorry. I have said too much, and I think that if I was a man talking of a woman this way, well, there'd be trouble.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
And Olivet? Nothing, nay no thing, has ever replaced my love of a man in a firesuit until this book came along.
Sorry. Too much again.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
OK, I lied. One last thing, then I will take my obsessed mind off to make dinner. I was in the grocery store check-out aisle today, and you know how they have enticing little items like single packs of Pepto Bismol, face wipes, and Advil? I looked, and my heart skipped a beat:
Magic Fraser
The bottom line of the first E of "Magic Eraser" was covered.
Now that is sad, nay?
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Yes
and luckily I just married a man who is very Jamie like. (to me, anyway... the rest of y'all keep your hands off).
And how did you ever think you'd get away with just reading the first book? I own all of them, and have re-read several times. Posted by scholar (Member # 9232) on :
I got the book as a gift and I was rooting for Claire to kick him in the family jewels as hard as she could through most of the book. So, I never read the later ones.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Sadly, that is part of the allure of Jamie Fraser. He is a bad boy, but a good bad boy, if that makes sense.
I am reading Voyager, and I have blubbered no less than ten times so far. Jeepers.
I find a lot of Jamie Fraser in my husband, but he refuses to don a kilt. He is a combination of bad boy and mommy's boy, and as weird as it sounds, Jamie Fraser is just magnifying my love for my husband.
Posted by DeathofBees (Member # 3862) on :
Does anyone else have conflicting feelings about lavendar because of this series? I adore the scent of lavendar, but I have this lingering sense of guilt about it...
I'd dearly love to be called a "Sassenach wench". *feels wenchy*
On a related note, I won a round of Balderdash because I knew the definition of "oxter". Yay for Jamie!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I'm quite proud to claim kinship with Jamie. The main Scots part of my bloodline is with the Frasers of Lovat.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Neat. This story reminds me of "The Far Pavilions." Anyone else?
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Hey, I posted that link! The sad part is, I am thinking someone ought to get on it and make such a game.
Posted by Angela (Member # 11312) on :
I also feel that reading about Jamie has magnified my love for my husband! What is it about him? It is because a woman has written his character. I don't know if there is a man out there that is truly like Jamie Fraser.
Posted by Angela (Member # 11312) on :
I started reading the series in August 07 - I'm on the last book now. I found the first 4 so good, I could hardly put them down. The last two have not kept me as riveted. I am not as interested in the "rest" of the family. But still - so good!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I am in the third book now, and I have been noticing an increased tendency towards cartoonish characterizations that border on, OK, are, stereotypical. It is really starting to bug me.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
I give up now, what does Jamie Fraser have to do with Doctor Who?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
The author took the character of Jamie McCrimmon from the Who sidekick, Jamie the Highlander. The actor's name was Frazer Hines.
[ December 08, 2007, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
So it's a book series? I thought it was a tv show! What's the first book in the series? I have to find out what has moved so many of my fellow jatraqueras to this extent!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I bought the book on Olivet's recommendation years ago, but I've never actually read it. This is what they're talking about, Tatiana.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
The first book is Outlander. Author: Diana Gabaldon. Very long. This third book is over a thousand pages. So far, the second book is my favorite. It is separated from a Harlequin romance only by its length, and some pretty good historical references. I am researching the time period, since I am teaching early American history, so that is my excuse, and I'm sticking with it!
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Ah, okay, now I understand. Thanks!
tt&t you got married? I think I missed that! Congratulations! Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
Wow. I can hardly believe I rec'd that to you Noemon. Heh. I read it because so many people here told me I had to. They also told me it was a time-travel fantasy, not a romance. *shame* I'm a total romance snob, generally speaking. It took me about 150 pages to really get interested. I think she surprised me by making Randall such a horrible character, and taking so long for any romantic anything to happen. I think those were the two surprises that kept me reading.
One thing Gabaldon did, for which reading femmes should be grateful, was prove that women will read action-packed stories in numbers large enough to be a market force, provided they have strong characters and well-developed relationships.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I agree, Olive. Just finished Book 3, and I have noticed that her writing is much stronger than in the first novel. She is a biologist turned writer, I have read.
I finished Book 3 today on the school bus on the way to a field trip. I get carsick. I finished the last few pages as the bus lurched through the streets of Hartford, but I could not stop. I figured if Jamie could go on a boat, seasick as he is, I could suffer through. And I did suffer, but I did not toss my cookies.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:provided they have strong characters and well-developed relationships
And, apparently, lots of angsty sex. Posted by DeathofBees (Member # 3862) on :
"Brain sex" is what I've heard romance novels called by a Sunday school teacher who didn't want my junior high class to read them. She said it was as sinful to read them as watch porn on TV.
Honestly, some of OSC's stuff is almost there as far as brain sex goes, although his characters usually have better reasons to jump in the sack than your dimestore romance novel. I just reread Songmaster and was surprised all over again by the sensual scenes. I usually forget about them after a while because I'm remembering the story itself.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
There are some great sex scenes, for sure, but it is more the general attractiveness of the main character that gets me. He is just one of those larger-than-life heroes, so to speak, and I am smitten. It is like being around the high school champion, who is a good athlete, but is also extremely bright and well mannered.
You forget that he must have smelled like the inside of an outhouse, had lice, and probably had breath to wake the dead, even if he did keep his teeth, thanks to some twentieth century advice.
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
quote:Originally posted by Elizabeth: Hey, I posted that link! The sad part is, I am thinking someone ought to get on it and make such a game.
I know, I was agreeing with you that it was funny.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
They also told me it was a time-travel fantasy, not a romance. *shame* I'm a total romance snob, generally speaking. It took me about 150 pages to really get interested. I think she surprised me by making Randall such a horrible character, and taking so long for any romantic anything to happen. I think those were the two surprises that kept me reading.