But like anyone falling this hard, I am afraid. I've fallen in love with a twenty-year old series that has captured millions of other readers worldwide. I've sampled the first six books, scanned and read some of the scenes. I'm afraid because even though I still haven't completely finished the first book, I'm already quite hooked--emotionally. I care for the characters. These actually are the kinds of books I've always been after, but it makes my heart clench, reading about the pain and longing of the Frasers.
Here's an excerpt I got from Gabaldon's--the author's--site. In this, Jamie arrives in time to save Claire from being raped by her present-day husband's ancestor, a Captain Randall--one who interestingly later on, if I'm not mistaken, is revealed to actually prefer men, with a marked distinction on poor Jamie.
"You bluffed your way in with an empty gun?", [Claire] croaks hysterically.
“I was tied to that post, tied like an animal, and whipped ’til my blood ran…Had I not been lucky as the devil this afternoon, that’s the least that would have happened to me. ….[But] when ye screamed, I went to you, wi’ nothing but an empty gun and my two hands.”
Awwww. There are many such scenes in the series, most of them raw and heart-wrenching. It hurts to read, and the pace of the story can get quite slow, but these books are unlike any I've read for years now. Gabaldon writes beautifully. And bonus point, the characters--what they're like, what they have to go through--strike a chord in my heart. And so even with these, I believe I won't be letting go of the Outlander for a long, long time.
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