PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - WELCOME BACK, OUTLANDER, THOUGH ... THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY

One more review

I know we are all a bit dizzy having moved from droughtlander to this flood of new inebriating images, events, stories from the Outlander world, but let me add my own musings to the general euphoria,  will you? I promise I’ll be brief.  As brief as a talkative English teacher + enthusiastic  fan of the series can reasonably be. The following ramblings will make sense only if you’ve seen episode one of series 2. So... spoilers ahead, I’m afraid.

SUMMER READINGS WITH SOME ISSUES: DO YOU EVER WANT TO LOVE A BOOK BUT SIMPLY CAN'T?

On reading Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander saga books 4/5. Torn between love and boredom.  I know, it’s always a question of personal tastes. De gustibus.

Do I love Outander, its characters and its world? If you mean the TV series, the answer is: YES! I’M TOTALLY HOOKED! If you mean the books, instead, you must know that my relationship with Gabaldon’s saga has always been quite conflictual, complicated, with many ups and downs.

In my frenzy to discover more about the fascinating world of Gabaldon 's Outlander, after watching the TV series and reading the first 3 books (I loved Voyager),  I went on reading, enthusiastically. I wanted to know more, to discover more.  However, I started experiencing growing disappointment and came to a deadlock. I had quite a few troubles with book 4, Drums of Autumn,  but it went worse and worse with book 5. I suffered and struggled all through The Fiery Cross.

I love Jamie and Claire's relationship now they are middle-aged and live in 18th century America. To have characters growing up and developing their relationship through decades is unusual and great. Through endless (mis)adventures, troubles and ordinary issues Jamie and Claire, Roger and Brianna and their friends are tested and it is rewarding for devoted readers to get to know more and enjoy more of all of them.

OUTLANDER NEWS - DVD & BLU-RAY OUT SOON

Have you been envying Outlander fans in the US who have been able to enjoy this amazing series on TV? It's time for you to stop wishing and dreaming. 
Have you,  instead,  seen it on Starz and want to rewatch it,  because you can't have enough, because add it you your Outlander book collection, you wish to own it or think of giving it as a  present to friends to share the love? 
The big news is that you can do all that right now! Outlander season 1, volume 1 will be released on Digital HD on February 9 and on DVD and Blu-ray on March 3rd. Loaded with extras (see details below!) 

You can pre-order your copy HERE. 

The second half of season 1 will be aired from April 4th. Episode  9 will be broadcast,  which includes one of the most controversial  scenes in Gabaldon's book. It will be a shocking  and shaking moment for millions of Jamie Fraser's fans. 
While eagerly expecting for the darker part of the series, here is a great surprise gift : A 2-disc set for collectors! Read on to discover more.

THE OUTLANDER SAGA BY DIANA GABALDON - VOYAGER (BOOK 3)

Someone has named it "Droughtlander" and Outlander fans know exactly what I mean. I've found a very good remedy to cope with its symptoms: going on reading the rest of the saga. Someone told me I'm lucky because I still have so much to read and discover. Good, then! Lucky me has taken her task quite seriously and undertaken her journey through the world of Outlander books enthusiastically.

Video: Caitriona Balfe's, Sam Heughan's and Ronald D. Moore's suggestions to survive Droughtlander

Voyager - Book Blurb

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. 

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

First of all, I must admit Diana Gabaldon has surprised me more than once so far. Lots of unexpected twists and reversals of fortune and thousands of pages! Her creativity and craft are astonishing.

Furthermore,  my storage of visual aids, though incomplete at this point of my reading (the TV series is way back in the narration respect to Gabaldon's printed production), has been of remarkable support in this very long journey and has make it more pleasant, if possible  (see picture below). 

Not long ago I posted my review of book 2, Dragonfly in Amber, which I rated four stars out of  five. But for book 3, Voyager, I need a full score: five stars! I've loved reading it more than the previous one and so far it is my best favourite.

THE OUTLANDER SAGA BY DIANA GABALDON: DRAGONFLY IN AMBER (BOOK 2)

It took me quite a while to make up my mind and read on through Diana Gabaldon's Outlander saga. It took me time since I had decided to stop at the end of book 1 when I first read it (my review). I was quite sure that Jamie and Claire happy in France, sharing their passion in that cave under the Abbey, were an ideal finale to their story.

Then the TV series came and I reread Outlander. Once Jamie was Sam Heughan in the flesh, Claire had Caitriona Balfe spirited look and Frank/Jack Randall were both embodied by charming Tobias Menzies , I had at least 3 good reasons to enjoy this saga (more than enjoy!)

Like many other fans, I was quite sad hearing that the series would take a very long hiatus after the first 8 episodes and that we would have to wait until April 4th 2015 for the release of the second half of season 1. That's when I decided I had to go on reading.

That's why I've been reading Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager in the last weeks, (aka book 2 and book 3, aka 976 + 1,104 pages, packed with Jamie and Claire's adventures) and why I have just started Drums of Autumn.

I'm going to discuss book 2 in this post, so if you haven't read it yet, beware of inevitable spoilers ahead!

TEN GOOD REASONS (NOT) TO WATCH OUTLANDER

Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser

  

  

 1.  Jamie Fraser. 

      

Once you meet him, the least that can happen to you is that you get a crush on him. But,  watch yourself! You risk to fall desperately in love with him, become obsessed with him,  and there’s no way back! Mind you: you're warned.

He is strong, brave, witty, generous, loyal, charming, smart, passionate, principled, sensitive, reliable, honest, charismatic, sexually insatiable and handsome.  

And even if you come to accept he is just a fictional character and renounce finding his alter ego in real life, still you’ll go on comparing every man around you to him and … sigh!

READING, RE-READING, REVIEWING: THE MEMORY OF MIDNIGHT, OUTLANDER, JANE AUSTEN'S FIRST LOVE

Reading: The Memory of Midnight by Pamela Hartshorne

Historical novels are my best favourite kind of books, as well as classic literature. The Memory of Midnight is the one I'm reading at the moment. It is a thrilling mystery story by Pamela Hartshorne, taking place both in Elizabethan York and present-time York, dealing with two distant eras and parading two different heroines, both prisoners of the past, bound by love and fear. 

This book was a gift from a good friend of mine living in York and it has a special dedication from the author to me on the first page. I don't expect you to remember, but Pamela Hartshorne was my guest here at FLY HIGH! to present her first historical novel,  Time's Echo,  back in September 2012.  I had read, liked and reviewed her novel and she kindly accepted to be interviewed. 

My friend met her in York - where they both live - at the presentation of this second novel and got a signed copy for me. And here I am,  half-way through The Memory of Midnight.   I have been loving it so far!