Okay, I know I'm 20 years late with this, but my friend Dessi just gave me book one of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and it sort of blew me away. Halfway through the first book, I was grateful this was part of a series because I didn't want to let these characters go. Sure, it's chock filled with archetypes (the cliched rugged hero Scotsman who can fight like Erol Flynn; the crunchy salt of the earth highlanders; and the ideal woman, smart, beautiful, English prim, but able to kill and heal with equal proficiency), but damned if Gabaldon's writing doesn't bring a refreshing breath of air into some stale tropes.Claire is an English nurse who's survived WWII and takes a holiday in Scotland with her estranged husband who worked for British Intelligence during the war. By way of a druid ritual, she finds herself suddenly 200 years back in time, when being English north of England was about the worst thing you could do. Jamie is a Scottish outlaw, wanted by the English, most notably a Dragoon captain that turns out to be Claire's husband's ancestor. This twisty-turnie love story is filled with adventure, death, and a whole lot of love.
