Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

Genre: Historical fiction (with a touch of fantasy)
Year Published: 1991

Never again, I swear, will I joke about a book being upwards of 800 pages. Clearly the bluestocking gods decided that for my insolence, I would actually have to tackle such a book: namely, the bestselling Outlander.

Outlander clocks in at 850 pages, and I could not for the life of me tell you why it's so damn long. It doesn't have appreciably more detail or plot than a normal-length novel. You would think that the sheer heft of the book would turn away casual readers, and yet it's the first book in an enormously popular series.

Probably the book's popularity is due, at least in part, to its fairly easy, predictable path. Our heroine, Claire, is a WWII combat nurse who is hurtled back in time to 1743. Imagine any cliché of upscale historical romance novels and it is present here: the woman healer, the gallant warrior husband, the gruff seasoned band of brothers, the unbelievably over-the-top villain, a forced marriage, accusations of witchcraft, ancestors recognizable even six generations removed, multiple incredible escape missions, multiple torrid sex scenes, multiple brushes with death . . . you name it.

And yet . . . and yet Outlander is one of the more compelling books I have ever read. I truly could not put it down, and for someone like me who flits from book to book, that's saying something. Gabaldon never lets the plot drag; there's always a strong pull forward, aided by her style of rather short sections within medium-length chapters. She doesn't waste time transitioning between scenes, but instead trusts her readers to fill in between section breaks. And nothing happens that doesn't in some way contribute to the plot. In a more literary work, this would be a huge detriment, but in a plot-driven tome like this one, it's for the best.

This is not great literature. I'm not even sure it's good prose. It's not fluff exactly -- it's too well-researched and well-paced to be rightfully assigned that epithet. It's a tough novel to pin down. But it's deliciously addictive, and surprisingly educational about life in the given time period.

Recommended? If you don't mind spending the time and effort on 850 pages that won't really enrich your life or change your perspective, I recommend it wholeheartedly.