Outlander: A Genre-Busting Series
The Outlander series started in 1988 when Diana Gabaldon, Ph.D., D.H.L. decided to write a novel as an exercise. Gabaldon wondered if she could write a full-length novel and whether or not she wanted to write fiction (she had written primarily non-fiction books and articles in fields of Zoology, Marine Biology and Quantitative Behavioral Ecology). Gabaldon did not plan to tell anyone that she was writing a novel, let alone plan to publish it. Now thirty years later, after the first book was published in 1991, over twenty million copies have been sold and eight more additional books have been added to the series. This does not include the published novels expanding on the minor characters within the series. The books have been translated into over twenty languages, and into an extremely successful television program on the Starz network. It is evident that Gabaldon has successfully accomplished far beyond what she had initially set out to do.1 Because the first book was meant to be a writing exercise, Gabaldon saw no need or reason to limit herself in the book’s content. Consequently, this series of novels cover an array of genres and topics including history, medicine, wars, action, spirituality, revenge, clan and social dynamics, time travel, pirates on the high seas and romance. Each book is unique in its structure, tone, and themes. An interesting aspect about these books (despite them being a part of a series) is that they are engineered in such a way that each one could be read independent of any other. However, as with any series, Gabaldon suggests beginning at the start with the title novel Outlander, the first volume in the series. This story sets up the necessary background of the strong female lead character Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser.
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