I re-read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander for our book club… and got so caught up in the story again, that I devoured the entire series – for the second time. Here’s my review of Book 1.
Outlander is the first in a series of eight books (so far) written by Diana Gabaldon. I was introduced to this wonderful series by a librarian sometime in the 1990s, when only the first two or three of the books were in print. Then had to wait what seemed like eons for the next one to be released.
Outlander was back on my mind because it was our book club choice three months ago. Luckily the member who suggested the book gave us lots of warning and, at 850 pages, we needed it. I downloaded the book to my Kindle so I could savor the story at my leisure, without worrying about getting it back to the library in 4 weeks. What am I saying? There wasn’t even a copy available in the county’s entire library system… they were all out. It’s that popular.
Categorizing Outlander is not easy, to be honest. We could call it historical fiction, fantasy, romance, or adventure… and, in fact, it is all of those. Spanning the years from 1743 to 1945… Outlander takes us from the edges of World War II in Europe back to the Highland uprisings of the 1740s and the Battle of Culloden (in that order).
Oh… did I mention the time travel? The standing stones?
Claire Randall, the heroine of the story, accidentally slams back in time from 1945, having just completed her stint as a wartime army nurse, to the year 1743 when she happens to run into a man who was her husband’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. His name is Black Jack Randall… the “bad guy” of the tale. But she is rescued from the clutches of this nasty fellow by James Fraser, a Highlander who is younger than Claire by a few years… and who is one of the most memorable characters ever written into an historical fiction adventure. The relationship between 20th century Claire and 18th century Jamie turns into one of the best love stories – ever.
Diana Gabaldon is a fabulous story-teller
Diana Gabaldon’s story-telling is so adept that you feel completely engaged in the deep, deep love that develops between Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser… a love that grows over the entire series. I don’t want to give too much of the story away if you haven’t read the books yet, but you must trust me on this one. If relationships are your thing, this is one of the best-developed I’ve come across in a series of novels.
I’ll mention, too, that the history is well-drawn and accurate. The adventures are gripping, the battles heart-wrenching, the “evil-doers” as nasty as you like. The story drew me in and hasn’t let me go 15 or more years later. I’ve been waiting, like the rest of Gabaldon’s legion of fans, for the new book to come out. It’s finally here… and I’m reading it with relish. This is a story worth following, in other words.
Intrigued? You can check out some of the 14,546-plus reviews by clicking on the book’s cover, above or right here.
Outlander series – books listed in order
Outlander
Dragonfly in Amber
Voyager
Drums of Autumn
The Fiery Cross
A Breath of Snow and Ashes
An Echo in the Bone
Written in My Own Heart’s Blood
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (release date 11/23/2021)
If you’re not familiar with Highland history or the Battle of Culloden, the videos in this documentary will fill in some of the blanks.
Are you collecting the Starz DVDs? Here they are for Season 1
“A Discovery of Witches” – Book 1 of the All Souls Trilogy
In A Discovery of Witches, author Deborah Harkness presents a plausible story of the relationships between the three (sub)species of witch, vampire and daemon… including their battles and their loves. I’m still wondering how I missed hearing about the book when it was released in February 2011.
I first “discovered” A Discovery of Witches in Barnes and Noble one Friday evening in July 2012 when I was desperate for new reading material… and the library was closed. The author’s new book, Shadow of Night, had just been released, with a prominent display in the bookstore. And beside it… paperback copies of Book 1, with the words “New York Times Bestseller” emblazoned across the top.
I left the shop with a new book to read – about witches. Right up my alley (but that’s another story).
In my review of A Discovery of Witches, I’ll give you a short synopsis of the story and my thoughts on the subject matter: an inter-species relationship between a witch and a vampire.
I’ll talk about why I was so engrossed in the story that I flew through book one and ended up buying the second book, too. (And eventually, the third book.) This is a complex, conceptually intriguing trilogy of books that I’m already wishing would go on longer. In other words. I really, really like these stories.
How a reluctant witch begins exploring her witchy heritage
Graphic: ArtbyMichelle and ClipartPal.com
The witch in A Discovery of Witches, Diana Bishop, looks like – and is – a college professor, who is more likely to be carrying a briefcase than a broom.
Not that brooms don’t enter into it. Diana comes from a powerful witch lineage, including her late mother and her very lively aunt. Aunt Sarah most definitely uses brooms for magic. And has a cat “familiar” named Tabitha. And a sentient house with a mind of its own. Diana’s ancestor, Bridget Bishop, was executed for witchcraft in Salem. Pretty powerful credentials for a woman who does NOT want to be a witch.
Most of the first book in the All Souls Trilogy revolves around this basic problem. Diana has repressed her witch powers to the point where she cannot wield them effectively. And as she discovers, she has very powerful potential, if she learns to use it. If she wants to use it.
This book is not just about witches, however. Equally important in the story is a 1,500-year-old vampire named Matthew Clairmont who, against his better judgment, falls for the young professor. Now, typically, vampires and witches are like oil and water. They don’t blend well. Plus… vampires need to feed on blood, and witches don’t like to be filling stations for other species.
But you’ve heard of the concept called “soul mates,” I’m sure, and this is what Diana and Matthew discover about themselves and their relationship.
Matthew Clairmont is a vampire who knows his lineage and his powers
Graphic: michelleart on Hubpages
The story begins with Diana in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University doing historical research on alchemy. She requests a book called Ashmole 782 and, as she holds it in her hand, she realizes that she has unlocked something previously hidden within the book. As a college professor who doesn’t want to mess with otherworldly “magic,” she returns the book immediately… and then spends the next few hundred pages looking for it again.
A few dozen other people also want to understand the contents of this historical tome, including a vampire she encounters in the library. (This is Oxford University, you know. All kinds of witches, vampires and daemons browsing the books there, amongst the more mundane humans.)
Daemons, by the way, are not devils; rather they are creative, artistic beings living in a no-man’s-land between madness and genius. You never know for sure what they will do for you… or to you. They feature peripherally in the first book and in a much more prominent (and really interesting) way in Shadow of Night.
After quite a bit of sparring and fencing, Diana and Matthew start gravitating toward each other and eventually recognize that they are somehow bound together and so begins a conceptually fascinating and romantic story about an inter-species relationship.
Except Matthew has been researching Ashmole 782 since the mid-1800s and is convinced that it holds the key to understanding the origins of all organic beings on planet Earth. He thought it was possible that witches, vampires, daemons and humans originated from common ancestors and have more in common with one another than is currently allowed for.
Diana, meanwhile is uncovering more and more of her magical powers, but does not know how to control them. And in 21st century England, it is wise not to draw too much attention to the fact that you are a witch… or a vampire or daemon, for that matter. It turns out that Diana has heightened powers in a number of areas, including “witchfire” and “witchwater” which occasionally turn themselves on when she is least expecting them.
Diana’s powers do not remain secret from the other witches in the region for long and this creates an extremely dangerous situation for her, especially in light of her forbidden relationship with a vampire. After a few terrifying encounters, each escalating as her own powers become more apparent, Diana and Matthew figure that the only way to get the training she needs is to travel back in time to the Elizabethan period, where Matthew has a home from the days when he served Queen Elizabeth I (remember he’s 1,500 years old).
Matthew is convinced that this is the only way for them to find powerful witches to guide Diana’s magic. They might even find the original manuscript of Ashmole 782 before people tore pages from it and messed with its magic. A two-fold mission, an extremely dangerous venture… but staying in the 21st century has major disadvantages, too.
A Discovery of Witches ends with Diana and Matthew stepping into the unknown, not being remotely sure that they will land where they hope to.
How DO a witch and a vampire “get it on” together?
Witches and vampires had been told for generations that “their kind don’t mix.” In fact, there is a joint group called the Congregation that enforces the rules set down for the deportment of witches, vampires and daemons.
As a vampire, Matthew shows very great restraint when it comes to his food menu. Deborah Harkness does not skirt around the fact that vampires need blood for strength and survival. And she explains carefully and sensitively that, with vampires, procreation is not managed the way humans and witches create babies. Vampires reproduce themselves through the taking of another’s blood.
While in France, Matthew and his mother, Ysabeau, take Diana on a “hunting” trip so that she can see for herself how her husband feeds himself. Fortunately, a deer’s blood will sustain them almost as well as human blood, but it is still quite a sight to see your boyfriend with his teeth tearing into a dying stag’s neck. Diana is a pretty tough lady, though, and accepts this aspect of Matthew’s life.
But vampires can sometimes get into a feeding frenzy where they cannot control themselves and Matthew is very afraid that his emotions might get the better of him if he moves too quickly into a physical relationship with Diana. She’s not worried. He is, because it happened to him once before. To his credit, he holds back with Diana until he is very, very sure of his ability to restrain himself completely.
In A Discovery of Witches, the embraces and kisses are intense, the sex non-existent because of a question no one knows the answer to: what would a child of a female witch and a male vampire be like? How safe would it be for a witch to carry a half-vampire within her womb?
All of these questions are raised and play an integral part in the story. Along with magic, time travel, politics, ancient societies, and family squabbles. And I’ve only scratched the surface.
I believe I mentioned that this is a conceptually intricate and intriguing book. You can’t skip sections because of the inter-relatedness of the various issues and plot lines. The writing is pretty doggone good, too. And the wait list at the library will be much shorter than it was in July, when I was 256 on the list for Shadow of Night.
If you haven’t read A Discovery of Witches yet, and if you enjoy a well-written “historical fantasy,” this book is definitely worth a look. Happy reading!
Chris Guillebeau’s book The Happiness of Pursuit shifted my perspective on aging
Have you ever read a book that set you on a whole new path in life? Or that joggled your sense of passion and purpose into practical action? I did… and I’m on a 30-year quest because of it… from age 70 to 100.
Last September, I devoured Chris Guillebeau’s book “The Happiness of Pursuit” which documents Chris’s and other people’s “quests” – grand adventures that took them out of humdrum and mainstream and led them to challenge themselves, rediscover themselves and enjoy themselves.
The concept of quest and adventure became so tantalizing to me that ideas kept popping up as I was reading. I took notes and more notes… and then one idea overtook all the others and I knew what my quest was going to be.
People launch quests for a variety of reasons:
They are discontented with some aspect of their life (or the rut they’re in).
They feel a calling to do something, without sometimes knowing why. They just HAVE to do it.
They feel a need to test themselves in a bigger way.
They want to make a difference in the world.
They’re ready to put their money where their mouth is or to start their “bucket list” now.
A life-altering situation such as a job loss, illness or divorce startles them into action.
In my case, the “life-altering” issue was the thought/reality of my 70th birthday in June of 2015. As I read Guillebeau’s book and the stories of the quests begun by people 20, 30, even 50 years younger than me, I recognized that the very long, physical quests were not for me at age 69, when I first read the book.
But I also made a note of the dissatisfaction I felt about the way I was living life… it felt too safe and stale to bring about much personal development. Definitely not much adventure involved. And where was my contribution to the world, I wondered.
I realized that I didn’t want to fall into the rut of “old age.” I also allowed myself to see that what I really enjoy doing is reading and reviewing potentially life-changing books like this, and then posting my thoughts online, with the hope of inspiring others through my words.
Reading a book like The Happiness of Pursuit makes my mind fly. Guillebeau has inspired me to take action. And so I am. And it feels good. As Guillebeau explains, a quest is more than a personal growth project or fitness schedule or get-out-of-debt plan.
Quests have 5 key components:
A clear goal and a specific ending point.
A challenge, something that must be overcome.
A sacrifice of some kind. What are you willing to give up in order to complete your quest?
A sense of calling or mission that keeps you motivated to continue.
A series of steps, with incremental progress toward your goal. (It’s not an overnight sensation.)
Guillebeau emphasizes the importance of planning before starting your quest, to make sure you can handle it financially and emotionally. But he cautions readers to not get stuck at the planning stage. This is an adventure, after all, and the journey doesn’t come with guarantees. When you’re “ready enough,” just start.
That’s what I’m doing.
Reviewing thought-provoking books has now become part of my quest to cease feeling like an old fogey and start living an adventurous life again. Butt-kicking ideas will help me achieve this.
I’m also trying to figure out how to translate my fascination with “tiny houses” into an actual physical community for seniors and others with limited incomes.
My quest starts at age 70
My quest has a 30-year span, with the aim of keeping myself young in body, mind, and outlook from age 70 to 100. Anything past 100 is a bonus.
My larger challenge is to stay open to new ideas, to be willing to shift perspectives, and to learn new ways to keep my mind and body functioning at optimum levels. Oh yes, and to develop the discipline to practice what I preach.
Quests aren’t just for dissatisfied workers in cubicles. Society’s elders have lots to contribute and sometimes just need a way to focus their efforts. I’ve waffled long enough. Now I’m ready to get going.
A quest was just what I needed to launch me off the skinny branch and into the air.
I want to be a healthy, vital, active, interesting, adventuresome woman well into the next three decades of my life. Why not?
This sounds like fun to me, because it IS me to the bone. Playing with ideas, even if they’re other people’s ideas to start with. A book like Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit recharges – even rejuvenates – me.
And that’s the whole reason behind my questing. Making the years between 70 and 100 the most fun yet. I feel excited for the first time in ages.
A heartfelt review of Pam Grout’s book E-Cubed, where she teaches us to play in the quantum field
E-Cubed by Pam Grout… click the book see reviews
As I write the words of this book review, I sip the “Magical Weight Loss Potion” that I energetically created a few minutes earlier, using Pam Grout’s suggestions in Experiment 8. I’m proving that my beliefs are changing my physical body through a harmless placebo (spring water) that I altered simply by using my personal energy and my intentions.
I’ve convinced myself that my magical elixir is the healing tool that will curb my nighttime snacking and cause a drop in weight over a 3-day period. Every time I pick up my glass to take a drink, I thank my magic potion for its good work. It feels right to do and, in fact, I’ll continue this activity for at least a month, to prove my point… and lose weight at the same time.
Grout cites example after example of how the “placebo effect” works in action. She makes me a believer… enough so that I’m telling the world about my magical potion experiment, enough so that I’m sure it will work.
And that’s the point of Pam Grout’s newest book E-Cubed.
A sequel to her highly popular E-Squared, E-Cubed continues to jostle our age-old beliefs about ourselves and the universe we live in. As a student of metaphysical teachings for 25 years, I was already pretty much in alignment with Grout’s ideas in the first book, but she explains things so clearly… and with enough scientific proof to really cement in the new ideas that I pre-ordered E-Cubed before it was released.
Of course, it’s tough to delete or even revise concepts we’ve had for decades, ideas and beliefs we grew up with and “rules” that are reinforced by churches, governments, and parents. Grout acknowledges this at the outset. And then hands over responsibility for belief restructuring to us, by means of 9 experiments that prove what she is saying.
Grout introduces us to Worldview 2.0 which shows us how the energetic world most of us can’t see is the foundation on which everything else rests. Scientists often call this energy “The Field,” and Grout explains in very clear language how we, as humans, can impact the energy around us – our life, in other words – by our thoughts, words and intentions. She points to the “observer effect” in quantum physics which says that it is impossible for us to look at something without impacting whatever it is we are looking at.
My spring water, for example. My conscious belief in its miraculous properties to curb my snack attacks has created a new elixir that is going to work as long as I believe strongly that it will.
I found the chapter on synchronicity to be quite revealing and underlined a few sections so I could find them easily when I needed a reminder that “coincidences are a glimpse into the underlying order of the universe.” We can never feel alone when the connectedness of all things aligns into solutions that help us out when a strong need arises. I’ve also heard it said this way: “The Universe conspires in our favor.”
Each of the 9 experiments is designed to prove a point, whether it’s “finding” money in the chapter on changing money beliefs or understanding that all of nature is sentient and could have messages for us, if we would just notice and listen.
The first 60 pages of E-Cubed present the theories that Pam Grout wants us to prove through her experiments. Like Pam, these are more than theories to me; they are more like a way of life. But for many, they are new (possibly disturbing) ideas that contradict many (most) mainstream teachings.
Who has ever told you that happiness is the big game-changer? Who urges you to start the day with “happy” music? Who claims that the more fun you have, the better your life will work? Well, Pam Grout does, for one.
Fear is such a motivator, one wonders why it’s so prevalent. Is it on the school curriculum? Is it the method through which businesses remain financially secure? Is it how governments maintain such control over people’s lives?
Pam Grout, in her two books, attempts to hand control over our lives back to us. She does this in plain language with convincing examples of how we gave so much of ourselves away. She isn’t into judging, casting blame, or advocacy. She just explains it.
And presents a few ideas of what we can do about it.
As a “senior citizen” in a culture that doesn’t value its elders, I’m all in favor of tapping into as much help as I can get from the field of infinite potentiality. I know it’s there; I’ve had personal evidence of it. But I haven’t got the hang of using it in a consistent way yet.
I’d like to get better at receiving messages from the unseen worlds, for example. Not because I’m preparing to cross over to where they are – not yet! But because I’m semi-retired and have the space in my life where I can do this now. Life is so full of possibilities – and I’m ready to experience and enjoy them.
Books like E3 remind me to expand my life’s options, rather than contract into the stereotype of old age. And, I can honestly say that I feel more fired up than I have in a decade or more.
“Think Like A Freak” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
If you’ve read the Freakonomics books, you’ll know that “thinking like a freak” often means going against conventional wisdom. This new book – Think Like A Freak – hammers home the idea that our biases and current set of beliefs color our decision-making more than we know.
And it’s not always easy to change the way we think.
Consider the concept “moral compass,” which many politicians refer to when they attempt to control masses of people with their way of seeing the world. Is emotion the “right” way for elected officials to make decisions that could affect millions of constituents, many of whom may not agree with their rulers’ assumptions?
The authors look at everything from health care to economics, advertising, wine-tasting, hot dog eating contests, school performance and more… demonstrating how we tend to place barriers or limits on what we think we can do, because “it’s always been done that way.”
They challenge us to change our way of thinking by giving examples of people who have broken through commonly accepted limitations to make names for themselves. They also illustrate their ideas with concrete statistics that turn our heads away from the “easy” answers.
Homicide Rates: UNConventional Wisdom
For example, the homicide rate in the United States began to fall in the 1990s, after reaching historic levels around 1980. Common wisdom might suggest that the causes for the drop in homicides were more police officers, increased prison sentences, more capital punishment or a surging economy.
The authors, however, identified another factor: the legalization of abortion in the early 1970s. They theorized that, with fewer unwanted children being born, fewer children lived in the types of circumstances that might lead to criminal activity. Thinking “like a freak” meant going an extra step to find a possible root cause of a problem. Along with an unanticipated solution to it.
Some root causes go back centuries. Even the causes of illnesses and disorders that only affect specific segments of the population. They give examples and slightly hair-raising remedies. Fascinating stuff, including fecal transplants.
Why Kids Don’t Learn: More UNConventional Wisdom
Who would have thought that poor eyesight affects one in four children in the world… and that “problem learners” can often be turned around with a simple pair of eyeglasses?
Conventional wisdom might have said that class size, bad teachers, or out-dated text books caused the problem when, at a closer “freakish” glance, it became apparent that the children just couldn’t see the blackboard.
As Levitt and Dubner consistently point out, changing people’s ways of thinking means first finding out what really matters to them, not what they “say” they care about. The trick is to change the “default” settings of our beliefs. To stretch our mental options. To switch perspective.
Is Quitting Better Than Toughing It Out?
The last chapter of Think Like A Freak affected me the most. It’s called “The Upside of Quitting.” What do you do when your work isn’t fun anymore? Do you hang in for the benefits, go back and live with your parents, or find an alternative area in your field that might interest you more?
Or… do you let go of the obvious routes altogether? Let go of conventional wisdoms; let go of artificial limits that hold you back; let go of fear of change, and just… well… go.
When it stops being fun… quit.
As Levitt and Dubner point out, using themselves as examples, quitting doesn’t necessarily lead to misery. And sometimes it’s okay to just flip a coin when you’re making big decisions. It keeps you on your toes… and free of mental chains.
They claim repeatedly that “I don’t know” is one of the most freeing sentences there is.
I don’t know what my next career move is, either. But having expressed that thought to myself, ideas have started jumping in like rabbits. What I thought I was going to do is back on the table and I’m allowing myself to climb out of that box.
I’m allowing the feeling of fun to be part of the equation. As the authors frequently mention, fun is important, “because if you love your work… then you’ll want to do more of it.”
Generations ago, the world suffered an upheaval of some kind. Everything about the “old world” has been forgotten, the memories obliterated. Your current world in an underground silo is all that exists… as far as you know.
If you were born and lived your whole life in the lower third – the down deep – between floors 97-144, you’re likely a farmer, mechanic or supply employee. You may not ever have made the climb to the top to look outside the very few sensor windows existing above ground.
Workers in the “mids” – levels 49-96 – are in charge of the smaller hydroponic gardens and animal farms. Like the families below here, a trip to the top of the silo might happen once every few years.
The upper levels contain the mayor, the sheriff, medical facilities and the information technology department. IT looms large in the life and lie of the silo.
Because there is no way to safely expand the silo, marriages and births are “won” through a lottery system. The land outside is known to be toxic… and is only seen through the aboveground sensor windows at the very top, on level one.
How a novelette became a trilogy
This silo world came to life in 2011, when Hugh Howey self-published a Kindle novelette that he called “Wool.” (The link goes to the free Kindle edition of the novelette.)
Wool was so popular with Amazon Kindle readers that Howey was urged (by his fans) to write more about the people who inhabited the multi-level silo which encompassed the entirety of their lives. The original 58-page novelette became a 5-part “Wool Omnibus” which is what I’m reviewing here. It’s Part 1 of the “Silo Saga,” and was followed by Shift and Dust to complete the trilogy.
Parallels with Thom Hartmann’s The Crash of 2016?
If you read my review of Thom Hartmann’s book “The Crash of 2016,” you’ll likely see come of the parallels occurring in our own world – right now. And that’s what makes this dystopian fiction book worth drawing to your attention. It’s a great read for sure, but it’s also a brilliant reminder to not take everything we’re fed at face value.
Wool is about political control, worker subjugation, reinventing history, hubris… and courage.
It’s about Sheriff Holston, who finally understood some of the truth – and wanted out… even though he knew it meant forfeiting his life. The powers-that-be decided that he’d become too dangerous and consigned him to certain death outside the silo, “cleaning” the sensors through which they caught glimpses of the outside, toxic world.
Cleaning, of course, was the euphemism for capital punishment, a way to keep the inhabitants fearful of rocking the status quo. There was no jail time, not judge and jury. Just “cleaning.” The tools used for scrubbing the windows were wool pads, hence the name of the novel.
The cleansing of toxic gunk on the window sensors was cause for celebration for those left inside – safe for now – as long as they didn’t think too much. With each cleaning, they were afforded a clearer glimpse of the outside world they had never experienced and would not, unless they actually expressed an interest in doing so. Or broke some other rule.
Verbally longing for freedom meant certain death
As the novel unfolds, the ugly truth behind this certainty stirs something in both the inhabitants of the silo… and in the readers who can’t help rooting for the underdogs underground.
The deaths of a “good” mayor and decent deputy sheriff make waves… a little. The subsequent elevation of Juliette Nichols from the down deeps of Mechanical to Sheriff up-top was not what the unseen powers had in mind and so she earned a quick demotion to “cleaner.” Questioning the rules was not allowed. Too much chance of instigating an uprising.
I’ve glossed over a few key elements, because they are what make the book fascinating reading. Does Juliette stop to clean the sensors, like all the other cleaners before her? Does she make it to safety, unlike all the other cleaners before her? Are there more silos out there? And what the heck is IT’s role in all this?
Characters you can identify with
You’ve got to read to book to know what happens… to get a glimpse of the real villains in the story; to see who step up to become heroes; to watch individuals consider the costs of thinking for themselves, of overturning all they have been taught to believe.
Books like Wool make me wonder when and if I’ll ever step up and take a stand for something that I think is right. If I’ll be able to write about it without concern for the consequences.
It worries me that I identify with people stuck underground in a silo.
I’d love to hear what you gleaned from the Wool story. Was it an interesting read, a mild ah-ha or a boot to the rear? Or all three? Thanks.
