Outlander Book Series Vs. TV Series

jstriker · Post by **jstriker** » 07 Mar 2016, 16:26

I feel a bit ill-equipped to comment on this thread, since I've only seen clips of the show and have only read the first 2 books. Nevertheless, I find it best to just accept that any screen adaptation of a book is going to be basically a different entity altogether, and unless something is egregiously wrong, I usually don't find much to complain about. I thought that the actors do justice to their characters rather well, and while they will never match exactly what I'd imagined them to be, they seem to have done a fine job. I'm afraid that I will come to agree with those of you who feel the book series has gone on long enough. The second book seems to open a Pandora's box of time travel snafus that I'm sure they spend the remainder of the series trying to unravel. And most lengthy series' I've read fail to maintain their momentum and tend to drone on and on (Wheel of Time, I'm looking at you). But I will steadfastly maintain that the first book, Outlander, is absolutely one of my favorite books and I look forward to seeing the first season of the show in its entirety. Reasonable expectations in place.

shelley_soetosenojo · Post by **shelley_soetosenojo** » 13 Apr 2016, 11:34

Season 2 has begun and I just loved how they visualized what was implied in the books in the first episode: Claire's return and Frank's reaction. Tobias did an excellent job portraying Frank. Superb. Can't wait for the rest of the episodes to air.

MrsCatInTheHat · Post by **MrsCatInTheHat** » 10 Jun 2016, 16:00

I think it's important to read the books first. There is so much that my husband doesn't understand because of the missing pieces in the television series. Especially related to Clare in modern times.

Beautiful_Athena · Post by **Beautiful_Athena** » 15 Jun 2016, 15:43

I have never actually seen the T.V. show , but I hear its really good. But I have read the books and they are just amazing, Diana Gabaldon doe's such a good job in brining to life the characters and keeping you engaged throughout the books , and since they are pretty long books that is quite a challenge in keeping people engaged and actually on the edge of there seats while reading them.

emthomas1 · Post by **emthomas1** » 27 Jul 2016, 23:17

I thought the first half of the first season was phenomenal, but then went down hill. The acting is routinely good, but the actors don't always have a lot to work with. I've also always been irked by Tobias playing both Blackjack and Frank, even though he's amazing; some people love that, some people don't, but I've always found it distracting and in a sense breaking the fourth wall.

I don't want to get into spoilers for those who haven't read the book or seen the show, but I thought generally it was pretty faithful. I admittedly gave up on the show after the first few episodes of season 2. Regardless of any issues with the plot, however, the cinematography and set locations are stunningly gorgeous and almost make it worth watching on those bases alone.

Caprice · Post by **Caprice** » 08 Aug 2016, 15:36

I've read all of the Outlander books including the novellas, and I also have the first season. I love Sam Heughan is the perfect man to play Jamie. Catriona Balfe made a terrific Claire. You can just see the sparks fly between them. In fact, I like all of the cast, at least personality wise, although some don't match their descriptions in the books, especially Dougal and Murtaugh. However, with Diana involved in choosing the cast and consulting on the Starz series, I expected it to be done right. I know it's impossible to condense that long of a book into just 16 episodes, but I was impressed with how much it correlated with the book. I can't wait till Season 2 is out on DVD. I'm in the process of rereading the books, and I'm on A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Even though I've read them all several times, they are still some of my favorite books. As someone above said, I'm taking breaks in between, because they are so long. But now I can see Jamie in my head when I read.

TamSan · Post by **TamSan** » 18 Aug 2016, 14:43

The first book was amazing!! I was obsessed, I had to read them all!! But as the series went on, honestly, I got bored. Her books are so big because she fills them with useless crap. I actually skipped half of one of them, and was still able to read the second half not feeling like I missed any important facts or events. The first four were good, but got progressively worse and boring as the series went on. But I still love the first one. I've never watched it, because we don't have STARZ or HBO, whatever its on, but Ive heard it was pretty close to the book. The TV Jamie doesn't fit my brain at all, and I don't think I could replace him, so it would be weird to watch it.

Caprice · Post by **Caprice** » 18 Aug 2016, 19:38

TamSan wrote:
Her books are so big because she fills them with useless crap.

I totally disagree with you. Diana's books are not "filled with useless crap. That useless crap you are referring to is actually developing the characters and adding more dimension to them. I prefer long, well researched and well developed books and interesting characters who have lived through many situations. I can't think of anything I've read in any of the books that has been really trivial and that wasn't important in character development. Maybe you prefer short books and shallow characters. If that is your preference, that fine, but don't go putting down one of the most popular current authors because you don't like detail filled books. I own all of the books in the Outlander series, including the three novellas, and they are my hands down favorites. From now on maybe you should stick with shallow romances.

SparklingOne · Post by **SparklingOne** » 27 Aug 2016, 02:53

I started reading the books toward the end of season two of the show, and I've just finished reading the first book tonight. Moving on to "Dragonfly In Amber", tomorrow. Looks like I am on track to read beyond the TV Series before the next season starts. It seems like people are in several camps either liking the books or the shows better, but I am honestly enjoying both. This might have stayed on my "to read" list a lot longer if the show hadn't shown me how awesome this story is. I usually try to wait until an author completes a series, Gabaldon has written 8 already with rumors of a 9th book being written.

agarla00 · Post by **agarla00** » 10 Sep 2016, 06:18

This book series is my absolute favorite. I become so engrossed that I just want to move to Scotland lol. I also enjoy the television show but find myself comparing it to the books. I'll be watching and go, "That's now how that happened!" At this point I have kind of seperated the books and the show so that I can enjoy both equally. No television show or movie is a perfect interpretation of a book because each mind is different.

ebeth · Post by **ebeth** » 14 Oct 2016, 17:31

so far the tv series is pretty close to the book series

Dogluvr · Post by **Dogluvr** » 15 Oct 2016, 21:37

I read the books a few years ago and was so excited when I heard they were making the TV series. I was so disappointed in both actors cast for the characters of Claire and Jamie. Both are totally off the mark. When I saw the actress in the first of the show I thought surely there was a mistake made because she was way too skinny and malnourished to play the role. The main description of Claire in the book plainly states what she looks like and it is nothing like what that actress looks like. I'm not saying the actress is ugly or anything, she's not, she's beautiful, she just doesn't fit the description. When they showed Jamie, same thing. I thought there was a mistake. The actor is good and he is handsome, it's just that he's like a teenager when the role calls for a man. I was so upset, I just haven't watched any more of it. Totally disappointing.

SparklingOne · Post by **SparklingOne** » 25 Oct 2016, 17:20

Just finished Dragonfly in Amber. There a few departures in the book vs. The tv series in this one. I would have called this installment in the series a builder. I enjoyed some of the second half of the book in audio book format. But having watched the series (Which has covered this book already), I will read Voyager the old fashioned way though. I have plenty of time between now and when the series premieres in April to finish.

MarisaRose · Post by **MarisaRose** » 16 Nov 2016, 10:15

I love them both for different reasons! Outlander is one of the best books I read in a long time. I really love long books with tons of characters that are well developed and the Outlander series has not disappointed! I also like the has show, I think it was cast well and the stories have been enjoyable!

CommMayo · Post by **CommMayo** » 05 Nov 2017, 18:14

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but I agree with other posters who thought the books could get a little long winded. I watched the first episode (only one I could get for free) and really liked how close it seemed to stick to the book. I had to wait a really long time to get book two from my library, so I must admit that I lost interest. I recently picked it up as an audiobook from my library, so perhaps my long commute will get me back into it.