Customer Reviews

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(69)

 

 

It's really not that great eitheIt's really not that great either. Yes, I did pre-order this graphic novel, and yes, I am a fan of the Outlander series.

I prompt you, however, not to read the bad reviews (despite the fact that there are many) until you read this review.

As someone who has a great appreciation of literature and art as well, I own a vast array of novels and graphic novels. I won't consider myself an expert by any means, but I think I have a decent working knowledge of where the two differ. I agree with most reviewers that this might be blasphemy for hardcore Gabaldon fans. I am not a hardcore fan, and I decided to take Diana's endeavor with a grain of salt. She was certainly trying something new and regardless of what it was, fans were going to buy it (and they still will, more than likely).
To be honest, most of what I loved as a reader about Outlander got lost in the translation from novel to graphic novel. Unlike some, however, I feel that this was not because of the artist, but because of Diana Gabaldon's writing style: she writes in first person. It makes it a little difficult to translate that to graphic form, especially when you are taking it from someone that is outside of the relationship that is the core of her series. I felt that this was the main problem. Had the story been told from Jamie's point of view and not Murtagh's...well, I'm not saying that would have made it leaps and bounds better, but it might have helped a little.
That being said, I enjoyed the graphic novel a lot. It was light, not too heavy, did have a lot of nudity, which knowing the Gabaldon, should come as no surprise to readers. I thought the art was gorgeous; the illustrator really did a great job. I personally enjoyed the rough edge that the pictures had to them. It was not clean or polished with hard lines. It was light, airy and it went really well with the story. The art was the best part for me personally.

Do I think this was a waste of time? No. I spent a good two hours blowing through it on Tuesday night when I could have been writing a paper and I think it was worth it. I enjoyed myself and it was fun. Not earth shattering, but just fun. I think that this will be fun for you as a fan and as a reader if you allow it to be. I suggest you try not to get caught up in what your expectations of Gabaldon are, because she is not going to live up to them with this graphic novel. This is not her new 800-page novel. This is a 200-300 page graphic novel with no sweeping hills or grand descriptions of scenery or anything else.
Take it for what is actually is and not what you were wanting it to be. You will be a lot happier with the results if you just let it happen and try to have fun with it.

Would I recommend this? Sure! I already have. My mother and my older sister, and probably my aunt will all read it while on vacation in Key West. I told them it would be great to read for the plane or while sitting in the airport.

I hope that is review helps you make the decision whether or not to purchase. I think if you are looking for a Gabaldon novel, stay away from this. You will probably be disappointed and displeased with the artist's depictions of Jamie and Claire. If you want a fun, light, easy read that give you some insight to the other characters, then buy it. Like I said, not great, but I am happy that my money went to something I enjoyed and that others will enjoy as well.

I hope, I'll repost and let you know if everyone in my family hated it (I doubt they will).
r. Yes, I did pre-order this book,

The storyline in this graphic novel ("comic book" to some people) is interesting, and adds new elements previously unheard of in the Outlander series (a new character and Murtaugh-focused sub-plot). However, it's also a little choppy and disjointed.

The illustrations are beautiful and sometimes spot-on. They are, conversely, also sometimes very far off if you're familiar with the details of the series. For example, Jamie is clearly in the 5'10" area in this book, and never appears "a head above" the other men. Additionally, it's very hard to follow which man is which, as they are all portrayed almost identically.

Having said that, though, I do think it's worth reading, and as a die-hard fan, I believe it's worth owning.

One last note: Please don't review with one star just because you didn't know what a graphic novel was. That's not fair to the author or artist.

While I was not terribly familiar with graphic novels, I loved comic books well into my teens, and looked forward to The Exile. I, for one, am not disappointed. Given the constraints of the format I thought it was enjoyable -- and I loved the way Jamie and Claire were depicted by the artist. Someone wrote that Jamie looked too young and naive, seeming to forget that he was only 22 and still a virgin when he married Claire. I do agree that in some of the panels his looks changed somewhat, but usually due , IMO, to the artist attempting to convey emotion. Real people do not look the same all the time -- sometimes we look great and other times pretty darn unattractive (and I have the pictures to prove it!). The beautiful images of Claire succeeded in wiping away that horrible illustation that appeared on the cover of the first mass market edition to be released in the U.S. back in the early 90s -- the one where Claire looked like a middle aged washerwoman.

Now to the negatives: I agree that the color of Jamie's eyes didn't seem quite right, they looked too dark (Gabaldon wrote that his eyes were dark blue, but in the book they looked almost black); and the story of Kenneth was unnecessary and confusing. One of the problems with a graphic novel is that wonderful pieces of discriptive passages, with which Outlander abounds, are eliminated by the format. But I feel that Hoang Nguyen's beautiful illustrations of Scotland in many ways compensated for the lack of narration. I would like to see more of this format.

I have a few questions for the people that didn't know what they were buying:

1) When has Dr. Gabaldon EVER written a novel under 700+ pages? And you thought this was the next installment of the series? I'm sure that Book 8 will be at least 900 pages. Lord John books (DG's short stories) run around 300 pages or more.

2) As mentioned in other reviews, "Graphic Novel" is in the title - and you are surprised it is a "comic book"? What part of "Graphic Novel" is so difficult to understand?

3) It's a little scary that people get on the internet and blindly purchase things and don't know what it is they are purchasing. I guess that's one of the reasons the internet is a great place for scammers...

As far as reviewing the book itself - it was an interesting read. I do wish it had been a little longer - I would have liked to see Lallybroch, Jenny, & Ian. Well, we see Jenny in Jamie's thoughts, but it's not the same. But maybe there will be one for DIA. I went into this book knowing that it was a collaboration. I had seen pages posted on DG's website. The artist doesn't have a window into DG's mind, so he can not make the characters look exactly like she sees them. If you read the back of the book, "The Making of..." section, she explains quite clearly all of the impossibles when doing a graphic novel on long established characters.

I enjoyed the story from different characters' perspectives. I enjoyed the artwork - there are some I'd love to put on my living room wall, and 1 or 2 that would work in the bedroom. ;-)

Let it first be known that I have read all of Diana Gabaldon's books, several times for some and love them. The Outlander series is, of course, THE best ever. But, I have to say that I did not care for The Exile at all. I found the artwork too dark, the male characters too similar and oddly oriental, and what can I say about Claire? Very disappointing. May as well have drawn in Betty Boop or some such. I labored through it simply out of devotion to the series but it was labor. Passed it on to another fan who only managed a dozen pages before giving it back. I applaud the exploration into a new genre but I have to give The Exile a thumbs down.

I am not a typical Gabaldon fan -- I read the first three books, but stopped after VOYAGER, and I don't have EVERY single character, love scene, setting, and plot point memorized. Nevertheless, I thought this little graphic novel was a lot of fun. Jamie and Claire are drawn much sexier and more fresh-faced than I pictured them in the book. In a way that's not so good for Claire. She's a tough, smart, worldly woman, and in this graphic version she's too cute to be a minute over seventeen!

But I adored the humor and the light-hearted romantic moments so much more, like when Jamie is holding her on his lap and he says out loud "I will protect you always" but inside his head he's thinking, "she has the most wonderful round bottom!" Diana Gabaldon is a genius, and in 500 years people will still be reading OUTLANDER and comparing it to ANNA KARENINA and ULYSSES. But the lady has a sense of humor too, and this little book was a real treat for her fans.

I totally enjoyed this new format for Diana Gabaldon. I did have a little trouble following who was speaking and felt like some of the faces - Jamie's especially - evolved into something that wasn't quite right.

But still, I really enjoyed this addition to the Outlander Series. I was entertained and did not feel like the characters looked Asian as others have said...I'm not sure why people felt that way.

This was my first graphic novel and for the most part I took this as the gift it was to pass the time until book 8 comes out!

I was so excited to see a new Jamie and Claire book from Diana Gabaldon. I have all her books and read them often. I understood that it was basically a comic book, so no problem there. I believed Diana when she said that the story was from Jamie's point of view and that there was a new story line running through it.

COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. The book was simply a retelling (and not a good one) of Outlander. If you haven't read Outlander, you will NOT know what is going on in this book. The new character made NO difference to the storyline.

Although the artwork was fairly well done, all the men looked the same. I had to keep track of who was who by the color of their kilts. There were no indications of scene changes - suddenly people would be talking about something different, and you'd have to catch on that you were in a different situation now.

If you really feel you MUST read this book - get it from your local library. Or you can have mine - I won't be looking at it again.

I was expecting a graphic novel. Was it as richly rewarding as one of Gabaldon's full 900 page novels? No, but I didn't expect it to be the same experience as digesting one of the novels. I found it satisfying on its own as a fresh format for a much loved story.

Artwork: I agree with some other reviewers who say it can be a little confusing to follow: there is a lot of action packed into a small package and it moves quickly. I had to backtrack to keep up with who was who sometimes, and I had to remind myself to start at the top of the panel so I could understand the progression of the conversation. But the artwork is rich and brilliant overall, if somewhat inconsistent, and I was thrilled that the characters look like Scots for the most part. Didn't really care a whit that they don't exactly match the descriptions in the book.

Story: This is a good supplement to the Outlander novels, for those who already know the story and can tap into their own knowledge of what isn't shown in the panels, particularly the depth of the character development featured in the novels. This piece primarily showcases the action, and layers on key events that took place outside of the presence of the novel's first person narrator. There are interesting new plot twists - the author is great at picking up loose threads and spinning them into new strands. The book adds new dimensions to the story, while understandably falling short of the novels in terms of emotional sway.

I liked it fine. It'll be a nice addition to the collection.

"The Exile" was publicized as a Graphic Novel-a story mainly told through pictures. It was to be seen from another character's viewpoint and include new insights. Did she deliver? Yes, yes, and yes! The GN is action-packed and illustrated with colorful artwork. Did we have Diana's detailed explanations of what characters were thinking or feeling? Only enough to move the plot along. We see events from Jamie's and Murtaugh's perspectives and learn a little more of their backstories. An additional time traveler is revealed and we finally find out what happened to Clair's shoes. All as promised.
As to art critics, let me just say that Diana hand-picked Hoang Nguyen and worked with him on the basic look and then let the man have some artistic license. It is his profession, after all. As for Jamie not being big enough, please recall that he has just spent months recovering from a serious head wound and was notoriously seasick every time he even approached a boat. Of course he's a bit thin. He was in an abbey with monks, not at home with a sister trying to fatten him up. He's a tall, attractive young man with plenty of courage and honor and muscles and... excuse me, I'm off to reread.