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240 of 249 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
VOYAGER BRINGS IT ON HOME!!!, May 13, 2001
The third in a series of exceptionally well written time travel, adventure/romance books by the author, it tells a gripping and highly entertaining tale. There are four such novels published to date in what is hoped to be a series of six books. I urge the interested reader to start at the beginning and read each and every one. Do not be daunted by the length. Trust me when I say that you will wish that they were longer, so riveting a story does the author unfold. A masterful storyteller, the author employs the superlative use of historical events and period detail to weave an engaging three dimensional tapestry of timeless love and adventure. While the core of the story is about a love that transcends time, it is, however, much more than that. It is an adventure story that grips the reader from beginning to end and is positively addictive! The love that spans time is that which twentieth century Englishwoman, Claire Randall, has for eighteenth century Scottish highlands warrior, James Fraser. Those readers who have read the first book in the series, "Outlander", know that in 1945, Claire, a combat nurse during World War II, is reunited with her husband, Frank, after the war. While on a second honeymoon in Scotland, she visits a strange, flat topped hill, where a forbidding stone circle draws her. Touching one of the stones, she is hurled through a vortex in time and finds herself in eighteenth century Scotland, where she meets a brave and brawny, red headed Scot, James Fraser, with whom she falls head over heels in love. Finding herself thrust into the midst of clan warfare and intrigue, she and her beloved 'Jamie' have enough adventures to last a lifetime. The second book, "Dragonfly in Amber", is a continuation of that story, told from the perspective of the twentieth century where Claire, now a doctor, has lived for the past twenty years. Upon the death of her twentieth century husband, Frank, Claire returns to Scotland with her grown, red headed daughter, Brianna. There, she discloses to Brianna the events of her secret past, as well as the truth of whom Brianna's biological father truly is and of the love that Claire bore him. While in Scotland, however, Claire discovers something that will forever change her future, as well as her past. You see, for the past twenty years, Claire has mistakenly believed that her beloved 'Jamie' died in the historic battle of Culloden. It was there that the Scottish highlanders bravely fought the English in a misguided attempt to restore Charles Stuart, their bonnie Prince Charlie, to the throne of England, only to be decimated on the battlefield. Those few who survived were branded as Jacobite traitors and imprisoned, and their families disenfranchised. It is this very event that Claire and 'Jamie' had conspired to change, only to fail. Their story transports the reader from the turmoil of the Scottish highlands to the intrigue of the French Court and regales the reader with the adventures of the two lovers, as they conspire to change the very course of history. It was this valiant attempt that ultimately brought Claire and 'Jamie' to the crossroad that would compel them to part and have Brianna become a denizen of the twentieth century. In "Voyager", Claire, now realizing that the love of her life and soulmate survived the battle of Culloden, makes the decision to go back in time and find James Fraser, as for the past twenty years her love for him has remained constant. Leaving her daughter, Brianna, she once more hurls herself into the vortex of time to eighteenth century Scotland to begin her search for James Fraser, in hope of being reunited with her 'Jamie'. This book tells the story of what happened to Claire Randall and James Fraser in those intervening twenty years. It tells of their ultimate reunion and rediscovery. With historical events as a backdrop and an unforgettable cast of characters, it regales the reader with their new adventures, as Claire returns to a still divided, turmoil ridden Scotland. Reunited with James Fraser, none the worse for wear, they seek to make a life for themselves. As their love comes full circle, they take to the high seas, and their adventures continue. This compelling time travel saga is sure to captivate the reader.
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101 of 106 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everlasting Love Found, Windswept Seas & Adventure Abound!, June 7, 2002
The third in the 'Outlander' series and still kept me riveted. In this enstallment, Claire is in her own time and its twenty years later from the time she first went back (1945)and she has a daughter from Jamie, Brianna who is 20 years old. Claire is now a succesful doctor living in Boston and still longs for her lost love, a Scottish warrior from the 18th century named Jamie Fraser. Her twentieth century husband Frank having passed away two years ago, Claire is feeling that heartwrenching pull to return to her love. But how does a mother leave her only child to find a man she once knew and loved almost two hundred years ago? How does she explain this to the man's daughter who looks just like him? Just seeing Brianna makes her heart ache for Jamie. With the help of Brianna and a friend who studies genealogy charts, Claire finds out that Jamie somehow survived the bloody Battle of Culloden! Dare she risk another trip through the stones to find him? With understanding and the love from her daughter, Claire finds the support and courage she needs to take the plunge into the unknown with the knowledge that she may never again be able to return to the future and Brianna. Seeing Jamie again nearly knocks the breath from her. Their love is still intact, even 20 years later. Trouble is still in the air, this time they are uprooted from the battlefields of Scotland to the exotic and mysterious West Indies. Coming face-to-face with an 18th century serial killer, Claire is the only one who can stop the madness. Voodoo magic and political intrigue, Claire and Jamie are thrust on a voyage to the pits of humanity and must use their love and trust in one another to survive. I thought the use of voodoo and the islands in the 1700's was unbelievable! It was so fascinating and kept you on your toes! Their journey through the world of magic and greed for life made sense and also explained things to me that I missed in the first novel 'Outlander'. The stones are more in depthly explained along with the travel of time. It was so unbelievable that I was engrossed for hours and hours and found it dark outside before I thought to even eat! This is probably one of my favorites so far of the three I've read. It moved faster and with more excitement that the last (even though I loved 'Dragonfly') and I was sad to see it end, some 1050 pages later, lol. The time spent apart made the heart grow fonder and I was happy to see the passion still well alive between them. I love Jamie anyway, and fell in love with him in 'Outlander', but in this, I loved him even more and wished I were Claire, lol. I am anxiously ready to plunge right into the fourth installment, 'Drums of Autumn', in the New World... 1. Outlander 2. Dragonfly in Amber 3. Voyager 4. Drums of Autumn 5. The Fiery Cross Tracy Talley~@
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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
claire and jamie reunite - at last!, April 27, 2000
After finding out that Jamie survived the battle of Culloden, Claire makes the heartwrenching decision to leave her grown up daughter, Brianna behind in the present, and after a hilarious scene at a shop that sells period costumes, Claire finds her way back to the stones of Craigh na Dun and Jamie, who lives under various guises as merchant, printer and smuggler Their reunion is passionate but not peaceful for long. Jamie and Claire's efforts to save his nephew, Ian take them to the West Indies where they meet Geillis Duncan, the time traveller from Outlander, who not only holds the boy hostage for her own sinister purposes, but who also threatens Brianna all the way in the twentieth century. Their final escape hurls them into a storm that nearly kills them all, but lands them in a new world - together. Throughout the many twists, turns and revelations of incidents past, we never doubt Jamie. Not when he is constantly thrown from one danger to another, not even when he warns Claire that she might not want the man he has become. Her answer is our own, and her implicit trust in him is truly justified as he tries to explain every circumstance that fate has thrown at him. But he has changed. He has been forced by blackmail and loneliness into a loveless marriage with one woman and to father a son on another. These relationships will be explored in further installments of the series. Claire has been dealt a rough hand in some ways, and she has also become tougher during the twenty years of separation from Jamie. Her profession of surgeon serves her well in this book and her decades of loneliness in the 20th century, while remembering the love she shared with Jamie, only strengthen that love when they rediscover each other and she sees how very much he has changed. Claire clings to the chance of happiness she knows she is lucky to have, even if it means leaving behind her beloved daughter. The scene where Claire shows Jamie photographs of his daughter Brianna, taken at many stages in her life, is heartbreakingly tender with the pain of what could have been. Claire and Jamie do not dwell on this, but instead face each new challenge together. Old friends and nemeses are back, each of them adding their own piece of the puzzle to this intricate story, but Jamie and Claire are, again, the center of it all. We know them now and we cheer for each victory and despair at each cruel twist of fate. In the end, the theme of Voyager is one of tremulous hope. Hope, because this is a new beginning for Claire and Jamie. After all their misunderstandings and disagreements have been dealt with, they find themselves on a new continent which represents their new chance at a life together. Tremulous because, let's face it, this is a Gabaldon novel, and we have not only Drums of Autumn after this installment, but two, or perhaps three more books. In any case, Voyager is a well-crafted work, not overwhelmed by the carefully detailed research that has gone into it, but supported by it.
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