Lassies of Lallybroch - SPOILERS

[MistressFraser]

New thread to discuss both the TV series of Outlander and the books by Diana Gabaldon. Discussion of spoilers allowed, if not positively encouraged.

Doing well with Voyager. All a bit unbelievable, just have to go with it.
I know Marsali is 25 but it's the 18c and seems to love F. Met Lord John onboard briefly, agree that he seems a good character. He will be back obviously.
Love how Jamie gives Fergus his name...that will be good on the show lots of crap needs cutting out though

15 not 25!

As Fergus gets older, I reckon he's another of these characters that DG doesn't like. Either that or she's not quite sure what to do with him.

Voyager gets even dafter towards the end dry.

She hasn't developed Fergus very much. All her energy seems to have gone into Jamie, Claire, young Ian and the dreaded Brianna, everyone else just kind of languishes by the wayside a bit. Although frgus improves markedly when he and Marsali leave the mountain and he becomes a printer, when his lack of a hand isn't so much of an impediment. He gets back some self respect and loses a bit of he self pitying arrogance.

Oh aye, Voyager is completely bats, but not as implausible as a 63year old woman zip wiring between ships at sea to save her huge, manly husband from the press gang

I have no problem with Marsali being 15, tbh. It's the C18, girls were married off very young to older husbands regularly. At least Marsali chose Fergus. My grandparents were born towards the end of C19th, they married when my gran was about 14! There was over 30 years between her eldest and youngest children.

She hasn't developed Fergus very much. All her energy seems to have gone into Jamie, Claire, young Ian and the dreaded Brianna

Totally agree. Her 'side' characters seem to come in with a bang but then gently fizzle out. No need to introduce this huge array of supporting cast, they're neither needed nor cared about. Just concentrate on Jamie, Claire & family (including Fergus. I'd rather read/watch him than the tedious Aunt Jocasta etc.)

Again, that's my personal opinion But the first four books were a lot more tightly plotted and didn't drag on as much as the later books.

I'm not articulating this very well, but I want to read about J&C's relationship (and even B&R). What I don't want is three pages worth of medical history for a patient that Claire has treated for five minutes at The Gathering.

I think you're right, Hiphop, she is quite open about not planning out her novels before she writes the and it shows in places. Sometimes, they are a bit stream of consciousness!
Aunt Jocasta becomes a bit more important in the later books and then moves to Canada, whoop! Whoop! So we won't have to put up with her arrogance and machinations any more.

Sometimes, they are a bit stream of consciousness

I just wish her editor had the balls to tell her to reign it. I love immersing myself in historical details but as I get older, I have less and less patience for rambling. Just get to the bloody point!

Oh, excellent news about Jocasta too

Hiphop I'm nearly finished with Voyager and you're right, the end is all a bit nuts really. Why can't bloody laire ever just stay where Jamie tells her and wait? Grrrrr.
They're going to have to cut out a lot of the shite for the show.
Is Drums of Autumn next/better?
Considering it's Claire's story I think what Jamie gets up to during the 20yr separation is far more interesting . I hope we get more episodes told from his point of view.

Claire's a bit of an idiot in the book, I don't like book Claire anywhere near much as in the show. Caitriona Balfe does such a fab job, in the series she really is a woman worthy of Jamie's love.

I liked Drums of Autumn a lot better although (I think) it's more Roger and Brianna's story. But I really loved Roger in DoA and I can't wait to see this bit dramatised. It's still full of silly plot lines/holes though (and I really preferred the books when they were in Scotland).

I really, really hope we get all the Jamie stuff in the next season. S2 was Claire's, S3 should belong to J. SH recently tweeted that he's looking forward to filming the 'MacDubh' stuff so fingers crossed.

Drywhite, you might be interested in the Lord John Grey novellas then, I haven't read them but some of them cover more of what Jamie did, I think!

www.dianagabaldon.com/books/chronology-of-the-outlander-series/

I agree Hiphop, to me the strongest part of Voyager was when they were apart. I really like the Jamie stuff. It all went a bit batshit when they were reunited. I know a lot of the Jamie&Claire contingent think it's terrible that potentially we're looking at a big chunk of s3 with them apart.

I know a lot of the Jamie&Claire contingent think it's terrible that potentially we're looking at a big chunk of s3 with them apart

If they have the guts to do it, it'll be amazing. Think of how emotional the reunion scene will be. We need to see how Jamie copes on his own without Claire and how what he's been through since Culloden shapes his older self. Hope we get at least six episodes of just Jamie (I mean, who really cares about what happened to Claire in Boston? no one )

Hope they change the rapey Geneva bit though. Hated that bit and I don't care what anyone says, there was no excuse for it. Terrible bit of writing on the part of Gabaldon.

How good would 3-4 episodes with them apart be? There's so much interesting and formative stuff happening to Jamie in that time

I agree. I hope they have a good few episodes before the reunion. Can't wait to see Jamie's story when they're apart.
That is awful writing from DG Hiphop. All that 'I can't stop now I've started' from Jamie is terrible. I like to think he's a much better man than that.
Will be strange to see how I feel seeing Jamie in someone elses bed.
As I've said before, I really hope they leave out Mr Willoughby. Don't see the point of him at all. I wasn't interested whenever he appeared.

I like to think he's a much better man than that

Me too snozzle I also hated Mr Willoughby, he's an utterly pointless character. Let's hope they get rid of him and spend more time on the reunion instead of having C &J haring round Edinburgh trying to find him, like the worst kind of farce

DoA is fab, still a fair bit of silliness, though and too much Brianna. As a matter of interest, why is it pronounced incorrectly in the series. They keep saying BreeANNA, it should be BREEanna, with the a kind of swallowed, like the o in Catriona and other things like that are said with a Scottish accent. But then, I have always read Brienne of Tarth's name as BREEen, with a sort of only just there e.

Surely, they will spend a good bit of time on Jamie's story before their reunion. It's over a 3rd of Voyager and noone really cares about what Claire and Frank do in Boston. She comes back not really having been chamged that much, Jamie has been very much changed and shaped by what's happened to him since Culloden and that needs some explanation. If you don't have that, you can't understand the choices he has made or many of the things he does.

Re the editing, I think someone needs to have a firm word with DG and get rid of all the rot about the flocking habits of birds or he thinning of the veil around around All Saints. What purpose does a any of that have except to let her "show off" her descriptive writing?

I think in S3 what they should do is have the reunion early on keep us all happy, we love a bit of love and happiness and the use flashbacks, as they have done already.

Mr W is a bit of a pointless character....but I wouldn't have wanted Jamie stitching up my arm.

Also, the Geneva part won't be too difficult to do.....just leave out her change of mind half way through. I think they actually had sex again that night. So, if I were the screen writers, I'd just emphasise how spoiled she is, how she basically blackmails J with the letter, and perhaps show that he's human, not having had sex for ages, cue internal struggle facemake her very beautiful, but different to Claire and job' s a good un.

Aye, they had sex a few times and at the end of the night she did the whole teenage "I love you, Alex" thing because obviously you always fall "in love" with the bloke who takes your virginity He did try to be gentle and tender with her and, i think, if they play it a la dry, it will be all good. He even warned her that it would hurt.

Ooh thread schism dry; I definitely say keep them apart for as long as possible. The reunion is such a pinnacle that it seems a shame not to milk it for all its worth.

But yeah, if they're going to keep MrW in then the screen writers have a hell of a job to do to make him not pointless and everyone else a bunch of shallow racists.

I think keeping them apart would be good, build the excitement. I just want Jamie/Sam to faint at my feet. I can be just as annoying and bolshie as Claire can!

I agree with pixie

I think the flashback at the start of S2 was confusing for anyone who hadn't read the book. I think they should ramp up the tension and keep them apart for as long as they can.

I'm soo looking forward to S3. I liked Voyager a lot more than DIA, I hope they do it justice.