[QuickTidal]

With regards to

Spoiler

Murtaugh....you mean him and Claire discussing her real past? I THINK it's present in the books (don't quote me on that) but it may not be and if not then I'll wager the show is just doubling down on it. Plus she tells Murtaugh everything she tells Jaime.

As far as Brianna...for non-book readers Brianna is a HUGE bomb drop. I think even more than the revelation that Claire goes back to the 1940's and reunites with Frank. She HAS been cast (Sophie Skelton), and I'll wager that Starz is just holding that reveal in check so they can open the season with it.

Also, she's GORGEOUS.

[Egwene]

Only just found this thread...

to OP for starting it!!!!

I am a massive Outlander fan - the books that is. I don't think I could watch it on screen though, even if I had the option (which I don't). It is brutal enough to read some of the stuff. As for the 'porn for the girls' observation from a previous poster... well, there is plenty of interaction going on in the books but it always feels like it is part of the story, not just added as a gap filler. Those encounters are also extremely well written and bear little resemblance to the amateurish efforts by many other, even well known authors, in that department.

I always rate Erikson and Gabaldon as my top favourite authors side-by-side. Very different from each other but both totally amazing. Gabaldon is incredible at putting observation of the human species on paper. The books were recommended to me by my brother and initially, the Scottish accent was a bit hard to read. Then I was put off by the occurrence of the witch trial - I just hate witch trials - maybe I was on the wrong side of it in a previous life! Anyway, gave it another try, got past my stumbling block and just got hooked. Now I can't wait for the next one!!!

Having talked about the brutal aspect of the series - that is offset by some great humour. It is basically a family saga set in historic times which has an element of time-travel. There is often a murder mystery in there as well and overall I would say the books are geared at adult readers of both sexes - certainly any forum you go on you'll see a lot of enthusiastic male readers as well. Only recently lent my copy to a neighbour who has since told me that she and husband both have got hooked on all things Outlander

[QuickTidal]

Egwene, on 23 February 2016 - 01:13 PM, said:

Having talked about the brutal aspect of the series - that is offset by some great humour. It is basically a family saga set in historic times which has an element of time-travel. There is often a murder mystery in there as well and overall I would say the books are geared at adult readers of both sexes - certainly any forum you go on you'll see a lot of enthusiastic male readers as well. Only recently lent my copy to a neighbour who has since told me that she and husband both have got hooked on all things Outlander

I think the "who should read this thing" is sadly a big stumbling block to some and probably partially how it was marketed as books to begin with. I seem to recall some kerfuffle way back when of the bookstore putting it in Romance, and it really belongs in Regular Lit.

My best friend, whose wife ADORES this book series (and the show), would not watch it because he STILL thinks it's a romance show even after men tell him it's REALLY not. I've repeatedly tried to get him on board and he still refuses. I'm not sure why. This book series (I've only read books 1 & 2 so far mind you, but I've got the 3rd and 4th in the ToRead pile) and the TV show is very much for everyone. It's NOT a romance...it simply contains romance aspects.

But yeah, I'm so glad I gave it a chance...and my wife and I both love the series now.

Can't wait for Season 2 to start!

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 23 February 2016 - 02:12 PM

[Egwene]

Having said he won't, your friend probably does not want to backtrack. Some people are like that - it is a matter of pride to them that they will not change their mind once its been made up. Your friend is probably one of them.

Yes, you can't really pin down the Outlander series. I think it is family saga and historical novel before it is romance. You don't get many battles in your average romance novel nor do you get... ahhhmm... I suppose its RAFO *grin*

[QuickTidal]

Egwene, on 23 February 2016 - 06:23 PM, said:

Having said he won't, your friend probably does not want to backtrack. Some people are like that - it is a matter of pride to them that they will not change their mind once its been made up. Your friend is probably one of them.

This is him for sure. I keep hammeirng away at him in the hopes he'll watch.

Partially because he could share in one of his wife's biggest fandoms with her. Which would be cool.

[QuickTidal]

I think it plays tonight here, so I'll steer clear of the tag till then.

[QuickTidal]

Spoiler

Yeah, that was a great opener....a little dispappointing that we didnt' get the cold 1968 open with Brianna and Roger, but I understand why they didn't do it. Wrongfooting the non-book audience with 1948 and FRank again would have been hard enough to swallow.


But yeah, all well done, and the comte is pretty menacing. They chose his actor well. Wonder when they'll intro Briana and Roger (wince we know they cast them)?

[paran falcon]

Briar King, on 10 April 2016 - 01:36 AM, said:

Is this playing on time for you Scott up there or do I need to tag? I think y'all were a few Ep behind us last season.

Fantastic start! I can see why they tweaked it for show purposes but I was really hoping to

Spoiler

see Bri and Roger. Still the half 1948-1745 epi fit well together. I'm still wondering why they are choosing to tell Murt? The Comte is every bit as menacing in show as bk2. I hope he has the same arc in show as I really want to see one scene play out....hehe I think we re in for another great season!

My failure of memory recall is aggravating me more than usual when it comes to this show and the books its based on. In my defense, its been well over 10 years since I read them, but I'm not even sure how many I read anymore. I THINK 3 but...

Anyway, watched the S2 premier.

Spoiler

I was very impressed with the way they started the episode. (I see BK and QT talking about book 2 starting with the daughter but I can't for the life of me recall that!) Starting with Claire back in 1948 pulled me in in a way I didn't expect and that was a good thing since I was a bit ho-hum about the new season. A good way to keep Frank Randall relevant, not just his ancestor. Claire and Frank's reunion and life after isn't something that should be glossed over. I'm wondering if they'll go back and forth throughout the season or is that it for 1948 for a while? I only have a hazy recollection of the Comte, but I do have impressions of how Bonnie Prince Charlie was portrayed in the books and I'm interested in who they've chosen to play him and if they portray him similarly. Couldn't tell a whole lot from the preview.

A good start to S2. I'm looking forward to it a good bit more than I was previously.

Are we spoiler tagging show spoilers or just book spoilers?

[QuickTidal]

The most recent ep was okay...a LOT of boring politicking until they introduced Fergus ("His name is actually Chandelle, but we agreed that was not very manly."), and Murtagh's romp in the sheets with the ladies maid was funny.

I loathe Charles Stuart...but I'm pretty sure we are supposed to and I think Jaime hates him too.

I'm not looking fwd to the shitstorm Claire has brought down on herself by not telling Jaime that Randall is alive, and that his brother is in Paris. It's weird, I could swear that in the book that it was Jaime who saw Alexander Randall and had a momentary scare because he thought it was Jack.

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 26 April 2016 - 05:47 PM, said:

Ugh dude have you been reading my post? That's why I was convinced Tobias would be playing him.

I've got a few tagged post here with thoughts on hit and miss casts.

Oh I must have missed those posts. Yeah, spot on, I also fully expected Tobias to play Alex. In the book they make a BIG deal of how much he looks like Jack...and not just like a vague resemblance, but like enough to make Claire freak out that he's not only alive, but there in Paris with them.

And I think B&R need to show up soon. I fee like if they leave it too long into the future, the impact of their appearance and the rest of the story will get lost.

[QuickTidal]

We've not watched yet as my wife and I found Ep 3 to be meh, so we've held off allowing more than one ep to pile up in the PVR. Will chime in when I've watched.

[QuickTidal]

We are probably not going to be able to catch up with this for a few weeks yet, but good to know there is some good stuff coming up.

[QuickTidal]

We are houstitting for a long while for my wife's parents, so we haven't really been able to watch. We will next week probably.

[QuickTidal]

Starting to catch up finally. Watched ep4 last night.

You know what I don't get? Claire gets REALLY angry at Jaime for doing things that people of his era would just do without question...and she seems to just apply modern era notions to him out of hand and expect him to have fallen in line (without knowing)...and I'm like "She KNOWS he wouldn't realize, so why does she come down so hard on him?"

Anyways, we liked this ep. Good stuff mostly, and not at all as boring as previous eps. Lots of tension.

And can I just say that the actress who plays Lady Louise de Rohan (Claire Sermonne) is fantastic...and she's dropdead gorgeous too!

[QuickTidal]

Since the show has been back in Scotland it has been consistently GREAT!

Spoilers for the last ep:

Spoiler

Poor Angus! I mean he could be a dick when he wanted to but he was loyal to a fault and fun as hell to watch. I honestly thought Dougal was going to buy it (even though the books tell me differently) on this ep.

Spoilers for the 2nd book

Spoiler

I guess the Brianna and Roger reveal will be in the finale? Since there are only 3 eps left this season. Probably done as a cliffhanger to preface the events in Book3?

Oh, and not sure if it was noted that on June 1st, Starz renewed it for Seasons 3 AND 4!

[QuickTidal]

Coonass, on 16 June 2016 - 04:30 PM, said:

I liked that Ep much better. I've been bored in Scotland compared to Paris.

Did you read my Faith/Hold the Door post? Faith hit me much harder.

It was good, but I think Hodor gut punched me harder. Not sure why.

[QuickTidal]

Coonass, on 23 June 2016 - 05:38 PM, said:

Fun Ep last week with Sangdriam. A few changes from book. I thought they were going through with Rupert death but that was dodged in a funny way. Not sure why they killed off Angus in stead. Monroe made it. His bit in bk was sad.

Looking foward to tomorrow's Ep. I bet they are doing a half n half finale like premier was. B&R can't be done in 30 mins.

The cover of Entertainment Weekly has a shot of B&R on it! LOL. It's so weird for them to be showing up on the back end of the season...but I was thinking about it...narratively if we know up front that Culloden goes ahead and Claire and Jaime don't stop it...it removes some of the tension they were going for in the earlier fights....so maybe it makes more sense than we thought. I'm excited about it either way!

[QuickTidal]

I thought it was a stellar finale all told. At first I didn't much like the girl playing Bri, but she grew on me and I was fine with her by the end. I'm glad they didn't super age Claire (I mean I know it was 20 years later) as if/when she goes back through Craig Na Dun to Jaime I want her and he to not be old-timers. I wish they'd had kept the bit in where Claire finds Randall's grave and spits on it from the book...but I can see why they left it out.

This means I can fianlly read the 3rd book, which I'll cue up after the dragon's path.

I think they purposely had the bit in with Claire and Jaime calling Fergus like their son so that when they go back, he's an adult warrior at Jaime's side. And I hope that Murtaugh is still alive at that point.

[QuickTidal]

Sexy Gumbo, on 12 July 2016 - 05:58 PM, said:

I thought mature Clarie was very fuckable ha!

I didn't like Bri confronting her about Jamie or Gellis and Bri and R randomly meeting. I can see why for tv to do last but the 1st was annoying.

Did Randall punching Alex body not piss y'all off? I don't understand why they did that for show.... Stupid add imo Alex is the only thing on Earth Jack loves and adding that rage fit is way out of character.

Yeah, I read that the Bri and Rog meeting Geillis thing came about because the writers room was so tempted to have Geillis meet Claire before going through...and they all figured that would create WAY too much problems narratively with the time travel and existing timelines. So this was their way of playing with it and not causing themselves headaches. I thought it was neat.

Yeah, Bri confronting Claire about Jaime was a bit off centre from what we read in the book which is gentler...I'm okay with it, but I think it was weird. Especially when Claire was being so genuine with her. There was no reason for her NOT to believe the mother she knew for 20 years. Anyways. Also, I keep forgetting how young Claire was supposed to be initially (20) so that even her old version here is only 40.

Anyways, yeah Randall punching Alex body was MEEEESSSSSEED up. That was a hard scene to watch. I think they wanted to do it to keep you LOATHING Black Jack after a few eps where you feel a bit of sympathy for him and his ailing brother. So I kind of get why they did it, audience-wise, but it was hardcore for sure.

Are you onto the 3rd book as well now? I'm kind of excited to crack into it!

[QuickTidal]

Sexy Gumbo, on 12 July 2016 - 10:46 PM, said:

Shit... I just pulled bk out. It's massive. 1059 pgs..... I ll attempt to start it. I've never read 3 bks at a time before and Safehold is really addicting so no clue how this ll go.

I have faith in you brother!