A Review of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION by Diana Gabaldon
Companion Guide - Delacorte Press June, 1999
577 Pages, $24.95
ISBN No.: 0-385-32413-8
Review (c) Lynne Remick, 2001
Popular author Diana Gabaldon's best-selling Outlander series
(18th century Scotland) has been catalogued as Adventure, Fiction, Historical Romance, Time Travel, Love Story, Fantasy Fiction and Scotland in Literature. With Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager and Drums of Autumns she has become critically acclaimed as a cross-over author.
Again, Gabaldon has crossed over genre lines with her outstanding reference/resource THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION. Although THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION was originally intended to be a companion guide to her voluminous best-selling series, it is so much more.
When I originally picked up this weighty volume, I did so as a die hard "Claire and Jamie" fan. I was very surprised, however, when I realized that I was reading it, not as a fiction reader, but as an aspiring novel writer.
The "much more" of this book is great interest to writers of any one of the above-mentioned genres, including:
An indepth exposure to the deep dark recesses of a New York
Times best-selling author, which gives insight as to the decision-making processes involved in writing and selling fiction.
Full synopses of all of her four books of the Outlander series,
which are great examples of what a writer's story synopsis would, in fact, look like.
Discussion and indepth exploration of how to create and name characters, as well as examples of the actual creation of same.
A comprehensive glossary of foreign terms and guide to gaelic
expressions used in the book and commonly used about the times.
An exploration into creating horoscope charts and examples of how horoscopes can be incorporated into your character's personality.
Discussion of creating horoscope charts and examples of how
horoscopes can be incorporated into your character's personality.
Notes on the author's geneological research and discussion of
incorporating "real characters" and family treese into fictionalized accounts of historical events.
An entire section dedicated to researching historical fiction,
including emphasis on period medicine and herbs.
The author's insights on general writing matters, including how
to choose titles.
And, last but not least, an "Annotated Bibliography" on the
18th Century; Scotland; medicine; African cultures; ghosts and
ghost stories; literature; language resources; magic; medicine
and herbals; natural history guides and resources; North Carolina; foods and cookery; Native American cultures and history; odd books and other miscellaneous treasures.
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