Title: Voyager (Outlander Series Book 3)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publisher: Seal Books, Random House
Publication Date: 1994
Page count: 1059

Rating:

Voyager is the third book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and it was another of my 5-star reads of 2022. I picked up the very first Outlander book sometime last year (more than a decade after it was first published) and I’ve been obsessed ever since. The series presents in a combination of historical fiction, fantasy, and romance, and it’s the presence of all three of these elements that make the stories so compelling to me.

Fair warning: spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read this or the other books in this series.

Voyager picks up where A Dragonfly in Amber leaves off, with 20^th century doctor Claire Randall in 1968 with her daughter Brianna, having just discovered that her 18^th century Scottish Highlander husband Jamie Fraser actually survived the Culloden uprising that she had fled Scotland from in 1746. Upon assuming Jamie would perish with his men, Claire had returned to her present day through the time travelling stones at Craigh na Dunn in an effort to ensure that she could keep their unborn child safe.

The first part of the book sees Claire grapple with the reality that Jamie is alive as Roger Wakefield and Brianna help her sift through historical resources to determine where exactly Jamie ended up after Culloden. Despite living for the past 20 years in the present-day with their daughter, Claire’s heart was always with Jamie, and she quickly comes to the conclusion that if the option to rejoin him is still available, it’s one she needs to consider. She ultimately determines, with Brianna’s support, that returning to Jamie is what she needs to do at this stage in her life.

From here, the journey spreads over timelines and continents, weaved alongside old characters and new ones. I didn’t know how I’d feel about a full 20 years having passed between the last time Claire and Jamie had been together, but it was a smart way to add depth, perspective, and a lot of new layers to characters that would have been challenging to evolve otherwise. Gabaldon is committed to rooting the stories in a context that is more or less historically accurate and it’s well known that the period that followed Culloden was filled with famine and struggle for Scottish highlanders. We’re able to see the impacts of this unfold through Jamie’s perspective, but apart from Jamie’s individual persecution, it’s less eventful for the supporting characters then the climactic events chronicled through the first two books. Skipping the 20 years allowed the plot to pick up and develop in new and interesting ways, eventually bringing the Fraser’s all the way to the new world.

Jamie and Claire’s dynamic has always been one of my favourite elements of this book, but I loved the exploration of what it meant to come together after individually experiencing so long apart. While at their core they’re similar to who they were, their unique experiences have shaped them into different people as well. Relearning new aspects of their relationship and how to be together is a major element of the plot and one that’s truly delightful to see unfold.

I also really appreciated how the jump through time allowed Gabaldon to reintroduce characters like Jenny and Ian’s kids, and Fergus, the French boy that Jamie and Claire had rescued in his youth. These characters who were simply mischievous children in previous novels were now full-fledged adults with their own conflicts, personalities, and life experiences to contend with. I loved seeing the dynamics between Jamie and his kin and being able to expand that to include his nieces and nephews allowed for some new and interesting storylines.

Beyond the characters themselves, the walk through history tied with a unique blend of fantasy keeps me coming back to these books. The times in which the Outlander books are placed are huge, monumental shifts in history. While the first two books focused on Scottish history in the 1740’s and Europe’s role in it, this one spreads through Europe’s colonies as well, using memorable characters and storytelling to show the significant oppression, persecution, and slavery that was rampant in the British empire in the 1760’s. Some of the scenes were difficult to read because the circumstances felt so outrageous and deplorable. To weave that type of impact through what many view to be a romance adds layers of depth and an important cultural context that I always appreciate.

The Outlander books are absolute beasts for length, but they’re also some of the most highly entertaining novels I’ve read in the past year. I thought Voyager was an excellent addition to the series and I can’t wait to jump into the fourth book in 2023.