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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Audiobook Review: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon


Read by Davina Porter

Synopsis: Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite—or forever doom—her timeless love.
 

My Thoughts: I read the first three books in the Outlander series years ago but never had enough time to continue reading them. Now that I want to pick up the series again, I had to go back from book one to refresh my mind. Voyager is the third book in the series and it's very long. I decided to listen to the audio instead to make my voyage easier.

Listening to this book was such a joy. It brought back many memories of beloved characters. It also reminded me why I am so in love with this series and why I still plow my way through the hundreds of pages the books contain. Diana Gabaldon is a master at story telling and knows how to bring life to history.

It was interesting what I got out through with this second "read." For one, I realized that I only remembered half of the book. I recalled how Claire was in her present time searching with her daughter Brianna for any information of whether or not Jamie survived the tragic battle at Culloden. Once learning the truth, Claire goes back to Jamie (their reunion simply was heartwarming) and continues a life with him. After this, it was all new to me. Jamie and Claire go on a quest to rescue young Ian and of course, these two ended up meeting many perils. This rescue mission by ship was something I did not remember at all. It makes me wonder how I could have forgotten the second half of the book.

There was a lot of adventure in this one. I could not believe on all of the things that Jamie and Claire went through. They were in constant danger yet they always seemed to find themselves out of their situations. As much fun these events were, I found myself a little disconnected because I felt that it was too much. I know this was fiction, but it became a little unrealistic to me. However, this book did contain a lot of sweet and exciting moments that had me still listening to the end.

Davina Porter was the narrator for this book along with the first two that I listened to. She has such great talent when it comes to accents and portraying different characters. Her expressions and tones were excellent because I could easily imagine everything that was going on. I do admit though that there were a few times that Ms. Porter's talent had me drifting off. I'm not sure if it was Ms. Porter herself or because I became disinterested in the story. She's still an excellent narrator.

Overall, this was a very interesting read. It was not as enjoyable as I remembered but I came to learn many new things since I did not recall the second half of the book. I loved how it ended and I am looking forward to starting for the first time the fourth book in the series. I rate it:

1 comment:

  1. I read this awhile back, and it was the last Outlander book I read - I think I enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd books but they didn't really capture me like that first book. I did listen to the audiobook of this one as well and I remember really liking Davina Porter as the reader!

    But with the new adaptation maybe I will revisit this series - it would be nice to see how it all ends. It was great to read your review!

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