I’ve seen some negative comments in regards to Diana Gabaldon’s best selling series Outlander.

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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I’d like to enlighten those who may have formed such an opinion without giving the books a chance. Now before you read on let me state that if you just really do not like stories that contain sex and violence then Outlander isn’t for you.

But if you’re one of those people who haven’t read Outlander because you think it’s a typical cheesy romance, I must say you are quite wrong. Yes Outlander is about two people who fall in love but it doesn’t focus on such frivolous things you might read in romances. I have enjoyed many cheesy romance novels for what they are – an entertaining quick read about a woman falling in love with a man she thought she hated – but Outlander is not one of them.

And here are five reasons why:

Strong female characters

Outlander is filled with some really great female characters. The series is told through the point of view of Claire Randall, a former WWII combat nurse. In the beginning, Claire doesn’t seem like much of a character, just a woman walking around the Highlands collecting flowers. But her story doesn’t begin until she falls through time and becomes stranded in the past. Claire is one of my favorite female characters of fiction. She’s got a whole lot of gumption and a calmness that is rare to find in a woman.

Historical fiction

Diana Gabaldon spends a good deal of time researching for her novels; that’s why it takes so damn long for her to write one! When Gabaldon began writing Outlander she knew nothing of Scottish history yet her books are filled with such rich detail of the culture and lifestyle of that period. The first two books take place during the time of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Claire, being from the future, knows the tragic outcome of the rebellion and fights with all she has to change history.

Read a detailed synopsis here.

Sex

Yes there is a lot of sex throughout the series – really good sex I might add – but it’s not the main part of the story. The series focuses around Claire and Jamie, two people from different times and different worlds. It’s not only their love story but the story of their lives, their struggles, their happiness.

Real emotion

Gabaldon is perhaps one of the most honest authors I’ve ever read. What she writes is so vivid and real you can’t help but feel for her characters. This series will fill you with a mix of emotions you never thought a book could evoke. At one point you’ll be laughing at some silly remark of Jamie’s then swooning over his too perfect romance then unable to breathe because of what *spoiler* did to *spoiler* and then cry because you just can’t hold it in anymore. Then you’ll want to throw your book out the window because you can’t believe what just happened but continue to read anyway because you need to know that everything will be all right.

TV adaptation

When you hear that your favorite book is going to be adapted into a film or television show, it’s not always the best news. But Starz has really done an excellent job in putting together a fantastic cast and crew. It took them much longer than expected to find their Claire because they wouldn’t settle for just any actress. The images they have been releasing on Instagram of location shots in Scotland are breathtaking, not to mention the ones with Sam Heughan (Jamie). This is sure to be another Starz hit that will hopefully run for a long while considering book 8 of the series is coming out this June.

Check out the teaser trailer: