OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon

Narrated by Davina Porter

     CAUTION ROMANCE NOVEL AHEAD!

This is a very popular book, popular series, and popular author, but not everything popular is right for every reader. Just like Romance readers don’t like Science Fiction—and, no, a Romance Futuristic is not Science Fiction, not even if it involves an element of Time Travel. Make no mistake—this is a Romance novel. I decided to give it a try because thousands of people can’t be wrong. Well, they are not wrong, I am sure their fondness for this book is genuine—for them. When you look at the fawning reviews and the thousands of high ratings remember this important fact: Many thousands of people enjoy a nice romance novel. I am just not one of them. Go into any used bookstore and browse through the stacks and stacks of romance novels. Witness the avid romance readers bringing in bags and bags of books for trade and you will understand that there is a whole world of Romance readership and fandom that Science Fiction geeks will never be a part. I wanted to like this novel, I really did, but I just don’t get the whole Romance thing. I only made it about 90 minutes into this one.

Davina Porter was just average for me. She fails at depicting male voices convincingly. I realize that she is playing to a female audience but she did not help make this book accessible to me.